Using LUTS in mixed light source interiors

Happy New Year!

Primarily a still shooter, I've found the color grading in my raw image processor of choice Capture One, to be advanced and almost on par with Resolve's controls. The path to achieve a desired result is just different.

Will plan to shoot and process raw video to get the most out of my cameras. I've noticed that LUTS packages' that can be purchased on-line are all demonstrated outside in primarily ambient illumination. I know how to color balance an INTERIOR scenario with mixed lighting (for stills & video), but how does using a custom (purchased) LUT affect my now-balanced scenario? I'm assuming a custom LUT does not play well with settings I've tweaked to balance a scene with numerous light sources.

Thanks in-advance for any thoughts/suggestions.

CD

It will depend on what the LUT does. If it just normalizes contrast and saturation it will work with mixed lighting. If it’s more of a creative LUT then it will bend your image a lot and probably won’t do well.

In my opinion most of those commercial LUTs are just a shortcut to proper grading and there is nothing a LUT could do which you couldn’t do better in Resolve yourself.

BMDs own LUTs will already give you a very good starting point.

If a LUT cranks up contrast a lot, it will also increase the inherent cast of your mixed lighting.

Another problem are cheaper LED sources with spikes and gaps in their color spectrum which can it make very hard to get healthy colors.

If you want to try a free alternative to BMD LUTs, you can try my LBK-BMD_Gen5_neutral_High-desat_v10 which has been created to give a more finished neutral look for a fast turnaround.

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Thank you Robert, for a very comprehensive reply.

I'm fairly new to BM, Resolve and the BM IOS Camera app. A lot to digest but my understanding of the solutions is getting better.

Have a great 2024!

CD