SOFTLINK — CINEMATIC COLOR GRADING GUIDE
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Version 1.2 | Softlink Editorial Team
Free for personal and commercial use

ORDER OF OPERATIONS
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1. Primary Color Correction (technical accuracy)
2. Secondary Color Correction (selective adjustments)
3. Creative Color Grade (look and style)

SECTION 1: PRIMARY COLOR CORRECTION
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Goal: Make every shot balanced and technically accurate.

Key adjustments in Lumetri Color (Premiere Pro):
- White Balance: Temperature and Tint until gray areas are neutral
- Exposure: Adjust until highlights and shadows are in desired range
- Contrast: Add gentle contrast (10-15 points) for flat footage
- Highlights: Recover overexposed areas (-20 to -40)
- Shadows: Lift shadows for detail or crush for drama
- Whites and Blacks: Set tonal endpoints

Use Lumetri Scopes (Waveform, Vectorscope):
- Waveform should not exceed 100 IRE (highlights) or fall below 0 IRE (blacks)
- Skin tones should track along the skin tone line in the Vectorscope

SECTION 2: SECONDARY COLOR CORRECTION
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Techniques for selective adjustments:
- Lumetri Color > HSL Secondary: select a specific color range and adjust independently
- Masks: Isolate an area for targeted correction
- Common secondary adjustments:
  * Deepen sky blues
  * Warm skin tones without affecting the entire image
  * Separate foreground and background exposure

SECTION 3: CREATIVE COLOR GRADING
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Common cinematic looks:

1. TEAL AND ORANGE
   - Push shadows toward teal, keep skin tones in natural orange range
   - In Curves: pull blue channel up in shadows, red slightly up in midtones

2. DESATURATED LOOK (muted, serious tone)
   - Reduce Saturation to 75-85%
   - Add slight cool tint to highlights
   - Crush shadows slightly

3. WARM GOLDEN LOOK (optimistic, summer feel)
   - Push Temperature +10 to +25
   - Add slight magenta in midtones
   - Lift shadows to maintain warmth

4. COOL/CLINICAL LOOK (thriller, sci-fi)
   - Push Temperature -10 to -20
   - Remove warmth from shadows
   - Reduce red channel in midtones

WORKING WITH LUTs
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- Technical LUT: Apply FIRST (converts log to Rec.709)
- Creative LUT: Apply AFTER primary correction
- Reduce intensity: Creative > Intensity slider (60-80% is often better than 100%)

CONSISTENCY ACROSS CUTS
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- Apply grades via adjustment layers for consistent application across multiple clips
- Copy Lumetri Color attributes between clips (Paste Attributes)
- Use Sequence Auto Match in Lumetri Scopes for similar shots

CREDITS: Softlink Editorial Team