---
title: "Lift, Gamma, Gain: Color Wheels Explained | colorgrade.video"
description: "Color wheels explained: what Lift, Gamma, Gain and Offset do, master rings vs colour pucks, log wheels, primary bars, and what Premiere and Resolve call them."
url: https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/color-wheels
---

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3. Colour wheels

Chapter 4 of 13 · Intermediate · 7 min read

# Lift, Gamma, Gain and Offset: The Color Wheels

The colour wheels are the primary grading tool in every professional app, and they look more mysterious than they are. Each of the four, **Lift**, **Gamma**, **Gain** and **Offset**, is one simple operation on the red, green and blue values of every pixel. Once you know the operation, you can predict what a wheel will do to the waveform before you touch it, and choose the right one instead of trying all four.

This chapter explains the maths in plain words, the difference between a wheel’s master ring and its colour puck, the **Log** wheels and when they beat the primaries, and the primary bars beneath the wheels. The demos use chart-scene, because its grey wedge shows exactly which tones each wheel moves. It assumes you can read the [waveform and parade](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/video-scopes).

Video guide

## Lift, Gamma, Gain and Offset: Color Wheels on the Waveform

Duration:  0:44 

Your browser can't play this video. [Download the MP4](https://colorgrade.video/media/videos/lift-gamma-gain-offset-color-wheels/video.mp4) or read the[full transcript](https://colorgrade.video/videos/lift-gamma-gain-offset-color-wheels).

Chapters

1. [ Play from  0:00 Master rings: level ](https://colorgrade.video/videos/lift-gamma-gain-offset-color-wheels#t=0)
2. [ Play from  0:26 Pucks: colour ](https://colorgrade.video/videos/lift-gamma-gain-offset-color-wheels#t=26)
3. [ Play from  0:36 Before and after ](https://colorgrade.video/videos/lift-gamma-gain-offset-color-wheels#t=36)
4. [ Play from  0:42 Try it yourself ](https://colorgrade.video/videos/lift-gamma-gain-offset-color-wheels#t=42)

English captions [Watch page and full transcript ](https://colorgrade.video/videos/lift-gamma-gain-offset-color-wheels) 

## Key takeaways

* **Lift** adds at black and fades to nothing at white; **Gain** multiplies, so it moves white most and black not at all.
* **Gamma** bends the midtones with a power curve and leaves both ends in place; **Offset** adds the same amount everywhere.
* The master ring changes level; the puck pushes colour; the **R**, **G**, **B** fields show what each channel actually receives.
* The **Log** wheels split the picture into three tonal bands at **Low range** and **High range**, for colour aimed at one band.
* Make small moves and watch the **Parade**: each wheel changes the traces in a shape you can predict.

## In this chapter

1. [ 1. The four wheels in plain words ](#the-maths-in-plain-words)
2. [ 2. Master ring, colour puck and the R, G, B values ](#master-ring-and-puck)
3. [ 3. Balancing a shot with the wheels ](#balancing-with-wheels)
4. [ 4. Log wheels: Shadow, Midtone and Highlight ](#log-wheels)
5. [ 5. The primary bars ](#primary-bars)
6. [ 6. What Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve call them ](#premiere-and-resolve-names)
7. [ 7. Grade with Lift, Gamma, Gain and Offset ](#try-it)

## The four wheels in plain words

Think of each channel’s value as running from 0 (black) to 1 (white). Every wheel changes that value with one formula, applied separately to red, green and blue:

__What each wheel does__
| Wheel  | Operation                                           | Moves most         | Leaves alone    | Typical use                             |
| ------ | --------------------------------------------------- | ------------------ | --------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| Lift   | Adds an amount at black that fades to zero at white | Blacks             | White           | Shadow level and shadow colour          |
| Gamma  | Raises the value to a power (a curve)               | Midtones           | Black and white | Midtone level, skin and overall colour  |
| Gain   | Multiplies the value                                | Whites             | Black           | White level and the colour of the light |
| Offset | Adds the same amount everywhere                     | Everything equally | Nothing         | Overall balance, flare and haze casts   |

On the **Waveform**, each has a recognisable signature. **Lift** pivots the trace around its top: raise it and the bottom climbs while white stays put, so the image looks lighter and flatter. **Gain** pivots around the bottom: lower it and the top comes down while black stays anchored. **Gamma** bows the middle of the trace up or down with both ends fixed, the gentlest way to make a shot lighter or heavier. **Offset** slides the whole trace up or down, which moves black off zero, so it usually needs a **Lift** or **Blacks** correction afterwards.

[ ![The Wheels panel on the Primary tab showing the Lift, Gamma, Gain and Offset wheels, each with a level slider and R, G and B value fields, above the Temperature, Tint, Contrast, Pivot, Mid detail, Colour boost and Hue rotate bars.](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/color-wheels/wheels-panel-primary.webp)  (enlarge image) ](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/color-wheels/wheels-panel-primary.webp) 

The **Primary** wheels with their master rings, **R**, **G**, **B** fields and the bars below.

The order you move them in doesn’t matter: the studio always applies them in the same sequence, after the **Adjust** controls. What matters is choosing the wheel whose “leaves alone” column protects the tones you have already set.

## Master ring, colour puck and the R, G, B values

Each wheel has two parts. The master ring (the level slider under the wheel) moves all three channels together, changing level without changing colour. The puck in the middle changes colour: drag it towards a hue and the channels on that side of the colour circle rise while the opposite ones fall, keeping overall level roughly the same. Dragging the **Gain** puck towards orange raises red and lowers blue in the lightest tones; dragging the **Lift** puck towards teal adds blue and green to the shadows and takes out red.

Under each wheel, the **R**, **G** and **B** fields show the per-channel values the wheel is producing. They are the honest version of the puck: a small-looking drag might be adding 0.04 to blue and subtracting 0.03 from red. You can type into them for exact, repeatable moves, or to change one channel alone, which the puck can’t do.

### How far to push

* For correction, a few percent of the wheel’s radius is usually enough. If the puck is near the edge, the problem is probably better solved by **Pick white** or the right wheel.
* Move the puck with the keyboard for fine control, and double-click a wheel to reset it.
* Judge on the **Parade**, not the picture: a creative push that looks subtle on a bright screen can be far stronger than intended.

Try it in the studio

Open **Wheels**, show the **Parade**, and drag the **Gain** puck a short way towards orange. The red trace climbs and the blue trace drops at the top of the grey wedge, while the bottom steps barely move. Now do the same with **Lift** and watch the change happen at the bottom instead.

## Balancing a shot with the wheels

The parade tells you which wheel to use. Look at the traces over something neutral, ideally the grey wedge or a grey card, and see where the channels separate:

* Separated at the top only: the colour of the light. Use **Gain** (or **Temperature** and **Tint**).
* Separated by the same amount at every level: colour added on top, from flare, haze or a poor conversion. Use **Offset**.
* Separated at the bottom only: tinted blacks, common with cheap sensors or some LUTs. Use **Lift**.
* Separated mostly in the middle: use **Gamma**.

A reliable order is **Offset** or **Gain** for the overall balance, then **Lift** to clean the blacks, then **Gamma** for any midtone cast left over. The [white balance chapter](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/white-balance) covers the slider route; the wheels earn their place when the cast is not a simple colour of light.

[ ![RGB parade of the test chart after pushing Gain towards orange and Lift towards teal: at the top of the traces red is raised and blue lowered, while at the bottom blue is raised and red lowered.](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/color-wheels/parade-gain-lift-split.webp)  (enlarge image) ](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/color-wheels/parade-gain-lift-split.webp) 

**Gain** towards orange changes the top of the **Parade**; **Lift** towards teal changes the bottom.

## Log wheels: Shadow, Midtone and Highlight

The primary wheels overlap heavily: **Lift** affects everything except pure white and **Gain** everything except pure black, so a push on one changes the tones the other is supposed to own. The **Log** tab offers a different model. Its **Shadow**, **Midtone** and **Highlight** wheels each add an offset only within their own tonal band, and two sliders set where the bands meet: below **Low range** (0.333 by default) is Shadow, above **High range** (0.550) is Highlight, and the Midtone wheel covers the levels between. The edges are softened so there is no visible seam.

Because the bands barely overlap, log wheels are the precise choice for colour aimed at one range:

* Cool the shadows and warm the upper tones for a [teal and orange](https://colorgrade.video/teal-and-orange) split without the two pushes cancelling each other in the middle.
* Shift only the midtones, where most skin sits, without touching black or white.
* Lower **Low range** so a shadow tint touches only the deepest tones, or raise **High range** to keep a highlight push away from faces.

They were designed for grading log footage, where tones are spread evenly across the signal, which is where the name comes from. They work equally well after a conversion to Rec.709; convert first, as the [log footage and LUTs chapter](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/log-footage-and-luts) explains. Use the primary wheels for broad balance and the log wheels for targeted colour.

[ ![The Log tab of the Wheels panel with the Shadow wheel pushed towards teal and the Highlight wheel towards orange, the Low range and High range sliders at their defaults of 0.333 and 0.550, and the sunset portrait on the stage with cooler shadows and warmer light.](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/color-wheels/log-wheels-tab.webp)  (enlarge image) ](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/color-wheels/log-wheels-tab.webp) 

The **Log** wheels with **Low range** and **High range** at their defaults.

## The primary bars

Below the wheels sit sliders that complete the primary grade:

* **Temperature** and **Tint**: the white balance controls, repeated here so you don’t have to switch panels.
* **Contrast** and **Pivot**: a straight-line stretch around a chosen level. Contrast runs from 0.00 to 2.00 (default 1.00) and **Pivot** sets the level that stays fixed (default 0.435). The [contrast and tonal range chapter](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/contrast-and-tonal-range) explains how it differs from the S-curve in **Adjust**.
* **Mid detail**: local contrast measured over a large radius in the midtones. Positive values add punch and texture to landscapes and fabric; on faces, keep it low or use negative values to soften.
* **Colour boost**: saturates muted colours and leaves already-vivid ones nearly alone; negative values calm the most saturated colours first. It is gentler than **Saturation** for bringing life into a dull shot. The [saturation page](https://colorgrade.video/video-saturation) compares the options.
* **Hue rotate**: turns every hue around the colour circle by up to 180°. A few degrees can tidy a whole shot; large values are a stylised effect.

## What Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve call them

The same ideas appear under different names in other editors, and the maths behind similarly named controls is not always identical, so treat this as a map rather than an exact equivalence:

__Wheel names across apps__
| colorgrade.video                | Premiere Pro (Lumetri) | DaVinci Resolve                | Final Cut Pro    |
| ------------------------------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------------ | ---------------- |
| Lift                            | Shadows wheel          | Lift (Primaries, Color Wheels) | Shadows          |
| Gamma                           | Midtones wheel         | Gamma                          | Midtones         |
| Gain                            | Highlights wheel       | Gain                           | Highlights       |
| Offset                          | No direct wheel        | Offset                         | Master (closest) |
| Log: Shadow, Midtone, Highlight | None                   | Primaries, Log                 | None             |
| Low range, High range           | None                   | Low Range, High Range          | None             |

In Premiere Pro the three wheels live in Lumetri’s **Color Wheels & Match** section; Resolve shows Lift, Gamma, Gain and Offset in its Primaries palette, with the Log wheels as a separate mode. A grade built here translates to either by moving the matching wheels in the same directions. The [DaVinci Resolve guide](https://colorgrade.video/how-to-color-grade-in-davinci-resolve) walks through its Color page.

## Grade with Lift, Gamma, Gain and Offset

Use the colour wheels to set levels and balance, then add a split between cool shadows and warm upper tones, watching the waveform and parade.

1. 1  
### Open the clip with the scopes
Choose **Open video or photo**, switch to **Pro**, open **Wheels** on the **Primary** tab, and show **Waveform** and **Parade**.
2. 2  
### Set the levels with the master rings
Use the **Lift** master ring to place black near 0% and the **Gain** master ring to place white, then the **Gamma** ring to set the midtones.
3. 3  
### Balance on the parade
Where the traces separate over a neutral area, push the puck of the matching wheel the opposite way: **Gain** for the top, **Lift** for the bottom, **Offset** for everything.
4. 4  
### Add a creative split
Switch to the **Log** tab and push **Shadow** a little towards teal and **Highlight** a little towards orange. Adjust **Low range** and **High range** to move the boundaries.
5. 5  
### Finish with the bars and compare
Add **Colour boost** if colours look dull, then set **Compare** to **Split** to check the grade against the original.

## Colour wheels: questions

### What is lift, gamma and gain?

They are the three primary colour wheels. **Lift** adds an amount at black that fades to zero at white, **Gamma** bends the midtones with a power curve while keeping black and white fixed, and **Gain** multiplies, so it changes white most and black not at all. Each has a master ring for level and a puck for colour.

### What is the difference between lift and offset?

**Offset** adds the same amount to every level, sliding the whole picture up or down. **Lift** adds most at black and nothing at white, so it changes the shadows while leaving white where it was. Use **Offset** for overall balance and **Lift** to fine-tune the blacks.

### When should I use log wheels instead of the primary wheels?

When you want colour in one tonal band only, such as cooler shadows or warmer upper tones, without the push spreading into the rest of the image. The **Log** wheels limit each offset to its band, set by **Low range** and **High range**. Use the primary wheels for broad level and balance.

### What are the color wheels called in Premiere Pro?

Lumetri’s **Color Wheels & Match** section has Shadows, Midtones and Highlights wheels, which correspond roughly to Lift, Gamma and Gain. There is no separate Offset wheel. DaVinci Resolve uses the names Lift, Gamma, Gain and Offset directly.

### How much should I move the color wheels?

Much less than you think for correction: a few percent of the wheel’s radius usually removes a cast. Check the **R**, **G** and **B** values under the wheel and the **Parade** rather than judging by eye, since screens and adapted eyes exaggerate or hide small shifts.

[ ← Previous: chapter 3 White balance ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/white-balance) [ Next: chapter 5 → Curves ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/curves) 

## Keep going

* [ White balance Why casts happen, how Temperature and Tint work, how to neutralise a shot on the parade, and how to add warmth on purpose. ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/white-balance)
* [ Curves Shape contrast with RGB and luma curves, fix or create casts with channel curves, and change single colours with the hue curves and HSL. ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/curves)
* [ Contrast and tonal range Set black and white points, place mid grey, and shape contrast without clipping either end, using the waveform and false colour. ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/contrast-and-tonal-range)
* [ Teal and orange color grading Why the blockbuster palette works and how to stop it turning faces orange. ](https://colorgrade.video/teal-and-orange)
* [ 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)

All 13 chapters 
1. [ 1\. Video scopes ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/video-scopes)  · Basics
2. [ 2\. Contrast and tonal range ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/contrast-and-tonal-range)  · Basics
3. [ 3\. White balance ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/white-balance)  · Basics
4. [ 4\. Colour wheels ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/color-wheels)  · Intermediate
5. [ 5\. Curves ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/curves)  · Intermediate
6. [ 6\. Secondary correction ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/secondary-color-correction)  · Intermediate
7. [ 7\. Skin tones ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/skin-tones)  · Intermediate
8. [ 8\. Log footage and LUTs ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/log-footage-and-luts)  · Advanced
9. [ 9\. Creative looks ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/creative-looks)  · Advanced
10. [ 10\. Shot matching ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/shot-matching)  · Advanced
11. [ 11\. Delivery and export ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/delivery)  · Advanced
12. [ 12\. Grading workflow ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/workflow)  · Intermediate
13. [ 13\. Common mistakes ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/mistakes)  · Basics