Imagen Video Review: AI Color Correction for Faster Editing

This is a hands-on review of Imagen Video AI color correction for Adobe Premiere and DaVinci Resolve.

Color correction is a vital yet time-consuming process that can be especially challenging for non-professional videographers.

Imagen Video streamlines the process by eliminating the need for a color-grading background, using high-quality, professional AI Profiles.

With clip-by-clip adjustments and the option for pros to apply their own LUTs, it’s a powerful post-production tool for videographers of all experience levels.

Let’s dive into this Imagen Video review and explore its powerful AI color grading features and workflow.

For our review of Imagen’s photo editing tools, click here.

What is Imagen Video?

Imagen has been at the forefront of AI-powered systems for photographers, delivering robust tools covering everything from automatic masking to smart photo culling.

They’ve recently turned their attention to video color correction with Imagen Video, a new and powerful platform for videographers and general content creators.

Color correction is notoriously time-consuming and requires dedicated learning to fully master and apply a variety of processes to achieve professional-looking results.

Exposure adjustments, white balance, contrast, saturation, and other variables all need to be addressed to ensure footage appears consistent across clips.

Additionally, color grading involves other technical considerations, with editors required to work across multiple cameras, lenses, and lighting conditions.

Whether shooting an interview or working as a wedding videographer, these variables can make it difficult to harmonize footage for a consistent aesthetic.

This can lead to highly demanding workflows that can take many hours of manual adjustments for a single project, which Imagen Video aims to address.

To accomplish this, the Imagen Video platform takes a two-pronged approach, beginning with dedicated AI Profiles that deliver near-instantaneous results.

There’s also full support for custom LUTs for more experienced editors with a background in color grading and pre-existing grading settings.

The result is a flexible color correction system that serves both casual videographers and professional editors alike.

Currently available for Adobe Premiere and DaVinci Resolve, Imagen Video’s cloud-based system also ensures editors can stay within their existing workflow.

I’ve put it to the test on DaVinci Resolve Studio to see how it shapes up, so let’s dive into the results.

Features of Imagen Video

User Interface & Settings

Imagen Video’s user interface is in keeping with the UI of its photo AI editing platform: neat, straightforward, and visually clear.

From its “Dark Mode”-style display to its intuitive navigation, the UI is split into two distinct sections: Home and Projects.

On the Home page, users can access their most recent projects, with direct links to review them in Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve.

User settings can be accessed via the link in the top-right corner of the screen, with additional links to the community and the help center also available.

Projects are also clearly listed in the relevant tab, detailing the project’s name, AI profile used, progression, and date of creation.

Again, these can be quickly opened in Resolve or Premiere from this page, with options to run another color correction pass or share to gather feedback.

Imagen Video Projects and AI Profiles

Managing projects in Imagen Video follows the same general, streamlined approach found throughout the user interface.

After selecting Create a New Project, users can choose from a range of video types, including weddings and documentaries, landscapes, music, and commercial projects.

Once a type has been selected, you can choose AI Profile by Imagen or AI color correction based on your LUTs.

AI Profiles are plentiful and varied, each built around visual elements such as Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, and Temperature.

These categories are broken down into clear subcategories that complement the preview, such as Bright, Dark and Moody, Dreamy, Faded, and Natural Light.

To aid visualization, Imagen Video lets users view previews of each profile in various contexts, with subjects placed on different backgrounds.

Simply select the desired profile, and a looped clip plays, along with a toggle to show the original footage and a swipe to assess its impact.

This clip can be paused for a more thorough assessment of specific frames, with a carousel beneath the clip for instant switching to alternative profiles.

Once you’re happy with a profile, select the video project in your preferred editing suite to which you want to apply it.

After selecting the project timelines without color correction to apply it to, simply sit back and wait for Imagen Video to process the results.

Following this processing, you can then open your project in DaVinci or Premiere and view the new AI LUT across your footage.

I tested a selection of AI Profiles for this review, each of which delivered notable improvements over the source footage.

Colors were more vibrant and sharp, with a pleasing overall balance of brightness and contrast that was appropriately stylish.

While a few subtle tweaks were necessary in some cases, this didn’t alter the fact that much of the legwork had been covered by the AI Profile’s adjustments.

Another feature that further elevates Imagen Video is the option to switch to a different profile if you’re not 100% satisfied with the results.

That said, my test results exceeded expectations, and the final outcome closely matched the desired aesthetic.

AI Color Correction Based on User LUTs

While Imagen Video is an excellent option for batch-processing color grading of clips and for non-professionals, it also has broader applications in the media industry.

If you’re a professional editor with a background in color grading, you can use your custom LUTs in conjunction with Imagen Video.

In this process, Imagen Video serves as an adaptive technical layer, using personalized LUTs as a baseline for subsequent clip adjustments.

Its AI processes each clip, scanning it for lens and camera-sensor data to harmonize the footage and identify light shifts and skin tones.

Once this is completed, it applies adaptive technical correction for exposure, white balance, ISO settings, and other metrics based on the aesthetic of the custom LUT.

Since these steps are non-destructive, the editor can refine their custom LUT along with the AI-driven baseline.

The result is a consistently reliable core for handling technical layers, freeing up significant time and effort for serious editors.

This allows them to focus entirely on the creative aspects of grading, bringing character, depth, and expressivity to the footage.

Overall Performance

Cloud-based media content platforms can sometimes be a slog to use, but Imagen Video avoids this common pitfall with its impressive speed.

Color correction processes are rendered swiftly, with Imagen Video sending email notifications to the user once completed.

For example, a three-minute sequence took approximately 10 minutes for Imagen Video to render the color correction, ready for viewing in DaVinci Resolve.

Likewise, results are consistent across shots, with minimal additional tweaks to grading settings required in most instances.

Overall, performance when navigating Imagen Video’s settings is also solid, delivering a smooth, satisfying experience.

How I Tested Imagen Video

This review of Imagen Video was tested in DaVinci Resolve Studio using various clip reels shot on a Sony a7 III with native prime and zoom lenses.

To assess performance, various types of footage were used, with landscape and nature footage primarily applied.

The video was captured in picture profiles, including CINE4 and S-log2, to assess how the software applied changes to the raw footage.

Results were then assessed based on how consistently changes were applied across individual shots, including leveling out lighting conditions, tone, and other factors.

Additional footage from a children’s easter egg hunt was also tested to assess how changes to color vibrancy and skin tones were applied to the project.

Color correction processing time was also assessed, yielding consistently quick results over a high-speed internet connection for projects of varying lengths.

Alternatives to Imagen Video

There are various alternatives to Imagen Video that content creators and videographers can opt for, each with unique applications.

For casual content creators, CapCut includes an efficient automated color adjustment tool that lets you quickly apply changes on mobile devices.

Runway ML offers comparable tools to Imagen Video, with a cloud-based setup and automation, albeit at a higher price.

There’s also fylm.ai, another cloud-based platform that lets you add filmic color grading to projects without complex node-based workflows.

Value for Money

Imagen Video provides two options for its video color correction platform: a basic, pay-as-you-go model or a starter pack.

If you don’t want to commit, the pay-as-you-go option, which is invoiced monthly, costs approximately US$1 per minute of footage converted.

Alternatively, you can sign up for the monthly Starter Pack subscription at around US$36 per month, which includes 50 minutes of footage at a better per-minute rate.

Both options are competitively priced, with unused minutes in the Starter Pack rolling over to the following month, providing additional value.

Considering the time-saving factor and the quality of the results, this represented excellent value for money, with the option to cancel at any time.

Imagen Video Review | Conclusion

AI-powered tools for media projects must navigate a fine line between augmenting the creative process without compromising artistic expression.

I found Imagen Video to strike a perfect balance for videographers of all experience levels, delivering impressive color grading results for casual users while also offering pros a streamlined workflow.

Using Imagen Video is a breeze, with slick performance and fast results ready for final adjustments in Adobe Premiere and DaVinci Resolve.

Experimenting with the platform is also a lot of fun, thanks to an eclectic selection of AI Profiles designed for all types of videography.

Whether you’re a professional wedding videographer looking to batch process dozens of clips or a hobbyist, Imagen Video is highly recommended.