--- title: "Color Grade Drone Footage: DJI D-Log M | colorgrade.video" description: "Convert DJI D-Log M to Rec.709, fix hazy skies and green grass, then add a look. Free browser steps for Mini, Air, Mavic and Osmo Pocket 3, and DJI’s own LUT." url: https://colorgrade.video/color-grade-drone-footage --- Free · runs in your browser # How to Color Grade Drone Footage From flat D-Log M to a finished aerial: convert, clear the haze, tame the greens and match the shots, in a browser tab on the computer or phone you already have. To color grade drone footage, convert it to Rec.709 first if you shot D-Log M or another log mode, then correct the problems aerials always have (haze that lifts the shadows, a sky that is too bright, greens that look synthetic), and only then add a look. Open a clip above: for a D-Log M clip, choose **D-Log M (approximate)** in the **Footage** menu of **Adjust** and the flat picture turns into normal contrast and colour before you touch anything else. This guide follows that order and names the controls in our free studio, which runs in the browser and never uploads your footage. The same thinking applies in DaVinci Resolve or any other editor. If your drone shot in Normal colour mode, skip the conversion and start at the haze step; for cameras other than DJI see [log to Rec.709](https://colorgrade.video/log-to-rec709), and to make several flights look like one, see [match video colors](https://colorgrade.video/match-video-colors). ## Grade drone footage in five steps 1. ### Convert log to Rec.709 Open the clip and set **Footage** in **Adjust** to the mode it was shot in: **D-Log M (approximate)** for most current DJI drones and the Osmo Pocket 3, or **D-Log** for older Mavic 3 Cine and Inspire footage. Leave it on **Standard video (Rec.709)** for Normal or HLG clips that already look right. 2. ### Clear the haze Distance adds a bright, bluish veil. Pull **Blacks** down until the darkest part of the frame touches black on the **Waveform**, then add a little **Contrast**. Lower **Temperature** slightly if the haze has made everything too blue, or raise it if it is grey. 3. ### Bring the sky back Lower **Highlights** to recover cloud detail. In **Pro** mode, a **Secondary** layer with a **Gradient** window over the sky, or the **Sky** qualifier preset, lets you darken and deepen the sky without touching the land. 4. ### Tame the greens Aerial greens often come out lime or neon. In **Curves** \> **HSL**, shift **Green** a little towards yellow and lower its **Saturation**, then check that trees still separate from grass. 5. ### Add a look and export Pick a look from **Nature** or **Travel** in **All looks** at a moderate **Intensity**, then **Export** the video, or export the grade as a .cube to reuse on the rest of the flight. ## Normal, HLG or D-Log M? Most DJI drones and gimbal cameras offer three colour modes, and the choice decides how much grading you need. * Normal: ready to post, with contrast and saturation baked in. Least work, least room to change it. * HLG: a high dynamic range format that looks natural on HDR screens and is easy to show on SDR. Browsers usually convert tagged HLG themselves; use **HLG (Rec.2100)** in **Footage** only if it opens flat and grey. * D-Log M: a flat 10-bit log mode designed for grading, with more highlight and shadow range than Normal. It looks washed out until converted. If you plan to grade, D-Log M is the better choice on drones that offer it, because the extra range lets you recover skies and keep shadows clean. If you want to post straight from the controller, Normal is fine. ## Converting D-Log M: approximate here, exact with DJI’s LUT DJI has not published the maths behind D-Log M, so the studio’s **D-Log M (approximate)** conversion is a close match rather than an exact one. For most clips it is a good starting point. When you need an exact conversion, for example to match a shot to footage converted elsewhere, use DJI’s own LUT. ### Get DJI’s conversion LUT DJI publishes a D-Log M to Rec.709 LUT on the download page of each product that records D-Log M (look under the product’s Downloads or Software section on DJI’s site). Download the one for your model, since they are made per camera. ### Use it in the studio Leave **Footage** on **Standard video (Rec.709)**, open **Creative** and choose **Import LUT** with the DJI .cube file. Set **Apply LUT** to **Before the grade** and keep **LUT intensity** at 100%. Everything you do in **Adjust** and the looks then works on correctly converted footage. ## Haze, skies and greens ### Why aerials look hazy Light scattered by the air between the drone and the ground adds a veil of brightness that grows with distance, so the far half of a landscape has lifted blacks and less colour than the foreground. A single global **Blacks** and **Contrast** move clears most of it. For a stronger effect only in the distance, a **Gradient** window on a **Secondary** layer can add contrast to the top half of the frame. ### Skies A bright sky is usually the first thing to clip. Bring **Highlights** down before reaching for anything else, and check the **Waveform** so clouds sit below the top line. To deepen the blue, use the **Sky** qualifier preset in **Secondary** and lower that layer’s **Exposure** a little, or shift the **Blue** band in **HSL** down in luminance. ### Grass, trees and fields Small sensors tend to render vegetation as a uniform, saturated green. Moving the **Green** band slightly towards yellow and lowering its saturation gives a more natural, varied result; **Yellow** controls dry grass and autumn colour separately. In the evening, the warm light already does much of this for you. ## Matching shots from one flight Aerials shot minutes apart can differ a lot as the drone turns towards or away from the sun. Grade the best-looking shot first, then in **Match** grab a still of it with **Grab still** (**G**) and use **Match to this still** on the next clip as a starting point. **Copy grade** (**Shift+C**) and **Paste grade** (**Shift+V**) carry a finished grade to the next file opened in this browser. To reuse a grade across a whole project in another editor, export it with **Export .cube**; the [LUT generator](https://colorgrade.video/lut-generator) explains what goes into the file. ## In DaVinci Resolve In Resolve, apply DJI’s LUT to the first node (or use a Color Space Transform on footage whose curve Resolve lists, such as D-Log), correct exposure and haze in the next node, then add skies and greens with a qualifier or window in a third. Our [DaVinci Resolve guide](https://colorgrade.video/how-to-color-grade-in-davinci-resolve) walks through the node layout. ## Drone colour grading questions ### Where do I get a DJI LUT? From DJI’s website: each drone or camera that records D-Log M has its own D-Log M to Rec.709 LUT on its download page. Use the one for your exact model, then load it with **Import LUT** set to **Before the grade**. ### Is there a LUT for the Osmo Pocket 3? Yes. The Osmo Pocket 3 records D-Log M, and DJI publishes a conversion LUT for it. In the studio, **D-Log M (approximate)** in **Footage** converts it without a LUT, which is handy on a phone. ### Should I shoot drone footage in D-Log M or Normal? D-Log M if you will grade it, because it keeps more range in the sky and shadows. Normal if you want to share straight away. D-Log M has to be converted before it looks right. ### Why does my drone footage look washed out? It was probably shot in D-Log M or D-Log, which is meant to look flat until converted. Set the matching **Footage** profile or apply DJI’s LUT. If it was shot in Normal, the cause is usually haze: lower **Blacks** and add **Contrast**. ### Can I grade drone footage on my phone? Yes. The studio works in Safari and Chrome on phones, so you can convert and grade the clip right after transferring it from the controller, then **Share** the export. 4K clips take longer to export on a phone. ### How do I make drone footage look cinematic? Convert and correct first, keep skies from clipping, then add a restrained look, such as one from **Cinematic** or **Teal & orange** at 50 to 70% **Intensity**. Smooth, slow camera moves matter as much as the grade. ## More colour grading guides * [ Color grade a video online Try hundreds of looks on your own clip, fine-tune them in the studio and export, all on your device. ](https://colorgrade.video/) * [ Convert log footage to Rec.709 Camera log profiles converted to normal video, with the maker LUT route for the rest. ](https://colorgrade.video/log-to-rec709) * [ Color match video clips Move a clip’s colours towards a reference frame or photo. ](https://colorgrade.video/match-video-colors) * [ Cinematic color grading online Film-style looks, moody palettes and the controls that make a grade feel like cinema. ](https://colorgrade.video/cinematic-color-grading) * [ How to color grade in DaVinci Resolve A beginner node tree on the Color page, from log conversion to Shot Match. ](https://colorgrade.video/how-to-color-grade-in-davinci-resolve)