How to use a .cube LUT in Blender

Blender's compositor has no node that reads a .cube file. The built-in route is to add the LUT to an OpenColorIO config.

Free way: an OCIO look

1. Copy Blender's colormanagement folder somewhere you can edit.
2. Add your .cube file and a Look entry that points to it in config.ocio.
3. Start Blender with the OCIO environment variable set to your config.
4. Pick the look under Color Management > Look.

It works but every machine, and every render farm node, needs the same config.

Film emulation LUTs for DaVinci Resolve, Premiere and Final Cut

A LUT changes colour only. It can give you the colour of a film stock. It cannot add grain, halation or gate weave.

How to use a .cube LUT

1. DaVinci Resolve: put the file in the LUT folder (Project Settings > Color Management > Open LUT Folder), refresh, then apply it to a node.
2. Premiere Pro: Lumetri Color > Creative > Look > Browse.
3. Final Cut Pro: Effects > Custom LUT, then choose the file.
4. Apply it after your basic correction, then lower its strength if it is too much.

How to add film grain in Blender

Film grain is fine noise that changes every frame. In Blender you add it after the render, in the compositor.

Free way

1. Make a noise image (a Noise texture rendered to an image, or a grain scan you are allowed to use).
2. In the compositor, add it with a Mix node set to Overlay or Soft Light, at low strength.
3. For moving grain, use an image sequence or offset the texture per frame with a driver.

Grain that does not move looks like dirt on the lens. Render farms also need the grain image packed into the file.

The tool I made for this

I make and sell Film Look. One-click film stocks for Blender: grain, halation, LUTs and grading in the compositor. Runs on every GPU.