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Workflow Playbook
Correct exposure and color in video, add a restrained LUT or filter look, and handle interlacing or HDR/SDR delivery separately.
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Start with an untouched copy and a short section that contains movement, a neutral surface, skin tones, shadows, and bright detail. Note whether the source is progressive or interlaced, whether it is HDR or SDR, and where the result will be viewed. Those facts determine whether scan normalization or range conversion is needed; they are not color-style choices.
If motion shows combing, use video-deinterlace before judging color. Then establish a neutral picture. Use video-brightness and video-contrast for exposure and tonal separation, and adjust video-saturation or video-hue for color intensity or a cast. When several controls need to move together, video-color-grading is the more coherent option. Save this result before adding a look.
Use video-lut-apply when the .cube LUT is meant for the source color space and the brief calls for a known look. For a simpler treatment, choose video-grayscale or video-sepia. A common failure is to use a strong style to hide clipped highlights, crushed shadows, or an incorrect white balance. Compare the styled clip with the neutral correction and reduce the look when it overwhelms picture detail.
If the corrected, styled clip must move between dynamic-range targets, use video-hdr-to-sdr or video-sdr-to-hdr in the required direction. Do not describe that conversion as grading. Check the final clip on a display class close to the target and confirm that neutral areas, skin tones, motion edges, and highlights remain believable before delivery.
Workflow playbook
View a moving section and a still frame before changing color. If combing appears, use video-deinterlace and keep the progressive output as the next input; otherwise leave the scan format unchanged.
Fix the picture before styling it. Use the individual brightness, contrast, saturation, and hue tools for isolated issues, or use video-color-grading when brightness, contrast, saturation, and gamma need coordinated adjustment. Save this neutral correction as an intermediate.
Choose the look that matches the brief: a known .cube LUT with video-lut-apply, or a simple monochrome or sepia treatment with video-grayscale or video-sepia. Compare it with the corrected intermediate so stylization does not mask crushed blacks or clipped highlights.
Only if the destination requires it, use video-hdr-to-sdr or video-sdr-to-hdr. Select one direction from the source and target, and treat the output as a delivery conversion rather than another grading pass; verify it on a target-like display.
If moving subjects show comb-like lines or the source is known to be interlaced, run video-deinterlace first and judge motion on the progressive result. Do not deinterlace progressive footage just because it is old or low quality.
Use video-brightness, video-contrast, video-saturation, or video-hue when one parameter needs a small, traceable change. Use video-color-grading when several tonal controls or gamma need to be balanced together, then compare against the source.
Apply video-lut-apply, video-grayscale, or video-sepia only after correction. Choose one creative direction and keep a corrected intermediate so a strong LUT or filter can be removed without repeating the technical pass.
Choose video-hdr-to-sdr for an HDR source going to an SDR target, or video-sdr-to-hdr for the reverse delivery requirement. Treat this as range and color-space conversion, and verify the result on the intended class of display.