This tutorial is a great reminder that your best color grade doesn’t start in DaVinci, it starts on set. Watch here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_hqgK4iRLBY&pp=ygUYcG9zdCBwcm9kdWN0aW9uIHR...
Instead of relying heavily on LUTs or stylized color treatments in post, this cinematic look is built from intentional lighting, natural color contrast, and strong set design choices. Walls, wardrobe, and props were all selected to serve the palette, warm lights against cool shadows, daylight mixed with Edison bulbs and RGB accents.
Once in post, the grade focuses on enhancement, not overhaul:
• Warm midtones and cool shadows
• Preserved highlight rolloff for a soft, cinematic feel
• A clean contrast curve and subtle film grain for texture
If you’re a colorist, DP, or editor working on shorts, reels, or YouTube content and want to elevate your visuals without over-processing, this breakdown is gold.
Have you built a grade around pre-planned lighting and color design like this before? Drop your tips (or grabs of your favorite color grades) below!
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I think a better way to see it is the other way around: as color grading being the last step of lighting, adding the final tweaks that didn't get quite right during the shoot. Or as they say in the data processing field: garbage in, garbage out.
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Patrik Gyltefors, that’s such a great way to frame it. Color grading really is an extension of the lighting process, not a separate fix-it tool. If the image doesn’t have a strong base to begin with, there’s only so much you can do in post. I love the comparison to data processing too, it reinforces how essential it is to plan with intention on set so post can elevate the story, not salvage it.