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Light & Grade Regions: Power Windows on Your Phone

Published September 16, 2026 6 min read By the ExpoCut team

Every colourist’s first real trick is the power window: darken the sky, lift the face, warm the lamp — without touching the rest of the frame. ExpoCut’s Light Studio is that tool. Here’s how to build regions, stack them, and keep them looking like light rather than a cut-out.

Quick answer

In ExpoCut, select a layer, tap the pencil (Edit) and swipe the toolbar to Light to open Light Studio. Tap + Add region, then on the Scope tab choose the shape — Area (rectangle), Gradient (a line with soft falloff), Radial (an oval), Object (drawn) or Trident — and raise Feather so the edge reads as light. On the Light tab set that region’s own Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Blacks, Vibrance, Saturation; on Look scope a filter or LUT to the region. Tap + Region to stack more, Compare to toggle everything off, Copy/Paste to reuse a region set on another layer, and Done.

  • Light lives on the Edit toolbar (between Graph and Crop) and opens a full-screen studio with a live preview.
  • Scope shapes: Area, Gradient, Radial, Object, Trident — Feather (px) is what makes a region read as lighting.
  • Each region has its own tone stack (Exposure → Saturation) and its own Look (filter / LUT).
  • Stack regions: a gradient to tame a window, a radial to lift a face, a drawn object for a lamp.
  • Copy/Paste carries a whole region set to another clip; Capture keyframe animates a region over time.

A global grade is a blunt instrument. The frame usually has one thing too bright and one thing too dark, and they’re in different places. Light Studio lets you treat them separately — a region for each, feathered so the eye reads light, not mask.

Where it lives

Select a video or image layer, tap the pencil (Edit) and swipe the transform toolbar to Light (between Graph and Crop). Light Studio opens full-screen with a live preview and a Compare button on the frame.

Light Studio's empty state over a window portrait: Copy and Paste buttons, a + Region chip, a time scrubber, and the message No lighting regions yet — add a region and scope it to an area, gradient, depth falloff, or a drawn object — with a + Add region button. Copy / Paste a region set between layers + Add region
Light Studio before any regions. Copy/Paste carries a finished set of regions to another clip in one tap.

Step 1 — Add a region and shape it (Scope)

  1. Tap + Add region

    A region appears with handles on the preview and a chip in the strip above the tabs.

  2. Choose a Scope

    Area (rectangle), Gradient (a line — everything past it, fading over the feather), Radial (an oval), Object (a drawn shape) or Trident (a three-way split).

  3. Raise Feather

    Higher feather = softer edge. 60–120 px reads as light; below 20 reads as a cut-out.

Light Studio with a Gradient region: a horizontal dashed line with a centre handle across the window portrait, the Gradient chip active, tabs Scope / Light / Look, Scope options Area, Gradient (selected), Radial, Object and Trident, Feather 90 px and Depth / Impact 100%. Gradient line — drag the handle to move it Scope · Light · Look Area · Gradient · Radial · Object · Trident Feather — higher reads as light, not a cut
A Gradient region across the middle of the frame. Drag the handle to move the line; rotate it by dragging the dotted stem. Depth / Impact sets how strongly the region applies.

Step 2 — Set the region’s light

The Light tab for the Gradient region: Tone scrubbers Exposure −0.27, Contrast 1.04, Highlights 0.0, Shadows 0.0; the top of the window in the preview is slightly darker. Exposure −0.27 on the gradient Contrast · Highlights · Shadows…
The Light tab is the region’s own tone stack — Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Blacks, Vibrance, Saturation, Brightness. Pulling Exposure to −0.27 tames the window without touching the subject.

Each row is a scrubber: drag left or right on it. Scroll down for Capture keyframe (animate the region — a sun that moves) and Delete region.

Step 3 — Stack a second region

Tap + Region and shape it differently. A Radial over the subject with Shadows lifted is the classic face light; a small Object region traced around a lamp can be warmed with a Look.

Two region chips — Gradient and Radial (active) — above the tabs; a dashed oval with handles sits over the woman's head and shoulders, and the Light tab shows Shadows raised to 0.32. Two regions stacked Radial over the subject Shadows +0.32
Regions stack. The gradient darkens the window; the radial lifts the subject’s shadows by 0.32. Tap a chip to edit that region; Compare shows the untouched frame.

Step 4 — Give a region its own look

The Look tab for the Radial region: Filter Look categories LUTs, Film, Duotone, Instagram, VSCO, and tiles Teal & Orange, Blockbuster and Film Noir. LUTs · Film · Duotone · Instagram · VSCO… A look scoped to this region only
The Look tab applies a filter or LUT inside the region only — the same library as the Filters tool. Teal & Orange on the subject, nothing on the background, is a two-tap cinematic split.

Feather first, then judge. Every “that looks fake” region is an under-feathered one. Set Feather before you touch the tone rows, and toggle Compare with the region selected to see exactly what it’s doing.

Recipes

  • Window taming: Gradient from the bright side, Exposure −0.3, Highlights −0.2, Feather 90.
  • Face lift: Radial on the face, Shadows +0.3, Vibrance +0.1, Feather 100.
  • Lamp warmth: Object drawn round the lamp, Look ▸ Film ▸ a warm preset, Depth 70 %.
  • Vignette that isn’t a vignette: Radial covering the centre, then Exposure −0.4 — everything outside the oval darkens.

Where to go next

Shape it, feather it, light it — one region at a time, until the frame looks the way the room felt.

Frequently asked questions

What is a power window in colour grading?

A shaped mask that limits a grade to part of the frame — an oval on a face, a gradient over a sky — with a soft edge so the change reads as light. In ExpoCut it's a Light Studio region: pick a Scope shape, feather the edge, and adjust that region's tone or look.

How do I brighten just a face in a video?

Select the clip, tap Edit ▸ Light ▸ + Add region, choose Radial on the Scope tab and drag the oval over the face. On the Light tab raise Shadows or Exposure a little, and set Feather high so there's no visible edge. Tap Done.

Can a region have a different filter from the rest of the frame?

Yes. Each region's Look tab holds the same filter library as the Filters tool — LUTs, Film, Duotone, Instagram, VSCO and more — applied only inside that region. A Teal & Orange window over the subject with a neutral background is a classic use.

Grade the part that matters

Shaped light regions with their own exposure, contrast and look — stackable, keyframeable, on-device.

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