# Blackmagic LUTs: Film to Rec.709 across a whole card

> Which Blackmagic conversion LUT matches your colour science generation, why Gen 5 changed the answer, and how to take a card across in one pass.

Canonical: https://batchtone.com/blog/blackmagic-luts

21 September 2026 · 5 min read

Blackmagic ships its conversion LUTs inside DaVinci Resolve and on its support site, and the right one depends on the colour science generation your camera records rather than on the camera's name. Check the generation first, apply the matching Film to Rec.709 transform to the whole folder, then take down the few clips that were exposed differently instead of grading each one from scratch.

Blackmagic's own LUTs are the fastest way to get a card of Blackmagic Film footage looking like something you can show someone. The catch is that there is no single "the Blackmagic LUT". There is one per colour science generation, and picking by camera name rather than by generation is where most of the bad results come from.

## Which generation did you shoot?

Blackmagic changed its colour science more than once, and the conversion LUTs follow the generation, not the body. A Pocket 6K can record Gen 4 or Gen 5 depending on how it is set and which firmware it is on.

| Generation | Broadly | What the conversion looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 4 | Older firmware, earlier bodies | Flatter result, more contrast to add by hand |
| Gen 5 | Current default on recent bodies | Gentler highlight roll-off, closer to finished |
| Custom / third-party | Anything you installed yourself | Whatever its author intended, often a look rather than a conversion |

Check the camera menu or, if you are already in Resolve, the clip attributes: BRAW carries the generation in its metadata. Guessing from the model number is the step that goes wrong.

## Where the LUTs already are

You probably do not need to download anything. DaVinci Resolve installs Blackmagic's conversion LUTs with the application, and they appear in the LUT browser under Blackmagic Design. Blackmagic also publishes them on its support site for use in other editors.

The naming is literal once you know the pattern: a transform named *Film to Rec.709* takes log footage to a standard viewing space, and the generation is part of the name. Anything called *Film to Video* is doing the same job under an older label.

If you are new to what a conversion transform actually is, [what is a LUT](https://batchtone.com/blog/what-is-a-lut) covers the idea, and [colour correction vs colour grading](https://batchtone.com/blog/color-grading-vs-color-correction) covers why the conversion is not the grade.

## The part that surprises people: you may not want a LUT at all

For Blackmagic footage specifically, a LUT is often the second-best tool.

BRAW is not a baked image. It carries gamma and gamut in metadata, which means Resolve can decode it correctly without any transform sitting on the node tree. Turn on colour management, tell it your output is Rec.709, and the conversion happens as part of decoding rather than as a layer you applied.

That matters because a baked LUT clips. Anything pushed above the top of the transform is gone by the time you reach for it, and on a shot where the sky was the point, that is the shot. Colour management keeps the range available and converts at the end.

The honest rule: inside Resolve, prefer colour management for BRAW. Reach for the LUT when you are in another editor, when you are sending a rough cut to someone who just needs to see it, or when you need the same fixed look across a folder of files.

[BRAW to Rec.709](https://batchtone.com/blog/braw-to-rec709) goes further into why the codec changes the job. For the other cameras the shape is the same and the transform differs: [S-Log3](https://batchtone.com/blog/sony-slog3-to-rec709) on Sony, [D-Log](https://batchtone.com/blog/dlog-to-rec709) on DJI, [C-Log](https://batchtone.com/blog/canon-clog-to-rec709) on Canon.

## Applying one, in Resolve and elsewhere

In Resolve, the LUT browser is the short route: right-click the transform and apply it to the clip, or drop it on a node. The longer route (a LUT set on the colour page node) is the one to use when you want it before your own adjustments rather than after. [How to add LUTs to DaVinci Resolve](https://batchtone.com/blog/add-luts-davinci-resolve) has the exact steps.

Outside Resolve the LUT is a plain `.cube` file and behaves like any other: [Premiere](https://batchtone.com/blog/premiere-pro-luts), [Final Cut Pro](https://batchtone.com/blog/final-cut-pro-color-grading), [After Effects](https://batchtone.com/blog/after-effects-luts).

The order is the same everywhere and it is not negotiable: convert first, adjust exposure second, add a look third. Putting a creative LUT straight on Blackmagic Film gives the muddy, over-contrasted result that gets blamed on the camera. [Colour grading basics](https://batchtone.com/blog/color-grading-basics) is the longer version of that order.

## Where it stops being a five-minute job

One clip is trivial. A card is not.

Sixty clips means sixty times: import, apply, check, adjust, move on. The transform is identical every time, same camera and same generation, so the repetition earns nothing. Adjustment layers help when every clip was exposed identically, and most shoots are not: the light moved, you rode the iris, and a handful of clips need the transform pulled back.

And if the deliverable is not a Resolve timeline at all (dailies for a client, selects for a producer, a folder someone needs to look at today), then opening a grading application to convert files is the wrong shape of tool for the job.

## How BatchTone handles it

Drop the folder of MOV clips in (BatchTone does not read BRAW), pick the Film to Rec.709 transform for your generation, and every clip takes it. A frame is pulled from each and previewed with the LUT applied, so the judgement happens on your own footage rather than on faith.

- Clips that need less take the strength slider down; the rest stay put.
- Audio is copied across untouched rather than re-encoded.
- Encoding uses the Mac's own hardware encoder, so a card is not an overnight job.
- Originals are never written to; exports land in a folder you choose.
- Malformed `.cube` files are repaired on the way in.

It is the [whole-card version](https://batchtone.com/batch-lut-video) of the job, not a replacement for grading. When a shot deserves a real grade, it still deserves Resolve. There is a [seven-day trial](https://batchtone.com/download) with everything unlocked, which is the honest way to check it reads what your camera writes.

## Common questions

### Where are the Blackmagic LUTs in DaVinci Resolve?

In the LUT browser on the colour page, under Blackmagic Design. They install with Resolve, so there is usually nothing to download.

### Do I need a LUT for BRAW?

No. BRAW carries gamma and gamut as metadata, so Resolve's colour management can convert without one. A LUT is for other editors, quick viewing copies, or a fixed look across a folder.

### What is the difference between Gen 4 and Gen 5?

Gen 5 has a gentler highlight roll-off and lands closer to a finished image. Applying a Gen 4 conversion to Gen 5 footage, or the reverse, gives crushed blacks or clipped highlights.

### Can I use Blackmagic LUTs on footage from another camera?

You can, and it will be wrong. A conversion LUT is built for one log curve. For a Sony or Canon file, use that manufacturer's transform and add a creative LUT afterwards if you want the Blackmagic look.

### Why does my footage look worse after the LUT?

Almost always the wrong generation, or a creative LUT applied directly to log instead of after the conversion. Check those two before blaming the exposure.

**About this article.** Written by the team that builds BatchTone, a macOS app that applies .cube LUTs to whole folders of photos and video. Spotted something wrong or out of date? Write to [support@batchtone.com](mailto:support@batchtone.com).

## Read next

How-to 19 September 2026 · 4 min read

## [DaVinci Resolve LUTs: how to add and apply them](https://batchtone.com/blog/add-luts-davinci-resolve)

Copy the .cube into Resolve's LUT folder, press Update Lists in Project Settings, and the LUT appears in the Colour page browser. Apply it to a node, to a whole timeline, or per clip through Clip Attributes.

[Read it](https://batchtone.com/blog/add-luts-davinci-resolve)

Explainers 19 September 2026 · 4 min read

## [What is a LUT? The whole idea in five minutes](https://batchtone.com/blog/what-is-a-lut)

LUT stands for lookup table. In video and photo editing, a LUT is a file that says, for a grid of input colours, what each one should come out as. Applying a LUT means looking up every pixel in that grid and interpolating between the nearest entries.

[Read it](https://batchtone.com/blog/what-is-a-lut)

Explainers 21 September 2026 · 4 min read

## [Colour grading basics: the order that makes it easy](https://batchtone.com/blog/color-grading-basics)

Work in this order: convert out of log if you shot log, set exposure, set white balance, match every clip to one reference, then apply the look. Four of those five are technical and have a correct answer you can verify on a scope. Only the last is taste, and it is far quicker than people expect once the first four are done properly.

[Read it](https://batchtone.com/blog/color-grading-basics)

## One look. A whole shoot.

BatchTone applies your .cube LUTs across photos and video at once, with a strength dial on every file. Seven-day trial, everything unlocked.

[Download for macOS](https://apps.apple.com/app/batchtone/id6821727167)