DJI D-Log M to Rec.709 in Final Cut Pro, step by step

D-Log M clips from a DJI drone, pocket gimbal or action camera land in Final Cut Pro gray and flat, and Apple's built-in Camera LUT list has no D-Log M entry. DJI publishes its own D-Log M to Rec.709 LUT for each camera. This guide shows where to get it, how to add it as a custom camera LUT, and how to avoid converting a clip twice.

Last checked 2026-10-10.

Which DJI cameras have a D-Log M LUT

DJI's LUT page at dji.com/lut lists a D-Log M to Rec.709 LUT for the Mavic 3, Avata 2, Flip, Mini 4 Pro, Air 3, Air 3S, O4 Air Unit Series, Osmo Action 4, 5 and 6, Osmo Pocket 3, Osmo Nano and Osmo 360. DJI's download center adds an entry for the Mavic 2 and Air 2S.

The same page lists plain D-Log to Rec.709 LUTs separately, and the Mavic 3 appears with both. Read DJI's page for your own model. A camera that is not on it may use a different mode, and a flat clip from one is not necessarily D-Log M.

What Final Cut Pro does with DJI footage on its own

Apple says that when you import log media, Final Cut Pro detects metadata that identifies the camera maker and applies the matching built-in Camera LUT, converting the clip to the working space of the current library. Camera LUTs apply at the media level, across the whole library, and before any clip effects.

For DJI, Apple's list has a single entry: DJI D-Log, which uses DJI's Mavic 3 3D LUT to convert D-Log to Rec. 709. There is no D-Log M entry. Apple also says some cameras do not embed the metadata, and that it can be lost when a file is transcoded. So a D-Log M clip may show None, or it may show the D-Log entry, which DJI treats as a different mode with a different LUT. Neither is a D-Log M conversion.

The library setting that changes the result

Every Camera LUT depends on the library's color processing. A Standard library uses linear RGB with Rec.709 primaries, and the log conversion tone-maps the clip down to SDR. A Wide Gamut HDR library uses Rec.2020 primaries, and Apple says its built-in Camera LUTs then skip tone mapping and keep the full dynamic range of the log clip.

Pick one before you start. The setting is library-wide, changing it can alter how effects and blend modes look, and Apple suggests a separate library for each project or deliverable.

Where to get DJI's LUT

DJI hosts the official LUTs itself, on the LUT page at dji.com/lut and in its download center. Pick your product and download its D-Log M to Rec.709 LUT. The page gives download links, not file names or a format, so open the download and look for a .cube file. Final Cut takes .cube and .mga files. DJI publishes one LUT per product, so keep clips from different DJI models in separate batches.

Step by step

1. 1. Confirm the clip really is D-Log M

   Look at the picture first. D-Log M footage is gray, low in contrast and low in saturation. A clip that already looks normal was shot in a normal color mode, and DJI's LUT will ruin it. If you are not sure, check the color mode on the camera or in its app. DJI lists D-Log M and plain D-Log as separate downloads on its LUT page, so match the LUT to the mode.

2. 2. Choose the library's color processing

   Select the library in the Libraries sidebar, then choose File > Library Properties (or press Control-Command-J). Click Modify at the top of the Library Properties inspector and choose Standard or Wide Gamut HDR. For a plain Rec.709 film, Standard is the simpler setup. Choose Wide Gamut HDR if you want the full log range kept for grading or plan an HDR deliverable. Set it before you grade and do not change it midway.

3. 3. Check the Camera LUT on one clip

   Select a DJI clip, press Command-4 to show the inspector and click the Info button. Click the Metadata View pop-up menu at the bottom left and choose General, Extended or Settings, then look at the Camera LUT pop-up menu. Apple's built-in list has one DJI entry, DJI D-Log, and no D-Log M entry. If the menu says DJI D-Log, that is the plain D-Log conversion and not the one for a D-Log M clip, so choose None. If it already says None, leave it.

4. 4. Download DJI's D-Log M to Rec.709 LUT

   Go to DJI's LUT page at dji.com/lut, find your camera and download its D-Log M to Rec.709 LUT. DJI's page gives download links, not file names or a format, so open the download and look for a .cube file, which Final Cut accepts along with .mga. The Osmo Action 4, Action 5 and Osmo Nano entries are labeled as the vivid version, and the others use the plain name. Use the file for your own model, because DJI publishes one per product.

5. 5. Import it as a custom camera LUT

   In the Camera LUT pop-up menu, choose Add Custom Camera LUT and select the file. You can pick one file, several, or a folder. Then use the Output Color Space pop-up menu to choose the color space the LUT converts to, the Rec.709 option, since DJI's file is named D-Log M to Rec.709. The LUT appears in the Custom Camera section of the Camera LUT menu. Select all the clips from that camera in the browser and choose it. Apple says the change applies to every instance of the clip, in all projects and events in the library.

6. 6. Or add the LUT as a Custom LUT effect

   If you would rather convert with a clip effect, set the clip's Camera LUT to None first. Open the Effects browser, select the Color category and double-click Custom LUT on the clip. In the Custom LUT section of the Video inspector, click the LUT pop-up menu, choose Choose Custom LUT and select the DJI file. Then use the Input and Output menus to say which color space the LUT converts from and to. Apple says that if you are not sure, the LUT's creator can tell you. Use this route or the camera LUT route on a clip, never both.

7. 7. Check the picture on the scopes

   Choose View > Show in Viewer > Video Scopes (Command-7) and show the waveform. Blacks should sit near the bottom without crushing and highlights should not clip. Aerials are mostly sky, and your eye reads them brighter than they are, so trust the waveform over a laptop screen. If a clip still looks flat after the LUT, check that it was not converted twice before you reach for contrast.

8. 8. Set white balance with the eyedropper

   Choose Modify > Balance Color (or press Option-Command-B). In the Balance Color section of the Video inspector, click the pop-up menu, choose White Balance and click something that should be neutral, such as concrete, a white railing or gray cloud. Apple advises against sampling an overexposed area or a light source. Do it clip by clip, because the light changes through a flight.

9. 9. Set exposure and match the other cameras last

   Bring skin or ground detail to a sensible level and keep the sky from clipping. Match the drone to your ground cameras last, as in the multi-cam order.

Where D-Log M in Final Cut goes wrong

• The built-in DJI D-Log entry on a D-Log M clip. Apple's entry is built on DJI's D-Log LUT, and DJI lists D-Log M separately. Set the Camera LUT to None before you add DJI's D-Log M file.
• Stacking conversions. A Camera LUT plus a Custom LUT effect on the same clip converts the clip twice, and the picture comes out far too contrasty. If you convert with a clip effect, set the Camera LUT to None first.
• The wrong LUT for the mode. A D-Log M LUT on a normal-mode clip, or the reverse, gives wrong contrast and color. Match the LUT to the mode the clip was shot in.
• One LUT for a mixed flight. Two DJI models, or log and normal clips from the same camera, need the right LUT on each clip, not one on everything.
• Changing the library's color processing after you have graded. Apple warns that filters and blend modes can look different when you switch.
• Moving the library to another computer without the LUT. A custom camera LUT lives in Final Cut's Camera LUTs folder. If the file is missing, a yellow warning button appears next to the Camera LUT menu so you can reimport it.

Where Basecut fits

A wedding card dump puts D-Log M clips next to normal-mode ones, and the file's tag is not always honest. Basecut checks the picture as well as the tag when it decides whether a DJI clip is log, because a log clip can be tagged as Rec.709. Its D-Log M conversion is a curve fitted to DJI's own Osmo Action 6 D-Log M to Rec.709 LUT, with no D-Gamut matrix. When Basecut tested the matrix against DJI's LUT on real footage, it about doubled the saturation. DJI's LUT also carries DJI's own contrast and saturation look, so the two will not match exactly.

In Final Cut Pro, Basecut does not apply that color. It sends an FCPXML file with keyword collections and Favorite and Reject ratings, and ships one .cube file per clip. Apply it with the Custom LUT effect and set the clip's Camera LUT to None first, and do not stack it on top of DJI's LUT. The 14-day free trial has 5 free exports and needs no card. See it on real footage.