---
title: Color Grading
description: "Apply real-time color grading, presets, LUTs, vignette, grain, blur, and pixelate to video and image media in Studio and final renders."
---

HyperFrames Studio can color grade project-local `<video>` and `<img>` media directly in the preview. The same `data-color-grading` settings are used by the render pipeline, so the exported video should match the look you preview.

This is a lightweight media color tool for generated videos, uploaded footage, social variants, and agent-authored compositions. It is not a DaVinci Resolve, Premiere, ACES, or OCIO finishing pipeline.

## What Is New

| Capability | Status | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Studio Color Grading panel | Supported | Appears on selected `<video>` and `<img>` elements. |
| Manual controls | Supported | Exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, white point, black point, warmth, tint, vibrance, saturation. |
| Presets | Supported | Named HyperFrames presets backed by shader settings, not bundled third-party LUT packs. |
| Custom LUT upload | Supported | Project-local 3D `.cube` LUT files with strength control. |
| Finishing | Supported | Vignette and grain, with advanced settings behind the settings icon. |
| Effects | Supported | Blur and pixelate on the selected media surface. |
| Before preview | Supported | Hold the compare button to temporarily show the ungraded media. |
| Render parity | Supported | The render pipeline redraws the color-grading shader after video-frame injection. |

Studio labels `whites`, `blacks`, and `temperature` as White Point, Black Point, and Warmth. Use the JSON keys shown in the data shape when authoring `data-color-grading` by hand or through an agent.

## Support Matrix

| Source / workflow | Supported? | What to expect |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1080p SDR video | Yes | Best default path. Good for most uploaded/generated MP4/WebM/MOV media that browsers can decode. |
| 4K SDR video | Yes | Works when the browser and machine can decode it. Preview/render cost is higher. A 4K source only produces 4K output when the composition/render is also 4K. |
| 1080p / 4K images | Yes | Works on normal project-local images. Output resolution follows the element/composition render size, not hidden extra detail beyond that size. |
| iPhone SDR video | Yes | Treat as normal SDR media when it is tagged/decoded as SDR. |
| iPhone HDR / HLG / Dolby Vision-style uploads | Partial | The media can be loaded if browser/FFmpeg support the file, and Studio warns when HDR metadata is detected. The live Color Grading shader is still an SDR preview path, not true HDR grading. Use the existing [HDR Rendering](/guides/hdr) pipeline for HDR delivery and verify the output. |
| HDR render output | Related, not new | HyperFrames already has HDR render support. Color Grading does not yet provide HDR-aware grading controls. |
| LOG camera footage | Partial | Sliders and LUTs can be applied, but HyperFrames does not auto-detect camera LOG profiles or apply ACES/OCIO input transforms. Use a matching conversion/look LUT if you know the source profile. |
| Rec.709 creative LUTs | Yes | Best LUT path today. Use project-local 3D `.cube` files. |
| Camera conversion LUTs | Partial | Technically accepted if they are supported 3D `.cube` files, but correctness depends on the source footage matching the LUT's expected input color space. |
| Full-scene grading including text/DOM | Not yet | Color Grading is media-only. Captions, text, SVG, and regular DOM overlays stay unchanged. |
| Remote media URLs | Partial | WebGL pixel processing requires compatible CORS headers. Project-local assets are the reliable path. |
| Professional ACES/OCIO/HDR finishing | Not yet | Future render/color-management work, not this Studio shader path. |

## How It Works

Color grading is stored on media elements as `data-color-grading`:

```html index.html
<video
  id="hero-video"
  src="assets/hero.mp4"
  data-start="0"
  data-duration="6"
  muted
  playsinline
  data-color-grading='{
    "preset":"clean-studio",
    "intensity":0.85,
    "adjust":{
      "exposure":0.05,
      "contrast":0.08,
      "highlights":-0.08,
      "shadows":0.06,
      "vibrance":0.04,
      "saturation":0.04
    },
    "details":{
      "vignette":0.08,
      "vignetteFeather":0.72,
      "grain":0.12,
      "grainSize":0.25,
      "grainRoughness":0.55
    },
    "effects":{
      "blur":0.08
    },
    "colorSpace":"rec709"
  }'
></video>
```

The runtime creates a sibling WebGL canvas for the media element, samples the current video or image frame, applies shader uniforms, then hides the native media only after a shader frame is ready.

<Note>
Color Grading is intentionally **media-only**. It applies to `<video>` and `<img>` sources. Captions, text, divs, SVG, and UI graphics remain ungraded unless you render them into media first.
</Note>

<Note>
Project-local media is the safest path. Remote media must be served with compatible CORS headers and should use `crossorigin="anonymous"` when pixel processing is needed.
</Note>

## Data Shape

```json
{
  "preset": "natural-lift",
  "intensity": 1,
  "adjust": {
    "exposure": 0,
    "contrast": 0,
    "highlights": 0,
    "shadows": 0,
    "whites": 0,
    "blacks": 0,
    "temperature": 0,
    "tint": 0,
    "vibrance": 0,
    "saturation": 0
  },
  "details": {
    "vignette": 0,
    "vignetteMidpoint": 0.5,
    "vignetteRoundness": 0,
    "vignetteFeather": 0.65,
    "grain": 0,
    "grainSize": 0.25,
    "grainRoughness": 0.5
  },
  "effects": {
    "blur": 0,
    "pixelate": 0
  },
  "lut": {
    "src": "assets/luts/look.cube",
    "intensity": 0.75
  },
  "colorSpace": "rec709"
}
```

Omit `enabled`; the presence of `data-color-grading` implies that grading is active. All numeric controls are clamped by the runtime. The current color grading path is Rec.709/sRGB-oriented and assumes browser-decoded media frames.

## Custom LUTs

HyperFrames supports project-local 3D `.cube` LUT files:

```html index.html
<img
  src="assets/product.jpg"
  data-color-grading='{
    "lut":{"src":"assets/luts/product-pop.cube","intensity":0.7}
  }'
/>
```

Use `.cube` LUTs when users already have a look from another editor or camera workflow.

- HyperFrames currently supports 3D `.cube` LUTs for this path.
- 3D cube LUTs up to `LUT_3D_SIZE 64` are supported.
- 1D `.cube` LUTs and mixed 1D+3D LUT files are not supported yet.
- Supported headers include common `DOMAIN_MIN` / `DOMAIN_MAX` and DaVinci/IRIDAS-style `LUT_3D_INPUT_RANGE`.
- LUTs are not universal. A LUT looks correct only when the source footage roughly matches the LUT's expected input color space.
- Rec.709 creative LUTs are the safest fit today.
- LOG/camera conversion LUTs can be used, but HyperFrames does not yet manage camera color profiles for you.

## Render Behavior

Color Grading is part of the media runtime, so render uses the same settings as Studio preview. During render, HyperFrames injects exact video frames and asks the color-grading runtime to redraw before capture.

For 4K output, use the existing [4K Rendering](/guides/4k-rendering) workflow. Color Grading can run at 4K when the composition/render surface is 4K, but a 1080p source video does not become sharper just because the final render is 4K.

For HDR output, use the existing [HDR Rendering](/guides/hdr) workflow. Color Grading currently warns on detected HDR media, but the grading controls themselves are not HDR-aware.

When grading a video, animate opacity on a wrapper element instead of directly on the `<video>` element. The runtime hides the native media and draws the graded result through a sibling canvas, so wrapper opacity preserves preview/render parity.

## What Belongs Where

| User wants | Use |
| --- | --- |
| Make uploaded footage look cleaner | Color Grading preset + adjust controls |
| Use a look from another editor | Custom 3D `.cube` LUT |
| Add polish to a product shot | Vignette, subtle grain, contrast, vibrance |
| Blur or pixelate selected media | Effects inside Color Grading |
| Make a presenter float over graphics | Existing [Remove Background](/guides/remove-background) workflow |
| Put text behind a presenter | Existing `remove-background --background-output` workflow |
| Render HDR delivery files | Existing [HDR Rendering](/guides/hdr) workflow |
| Render 4K | Existing [4K Rendering](/guides/4k-rendering) workflow |
| Remove a person and reconstruct the room | External video inpainting, not HyperFrames background removal |
| Green screen keying | Preprocess with FFmpeg `chromakey` or a future HyperFrames command |
| Grade every pixel in the full scene including captions/DOM | Future compositor or render post-process |
| Professional ACES/OCIO color pipeline | Future high-fidelity color-management pipeline |

## Agent-Friendly Examples

For AI agents, keep the instruction declarative:

```text
Apply a clean studio preset to assets/interview.mp4, reduce highlights slightly,
lift shadows, add subtle vignette, and keep captions ungraded.
```

Expected markup:

```html index.html
<video
  id="interview"
  src="assets/interview.mp4"
  data-start="0"
  data-duration="6"
  muted
  playsinline
  data-color-grading='{
    "preset":"clean-studio",
    "intensity":0.8,
    "adjust":{"highlights":-0.08,"shadows":0.08},
    "details":{"vignette":0.08}
  }'
></video>
```

## Related Guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Remove Background" icon="scissors" href="/guides/remove-background">
    Create transparent video/image cutouts for presenter and product overlays.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Rendering" icon="film" href="/guides/rendering#transparent-background">
    Render transparent overlays and final MP4/WebM/MOV outputs.
  </Card>
  <Card title="HDR Rendering" icon="sun" href="/guides/hdr">
    Render HDR10 outputs when your project uses HDR video or image sources.
  </Card>
  <Card title="4K Rendering" icon="up-right-and-down-left-from-center" href="/guides/4k-rendering">
    Render at 4K and understand what supersampling does and does not improve.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>