LUT

A color mapping file that remaps the colors of an image or video through a predefined transformation table. In CE.SDK, LUTs are applied as filter effects on graphic blocks, enabling consistent, repeatable color grading: the same cinematic tone, brand color treatment, or artistic look applied uniformly across any number of images or video frames.

The underlying principle is straightforward: a LUT records how every input color should be transformed to an output color. Applying the LUT to any image replaces each pixel’s color with the corresponding output color from the table, producing the graded result. Because the transformation is defined entirely by the LUT file, the same look can be applied consistently to any source image without manual color adjustment.

CE.SDK represents LUTs as tiled PNG files: a 3D color cube laid out as a 2D grid, where each tile represents a slice of the cube along the blue color channel axis. This format allows the CreativeEngine to sample the color transformation at render time efficiently.

CE.SDK ships with a set of built-in LUT filters accessible through the asset library. Custom LUTs can be added by providing a tiled PNG file at an accessible URL.

Export a .cube file from a color grading tool

Start with a color grading tool that supports LUT export. Adobe Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve, and Affinity Photo all export standard .cube files. Apply the desired color treatment to a reference image and export the result as a .cube LUT file.

Convert the .cube file to CE.SDK’s tiled PNG format

A .cube file contains a 3D color lookup table; the conversion process parses this data and arranges it as a 2D grid of tiles, where each tile represents a slice of the color cube along the blue channel axis.

Record the tile counts

The horizontal and vertical tile counts used during conversion must be configured identically in CE.SDK when the LUT is applied. Mismatched values produce distorted colors in the output.

Save as PNG, not JPEG

Lossy formats such as JPEG must not be used. Compression artifacts in the LUT image translate directly to color inaccuracies when the filter is applied to any image.

Host the PNG at an accessible URL

The file must be served with CORS headers enabled so CE.SDK can load it at render time.

Register the LUT as a custom filter effect in CE.SDK

Provide the PNG URL, the tile counts, and a display name for the asset library. The filter is then available to users in the editor and applicable programmatically via the effects API.

LUT effects in CE.SDK support an intensity value from 0.0 to 1.0. At 1.0, the full color transformation is applied. At intermediate values, the transformation is blended with the original colors, allowing subtle grading rather than a full stylistic override. This makes LUTs usable for light brand color consistency passes as well as heavy cinematic looks.

Both are filter effect types in CE.SDK and can be stacked on the same block.