Videos take the top place in terms of engagement and attraction, pushing the still images behind. It finds popularity all, including Instagram Reels, Facebook cover video, and without a doubt, in YouTube. Although you will find millions of videos on the Internet, do you know why certain ones leave their impression as favorites in your mind? It could be the concept or the lyrics, visuals, sound, favorite scene, or image that will come to your remembrance.
Such bright or colorful images seem flawless on the screen as they are the color grading rendered ones due to the incredible work of video color correction software. To get more in detail, explore today’s article to find the top 7 video color grading software.
- The fastest color grading software for Final Cut Pro. A simple interface, efficient workflow, real-time processing, and semi-automated functionality make color grading on Color Finale® 2 incredibly fast. The most complete color grading toolset. Color grading and advanced image processing, all in one package, and all on your Final Cut Pro timeline.
- For the Mac users out there, Final Cut Pro X is one of the finest color grading software that offers high-edged specs for the pro editors. With its intuitive layout and easy-to-accomplish features, Final Cut Pro X signatures a club of dedicated color grading tools including color wheels, color curves, keyframes, and customizing hue/saturation.
- If you are a Mac user looking for the best software for color grading for the said platform, we suggest giving Final Cut Pro a go! The robust tool offers color grading services even in 8K resolution. Furthermore, much like the Adobe Premiere Pro software, it provides a built-in color inspector, containing functions like color wheels and hue.
Introducing Color, Apple's new professional color grading application. Quickly and easily experiment with primary and secondary color grade adjustments for SD, HD, and even 2K projects.
What is Color Grading, and why is it necessary?
There are times where even after hiring a professional videographer or renting a video studio, your video doesn't come out the way you imagined. Due to the imperfect background or surrounding or lighting, this is where the importance of color grading rises. It is the phase or process to improve or enhance the image by adjusting various factors like saturation, brightness, color, contrast, and playing it on multiple devices.
Such color correction or color grading is necessary to create artistic color effects, blend and composite different images into coordination. Before finalizing the image, making this impactful tweak can bring your shot into life as no viewers or audience loves a lifeless portrait. Below is a scene from the footage of 'House on Pine Street' that shows the difference between the original shot and the color-graded one.
Source: fstoppers.com
Best 7 Video Color Grading Software
As making color correction by adjusting properties on your DSLR camera or any other photography kit doesn't work, digital or technical assistance from the video color grading software is preferable by the video editors. So, we have separated two sections regarding video color correction software for both beginners and professionals.
Best 4 Video Color Grading Software for Beginners
Few factors to consider by a beginner or a newbie before choosing a video color grading software are user-friendly interface, advanced features, and style. Thus, here is Wondershare Filmii as the first option. With a simple interface, the user can personalize the clip flexibility by adjusting the effects like brightness, saturation, and so on, along with the access to broad stylized filters.
Color Correction Software
Price: Free trial, Annual ($39.99), month ($9.99)
Platform: Windows
Filmii Video Editor
For Win | System Requirements
Attractive video templates for different needs
Various customizable titles for social media
Beautiful Stickers & Motion Elements
Abundant stylized filters and overlays
Pros
- Sliders for easy color grading.
- In-built stylish templates.
- 24/7 customer support.
- Money-back guarantee.
Cons
- The free version provides watermarked videos.
Wondershare Filmora
Here is again a tool from the house of Wondershare loaded with excellent color grading features for beginners. It is none other than Filmora. Designed professionally, with Filmora's color grading feature, you can personalize your video creation and impose a Hollywood feel that you wouldn't have experienced ever before. LUT, histogram, and the comparison view are the other impressive color grading features of Filmora!
Price: Free, Annual ($39.99)
Platform: Mac and Windows
Pros
- Basic and advanced video editing features.
- Simple and easy-to-use.
- Social media sharing abilities.
- It supports 4K and DCI 4K resolution videos.
Cons
- To unlock advanced features, you need a paid plan.
Designed primarily to create and edit videos, Movavi video editor plus 2021 is introduced for the inspired. It is an intuitive video color correction software that lets you enjoy lightning-fast-file processing and rendering images with essential editing tools. Movavi has other tools like titles, transitions, stickers, animation, Chroma key, and speed motion.
Price: Free, Lifetime [$39.95]
Platform: Mac and Windows
Source: movavi.com
Pros
- Easy, refined user-interface.
- Keyframe animation and readymade intros.
- Drag-and-drop action, cool effects, and transitions.
- Fast-processing, timeline markers, and screen recording.
Cons
- Color grading feature needs improvement like LUT, histogram.
- It lacks the copy/paste video effect.
Shotcut
With cross-platform reliability, here is Shotcut as our last video color grading software for beginners. This advanced software allows you to perform color grading along with lens correction levels, 3D LUT, mask, RGB shift, white balance, unpremultiply alpha, and so on. With Shotcut, you can also get access to other video-related functions like deinterlacing, keyframes, video scopes, scrubbing, scaling, and 3-point editing.
Price: Free
Platform: Mac, Windows, and Linux
Source: shotcut.org
Pros
- Packed with surplus video/audio editing tools.
- Video generator plugins.
- HDR to SDR tone mapping.
- Free and open-source video editor.
Cons
- The interface is quite messy and cramped.
Best 3 Video Color Grading Software for Professionals
If you are a professional, then here is a list of the three best video color correction software you must know!
Developed for the professionals, here is Premiere Pro from Adobe. Loaded with innovative tools for compelling storytelling, Premiere Pro lets you stay in a creative flow. Suppose you are wondering what makes Premiere Pro the best video color grading software. In that case, note the Lumetri color tools that allow you to make selective color grading accurately and efficiently with the curve adjustments of paired values.
Price: Free trial (14 days), Annual ($20.99/month), Monthly ($31.49/month)
Platform: Mac, Windows
Source: adobe.com
Pros
- Automated tools powered by Adobe Sensei.
- Wide support from 8K to virtual reality.
- It works seamlessly with other apps like Adobe Photoshop.
- VR video editing.
Cons
- Slow rendering speed.
- Critical UX errors.
Final Cut Pro
Mac users widely prefer Final Cut Pro next to iMovie, a professional video editing tool often criticized for its simple design but surprisingly, it has surplus features. It is a software from Apple that has advanced color grading features bringing every pixel closer to perfection. With a dedicated color inspector, color wheels, and color curves, you can adjust hue/saturation easily.
Price: Free, one-time cost ($299.99)
Platform: Mac
Source: apple.com
Pros
- Keyframes to adjust corrections.
- Creative LUTs for a perfect look.
- Support over HDR video.
- Traditional unique color control wheels.
Cons
- The interface of Final Cut Pro is quite clunky.
- Automatically adds LUT at times.
Developed from Color Trix Ltd particularly for professional color grading in Final Cut Pro, Color Finale is our last video color correction software on the list. It is a fully featured, professional suite built for the color grading purpose to deliver high-end post-production. Widely preferred by videographers, vloggers, and colorists, it is a simple yet efficient tool to perform split toning, image mask, film gain emulation, LUT creative layer, white balance tool, and color picker.
Price: Free, $99
Platform: Mac
Source: colorfinale.com
Pros
- Streamlined UI for faster grading.
- No round-tripping is required.
- Effective LUT management.
- It covers color grading layers tutorial.
Cons
- Vector control handling isn’t simple.
Conclusion
Is it the first video project of your career or business or YouTube channel? It's time to say goodbye to the imperfect video or dull image with the above-discussed video color correction software. Lastly, if you are neither a professional nor a beginner, Filmii and Wondershare Filmora are the best one-stop solution for your video editing!
Instantly tweak the look of your footage with this collection of 52 stunning free color grading presets.
Top image via Shutterstock
Looking for some instant color grades to change the overall look of your next project? These free color grading presets work great in Final Cut Pro X, Premiere Pro, and After Effects.
Hollywood Color: 14 Free Premiere Pro Lumetri Looks
PremiumBeat put together fourteen free movie-inspired Lumetri Looks for Premiere Pro. You can easily apply these to your standard footage and get the look of popular films like The Martian, Saving Private Ryan, and Blade Runner. Take a look at a few of the looks in this highlight video from PremiumBeat.
You can download Hollywood Looks on the PremiumBeat blog.
Vintage: 10 Free Color Presets for Final Cut Pro X
For Final Cut Pro X editors, check out these freevintage color grading presets. These are great for getting that indie-film look and feel. Preview the free FCPX color presets in this video from Shutterstock.
You can download the ten free vintage Final Cut Pro X Color on Shutterstock.
PremiumGrades: 20 Free Color Grading Presets for After Effects
Another great collection from PremiumBeat, these twenty free color presets are designed for use in After Effects. The presets were created specifically for short films, style pieces, and motion graphics projects. See all twenty free color presets in this video from PremiumBeat.
You can download the twenty free premium color grades on PremiumBeat.
Free Colour Grading Software Mac Free
DSLR: 8 Free Color Grading Presets for Premiere Pro and After Effects
These eight free After Effects color grades are designed for DSLR footage. They come from Ugly McGregor via Indie Tips. Included in the pack are four looks, with files compatible with Premiere Pro and After Effects. These were obviously created for those users shooting on DSLR and mirrorless cameras.
What are some of your favorite looks? Let us know in the comments below.
Free Colour Grading Software Machine
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