A LUT file has no intensity setting. The tool adds it, so 60% means each pixel lands 60% of the way from where it was to where the LUT would put it.
Why would you lower a LUT's intensity?
Because a LUT is built on someone else's footage. A creative look made on a sunset will push a midday shot too far, and a conversion made for a correctly exposed clip will crush one that was already bright.
The common reasons, in order:
- The look is too strong overall. Most creative packs are tuned to show off in a preview. Many only become usable well below 100%, and only your footage can tell you where.
- One shot reacts badly. A sky clips, or skin tones turn orange, while the rest of the card looks right.
- The exposure varies across a shoot. Clips that were brighter or darker than the rest take the same LUT differently.
What intensity cannot do is fix the wrong LUT. If the file was built for another camera profile, lowering it gives you a weaker version of the wrong result.
Should you lower a conversion LUT?
Usually not. A conversion LUT, such as log to Rec.709, is a technical mapping. At 100% it does what the camera maker designed. Below 100% part of the flat log image shows through, so the picture gets lighter shadows, less contrast and less saturation.
That is sometimes exactly what one shot needs. A clip that came out too contrasty after conversion can sit at 80% while the rest of the card stays at 100%. It is a per-shot correction, though, and the Rec.709 LUT guide explains why the conversion itself should be the right file first. If your footage looks grey before any LUT, log footage explained covers why.
A creative look is the opposite case. It is a matter of taste, and a strength below 100% is normal.
Where is the intensity control in each app?
| Tool | Where the control is | Per file across a batch |
|---|---|---|
| Final Cut Pro | Custom LUT effect, Mix slider | One clip at a time |
| Premiere Pro | Lumetri, Creative, Look, Intensity slider | One clip at a time |
| Premiere Pro, Input LUT | No intensity control | Not available |
| DaVinci Resolve | The node's Key Output Gain | One node per clip |
| After Effects | Lumetri Look intensity, or effect opacity | One layer at a time |
| Photoshop | Color Lookup layer opacity | One file at a time |
| Affinity Photo | LUT adjustment layer opacity | One file at a time |
| Lightroom | Profile Amount slider, once the LUT is a profile | Same amount when synced |
| CapCut | LUT strength slider | One clip at a time |
| ffmpeg | No setting; a hand-written blend | One command per strength |
| BatchTone | A strength slider on every file | Yes, each file its own |
Every one of these does the same arithmetic. What changes is how much work it takes to give forty files forty different amounts.
How do you lower LUT intensity in the video editors?
Final Cut Pro. Add the Custom LUT effect, choose the .cube, and drag Mix. It is the cleanest version of this control in any editor, and Final Cut's colour workflow covers applying it across a project.
Premiere Pro. Load the LUT under Creative, Look, and use the Intensity slider under it. The Input LUT slot in Basic Correction has no intensity at all, which is a problem because that is the slot meant for conversions. The workaround is a Lumetri effect on an adjustment layer above the clips, with the layer's opacity as the amount. The Premiere LUT guide explains the two slots.
DaVinci Resolve. Apply the LUT on its own node, then lower Key Output Gain in the Key palette. That scales how much of that node's change reaches the image. The steps for loading LUTs in the first place are in adding LUTs to Resolve.
After Effects. The Lumetri Look slot has an intensity slider, and the Apply Color LUT effect has none, so you use opacity on an adjustment layer. LUTs in After Effects compares the routes.
How do you lower LUT intensity on photos?
Photoshop and Affinity Photo. Put the LUT on an adjustment layer and lower its opacity. In Photoshop that is a Color Lookup layer, and it batches through an action, as in the Photoshop batch route. The action records one opacity, so every file in the batch gets the same amount.
Lightroom. Lightroom does not read .cube files. The LUT has to become a profile in Photoshop first, and a profile created with the amount option gets an Amount slider in Lightroom. Synced settings copy one amount to every selected photo.
Command line. ffmpeg has no strength option on its lut3d filter. You split the image, grade one copy and mix it back with a blend expression. The full command is in applying a LUT with ffmpeg.
What goes wrong when you lower intensity?
Three things to watch:
- Shadows lift. With a conversion LUT, the further below 100% you go, the more washed the picture looks, because the flat log image is showing through. Judge it on a dark area of the frame.
- Colours shift as they fade. A look that changes hue, such as teal shadows, does not get uniformly weaker. The tint fades faster in some tones than others. Check skin before you commit.
- The export looks different from the preview. In editors the usual cause is a colour management setting on export. Compare the exported file before running a batch.
How do you give every file its own amount?
In the editors, by hand: open each clip, set its slider, move to the next. Fine for a dozen. For a card of a hundred clips, or a folder of four hundred photos, that is most of the work.
BatchTone is built around that control. Drop a folder of photos and clips in, pick one .cube, and every file gets a strength slider beside its preview. A file you have not touched follows the global setting, so you only adjust the few that need it. Photos and video use the same blend arithmetic, so a clip at 50% and a photo at 50% land on the same values, and the export matches the preview. It does not stack a second LUT or adjust exposure, and it runs on macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon. Batch applying a LUT to video shows the formats, and there is a seven-day trial with everything unlocked.
Common questions
Is LUT intensity the same as opacity?
In practice, yes. Both mix the graded image with the original in proportion. Intensity, Mix, Key Output Gain and opacity are different names for the same blend.
Can you set a LUT above 100%?
Some tools allow it. Lightroom's profile Amount slider goes past 100 for creative profiles. Pushing a LUT beyond what it was built for tends to clip colours quickly, so treat it as an experiment.
Does lowering intensity reduce quality?
No. The blend is a calculation on each pixel and costs nothing in itself. Quality is lost in the export settings.
Why does my LUT look stronger in one app than another?
Usually the colour space is interpreted differently, or the LUT is loaded in the wrong slot. Check that both apps treat the footage the same way before blaming the file.