Was dead set against using presets in my edits...

I always thought presets were cheating until I watched a timelapse from a guy who builds his own. He showed how he tweaks each one for the specific shot, and it made me realize I was just wasting hours redoing the same color work every time. Has anyone else found a preset pack that actually saves you time instead of looking fake?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.aaron11d ago

Keep them if you want but you're just learning someone else's eye instead of developing your own. I spent two years grinding out manual grades before I even looked at a LUT pack and I can tell the difference instantly when someone relies on presets. Saw this dude's insta reel the other day where every clip had that same teal and orange crush and it just looked like a factory line. You lose the ability to fix weird lighting situations if you're always reaching for a shortcut.

nancythomas11d ago

idk, I read somewhere that a lot of famous colorists actually start with a basic LUT just to get a feel for the scene and then tweak everything from there. Like, it's more about knowing how to adjust than just slapping something on and calling it done. Maybe the shortcut thing is real if you never learn the basics though.