Prolost CDL

v1.0 for After Effects CC

Color, Communicated

Prolost CDL is a free After Effects preset that allows numerical entry of CDL, or Color Decision List, values. The CDL standard was created by the American Society of Cinematographers to facilitate the communication of basic color adjustments between various applications and facilities.

Long ago, I designed a free version of Magic Bullet Colorista that was CDL compatible, in the spirit of the ASC’s open standard. This product has long been discontinued, so I created this free preset to replace it.

Prolost CDL uses two Levels effects and a Color Balance (HLS) effect to recreate the CDL color transforms. If you delete or re-order these effects, the color adjustment will not be accurate. The expressions that link the CDL values to the effects are simple and left un-obfuscated for your perusal.

This preset only works in After Effects. If you need CDL corrections in Premiere Pro, there’s a built-in effect that does it.

To install Prolost CDL, place it in your User Presets folder.