The Resolve / Colour Grading resource thread

[kye]

1 hour ago, newfoundmass said:

Have they fixed multicam editing yet? 

What was wrong with it?  I feel like someone has mentioned this, but I can't remember specifically what it was

And what version was the last one you checked?

[newfoundmass]

9 hours ago, kye said:

What was wrong with it?  I feel like someone has mentioned this, but I can't remember specifically what it was

And what version was the last one you checked?

I'll have to check when I get home, but it wouldn't sync multiple camera angles.

[heart0less]

Damn, what I would give to learn how to grade.. 

It just makes almost anything look like a million dollars.
I realize that lighting plays a huge role in creating a look.. Though, a few shots from the reel below were lit using only natural light and they are gorgeous.

 

I hope that with Avery Peck coming back to YouTube we'll see how to tackle this.

 

[thephoenix]

yes grading is so important, but it can takes days and days to properly grade

it is also a matter of time

[kye]

5 hours ago, heart0less said:

Damn, what I would give to learn how to grade.. 

The only thing you have to give is time.

Here's the recipe for learning to grade:

1. Find a look you like
2. Analyse that look and completely take it apart as much as you can.. look at colours, saturation, sharpening, noise, lighting sources / location / direction / quality, etc
3. Setup a shoot and recreate that shot - use any camera that can shoot RAW stills
4. Try and match your shot to their shot - try every knob or control in your software and see what it does and if it helps to re-create that look

Do this enough times with enough looks and you will learn to colour grade.  Bonus - you also learn lighting and composition too.

Obviously, if you pick simple looks to copy then it will be much easier to replicate them, but it doesn't matter in the end - it's the effort to study the look and the effort to try and match it that is where you learn.

I have found that you can learn more in a day than most people learn in a year if you set yourself a challenge and then give it your best shot.  This is why I am interested in trying to match the P4K to the BMPCC and BMMCC - I will learn more from that project than I would learn if I watched BMPCC videos and chatted online about the BMPCC for an entire year.  You will learn more in trying to re-create one beautiful image than shooting and grading 20 of your own images.

Aim high and work hard.

This one is also nice (and contains lots of famous people which is reassuring!)

 

[heart0less]

8 hours ago, kye said:

Aim high and work hard.

Thanks, kye, truly appreciate it. 

I'll get to it, then! 

( :

[buggz]

As well as Resolve training videos, they are now making available commercial training books in pdf format for FREE download.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/training

 

• Training Videos

Introduction to Editing
Perfect for both new editors and anyone switching to DaVinci Resolve, this video teaches you how to import and organize media, edit andtrim video, addtransitions, effects, titles and more.

The Art of Color Grading
Learn how and why you should usethe primary and secondary grading features, along with how to read scopes. This will teach you how to make informed decisions so you can accurately balance shots.

DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel
Learn how to adjust multiple parameters simultaneously and grade without using a mouse. Thisvideo teaches you how using a panel allows you to work faster and gives you more creative options.

Fusion VFX and Graphics
This video will teach you the fundamental concepts of the Fusion page in DaVinci Resolve 15 and its node based interface for compositing, tracking, keying, animating text, paint and more.

Fusion VFX in 3D
This video will show you how to work in 3D, extrude and customize text, animate, particles, glows and more. By the end, you’ll create your own animated 3D text with glowing, swirling particles.

Fairlight Audio Production Part 1
Learn how to create a professional soundtrack using the Fairlight page. This video covers dialog editing, balancing, voiceover, track layers, dialogue splits using words from other takes, and more!

Fairlight Audio Production Part 2
This video expands on audio production and teaches you about normalization, compression, equalization and sound design, aswell as bouncing, mixing andpanning finished tracks for delivery.

Managing Media
This video teaches you how to use the Media page to import and organize footage, work with metadata, batch process clips, andperfectly synchronize audio and video by timecode or waveform analysis.

Delivering Content
Learn how to prepare your content for delivery! This video teaches you how to use the Deliver page presets, how to create custom encoding settings from scratch, set up a render queue, and more.

 

• Training Books

The Definitive Guide to DaVinci Resolve 15
The Definitive Guide to DaVinci Resolve 15 is a hands on training guide with step by step lessons that will teach you how to edit video, create visual effects and motion graphics, color correct images and mix audio with DaVinci Resolve 15.

Advanced Editing with DaVinci Resolve 15
These hands-on lessons will teach you the art and craft of editing using DaVinci Resolve’s advanced editing features. You’ll learn how to cut dramatic, documentary, music videos and action scenes, and how to build eye-catching effects on both the Edit and Fusion pages. Then you’ll learn how to mix audio and deliver your final film for digital cinema, broadcast TV or streaming services.

Introduction to Fairlight Audio Post with DaVinci Resolve 15
This hands-on training guide will teach you the art of sound editing, sweetening, recording, mixing and mastering. Beginning audio editors and assistants will find clear workflow driven lessons, while seasoned audio professionals will quickly learn Fairlight’s user-friendly tools to create incredible soundtracks.

Color Correction with DaVinci Resolve 15
This hand-on training guide takes you through a series of practical exercises that teach you how to use DaVinci Resolve’s color correction tools. The workflow based lessons begin with primary tools and scopes for balancing images. Next, you’ll learn how to use secondary tools for more targeted and creative corrections so you can make your own Hollywood caliber grades!

[kye]

Why you should use the Colour Space Transform plugin instead of a LUT (even the built-in ones from BM)...

 

[mercer]

Is the Color Space Transform FX a new...ish feature of Resolve?

Basically, I use Resolve as an intermediary to get my DNG files to ProRes and then edit and do a final grade in FCPX.

Usually, in the Raw Tab I set up my color and gamut for Blackmagic Film and Blackmagic Film Log. I’ll also click the Highlight Box and then correct any WB if needed and add some Midtone Detail.

But after using the MLV App, I’ve noticed that 5D3 ML Raw responds well to a LogC workflow, so I am testing the CST FX in one node by setting the input color and gamut to BlackMagic Film and Log and the output to Alexa and LogC and then I exported to ProRes 444. In FCPX, I’ll use Alexa LogC Camera LUT in the inspector and then do a basic curve and saturation tweak.

So my question is... am I using the Color Space Transform function correctly? And should I be using any Luminance or Saturation Mapping when I do it?

[BrunoCH]

38 minutes ago, mercer said:

Is the Color Space Transform FX a new...ish feature of Resolve?

Basically, I use Resolve as an intermediary to get my DNG files to ProRes and then edit and do a final grade in FCPX.

Usually, in the Raw Tab I set up my color and gamut for Blackmagic Film and Blackmagic Film Log. I’ll also click the Highlight Box and then correct any WB if needed and add some Midtone Detail.

But after using the MLV App, I’ve noticed that 5D3 ML Raw responds well to a LogC workflow, so I am testing the CST FX in one node by setting the input color and gamut to BlackMagic Film and Log and the output to Alexa and LogC and then I exported to ProRes 444. In FCPX, I’ll use Alexa LogC Camera LUT in the inspector and then do a basic curve and saturation tweak.

So my question is... am I using the Color Space Transform function correctly? And should I be using any Luminance or Saturation Mapping when I do it?

The most interesting article I've read about color management in DR:

https://www.provideocoalition.com/solutions-to-resolve-5-taming-color-management-part-1/

[kye]

7 hours ago, mercer said:

Is the Color Space Transform FX a new...ish feature of Resolve?

Basically, I use Resolve as an intermediary to get my DNG files to ProRes and then edit and do a final grade in FCPX.

Usually, in the Raw Tab I set up my color and gamut for Blackmagic Film and Blackmagic Film Log. I’ll also click the Highlight Box and then correct any WB if needed and add some Midtone Detail.

But after using the MLV App, I’ve noticed that 5D3 ML Raw responds well to a LogC workflow, so I am testing the CST FX in one node by setting the input color and gamut to BlackMagic Film and Log and the output to Alexa and LogC and then I exported to ProRes 444. In FCPX, I’ll use Alexa LogC Camera LUT in the inspector and then do a basic curve and saturation tweak.

So my question is... am I using the Color Space Transform function correctly? And should I be using any Luminance or Saturation Mapping when I do it?

The camera RAW tab is kind of like the CST plugin in a sense, because it forces you to change your RAW clips into some other format that Resolve can work with.

The controls are broadly the same too:

You could try decoding a clip straight to LogC and not doing the CST plugin and see if that has a different effect.  In theory it shouldn't, but the RAW tab doesn't have all the nice Tone Mapping and Gamut Mapping rolloff features, so it might be in your interests to keep your current workflow.

6 hours ago, BrunoCH said:

The most interesting article I've read about color management in DR:

https://www.provideocoalition.com/solutions-to-resolve-5-taming-color-management-part-1/

Good article.  Resolve is so flexible that there are lots of ways to do the same thing.

I tell people to use the CST plugin because it's the simplest and because it's the most flexible.  If you adjust the colour space in the Media pool then you can't make adjustments before the conversion, and you only get a conversion at the start of the processing and then at the end for viewing or for export.  Some people prefer workflows where you can adjust the clip before it gets converted (I do WB and exposure adjustments before the conversion) and sometimes you want to have multiple conversions and do different grading steps in different colour spaces.  The Film Look LUTs included in Resolve work with a LogC input, but you probably don't want to grade in LogC, so you convert the clip to rec709, then need to convert it before you use these LUTs:

You can also hide the transforms within a node by changing the colour space that a single node operates in:

These work by changing the colour space, applying the node adjustments, and then changing the colour space back again.  These don't take up extra nodes like the CST plugins do, but I think they can only change from the timeline space and then back to it afterwards, so they're not as flexible as the separate plugin.  They can also confuse the hell out of you if you lose track of what colour spaces are being used where as it's not obvious the order of operations.

There are kind of two main types of colour work, the people that just want to convert the colour to something usable and move on with their lives, and those who have the time to have complex node trees.  You can turn complex node trees into an efficient workflow if you know what you're doing and set everything up with presets etc, so there's no right answer.  

I think Resolve is showing its age with things like colour management being everywhere, because it probably only used to exist in one place, and then they added it to another to make it more flexible, then another, etc.  In some ways Resolve is like the plucky startup who is challenging the big players with new technical offerings, and in other ways they're the technical behemoth that has existed for 15 versions.

[mercer]

@kye thanks for this. I may have to read a primer just to understand all of your references. Lol. 

The plug-in seems to work well but I will look into the other options. Btw, in the Raw Tab, there are only 3 options for color and gamma unlike the regular CST.

[kye]

4 hours ago, mercer said:

@kye thanks for this. I may have to read a primer just to understand all of your references. Lol. 

The plug-in seems to work well but I will look into the other options. Btw, in the Raw Tab, there are only 3 options for color and gamma unlike the regular CST.

I've just had a look over those settings and I'm a little confused.  The manual seems to indicate that the colour space and gamma options in the Camera RAW tab are to specify how the clip was shot, and it specifically says that it supports footage from RED, ARRI, etc but I see no options for them in the ML RAW project I opened.  I suspect footage from those cameras will have metadata and Resolve will recognise them and might add more options.  

[Edit: on, hang on, no, those options are what colour space and gamma to convert the files to.  I suspect that Resolve just works out what the RAW format is by looking at the files.]

Regardless, that looks like it doesn't have many options at all, so your current workflow seems to be the best strategy.

[mercer]

3 hours ago, kye said:

I've just had a look over those settings and I'm a little confused.  The manual seems to indicate that the colour space and gamma options in the Camera RAW tab are to specify how the clip was shot, and it specifically says that it supports footage from RED, ARRI, etc but I see no options for them in the ML RAW project I opened.  I suspect footage from those cameras will have metadata and Resolve will recognise them and might add more options.  

[Edit: on, hang on, no, those options are what colour space and gamma to convert the files to.  I suspect that Resolve just works out what the RAW format is by looking at the files.]

Regardless, that looks like it doesn't have many options at all, so your current workflow seems to be the best strategy.

Yeah, I’m really just messing around with the footage after I back up my files and Resolve is great for that because I don’t have to save any timeline, so it’s good to test out different workflows. I don’t portend to be a great colorist or editor, so the simplest workflow will be go to for this project. I still have to buy a better monitor so I’m not flying blind over here.

Thanks for your help. 

[mnewxcv]

wow, what a great thread. Glad I found it as well as the black magic resources. 

[kye]

11 hours ago, mnewxcv said:

wow, what a great thread. Glad I found it as well as the black magic resources. 

If you have questions then ask away!

[mnewxcv]

13 hours ago, kye said:

If you have questions then ask away!

I certainly will play around with resolve for the project I am working on and have some questions arise, will be sure to post them here. :)

[DanielVranic]

On the Fuji XT3 forum, I did put together a Powergrade on how I personally grade my Fuji 10Bit FLog footage to get it a similar "Alexa" look. Video Coming Soon!

 

Process_1.24.1.dpx

[thephoenix]

 

[kye]

Matti just discovered Resolve..lol

Actually, he's been using it for years apparently, but he's just decided to tell people about it

Uh oh, here come the cinematic noobs ???