Why your LUT looks wrong in DaVinci Resolve

Almost always one of three settings, and none of them is the LUT. Color science set to Color Managed, the clip decoded as something it is not, or the LUT sitting in the wrong place in the node order. Each one makes a correct file produce a wrong picture, and each looks like a bad LUT.

If the file is not showing up in the menu at all, that is a different problem and it is here. This page is for when the LUT loads and the picture is wrong.

Don't have LUTs for your camera yet? PursuitLuts makes them for RED, Canon, Sony and Nikon, with the camera's color conversion built in.

1. Put the files where Resolve looks

Open Project Settings, go to Color Management, and click Open LUT Folder. Resolve opens the folder it reads LUTs from. Copy your folder of .cube files into it. Give the folder a name you'll recognize, because that name becomes the menu you pick from later.

Then click Update Lists, still in Color Management. Without that, Resolve keeps showing the list it read when it started.

2. Apply it to a node

Resolve's Color page works in boxes called nodes. Right-click a node, choose LUT, then your folder, then the file. For PursuitLuts, that's PursuitLuts, then Web, TV or Cinema, then your look. You can also drag a LUT from the LUTs panel onto a node.

Replaced a file with a new version of the same name? Resolve may keep using the old copy. Right-click the folder in the LUT browser, choose Refresh, then apply it again.

3. Put it last

Put the LUT on your last node. Each PursuitLuts file holds both the camera conversion and the finished look, so for most shots that's the whole job.

If a shot needs fixing, brightness or color balance, do that first and leave the LUT last. Fixing first means working with everything the camera recorded. Detail in a bright sky or a dark shadow is still there to use, as long as the camera caught it. Fixing it afterwards means working with what's left after the picture has been squeezed to fit a screen.

Where to fix it. For RAW footage, the camera's unprocessed recording such as RED's, use the Camera Raw tab. Change exposure and white balance there. Otherwise add a node before the LUT. Use Offset for brightness, and Temp and Tint for color. Lift, Gamma and Gain behave oddly on a flat log picture.

Three settings that make a good LUT look wrong

• Color science. In Project Settings, Color Management, set it to DaVinci YRGB. That's the mode where Resolve leaves your colors alone and lets the LUT do the converting. The other modes convert your footage first, so the picture gets converted twice.
• Camera Raw. For RAW clips, open the Camera Raw tab. Set the color space and gamma to what your LUT expects. For RED that's REDWideGamutRGB and Log3G10. Set to anything else, the LUT gets a picture it wasn't made for.
• 3D LUT interpolation. Also in Color Management, choose Tetrahedral. A LUT stores a grid of colors, and Resolve fills in the gaps between them. Tetrahedral fills them in more accurately, especially in strong colors, and costs nothing.

Does it work in the free version?

Yes. Standard .cube LUTs load in the free version of DaVinci Resolve exactly as they do in Studio.

Why your LUT might still look wrong

If it looks harsh and too contrasty, the picture was probably converted before it reached the LUT. Check the color science setting above. If it still looks flat and gray, check the LUT is really on the last node. Then check the Camera Raw tab is set as described. Either way, the problem is what goes into the LUT, not the LUT itself.

Using Premiere or Final Cut instead? Each needs one setting changed first.

Updated 2026-09-13. All guides