Film LUTs are cheap or even free, Dehancer is a paid plugin. Both promise to make digital footage look like film. So why pay? The short answer: a LUT only swaps colors, Dehancer simulates how film reacts to the light in your shot.
What a film LUT does
A LUT (look-up table) takes the RGB value and brightness of every single pixel and maps it to a new RGB value. It does not look at the surrounding pixels or the image as a whole. It doesn’t know whether you shot a dark night scene or a bright beach, or how much contrast the scene has. It is a fixed color transformation applied on top of your footage.
What Dehancer does differently
Dehancer analyzes the footage first, for example whether it is a dark or a bright scene, and then recalculates how real film would have reacted to that light. In the comparison video, the same clip is graded with Dehancer and with the film LUT that comes with DaVinci Resolve (after the proper color space transform). With the LUT, the transitions between colors and brightness levels look harsher, almost blocky. With Dehancer they stay smooth and gradual, and the colors look denser.
Film grain: overlay vs. built into the image
Resolve and other editing programs can add grain, but it is a separate layer on top of the image. When you raise the texture setting, the grain is simply scaled up, and it doesn’t react to what is in the picture. Dehancer recreates the image with the grain built in, based on the color and brightness of each area, which is closer to how grain sits in real film.
Side by side
| Film LUT | Dehancer | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Fixed pixel-by-pixel color mapping | Analyzes the scene and simulates the film’s response |
| Color transitions | Can look harsh or blocky | Smooth and gradual |
| Grain | Separate overlay (in your editor) | Built into the image, reacts to color and brightness |
| Halation & bloom | Not included | Included |
| Price | Often free or cheap | Paid plugin, from $313.20/year for video with FILMLOOK10 |
Is Dehancer worth the money?
Filmmakers often spend thousands on cameras, lenses, lights and audio, then try to avoid any cost in post-production, the step that has a big influence on how the final image looks. If a LUT gives you the look you want, keep using it. If you want grain, halation and color that react to your footage, test the free version of Dehancer on your own clips and decide then.
Prices and plans: Dehancer pricing guide · Checkout walkthrough: How to buy Dehancer
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