Where it sits in the post schedule
Grading comes after picture lock. The editor's timeline is exported as an EDL or XML, and the conform relinks every shot to the full resolution camera files. The colorist then works through the film in edit order, usually scene by scene, with the director and the director of photography in the room for review sessions.
A rough sequence on an indie feature:
- Conform check against the offline reference, shot by shot.
- Primary pass: balance exposure and white balance, match shots within each scene.
- Look development on a few representative scenes, approved by the director and DP.
- Secondary work: windows on faces, sky replacements in tone, isolating a wardrobe color.
- Review screening, notes, revisions.
- Trim passes for other deliverables, such as an SDR version from an HDR master.
- Render masters for deliverables.
What the colorist is actually fixing
Scene 42, EXT. PARKING GARAGE - NIGHT, was shot over two nights with the sodium lights on one night and LED work lights on the other. The wide from night one has an orange cast, and the close ups from night two are cooler. Without grading, the cuts between them jump. The colorist balances them to one look, then adds contrast and pulls the highlights down so the practicals don't clip.
That is correction and grading happening at once. The terms get used interchangeably on most schedules.
Mistakes that eat grading days
Grading before picture lock is the biggest one. Every shot the editor swaps afterward goes back through the conform and needs a fresh grade. Another is reviewing on the wrong screen. Approving a theatrical grade on a laptop, or an HDR grade on a monitor that can't display it, leads to surprises at the QC stage.
Footage shot with no plan for the grade also costs time. If the DP and DIT used a show LUT on set and in dailies, the colorist has a reference for what everyone approved during the shoot.
In the budget
The grade usually sits in the post section of the budget as facility time plus colorist rate, often quoted as a package that includes conform and renders. The post-production supervisor should get the quote with the deliverables list attached, because each extra version (HDR, SDR, theatrical, broadcast) adds trim time.