In this post, we will show you how to color grade videos on your Windows 11/10 PC. Color grading is a technique to change the color profile of a video clip and give it a different look. It can enhance the look and feel of a video and make it look more vibrant and cinematic. It can also set the mood and make a video look from a different era or setup. If you want to apply color grading to your videos on a PC for free, just follow this guide.
How to color grade videos in Windows 11/10?
You can color grade your videos using three main methods. First, you can use Microsoft’s default video editor on Windows 11. Second, there are multiple third-party video editing software that allows you to modify your videos which also includes color grading. Third, you can use a free online tool to color-grade videos online. Here are the software and online tools that you can use:
- Clipchamp Video Editor.
- VSDC Free Video Editor.
- Videopad.
- Flixier.
- DaVinci Resolve.
- Lightworks.
1] Clipchamp Video Editor
You can also use the default video editing app in Windows 11 called Clipchamp Video Editor. It is a handy Microsoft app that lets you create and edit videos using various handy features. You can also find a variety of color grading filters in it that you can apply to your videos and give them a different look & feel. Now, let us check out the process of color-grading videos in Clipchamp.
How do you color grade in Clipchamp?
Here are the main steps to apply color grading to your videos using Clipchamp on Windows 11:
- Open Clipchamp and add the source video.
- Drag the video onto the timeline.
- Go to the Filters tab.
- Select a desired color grading filter.
- Adjust the intensity of the filter.
- Export the video.
First of all, simply open the Clipchamp – Video Editor app and press the Create a new video option from its home screen. After that, go to the Your media section and click on the Import media button to browse and add the source video file. Then, simply drag and drop the video onto its timeline.
Now, move to the Filters tab present on the right-side panel. There you will see a bunch of filters that you can use for color-grading your videos. You can use filters like Black and white, Green and blue duotone, Blue and pink duotone, Yellow and orange duotone, and many more. Simply click on the filter you want to use and it will apply to your videos. You can then customize the intensity of the filter as per your requirements. The real-time preview of the output video can be played from its interface. This makes the editing task convenient. You can further edit the video using available features.
Once done, press the Export button. Now, choose the video quality (480p, 720p, 1080p) and save the final video in MP4 format. In case the video is shorter than 15 seconds, you can export it in the format of an animated GIF.
It is a great free app to apply color grading to your videos. It can also be used online in a web browser. However, if you want to export videos in a different format than MP4, you can use some other video editor from this list.
Read: How to trim Videos using Windows Photos app Video Editor?
2] VSDC Free Video Editor
VSDC Free Video Editor is one of the famous video editors for Windows 11 that you can use to apply color grading to a video. It is available for free.
This video editing software provides all the essential features that you need to edit your videos. One of its many features includes color grading. We would recommend this software to novice users as this video editor is straightforward and very easy to use. Let us find out the steps to color grade videos using it.
- Download and install it, and then open it.
- Import your media files.
- Navigate to the Editor tab.
- Click on the Video effects > Adjustments > Color Grading option.
- Configure the duration of the effect.
- Set up color grading options.
- Save the resulting video.
First of all, make sure you have VSDC Free Video Editor installed on your computer. So, download it from the official website and install it. And then launch this video editor.
After that, press the Import content option and upload your source videos and other media files. You can customize video project configurations including resolution, framerate, background, size, metadata, etc. while importing the source video.
Next, from the top menubar, move to the Editor tab. And then, go to the Video effects > Adjustments option and select the Color Grading option. It will then ask you whether you want to apply the effect to a certain part of the video or the entire video. Configure the options accordingly and press the OK button.
Now, select the effect from the timeline and go to its Properties window present on the right side. From here, click on the Edit settings option.
Then, move to the Color grading tab present at the bottom of its window and customize various color parameters accordingly. You can change parameters like Temperature, Tint, Contrast, Brightness, Gamma, Hue, and Saturation. While doing so, you can check the real-time preview of your video.
When the color grading is done, you can save the video by going to the Export project tab. Simply choose an output video format from AVI, MPG, MKV, MOV, SWF, FLV, and more, set up the output video configurations, then click on the Export project button to save your video. It also lets you export your videos to a platform-specific format like Web, Android, iPad, Xbox, etc.
Read: How to Split a Video into parts in Windows?
3] Videopad
You can also try VideoPad Video Editor which is another software that you can use for color grading. It allows you to apply several color filters to your videos and stylize them. Let us check out how.
Firstly, simply download and install this feature-rich video editor on your computer. And, launch the main GUI of this application. You can then use the Add files button to import your source video file to this software.
Now, from the menubar, navigate to the Effects tab and then click on the Video effects button. You will be able to see a variety of effects that you can add you your videos. Scroll down and there will be Color correction and Filters categories. These categories contain a good number of filters to apply color grading to videos, such as Negative, Night Vision, Aqua, Black and white, Vintage, and more. Select the desired filter and it will add to your entire video.
When done, you can click on the Export Video button and save the edited video in a supported video format. You can export videos in formats like MP4, AVI, 3GP, ASF, MKV, WMV, RM, SWF, etc. It even allows you to export videos specific to a platform like iPod, iPad, Xbox, iPhone, Android, PSP, etc. Great, isn’t it?
Do note that this video is free for non-commercial use only.
See: How to add a Timer in Video on Windows?
4] Flixier
Flixier is an online video color grading tool that you can use for free. It offers a variety of filters that you can apply to your videos and completely change their look & feel as per your requirements.
How to color grade videos online using Flixier?
You can use the below steps to quickly color grade videos online using this free tool called Flixier:
- Open Flixier in a web browser.
- Upload your video.
- Drag your video to its timeline.
- Go to the Color tab.
- Choose a desired filter.
- Export the resulting video.
To start with, simply open the Flixier website in your web browser and then press the Choose Video button. After that, upload an input video from your PC. You can import a video from other sources as well, like YouTube, Twitch, Google Drive, Zoom OneDrive, Dropbox, etc. It even lets you record a video using your webcam and edit it directly through this online video editor. Once your video is uploaded, drag and drop the video onto the timeline section for editing it.
After that, go to the Color tab which is available on the right-hand side panel. Here, you can find multiple color grading filters that you can use in your videos, e.g., Brownie, BlackWhite, Polaroid, Sepia, Invert, Vintage, Technicolor, etc. You can select one of these filters to apply to your video. It also offers some basic color adjustment options to customize the filter as you want.
It also provides a lot of video transitions and effects using which you can further edit your videos. Plus, you can also resize, rotate, add text to videos, insert various shapes, and do much more video editing.
When done, click on the Export button present on the top right side and set Save file as to Video. And then, press the Export and Download button to save the rendered video to your PC in MP4 format. It also allows you to save the final project as a GIF or as audio. Furthermore, it provides an option to publish your video to YouTube by simply connecting your YouTube account to Flixier.
It is a great video coloring tool. You can try it for free here. However, the free plan of this tool is feature restricted and also imposes a watermark on the output video. So, if you don’t want that, we will recommend using some other tool or app from this list.
See: Best Free Video Metadata Editor software for Windows.
5] DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve is a professional video editing software that comes with advanced color grading and color correction features. It uses YRGB color science and 32-bit float image processing technologies to color grade your videos.
Before we proceed, it is recommended to watch some video tutorials on how you can apply color grading in this video editor. It is quite an advanced software and requires a learning curve to be utilized fully. However, to help you out, we are going to mention the steps to get started. So, check them out below.
How to zoom in/ out a video in DaVinci Resolve?
- Open DaVinci Resolve and add your video file.
- Navigate to the Colors tab.
- Modify the color parameters.
- Preview the resulting video.
- Save the output video.
Firstly, launch the DaVinci Resolve application and browse and import the source media file by going to the Media tab present a the bottom of its window.
Now, simply move to the Colors tab available at the bottom. This section is specially designed to apply color grading to your videos in this video editor.
You will see a lot of color wheels including Hue, Gamma, Saturation, Offset, and more. Just modify the values of these parameters and you will see a change in the color of your video. It will customize the color profile of your video and make it look the way you want. You can even change the color curve for that. The preview of the modified video can be played here.
If you wish to apply some filters and effects, go to its Edit tab and edit your video as per your requirements.
Once done, move to its Deliver tab to export your video. It lets you export the edited videos in a few common formats including MP4, AVI, MOV, etc. Besides that, you can even customize the resulting videos for platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, Dropbox, and more.
DaVinci Resolve is one of the best video color grading software. It is professional software with an advanced set of color grading and other video editing tools. Plus, it produces high-quality videos that you can use for business purposes. This software provides a free version, so you can edit your videos without paying anything.
6] Lightworks
Lightworks is one more free video editor that you can use for color grading. Using it, you can apply color grading to your videos by adjusting various parameters including shadows, mid-tones, highlights, saturation, gamma, contrast, gain, etc.
First, open the software, and then from the Edit tab, browse and import the input video. After that, go to the VFX tab and use the color grading feature to change various color parameters in your videos. You can also view the edited version of your video here. If the output looks great, you can press the three-dot menu button available on the top of the video player. And then, select the Export option
Lightworks is a great video editor that you can consider for color grading your videos.
Can you use Lightroom to color grade videos?
Adobe Lightroom is primarily a photo editing app. However, you can also use it to edit your videos. It even lets you apply color-grading filters to enhance your videos. It is suitable for short video clips. Also, it is a paid app with a free trial. So, if you want a free color grading app, you can use the ones we have listed in this post.
Now read: Best free Video Editor with zoom in and out effect.
