Free LUTs for Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve: where to get them and how to pick one that works

There are thousands of free LUTs online and most of them do not work on your footage: they were built for a different camera or a different exposure, and they leave skin orange or crush the blacks. I am a video editor and colorist; this is what I check before I use one.

Two kinds of LUT, for two different jobs

• Conversion LUT (technical): takes the log footage from your camera (S-Log3, V-Log, Apple Log, C-Log, F-Log2) to a normal Rec.709 image. They are free and every brand publishes its own. If you shoot log, this is the first LUT you need.
• Creative LUT (the look): gives the style, like teal and orange, warm tones or a film look. It goes after the conversion and after you fix exposure and white balance.

The classic mistake is dropping a creative LUT straight onto log footage. It almost never works.

Where to download the conversion LUTs

From the support or downloads page of your camera brand (Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Fujifilm, DJI). Search for "LUT" plus the name of your log profile. Apple publishes the Apple Log one for the iPhone. Always get them from the brand, not from third-party sites that repackage them.

Step by step for each camera: Sony S-Log3, Panasonic V-Log and Fujifilm F-Log2, iPhone Apple Log.

A 4-point test for any creative LUT

• Skin: put the LUT on a shot with a person. If skin goes orange, green or magenta, drop it.
• Blacks and highlights: open the Waveform (Premiere: Lumetri Scopes; DaVinci: Scopes). If the blacks sit flat at 0 or the highlights clip at 100, the LUT is too aggressive.
• More than one shot: try it on a sunny shot and a shaded one. A good LUT works on both with small tweaks.
• Intensity: almost no LUT is used at 100%. Between 40% and 70% usually looks more natural.

How to load it

• Premiere Pro: Lumetri Color › Creative › Look › Browse, pick the .cube, and lower Intensity. Conversion LUTs go in Basic Correction › Input LUT instead.
• DaVinci Resolve: copy the .cube into Project Settings › Color Management › Open LUT Folder, click Update Lists, then right-click a node › LUT. Put the creative LUT on its own node at the end and use the node Key › Gain to dial it down.
• Final Cut Pro: Effects › Color › Custom LUT, then choose the file.
• CapCut desktop: see how to use LUTs in CapCut.

Summary

1. If you shoot log, first the official conversion LUT for your camera.
2. Then fix exposure and white balance.
3. Creative LUT last, between 40% and 70%.
4. Drop any LUT that breaks skin tones.

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