What It Does
ContrastUp adjusts contrast by giving you separate controls for shadows, midtones, and highlights. Instead of a single contrast slider that affects the entire image uniformly, you can darken only the darkest areas, lift the midtones, or bring down hot highlights. The plugin processes adjustments without introducing flicker, which makes it reliable for footage with motion or changing light.
Key Features
Tonal sliders. Three independent controls target specific brightness ranges. Shadows affect the darkest parts of the image, midtones handle the middle values, and highlights adjust the brightest areas. This separation lets you preserve detail in one range while adjusting another.
Local and global contrast. You can apply adjustments to the overall image or focus on localized areas depending on your slider settings. The algorithm adapts to the content of each frame.
GPU acceleration. ContrastUp runs on the GPU in both After Effects and Premiere Pro, providing real-time feedback as you adjust sliders. This is useful when grading footage with multiple layers or high-resolution sources.
No flickering. The plugin processes frames without creating temporal artifacts or flicker, which is common when pushing contrast too hard with other methods.
Who It’s For
ContrastUp suits colorists working with footage that needs selective tonal adjustments. If you shoot in flat picture profiles and need to add punch back into shadows and highlights separately, this does it without nested adjustment layers or multiple passes. It’s also practical for salvaging underexposed or hazy footage where a simple curves adjustment would crush blacks or blow out whites.
Pricing
$14.99 for a single-user license. Floating server and render-only licenses are also available.