Using Look Lut

Choose the folder where your .cube files live. Look Lut scans it recursively, so subfolders show up in the sidebar, so a pack like “Film Emulation / Kodak” keeps its structure. There is no import step and no library size limit; the folder stays where it is.

Open the image or clip you're actually grading. For video, scrub to a representative frame, and every thumbnail in the grid re-renders on that exact frame. Pick a frame with skin tones if the shot has people; that's where LUTs differ the most.

Thumbnails render on demand as you scroll, on the GPU, so even a folder with thousands of LUTs opens instantly. Duplicate files are detected automatically (by content, not file name) and every copy gets a yellow badge. Flip on Hide Duplicates in the grid header to collapse them.

Clicking a cell opens the selection panel with a large preview and every action. Hovering never changes anything; the preview only follows your selection, so you can move the mouse freely.

Hold Space to flash the original frame, release to come back. Do it a few times fast, and the flicker shows you exactly what the LUT is doing.

Hover a cell and click the checkmark (top-left) to mark it as a candidate. Candidates persist per library and collect in their own sidebar row. The star (bottom-right) is a one-click favorite; the wand opens the FCP install sheet.

Free compares two candidates at a time. With Pro, press Compare to put your whole shortlist side by side on the current frame, however many candidates it holds. Space works here too.

Double-click a cell (or press ⏎) to open the detail editor. Use ←/→ to step through neighboring LUTs without going back to the grid.

Dial the LUT's intensity, then white balance, exposure, vibrance, contrast and saturation. Every slider drag is one undo step, so ⌘Z / ⇧⌘Z walk the history.

Toggle Scopesin the header for histogram, waveform and vectorscope (with the skin-tone line) that track every change live. The sidebar's skin-tone patch strip shows standard ColorChecker tones and gray steps through the current look, an instant “does this wreck skin?” check.

Export the graded frame as a PNG with Free. With Pro, bake the LUT and your adjustments into a brand-new .cube file you can use anywhere.

Press the wand on a cell, or the FCP install button in the top bar to install the whole candidate set. Pick a category name, confirm, and each LUT becomes a Motion effect template in FCP's Effects browser, with a preview thumbnail rendered through that LUT. A whole folder can be installed from its right-click menu.

The free build installs 5 per batch: the first 5 go over and the rest stay selected for the next batch, so nothing is cancelled and no selection is lost. Look Lut Pro sends the whole folder at once.

For log footage normalization, the context menu can copy .cube files into FCP's Camera LUTs folder instead, where they appear in the inspector's Camera LUT dropdown, which applies before any grade.

The manage sheet (sidebar bottom bar) lists everything Look Lut ever installed, grouped by category, with a drift status per effect: up to date, source LUT changed, source missing, or removed outside the app. Update or remove per effect; Look Lut Pro brings every drifted effect back in line with one click. Cells in the grid show a wand or camera badge when their LUT is installed.

Turn on Favorites sync once and your starred LUTs mirror into a “Look Lut Favorites” category in FCP automatically. Star a look to add it; unstar it to remove it. Look Lut keeps the category up to date.