Introduction

Caution

Hance is alpha software. It has mainly been tested on macOS by a single developer. Expect rough edges on Linux, and pin versions if you use it in anything important. Windows is not supported.

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Hance is a single-binary CLI that applies cinematic film effects to video and images. Preview a look in the browser with hance ui, then batch-apply it from the CLI. GPU-accelerated colour, halation, bloom, grain, vignette, split-tone, aberration, and camera shake. One binary, no plugins, no subscriptions.

Who is this for?

• Creators whose editors don’t support LUTs: CapCut, ScreenFlow, iMovie, browser-based editors, and mobile NLEs have no LUT pipeline. Hance gives you cinematic film looks that weren’t possible before. Process your clips before you import them.
• Creators who want more than a LUT: halation, grain, bloom, aberration, and camera shake are spatial effects that LUTs literally cannot do. Hance bundles colour grading and film texture into one step, no plugins required.
• Automation pipelines: agencies, studios, or platforms that need to batch-apply a consistent look across hundreds of clips with no GUI in the loop.
• Developers building apps that need film effects programmatically: social video platforms, AI video pipelines, content tools.

Hance is not a replacement for professional colour grading. It’s the tool you reach for when you don’t want to open a colour grading app at all.

How it works

Run hance on any video or image file and it applies a chain of film effects in a single pass:

hance video.mp4

This produces video_hanced.mp4 next to the original, with the default film look applied.

Effects pipeline

Every file passes through these stages:

1. Color grading: exposure, contrast, white balance, saturation, fade
2. Halation: soft glow around highlights (a real film optical artifact)
3. Chromatic aberration: subtle color fringing at edges
4. Bloom: soft light diffusion
5. Film grain: organic noise with controllable size and softness
6. Vignette: darkened edges
7. Split toning: color shifts in shadows and highlights
8. Camera shake: subtle motion for a handheld feel

Each effect can be tuned individually via CLI flags, or disabled entirely with --no-<effect>.

Looks

Hance ships with 40+ built-in looks modeled after real film stocks: Portra 400, Cinestill 800T, Kodachrome 64, and more. Apply one with:

hance video.mp4 --preset portra-400

You can also create and share your own .hlook files.

License

Hance is licensed under FSL-1.1-Apache-2.0: free to use, modify, and redistribute. Cannot be used to build a competing product or service. Converts to Apache 2.0 on April 1, 2028.