Shot Color Matching

Shot color matching

Watch as an animation →

In plain words

Match the color temperature and saturation that differ from cut to cut so they look like the same place and time.

When to use it

Consecutive cuts in the same place, or when a brand-colored prop appears in several cuts.

Example videos

Using Auto-Color and Apply Match in #PremierePro | #BecomeThePremierePro (Part 2 of 2) | Adobe Video — Explainer: See how to match the colors of two shots automatically and manually.
How to Color Match Shots in DaVinci Resolve for Beginners — Explainer: A beginner's order of steps: pick a reference shot, then match the other shots to it.
Can AI Actually Help Your Color Grade? I Tested Higgsfield — AI: The part that tests the color-matching feature of an AI tool.

In AI video, like this

Color drifts from cut to cut, as when an image model's green leans toward yellow-green. Pick one reference cut and match the rest to it with colorbalance, selectivecolor, and hue. If only one prop differs, repaint just that part with a mask.

One-click prompt

Match every shot to one reference shot by nudging only green, saturation, and gamma in small steps: ffmpeg -i shot5.mp4 -vf "colorbalance=gs=-0.04:bs=0.03,hue=s=0.95,eq=gamma=1.03" -c:a copy out.mp4. Compare it side by side with the reference until both look like the same place and time.

See it in real films and ads

Casey Faris — How to Color Match Shots in DaVinci Resolve

AI-made examples

Tom's Guide — How the balloon color was repainted in After Effects after Sora's "air head" was made

Recommended for scenes like these

Techniques that pair well

← LUT (Look-Up Table)Film Grain / Halation →