# How to Color Grade Video With AI: Claude and ChatGPT for Log and Standard Footage

By Olivia Gu (Co-founder, Daydream). Published Oct 8, 2026. 7 min read.
Canonical: https://www.daydreamvideo.com/blog/color-grade-video-with-ai

![The same park shot split three ways: flat log footage, the color-corrected version, and a warm filmic color grade made with AI in Daydream](https://www.daydreamvideo.com/blog/hero-color-grade-16x9.webp)

You can color grade video with AI by connecting Claude or ChatGPT to [Daydream](https://www.daydreamvideo.com/download), a video editor that gives the AI professional color tools and video scopes. Describe the look you want in chat, and the AI color corrects and grades your footage, then reads the scopes to check its work.

Most videos benefit from some color adjustment, whether that's fixing the white balance, correcting exposure, or adding a look. These adjustments take time, and they're easy to get subtly wrong: a small shift can leave skin tones or the whole image looking off. With AI, you describe what you want the video to look like, and the AI looks at the clip and makes the adjustments for you. Daydream gives Claude and ChatGPT a full editing toolset, including color tools and scopes, so the AI can make these adjustments and then review the clip and the scopes to verify its work.

Watch: [How to Color Grade Video With AI: From Log to Graded](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UYc3uBjo8c) (0:14)

## Can ChatGPT or Claude actually color grade video?

Not on their own. ChatGPT and Claude don't have color correction or grading tools built in, and they have no way to see the result of a change and adjust from there. Paired with a video editor like Daydream, they get professional color tools and video scopes, so they can color correct and grade your videos efficiently and accurately. It's the same reason [chat alone can't edit video](https://www.daydreamvideo.com/blog/can-you-edit-videos-with-claude-or-chatgpt).

## Color correction vs. color grading: what's the difference?

Both involve adjusting the color of your video, but they have different goals. Color correction fixes problems from the shoot, like exposure or white balance, so the footage looks natural and consistent from shot to shot. Color grading comes after and creates a specific look or mood, like a warm, filmic look or a cool, desaturated one. Correct first, then grade.

## Standard vs. log footage: which do you have?

- Standard (Rec. 709): the default on most cameras. It's already in a display-ready color space, so it looks correct straight out of the camera.
- HDR (HLG, PQ, Dolby Vision): the default on recent iPhones. Daydream automatically tone-maps HDR clips to standard Rec. 709, so you grade them like standard footage. Tone-mapping compresses the brightest highlights, so if you plan to grade, turn off HDR Video on your iPhone (Settings > Camera > Record Video) or shoot in Apple Log.
- Log (S-Log3, C-Log3, V-Log, Apple Log, etc.): a flat, low-contrast, washed-out image that has to be converted to Rec. 709 before it looks normal. That conversion is called an input transform, and in Daydream it's set by the clip's camera profile.

You can use any of these when color correcting and grading with AI. Log records more of the scene's dynamic range, keeping highlight and shadow detail that standard footage clips, so it gives you more room to push a stylized look.

## How to color grade standard footage with AI

1. [Download Daydream](https://www.daydreamvideo.com/download) and connect Claude or ChatGPT.
2. Import your footage.
3. Ask the AI to color correct your video, or ask for specific corrections, like "fix the white balance" or "my face is underexposed, brighten it up."
4. Then ask for a look or more stylistic changes, like "give it a warm, filmic look" or "make the greens greener."
5. Export an MP4, or [export to another editor](#export) like Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, or CapCut.

## How to color grade log footage with AI

Grading log footage works the same way as standard footage, with one extra step: setting the camera profile, which converts the log image to Rec. 709.

1. [Download Daydream](https://www.daydreamvideo.com/download) and connect Claude or ChatGPT.
2. Import your footage. For supported cameras, Daydream reads the camera metadata, sets the camera profile automatically, and shows a "Log footage detected" notice. If it isn't detected, tell the AI which profile you shot in (for example, "this was shot in S-Log3 / S-Gamut3.Cine") or set it yourself: select the clip, then go to Properties > Color > Camera profile.
3. From there, it's the same flow as standard footage: color correct your clips first, then apply the look you want, then export.

Everything the AI changes stays visible and editable. Select the clip and open Properties > Color to see every setting, color wheel, and curve, and make manual adjustments of your own.

## How the AI checks its work with scopes

A monitor can lie, so colorists rely on scopes. Daydream shows you a waveform, an RGB parade, and a vectorscope with a skin tone line, and the AI reads the same measurements as numbers after every change. It checks where the subject sits in the exposure range, whether the grade is clipping highlights or crushing shadows, and whether areas that should be neutral, like a white wall or a grey shirt, actually are.

![The AI in Daydream measuring the face with scopes to fix pink skin tones on S-Log3 footage, with the vectorscope's skin tone line, white balance and tone settings, and its chat steps visible](https://www.daydreamvideo.com/blog/ai-scopes-skin-tone-16x9.webp)

Scopes also catch undeveloped log. If a clip has no camera profile, the AI checks the scopes for the signature of log footage (lifted blacks and compressed highlights) before grading. If the footage looks like log but the camera is unknown, it asks you which camera shot it instead of guessing.

## What color tools does the AI have?

The AI uses the same controls you see in the Color panel, so you can take over at any point:

- Camera profile: the input transform for log footage.
- White balance and exposure: temperature, tint, and exposure in stops.
- Tone: contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks.
- Color: saturation and vibrance.
- Color wheels: lift, gamma, and gain.
- Curves: master and RGB tone curves, plus hue vs. hue, hue vs. saturation, and hue vs. luma curves.
- Look: split toning and 3D .cube LUTs with a strength control.

![Daydream's Color panel for the warm grade: lift left neutral, gamma and gain pushed toward warm by adding red and pulling blue, with the tone curve beside the graded park shot](https://www.daydreamvideo.com/blog/color-panel-16x9.webp)

## Example prompts for AI color correction and grading

Here are some adjustments you can ask for:

- "Fix the white balance."
- "My skin tone looks off, can you make it less green?"
- "Remove the green cast."
- "Lower the highlights."
- "Desaturate the yellows in this clip."
- "Make the greens greener."
- "Apply this LUT at 60% strength."
- "Match the color of this clip to the one before it."

Adjustments apply to the whole frame. To match two clips, the AI compares their scopes and adjusts one toward the other.

## Can you mix standard and log footage in one timeline?

Yes. Each clip keeps its own camera profile, so log and standard clips convert correctly side by side. You can then ask the AI to match the look across both types of footage, and across different clips and cameras, or to apply one grade to every clip at once.

## Which cameras and formats are supported?

| Camera | Supported profiles | Detected automatically |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Any camera | Standard Rec. 709, and HDR (HLG, PQ, Dolby Vision) tone-mapped to Rec. 709 | Yes |
| Sony | S-Log3 / S-Gamut3.Cine, S-Log3 / S-Gamut3, S-Log2 / S-Gamut3.Cine | S-Log3 / S-Gamut3.Cine |
| Canon | C-Log3 and C-Log2, in Cinema Gamut or BT.2020 | C-Log3 / Cinema Gamut |
| Panasonic | V-Log / V-Gamut | Yes |
| Apple (iPhone) | Apple Log / Rec. 2020 | Yes |

Profiles that aren't detected automatically can be set by the AI or in Properties > Color > Camera profile. Automatic detection relies on the camera writing its make and log format into the file, so some clips may still need the profile set by hand.

## How to export your color grade to Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, or CapCut

An MP4 export includes your grade exactly as it looks in the preview. When you [export to another editor](https://docs.daydreamvideo.com/features/exporting), Daydream asks whether to keep your color grade:

- Bake grade: renders new copies of your graded clips, with a few seconds of handles for trimming, so the grade shows up in your other editor.
- Export ungraded: links to your original source files, so you see the original colors in your other editor. This is useful when you're handing the project to a colorist.

## FAQ

### Can ChatGPT color grade iPhone video?

Yes, when it's connected to Daydream. iPhones record HDR video by default, and Daydream automatically tone-maps it to standard Rec. 709 so ChatGPT can correct and grade it. If you shot in Apple Log, Daydream detects it and applies the Apple Log camera profile. Apple Log 2 isn't supported yet.

### Do I need to shoot in log to use AI color grading?

No. AI color correction and grading work on standard and HDR footage too. Log gives you more highlight and shadow detail to work with, which helps with heavily stylized looks, but it isn't required.

### How do I know if my footage is log?

Log footage looks flat, grey, and washed out before it's converted. Check your camera's picture profile setting for names like S-Log3, C-Log3, V-Log, or Apple Log. In Daydream, supported log footage is detected on import with a "Log footage detected" notice, and the AI checks the scopes for the signature of log footage before grading.

### Can I fix white balance with AI?

Yes. Ask the AI to fix the white balance, and it measures areas of the frame that should be neutral, like a white wall or a grey shirt, then adjusts temperature and tint until they read as neutral on the scopes.

### Will the export match the preview?

Yes. Daydream renders the grade with the same engine in the preview and the export, so your MP4 matches what you see. Clips baked for another editor are rendered by that same engine.

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Daydream is a free desktop video editor for macOS and Windows that lets AI agents like Claude and ChatGPT edit on a real timeline. Download: https://www.daydreamvideo.com/download. Docs: https://docs.daydreamvideo.com. All posts: https://www.daydreamvideo.com/blog (RSS: https://www.daydreamvideo.com/blog/feed.xml).