Graded rough and in the client’s inbox by ten the next morning. That habit has saved more films than any note we have ever given.
Ungraded rushes read as failure to anyone who does not cut for a living. Ten minutes of a rough LUT and a level pass turns the same footage into something a board can understand, which means the conversation on day three is about the film rather than about whether the film is working.
It costs a colourist an hour a day. It is the cheapest hour on the schedule.