How to use a custom .cube LUT in Final Cut Pro: Camera LUT versus Custom LUT

Updated 2026-09-24 · 4 min read · by Nunik Co.

Final Cut supports .cube files directly, no conversion needed, but it has two separate places to load one and people routinely put the creative LUT in the technical slot. Here is the distinction and the exact clicks.

The two mechanisms

• Camera LUT lives in the clip's metadata (Inspector, Info tab). It is a technical conversion: log to Rec.709. Final Cut ships built in profiles for Sony S-Log2 and S-Log3, Panasonic V-Log, Canon Log, ARRI LogC, Blackmagic Film, Apple Log and more. It is applied first, at the clip level, before any effect.
• Custom LUT is an effect in the Effects browser under Color. It applies a creative look and runs in the effects stack after the Camera LUT. This is where a ChromaMimic .cube belongs.

Step 1: set the Camera LUT if the footage is log

1. Select the clip in the browser or timeline and open the Inspector (Cmd 4).
2. Click the Info tab. If you cannot see Camera LUT, change the metadata view at the bottom of the Inspector to Settings.
3. Choose the profile that matches the camera from the Camera LUT menu. For a manufacturer LUT that is not built in, choose Add Custom Camera LUT and pick the file.

Select all the clips from that camera and set it once. The picture should immediately look like normal video rather than flat log. If your footage is already Rec.709, leave Camera LUT on None.

Step 2: apply the creative LUT

1. Open the Effects browser (Cmd 5) and find Custom LUT in the Color category.
2. Drag it onto the clip, or select the clips and double click the effect.
3. In the Video Inspector, find the Custom LUT section and open the LUT menu. Choose Choose Custom LUT and pick your .cube. Final Cut copies it into the library, so it stays available for every clip in that library.
4. Use the Mix slider to blend the strength if the look is too strong.

Final Cut accepts .cube and .mga files. Once a LUT has been chosen it appears in the LUT menu by name for the rest of that library, so you only browse for it once.

Order and colour space

Camera LUT first, effects after, is the fixed order and it is the right one. Set the library and project colour space to Rec.709 (Library Properties, Modify, Color Processing: Standard) for a Rec.709 LUT. If the project is set to Wide Gamut HDR, a Rec.709 creative LUT will look wrong, because the values it expects are not the values it receives. Why colour space matters to a LUT.

When the LUT does not show or does nothing

• Chosen in the wrong place. A creative LUT set as the Camera LUT applies before conversion and on log footage looks nearly invisible. Move it to the Custom LUT effect.
• Wrong extension or a bad file. Must be .cube or .mga, with a valid LUT_3D_SIZE header. Open it in a text editor to check.
• Effect disabled. The checkbox next to Custom LUT in the Video Inspector.
• Mix at zero. Slide it up.
• Different library. Custom LUTs are stored per library. Choose it again in a new library.

Building one for Final Cut

ChromaMimic exports a standard .cube that Final Cut's Custom LUT effect reads directly. Export the original still after the Camera LUT is set, so the match is built in Rec.709, and the result will look in Final Cut exactly as it did in the preview.