A colorist's day is mostly matching, judging and protecting the picture: shots that must look like they were filmed at the same moment, a director's reference frame, a LUT someone found online, a deliverable that has to pass a check. cinemaOS grades inside the same project as the edit, so you work on the real, current cut rather than an exported reel, and you can hand back a finished film without a round trip. Here is how it handles a colorist's actual jobs, and where a dedicated grading suite is still the better tool.
The jobs you actually do
- Balance and correct every shot so scenes cut together.
- Match shots to each other and to a reference frame from the director.
- Build a look, and keep it consistent across a film or a series.
- Evaluate and repair LUTs before trusting them.
- Work in a known color pipeline from camera to delivery.
- Handle late picture changes without losing the grade.
- Deliver the finished film.
How cinemaOS handles each
Balance and correction
Press Command 2 and the timeline opens in Finisher. The Color Engine works with primary and secondary controls and tracked windows, and you shape the image with the Color and Light controls and refine it with the Dial trackball. The A grade in one minute tutorial walks through a full pass, starting by checking the Input LUT.
Matching to a reference still
Shot Match takes a reference still, for example a frame the director loves or a still from the previous episode, and matches the shot to it. You then compare, refine and review it in the sequence. See Shot Match from a still and our longer guide to grading a clip to match a reference still.
Looks
Build looks by hand, or ask J.A.R.E.D. for one in plain words, such as anamorphic or a film stock style, and keep only what suits the scene. The assistant runs on the Mac and every change can be undone. Watch One sentence, one look.
LUTs you can see
LUT Lab shows a LUT as a 3D cube, so you can see where it bends or breaks colors. Repair artifacts and export a clean .cube file to use anywhere. See See your LUT in 3D.
Color management
cinemaOS includes an OpenColorIO runtime with ACES 2 transforms for color space conversion and looks, so the pipeline is defined rather than guessed.
Late changes and delivery
Because the grade lives in the same project as the edit, there is no export, conform and re-import cycle when the cut changes. When you are done, deliver from Finisher. If you also handle stills for the release, Atelier Photo applies looks with grain and diffusion to set photography and key art in the same project.
Working with editors in other software
When an editor cuts in Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or Resolve, ask for an XML or EDL of the locked cut and bring it in with Import a cut. The conform report lists anything that did not translate. Hand the cut back the same way.
Where to start
- Download cinemaOS and start the 60-day free trial, with no card and no automatic charge.
- Ask for an XML or EDL of a locked scene you have already graded elsewhere, and import it.
- Grade it again in Finisher and match it to your reference with Shot Match.
- Inspect your usual show LUT in LUT Lab.
- Compare the two grades side by side, and judge where each tool helped.
Honest limits
- cinemaOS has no node graph. If you build grades with nodes, Resolve's Color page is deeper.
- It is version 0.2, build 9. Grade a real scene during the trial before you take paid work into it.
- Grades do not travel through XML or EDL, in either direction. Plan to grade in one place.
- Professional camera raw playback depends on a decoder your Mac can use.
- It runs on Apple silicon Macs only. Windows is planned for November 2027.
- There is no shared grading session for several colorists at once.
Our comparison of the best color grading software for Mac puts these trade-offs next to other tools.
FAQ
Does cinemaOS replace DaVinci Resolve for grading?
For many films and channels, its grade is enough. For node-based grading at full depth, Resolve is stronger. Our side-by-side with Resolve goes through it.
Can I use my own LUTs?
Yes. Check and set the Input LUT in Finisher, inspect any LUT in LUT Lab, repair it and export a clean .cube file.
What does it cost a colorist?
$9.99 USD a month excluding VAT after a 60-day free trial with no card and no automatic charge. Teams cost $8.99 per seat a month for 2 to 50 seats.