Lift

Overview

In digital color correction (Color Grading), Lift refers to the control tool that primarily controls the shadows and black levels of an image. It is part of the classic three-way split of primary color correction, the so-called Lift/Gamma/Gain model (LGG): Lift affects the dark areas of the image, Gamma the midtones, and Gain the highlights. Lift, along with its master control, is found as a color wheel in practically all professional color grading and editing software (e.g., DaVinci Resolve).

The color wheel allows shadows to be shifted independently by color (e.g., introducing a blue cast into the shadows), while the master control below it raises or lowers the brightness of the shadows. Raising "opens up" dark areas and softens the black; lowering deepens the shadows and creates richer black tones.

Functionality

The technically crucial characteristic of Lift is its anchoring behavior: Lift changes the black point (Black Level) but leaves the white point (White Clipping Point) untouched. The adjustment therefore has the strongest effect in the shadows and decreases towards the highlights. This fundamentally distinguishes Lift from the Offset control, which shifts all tonal values uniformly across the entire brightness range.

It is also important that the areas of influence for Lift, Gamma, and Gain overlap. None of the three controls exclusively corrects a single tonal range; the transitions are smooth, so a Lift adjustment also affects the midtones in a weakened form.

Relation to ASC CDL

The American Society of Cinematographers' standard ASC CDL (Color Decision List), the exchange format for color correction metadata between post-production tools, uses a closely related model of Slope, Offset, and Power (SOP). The following comparison shows the approximate correspondence of the terms:

The assignment is an approximation and not an exact mathematical equivalence: while the LGG Lift anchors the white point, the CDL Offset shifts all code values uniformly.

Use on Set and in Post

Lift is a tool of post-production and the color grading suite, not of lighting or grip. Colorists use Lift to set the black level of a clip (e.g., bringing flat Log material to true black), to color-match shadows, or to shape contrast at the lower end of the tonal range. In conjunction with Gamma and Gain, Lift forms the basis of every primary color correction before secondary corrections and looks follow.