Correction, 2026-10-02: the FAQ said 8frame has no grading tools. It has no grading node on the canvas and no grading suite (no curves, color wheels or LUTs), but the separate Video Editor mode has filter presets and a brightness slider for each clip, and the ID-V2V Restyle tool, with its Relight option, re-renders a clip to the look of a first frame you edited. The page now says so. It also described how a model renders a grade you name (the shadows carry the tint, the highlights roll off a certain way) as fact; we have not measured that, so those lines are now things to check.
Correction, 2026-10-01: an earlier version put "4K" in a Veo 3.1 example prompt (on 8frame, Veo 3.1 and 3.1 Fast output 1080p and Veo 3.1 Lite 720p, whatever the prompt says), said Veo 3.1 executes a teal-orange grade reliably and that Kling handles natural grades well, and said AI grading happens in the prompt rather than in post. We have not measured either model's grading, and you can still grade AI footage in post. Those lines are now advice. Its Kling example read as text-to-video; on 8frame Kling v3 animates a start image, which the example now says.
Color grading is the process of adjusting the color, contrast, and tone of a video or image to achieve a specific mood, brand look, or cinematic aesthetic.
It goes beyond basic brightness and saturation corrections. Where color correction fixes technical problems (a shot that's too warm, skin tones that are off), color grading is a creative decision. You're choosing how the scene feels. The same footage can read as cold and clinical, warm and nostalgic, or gritty and desaturated depending on the grade applied. With AI video you have three places to shape the look: describe it in the prompt so the model aims for it while it renders, apply a quick look on the timeline in 8frame's Video Editor, or grade the downloaded clip in your editor like any other footage.
How color grading works
In traditional video production, colorists work in grading software such as DaVinci Resolve, whose color tools include primary color wheels for lift, gamma and gain (shadows, midtones and highlights) and curves for finer control of color and contrast. They usually balance the shots first, then build the creative look, working shot by shot or scene by scene.
In AI generation there is no separate grading step. Video models are trained on large amounts of footage, so grading vocabulary is something you can ask for, but the look you describe is rendered into the frame along with everything else rather than laid over it as a filter. Whether the shadows carry the tint you described, how the highlights roll off and where the contrast lands are things to check in each take, not things to assume.
That's why prompt precision matters. Vague color language ("nice colors," "cinematic") gives the model nothing specific to aim at and gives you nothing to check the result against. A specific grade description ("teal-and-orange grade, lifted blacks, warm highlights, slight haze") names what you want and tells you exactly what to look for.
When you use color grading
Color grading shows up in three main scenarios:
- Setting mood. A horror sequence often leans on desaturated greens and crushed blacks. A lifestyle brand may want warm, slightly overexposed footage with soft shadows. The grade does emotional work before a single word of dialogue plays.
- Brand consistency. If every piece of content you produce shares the same grade, your visual identity can become recognizable without a logo in frame. Define the look once and prompt to it every time, but don't assume two models, or two takes, render the same words the same way: put the clips side by side, compare them with your reference frame, and match them in post.
- Referencing an aesthetic. Specific film stocks, era aesthetics, or director styles (bleach bypass, cross-processed film, the teal-orange blockbuster look) communicate a lot of visual information in a short phrase. Experienced prompts borrow from this shared vocabulary.
Examples in AI prompts
Veo 3.1 with a cinematic teal-orange grade: name the grade explicitly: "tracking shot through a neon-lit city at night, cinematic teal-orange grade, warm highlights, deep teal shadows, anamorphic lens flare." Leave resolution words like "4K" out of the prompt; the Veo tool sets resolution by model, not by prompt. Check skin tones and shadow color in the result, and finish the grade in post if the take is close but not there. On 8frame the Veo tool starts on Veo 3.1 Fast, 8 seconds with sound, 168 credits.
Kling with a natural color treatment: for footage meant to read as documentary or authentic, ask for restraint: "golden hour, outdoor product shoot, natural color, soft warm light, no heavy grade." Kling v3 on 8frame animates a start image, so the still sets the starting look: get the grade right in the image first, keep the prompt's color language consistent with it, and compare the end of the clip with the still to see whether the look held. Kling v3 Standard is 86 credits for 5 seconds with sound; for text-only prompts, Kling 2.6 Pro is 95.
Both examples rest on the same habit: name the grade you want instead of hoping the model defaults to it, check the take against that description, and treat the generated look as a starting point you can still grade.
Where the grade happens on 8frame
8frame has no grading node on the canvas and no grading suite: no curves, color wheels or LUTs. What it does have:
- The Video Editor mode. Each clip on the Video Editor timeline has a Style tab with a Filter Preset menu (Retro, Vintage, Wes Anderson, Film Noir, Polaroid, Cinematic, Cool, Warm, Expired Film, Kodak, Super 8) and a Brightness slider. These change the whole frame at once, so they work as a quick look, not a grade: you can't target skin tones, shadows or highlights on their own.
- ID-V2V Restyle and Relight. You give it a source clip and a first frame you have already edited to the look you want, and it carries that look through the clip; Relight is the option for changing the light while keeping the scene. It costs 27 credits per second of source footage (135 for 5 seconds), up to 15 seconds, at 480p or 720p. It re-renders the footage rather than grading it, so check every shot.
- Your own editor. A clip downloaded from the canvas is the provider's file (8frame does not re-encode it), so a full grade in DaVinci Resolve or any other editor starts from the original.
FAQ
Can I color grade inside 8frame? Not with grading tools: there are no curves, color wheels or LUTs, and no grading node on the canvas. The Video Editor mode has filter presets and a brightness slider for a quick whole-frame look, and ID-V2V Restyle / Relight can carry the look of an edited first frame through a clip (27 credits per second, up to 15 seconds). For a real grade, describe the look in the prompt, then grade the downloaded clip in your editor.
Does writing "4K" in a prompt raise the resolution? No. Output resolution is set by the model and its settings: 1080p on Veo 3.1 and 3.1 Fast, 720p on Veo 3.1 Lite. No video model on 8frame outputs 4K.
Will two models give me the same grade from the same words? Don't count on it; we haven't measured how closely models follow a described grade. Run the same grade description on each model you plan to use, put the results side by side with your reference frame, and match them in post.
Related concepts
- The Veo 3 Prompt Guide covers how to structure prompts for Veo 3.1, including how to combine grade descriptions with camera movement and lighting.
- What is a style frame: one finished still that fixes the look, grade included, before anything is animated.
- Edit an existing video with AI covers ID-V2V and the other models that change a clip you already have, with their limits and prices.
Sources
- DaVinci Resolve color page (primary color wheels for lift, gamma and gain, "also known as shadows, midtones and highlights"; curves; "Once shots are balanced, you can begin the creative grading process to create unique 'looks'"): blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/color, checked 2026-10-02
- Veo and Kling node settings, resolutions and prices (calculateVeo31Cost, calculateKlingV3Cost; Kling 2.6 Pro text-to-video, 95 for 5 seconds with sound) and the media pipeline (video is not re-encoded): 8frame tool registry, code and content fact sheet, read 2026-10-01
- Video Editor Style tab (filter presets, brightness slider) and ID-V2V Restyle / Relight (calculateIdV2vCost: 27 credits per second of source, up to 15 seconds, 480p or 720p): 8frame front code and tool registry, read 2026-10-02
Want to test a specific grade on your next video? Open the 8frame canvas and run it on Veo 3.1 and Kling side by side.
Try it without signing up: the 8frame canvas opens on a real board. The canvas is free and unlimited; generation is paid from $19/month.