Grade a video clip

Tone Caliper works with individual frames, not video timelines. It doesn't play, trim, or export video files.

Find your clips

MOV and MP4 clips appear alongside your photos in the Library, marked with a video badge and file type.

Unsupported clips won't appear. See Supported formats below.

iPhone Live Photos open as still images, without their video.

Choose a frame

Open a clip in the Editor. A filmstrip appears below the preview, along with the timecode and frame number.

• Scrub: Drag the filmstrip to move through the clip. Hold Shift for finer control.
• Step: Use ← and → to move one frame at a time. Hold Shift to jump one second.
• Jump: Press Home or End to reach the first or last frame. On Mac, you can also use ⌘+← and ⌘+→.

The preview updates as you scrub and settles on the exact frame when you release. The filmstrip may take a moment to load when you first open a clip.

Choose a frame with the lighting and colors you want to work on. Tone Caliper remembers your selected frame when you reopen the clip.

Grade the frame

Edit the selected frame as you would a photo. Color pins, curves, sliders, recipes, and imported LUTs all work with video clips.

Masks aren't available for video clips.

Your adjustments define a look for the entire clip. Move between frames to check how it holds up under different lighting and colors.

To reuse a grade across clips, right-click a graded clip and choose Copy look, then paste it onto other clips. Each clip keeps its own selected frame.

Export your LUT

1. Open Export (Ctrl+3) and select Videos, below Recently Edited.

2. Select the clips you want to export. The format switches to LUT (.cube).

3. Choose a LUT size: 33³ for cameras, monitors, and recorders, or 65³ for greater precision in grading software.

4. Click Export and choose a folder.

Each clip gets its own LUT, named after the source file. For example, DSCF0411_export.cube.

Quick export: Right-click a clip and choose Export LUT… to save a 65³ LUT directly.

If you select photos and videos together, everything exports as LUTs. Deselect the video clips to export photos as images.

LUTs carry color and tone adjustments, but not crops, grain, or finishing effects.

Use the LUT in your video editor

Import the .cube file into DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, or another LUT-compatible editor, then apply it to your footage.

LUTs use Rec.709/sRGB input and output values. For SDR footage already in that color space, no additional conversion is needed. Log footage needs special attention to color management.

For step-by-step instructions, see Use the LUT with SDR footage.

Supported formats

Tone Caliper supports .mov, .mp4, and .m4v clips with the following codecs:

This includes many phone recordings and 10-bit HEVC footage from mirrorless cameras, including Fujifilm's 6.2K open-gate recording.

Not supported

Unsupported clips don't appear in the Library.

• HDR: HLG, PQ, and Dolby Vision.
• H.264: 10-bit and 4:2:2.
• HEVC: 12-bit and 4:4:4.
• Other codecs: ProRes, AV1, VP9, and Motion JPEG.
• Other containers: .mts, .m2ts, .mkv, .webm, and .avi.

iPhones often record HDR by default. To record compatible SDR footage, turn off HDR Video in Settings → Camera → Record Video.

For unsupported footage, you can grade an exported still frame instead. See Grade a still from your footage.

Log footage

Log clips such as F-Log, S-Log3, and V-Log can open if their codec is supported.

Tone Caliper displays these clips as recorded, without converting them to Rec.709. They'll typically look flat and desaturated.

Because LUT exports use Rec.709/sRGB values, pay attention to your color-management settings when working with Log footage.

HEVC on Windows

Opening HEVC clips on Windows requires Microsoft's HEVC Video Extensions, also used for HEIF photos.

If the extensions are missing, HEVC clips won't show thumbnails, and opening one will prompt you to install them from the Microsoft Store.

On macOS, H.264 and HEVC work without additional installation.