Color Grading in DAVINCI Resolve

davinci resolve Resolve is a professional grade color correction and grading suite that is widely considered as the industry standard tool for image manipulation in post-production. It can be a powerful tool in your post-production workflow and attention to color can greatly improve the quality of your work. This guide will be a step-by-step guide for integrating Color Correction and Grading into your workflow, introduce you to the color correction tools in Resolve, and include some best practices. In this guide we are using version 14.3.1 the differences between Free & Studio versions of Davinci Resolve: Resolve (Free Version) Has support for SD/HD & UHD projects up to a resolution of 3840 x 2160px Resolve Studio Supports SD/HD/UHD, DCI-4K, 5K, and greater(8K) projects Supports Stereoscopic/3D Media Includes Real-Time Noise Reduction Can utilize CUDA GPU Support for faster rendering

ver. 2019-03-29 Page 1 of 28 Color Grading in Resolve important considerations calibrated reference monitors Keep in mind that while it is possible to colorgrade from your laptop, or desktop computer it is far from ideal, understand that there are huge differences among displays, even between similiar models and manufacturers, and even the color & lights of a room you are in can influence your attention to color. It is best to know the intended way your project will be played back, either via Web, Installation, DCI-Projection, or Broadcast and have an understanding of what colorspace it will playback in, what standards(if any) you need to conform to, and if there is a gamma or color shift for that format. It would defeat the purpose of spending your time color correcting on your display if the color does not translate to any other place than your computer. There are some standards you can conform to: Rec.709 is the colorspace of HD Video, DCI-P3 is the colorspace for cinema theatre projection, so calibrating your reference monitor to the playback method will decrease the disparities between your reference monitor and how it will be played back. Color correct in a controlled environment The light your environment, the color temperature around you will certianly influence the way you look at your computer display. Keep in mind that your eyes are constantly adjusting to the light around you, not only in brightness but also to color temperature. All FVNMA Workstations are equipped with 4k resolution displays with 10-bit color depth. The displays selected were specifically chosen for high color depth and accuracy. While the quality of the monitors is high, understand that editing labs are not controlled environments. Not every monitor is the same It is important to know that color tint, saturation, native black levels, and contrast levels will vary wildly outside of a colorgrading environment. There are a multitude of factors that are just outside of your control. So yes, there will be color differentiation from computer to computer, from room to room, from display to television to a projector, and even using the same computer but in different locations can cause variations to your eyes. Calibrated Reference Monitors are available in the 3rd floor Grad Editing Suites, as well as in MC819, MC519, and MC714.

ver. 2019-03-29 Page 2 of 28 Color Grading in Resolve Starting a resolve project Project Manager Once you open Resolve, the first thing you should see is the Project Manager, this is an overview of all the projects on the host computer. Create a New Database A database is where Resolve saves projects. If you cannot see the databases, it is accessible by the Show/Hide Databases icon in the upper left hand corner. The default Local Database is located in the harddrive of the computer you are working in. While this is functional, you will not be able to move to different computers with your project. Create a new one and specify it to be on your external working harddrive. 1. In the lower left hand corner select, New Database 2. On the top, select Create and make sure Disk is selected. 3. Give it a Name, a location, then hit Create I use a folder on my portable hard drive titled ResolveDatabase Now that you have a database to work in, select it so that it is highlighted red, then Select New Project to get started.

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Set project settings File > Project Settings > Master Settings This is an important first step to do before you dive into Resolve. The project settings are directly linked to your Timeline settings. So it is important to set your project resolution to match your output or your footage. In this example and all following images, I will be using an HD Project with 1920 x 1080 resolution with a 24 fps framerate. Generally, it is best to match your project settings to your footage settings, if your footage is UHD, work in UHD. Keep in mind that DaVinci Resolve is a typically part of the online (the almost end) process of the post-production process, and that you can downscale to a lower resolutions after color grading. Specify Color Science & color Space File > Project Settings > Color Management This is particularly important if you are using Resolve to colorgrade footage before editing. By default, DaVinci Resolve projects are not color managed, and you will need to set up your project correctly if you want your grade to look the same between Resolve and your NLE. In Color Management: Color Science: DaVinci YRGB Color Managed Input Colorspace: REC.709 (Scene) Timeline Colorspace: REC.709 (Scene) Output Colorspace: REC.709 (Scene) It is imperative that it is the standard REC.709 Colorspace. If you use Rec 709 Gamma 2.4 or Gamma 2.2 you will experience a gamma shift which will move the native black point of your footage and will see a noticeable difference in the shadows of the footage.

ver. 2019-03-29 Page 4 of 28 Color Grading in Resolve Media Workspace overview Color correction can be applied either before or after your edit. just be aware that if you intend to use Resolve after your edit, effects used in your NLE(such as Lumetri Color or FCPX’s Color tab) WILL NOT translate into Resolve.

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1 Media Storage 3 Viewer 5 Metadata A browser to view media files A Video Monitor to review the Information about the selected stored on your computer or currently selected clip clip, including resolution, connected drives. framerate, codec, bit depth, 4 Audio Meters etc. 2 Media Pool Displays the Amplitude of The Media Imported into the the embedded audio in the current Resolve Project, similar selected clip. to PPro’s Project Window. Importing Importing media clips Navigate to the Media Workspace. You can import media into the Media Pool from the Media Storage Window by dragging & dropping or right clicking on your media files and selecting Add into Media Pool. You can also import by dragging and dropping from Finder. You can organize your clips in the Media Pool by creating Bins which will then appear on the left hand side.

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Importing a project or timeline from an nle Prepare your Picture Locked Edit. Once your project is in picture lock, duplicate your edit sequence, and it is highly suggested to simplify your edit down to 1 video & 1 audio track. This reduces the amount of things that can go wrong when importing the project into Resolve. Export a Final Cut XML In Premiere Pro open your picture-locked timeline and go to: File > Export > Final Cut XML In Final Cut Pro X Go to: File > Export XML... Set your destination folder to your Project folder on your harddrive. Export an Offline Reference Clip Export your media as you would normally export a Exporting an XML from Premiere Pro master file. In Premiere Pro Go to: File > Export > Media In Final Cut Pro X Go to: File > Share > Master File The settings used in this example are as follows, but know that your project and sequence settings may differ: Format: Quicktime Video Codec: Apple ProRes 422 LT Resolution & Framerate: use Same as Source (1920x1080, 24fps in this example) Notes on Offline Reference: What is the offline reference for? The offline reference will be used to cross reference your EDIT from your NLE and the imported sequence in Resolve. This is primarily to double check your edit has been translated properly, and can be used to cross reference effects/editor’s grade in your NLE VS your colorgrade in Resolve. Continued on next Page

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Importing a project or timeline from an nle (continued) Import .XML into Resolve Go to File > Import AAF, EDF, XML and find your .xml file exported from FCPX/PPro. A Load XML dialogue will pop up. Make sure that Import Source Clips into Media Pool is checked. Secondly, make sure your timeline resolution and Make sure this is CHECKED! frame rate match your Edited Project and match Resolve’s Project Settings Select OK. Import Reference ProRes as Offline Reference File Go to the Media Workspace. In the Media Storage window locate the Offline Media / Master clip exported from your NLE. Right Click on the Reference file and select “Add as Offline Reference Clip” It will then be imported into the Media Pool with a checkered Icon. Next, Link the reference clip to the Timeline, by Right Clicking the Imported Timeline (in this case RoundTripEdit), and in the Context Menu, Go to Timelines > Link Offline Reference Clip and select the Clip Cross compare the Imported Timeline versus your Offline Reference In the Edit Workspace, Select your imported Timeline, and set Source Viewer(via the Icon in the lower left corner) to Offline. This will automatically gang/sync your Timeline Playback in the Canvas Monitor with the Offline Playback in Set to ‘Offline’ the Source Monitor. The two monitors should play forward in sync. Note: below the Source Monitor on the left is displaying a Reference File with a preliminary grade. Look for inconsistencies between Crossfades, Effects, and any Motion controls applied during playback, as this is usually where inconsistences are when they occur. Basic corrections can be made in the Timeline.

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1 Media Pool & Effects 4 Edit Tools, Timeline Controls, The Media Pool provides access to all the imported footage for your project. Markers, & Zoom The Effects Library includes Transitions, Titles The Normal Edit Mode(Arrow) is similar to most and some bvvvasic Generators other NLEs in that with it you can move a clip in the timeline, its In & Out Points, and if hovered At the time of writing, we haven’t found a good over an edit point, move the edit forward or back use for the Edit Index yet. in the timeline. 2 The Trim Edit is a bit more complex, in that it Timeline works like a ripple edit tool, in addition to a slip/ slide tool. 3 What the tool does is depends on the hover of Source and Canvas Monitors the cursor: Hover near a clips in/out point will Ripple Edit the out point. Hovering over the top Like most NLE’s, Resolve utilizes a two-up of a clip will Slip the clip within its position in the monitors, with your Source Montior on the Left timeline. Hovering over the lower half of a clip will and a Timeline/Canvas/Project Monitor on the Slide its position on the timeline, changing the In right and Out points of adjacent clips. The Blade tool creates a splice in a clip, splitting it into two parts.

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1 Stills/Looks Gallery 4 Timeline/Clips Think of this window as a repository for your Here you can navigate between clips on your time colorgrades or Looks and Luts. for grading. Your timeline can be viewed either If at any time you want to reuse a grade from a by clip thumbnails(currently displayed) or by a clip, it can be saved here by grabbing a still. compressed graphical timeline. You can also add pre-made Luts or Looks. Viewing by clips is easier for navigation and selecting multiple clips, where as the timeline 2 Viewer display is ideal for projects with multiple video tracks. The Viewer in the Color Workspace is much more interactive than in the Edit Workspace or 5 Grading Tools compared to an NLE. Here are the bulk of your color grading tools: Along the top are controls for Image Wiping Clips Camera RAW controls, Color Wheels, Qualifier, with Stills & Split Screening Multiple Clips etc. These tools will be discussed in the next 3 Nodes section regarding colorgrading. Resolve is a Node based color suite, where the 6 Video Scopes image is controlled by nodes along a path from The video scopes are graphical displays of input to output. thepixel values of your footage. The video scopes There are a number of number of Node types, and are the most accurate way to judge the color we will discuss using Serial, Parallel, Layer, and values of your footage, seconded by a calibrated Outside Nodes reference monitor. It should be noted that the Color interface changes based on screen resolution. The example here was generated using a 15” Macbook Pro. Lab computers may have the lower panels destributed differently due to having wider screen resolution.

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Reading video scopes Waveform Plots the values of the image along an X Y axis. X values are directly related to the X position of the video frame; the values on the left side of the waveform represent the left side of the frame. You can see this effect in video when a subject moves horizontally along a frame. Y values are Red Green and Blue luminance values measured at each horizontal point in the frame, this is from a 0-1023 scale, where any values below 0 are clipped fully black and values above 1023 are clipped fully white.(dark areas will be read as dips, where bright areas are peaks). Areas where the RGB values equal are visibly shown as white. The waveform is displaying a slight brightness towards the middle of the frame with a yellow/ tan(red+green) hue. This is most likely the color of the concrete, which is also the brightest part of the frame. Parade The parade is a broken down waveform in that it shows each Red Green and Blue chart separately. From the writer’s perspective, this is easier to read, and is my most commoly used scope. The X values still directly relate to the width of the frame, divided by each of the RGB values. the Red area represents the red color channel for the whole of the image, not just the left third of the image. Histogram The histogram’s X axis(horizontal) displays luminance values from pure black(0 on left) to pure white(100 on right). The Y axis displays the relative quantity of light for each given value. So a large peak towards the left indicates more information in the shadows, while peaks toward the right indicates pixel information in the highlights.

ver. 2019-03-29 Page 10 of 28 Color Grading in Resolve Colorgrading Tools ColorWheels The Color Wheels are the Primary tool in colorgrading. Here you seen 4 color wheels: Lift, Gamma, Gain, and Offset. This translates directly to: Lift = Shadows Gamma = Midtones Gain = Highlights Offset = Entire image

Making any adjustments to the Color Wheels will shift the hue of its respective area of focus.

The difference between shifting the hue towards Magenta on the Lift versus the Gain.

Setting Black & White points Lift and Gain have a tool in the upper right hand corner which allows for quick and convenient corrections to the Shadows and Highlights of your image. Using it is simple in that you only need to select which tones of the frame should be absolutely Black/White and Resolve will auto-correct for Color Balance & Exposure.

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Color Wheel Modes If you look closely at the top of the Color wheels. you’ll see it has 3 modes: Primaries Wheels, Primaries Bars, and Log. There are two ways to switch between the modes, selecting between the 3 dots in the center of the header, or using the drop down. Primaries Wheels and Primaries Bars both affect the same parameters but with each owns respective interface. In my opinion, Primary Wheels feels more natural, whereas using Primaries Bars is more accurate. It should be noted that making changes to either Primaries Wheels or Bars will affect the other, meaning that they both affect the same values but with a different way to making those inputs.

Primaries vs Log Log however is much different, they appear visually similar to Primaries Wheels, but are much more specific to the zone of affect. PRIMARIES LOG It should also be noted that you can make hue changes to a primary, then change the Log values on top of it.

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Color Keyer/Qualifier HSL Qualifier(default) The Qualifier is a way to control where in the frame the affects from the Color Wheels are applied. It works like an eye dropper where a color range selected on the frame will specify where the affects of the color wheels are applied. The picture on the left shows a simple colorgrade applied to the footage: I selected the Offset Primary, and pushed in into the Purple causing an overall color shift. The image on the right shows how the grade is controlled using the qualifier. Here the eyedropper was applied to the floor of the skatepark, where the cursor is located. You can see that the purple adjustment is only applied to the color values selected(Hue, Saturation, Luma). The three bars of the qualifier denote what the color values will be affected and can be adjusted using the values beneath each bar. In this example you can see that some of the color adjustment is being applied to the character’s white t-shirt on the right. To fix this the colorist could make fine adjustments to the qualifier to clean up the grading. Note that there are multiple types of Qualififers: HSL(Hue, Saturation, Luma), RGB, LUM, and 3D. Change between the qualifiers by using the drop down list from the upper right hand corner of the qualifier window.

The 3D Qualifier 3D qualifiers are inherently useful, where you give it inputs of pixels and it will generate a color key from the color values of that or those selected pixel. I have experience producing very good results from 2-3 inputs, and in many ways it can be easier than the HSL Qualifier. You can select points or draw a line with the qualifier tool In the example to the right, you can see that I drew a line(in blue) along the concrete. Resolve then sampled the pixels underneath the line and automatically created color values in the qualifier. With the eyedropper you can continue to add values to the qualifier, or to delete color values, use the trashcan on the right.

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Power windows A power window is another way to control where a color correction applies. It is essentially a tweakable mask/matte track.

Select this icon to reveal the power window controls.

This button turns This button This button on the Power inverts the makes the Window of that power window. power window respective shape. transparent.

Left: An Inverted Power Window.

Altering the Power Window (Left) You can alter the shape, size, and softness of the power window directly with your mouse. The White handles alter the vector shapes of the window, where the Red handles change the softness of the power window. There are also transform controls in the power window controls.

PROTIP: Power Windows work side by side with Qualifiers You can use a power window to help control where the effects of a qualifier is applied.

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Motion Tracking DaVinci Resolve has a very powerful and easy-to-use motion tracking system for Power Windows. This is useful for moving a power window along with an object that moves within the frame. Here we’ve applied a elliptical power window over this background character, and shifted the Gain towards Blue. The problem is that the Power Window won’t follow him as he moves across the frame.

Begin Motion Tracking Parameters Tracking Controls Motion Tracker Window The Motion Tracking Window is the Target icon next to the Power Windows icon. You can turn on and off various parts of the tracking by unchecking either one of those parameters, but for this example let’s leave everything on.

Using the Motion Tracker The motion tracker will create its own tracking points and follow its movement. Keep in mind it will create the tracking points underneath the selected Power Window. Using the tracker is simple: 1. Move the Power Window over what you want to track 2. Push the Track Forward(or Backward) button in the tracker window.

You can see that the tracker followed the character as he moves through the frame and moved the power window with Note that the power window is smaller than him. the character.This is so that the tracker will not attempt to motion track the background.

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Camera RAW Keep in mind that RAW Footage is If you have shot in a Raw Format(Red r3d, CinemaDNG), sensor data that is being converted DaVinci Resolve has tools that allow you to control how the into video frames in real-time. Working Raw data feed is debayered into video. with RAW formats can be buggy, slow, This means you can change the aspects like ISO, Image and can often cause Resolve to crash. We have a guide called Optimizing Sharpening, Hue/Tint, & Contrast after it has been shot. This your RAW Workflows to address these can all be done without any loss to image quality, so it is a issues. good place to start before doing any colorgrading. Camera RAW Panel By default, debayering is locked to the camera metadata that was set during production To unlock RAW controls: set Decode Using: Clip Once RAW controls are available, you can change the footage metadata to your needs. Debayer for specific uses: It’s a good idea to optimize the footage for a specific use, such as producing a decent quality image for Editing, while using a flat color profile which is better for Color Grading. Below are good Color Space and Gamma Curve Settings which will give you workable results for specific uses. Note that these are just base suggestions and you may find other settings more preferable for your workflow. Red Footage for Editing: Color Space: Rec.709 Gamma Curve: REDgamma4 Red Footage for ColorGrading: Color Space: REDcolor4 In this example we are using Red r3d footage from Gamma Curve: REDlog Film an older RED ONE. RAW Metadata is specific from DNG Footage for Editing: Camera to Camera, so if you are using FVNMA’s Red Color Space: Rec.709 Scarlet-X or have shot in CinemaDNG, you will see Gamma Curve: Rec.709 different values available than what you see here. DNG Footage for ColorGrading: Color Space: BM Film Gamma Curve: BM Film / BM Film 4.6K Author’s Note As a colorist, I find that using the Camera RAW panel will replace the Node I use for correcting White Balance, and matching between Cameras for multicamera shoots. Rec.709 BM Film / Film 4.6k

ver. 2019-03-29 Page 16 of 28 Color Grading in Resolve using nodes and node types DaVinci Resolve is a Node based renderer. Meaning that changes are applied to a node, and the nodes can be arranged similarly to a circuit with an input and output. In a way you can compare Nodes to Adjustment Layers in Photoshop or After Effects, however Nodes take that idea a few steps forward. Adding Nodes By default, every clip has one blank node applied to it. To add additional Nodes, you can add nodes from the Node dropdown in the File menu or use the keyboard shortcut keys indicated on the right hand side of the dropdown menu Disabling Nodes Disabling a node is very useful, it is important to be able to make comparisons between before/after corrections, and is useful for isolating the effects of a single node. To disable a node, click on the Number of the node to turn it off and on or use Option + D

Serial Nodes The most straightforward type of node and also the most commonly used. Every colorgrade will incorporate a serial node in some way. An easy way to think about Serial Nodes is as a pipeline. On the left is your source, and on the right is what is displayed.

Here I have a frame, and have three nodes applied: a primary(where no changes were made), a Red Hue Shift, and a Green Hue Shift. Here you can see the progression of the image through the nodes from left to right: the image goes through the primary, recieves a red hue shift then a green hue shift. The green hue shift is acting on the image provided by the red hue, so the red is not seen. By disabling the green hue shift, we can reveal the changes made with using the second node. The icons below each node display what tools were used for that specific node. Node 1 had no adjustments applied, Node 2 had a Color Wheels/Primaries adjustment applied, and Node 3 had both a Color Wheels and a Curves adjustment applied.

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Serial Nodes(Continued) Because Serial Nodes work linearly via this input-output pipline, changes made to earlier nodes can adversely affect nodes further down the pipeline.

This is particularly noticeable with using a qualifier after a colorgrade. From the previous example, a qualifier was applied to Node 3 with the Green Hue. If you look closely at the Green Node it is only being applied to a specific section of the frame. Looking at the qualifier, we can see that it is applying the grade to specific values of Hue, Saturation, and Luminance. If we change the image going into this node, the values that the qualifier is looking for may not appear and the node will be nullified.

In this example we have done exactly that, you can see that the qualifier for the 3rd Node hasn’t changed at all but we have altered the color grade on the 2nd Node. Here you can see that the qualifier is looking for values that are not visible in the frame and thus the Green Color grade is nullified as it does not have those color values to apply them to. To avoid this you can change the order of the nodes or use Parallel Nodes.

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Parallel Nodes As we saw with Serial Nodes, sometimes the order of nodes can adversely affect your grade. One of the best ways to get around that issue is to use a Parallel Node. How it differs from a Serial Node is that a Parallel node allows multiple nodes to work in tandem, side by side, rather than sequentially. Let’s look at this grade in detail:

0 Footage as shot: Canon XA-10 w/ Wide Angle Lens (AVCHD / H.264)

1 Color Grade (Node 1): I brought up some of the shadows, and shifted the Midtones and Shadows to be a little warmer. (as shot, the image was too cold) 2 Blue Hue shift with Qualifier 0 1 2 4 (Node 2): I used a 3D Qualifier and isolated the trees. I then pushed the Offset Primary towards blue.

4 Red Shift (Node 4): Here I shifted the Offset Primary over towards the red to give it an overall Red Hue.

And here you can clearly see how Parallel Nodes are structured: Two outputs coming out of Node 01, to Nodes 02 and 04, which are then paired back together at the Parallel Node. This is useful because Node 02 and Node 04 are receiving the same image, and work side by side rather than affecting one another. We can make any changes we would like to the Red hue shift(node 04), and it will not directly affect the image being input into the Qualifier on Node 02. They work independently, while each output is then merged at the Parallel node. It is important to note that the order of Parallel nodes does not matter, Node 04 can be on top of Node 02 and you would get the same end result. Next we will use a Layer nodes, another style of node that combines multiple inputs.

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Layer Nodes Quite similar to Parallel nodes, but also noticeably different. An easy way to compare the two is that Parallel nodes apply multiple instructions to the same image, whereas a Layer node combines multiple images into a composite. Let’s take the previous grade and convert it to a Layer node:

Okay, so you might be wondering what happened to the trees. What Layer nodes do is super impose images one over another, thus layer order is much more important than Parallel nodes. The layer node works top down, so the top most layer is the base image, with following nodes on top of it. So visually, Node 03(Red) is on top of Node 02(Trees). Let’s correct the order of the layers and see the results.

Here you can see that the Layer Node composites the grades much differently than a Parallel node structure. It is much more vibrant, because the Layer Nodes overlays images one over the other rather than the instructions.

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Outside Nodes The last type of node we will cover in this guide is the Outside Node. It is simply, a reversal of a node with a power window or qualifier. It’s easy to apply and it allows you to work on the areas unaffected by a node with a keyer. 1. Start with a basic Qualifier. I used the qualifier tool to create a key for the 1 ground and pushed the Offset to Magenta. You can see that the white areas in the Key Panel are the areas affected by this colorgrade. 2. Add Outside Node. In the Nodes Panel, Right Click on the Qualifier Node(01), and in the context menu select Add Outside Node. 2

This will automatically create a new node with an inverted alpha matte.

3. Colorgrade on the New Node. On this new node, I pushed 3 the Offset into the Green, as an example to show the affects of the outside node. You can also see that the Key Panel shows the opposite areas of the frame are highlighted white, indicating that the Node(02) is an inversion of the first Magenta correction(01). Note: The Nodes are connected. Looking closely at the node graph, Nodes 01 and 02 are connected via the blue triangles. This link means that the alpha mattes are relational to each other. If you make any adjustments to the Qualifier in Node 01, it will also affect the Key in the Outside Node(02) accordingly.

ver. 2019-03-29 Page 21 of 28 Color Grading in Resolve techniques for colorgrading a sequence So we’ve discussed a number of the colorgrading tools so far, but have really only discussed grading one clip. Here we’ll discuss methods for using Keyboard Shortcuts, Timeline Nodes, and Stills to make colorgrading an entire sequence faster. It’s important to know that you don’t necessarily need to use all of these techniques for your project, like any tool only use the ones that are appropriate for your needs. Knowing that simply takes experimentation and experience. Keyboard shortcuts The easiest and fastest way of copying a grade. = (equal): Copies the colorgrad from the previous clip - (minus): Copies the colorgrad from two clips prior to the current one (=) one clip prior

Clip 06 ungraded

(-) two clips prior

Colorgrading an entire Timeline In addition to each clip having its own node structure, Resolve has a node structure available for the entire timeline. In the Node Window: Click on the drop down menu of the Clip Nodes and change it to Timeline. Now you should see a blank node structure, and Clip will have changed to Timeline. Add a Serial Node with Option + S, and if you make a correction here, it will be applied to the entire Timeline. You can still make adjustments to each individual clip by switching back to your Clip Nodes via that drop-down menu and note that Timeline Nodes are applied AFTER the Clip Nodes.

ver. 2019-03-29 Page 22 of 28 Color Grading in Resolve stills Gallery The stills gallery is an important and useful tool to take advantage of. It allows you to import reference photos or graphics to compare your grades to. In industry this is commonly used to color match advertising campaigns, colorgrading a video to match magazine ads or billboards. More importantly, Stills can be captured from your existing colorgrades to not only use as reference but also as a bank for colorgrades you may use somewhere else in your project. Here we will discuss the basics of the Stills gallery and how it can fit in your colorgrading workflow. Grabbing Stills Right click on Viewer and select grab still You can also automatically grab stills from all shots on the timeline by selecting Grab All stills. you can then opt to grab a still from the first frame or the middle frame of the shot. Importing Right click in the gallery and select import. You can import images formatted in: JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP You can also use this dialog window to import Grabbed Stills(.dpx) from other DaVinci Resolve projects. using Stills Once you have grabbed stills available in your gallery you can use the context menu(right click) to use them in various ways. Play Still: Enables the Reference Wipe and overlays the selected still over the Viewer. Apply grade: Replaces the color grade of the current shot with the grade from the captured still Append Node Graph: Adds the Node Structure of the Grabbed Still to the end of the current shot Display Node Graph: Brings up the Node Graph Dialog, allowing you to preview the Node structure of the Grabbed Still Change Label: Lets you customize the name of the still. Import/Export: Create .dpx Files of grabbed stills or import grabbed stills from other projects Continued on next page:

A reference still played over the viewer. a very useful to used to compare the color differences between two shots.

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Stills Workflow As we mentioned earlier, Grabbing a Still from a colorgraded shot saves not only a reference image of that frame, but also the node structure of that colorgraded shot. Here we’ll grab a still and explore methods for applying it to adjacent shots so that the grades are consistent.

1. Colorgrade a shot and Grab a Still Right click on the Viewer and grab your still. Here you can see we have a timeline of 8 shots in a dialogue scene and we can see the 4th shot has a colorgrade on it, and you can see the 3 nodes used to build this grade in the Nodes panel on the right hand side. 2. Display Node Graph Right click on the still and select: Display Node Graph Now that we have a Still to work with, let’s look into what’s saved in it. This will bring up a window displaying the nodes for the graded shot. Here you can see the nodes from the grade are saved into the still.

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3. Play Still Playing a still overlays the grabbed Frame over the viewer. You can use this to compare two shots, or colorgrade your shot to a reference image. Note that the wipe can be moved left-right and that the wipe mode can be shifted between to wipe horizontally/vertically/by Opacity, Etc. Change the wipe modes using the buttons on the upper right hand corner of the viewer.

4. Apply Grade to other shots Right click on the still and select Apply Grade As you can see the original shot was ungraded. By using Apply Grade, we replaced the entire existing Node Structure with the Nodes from the Still.

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5. Alternative: Append Node Graph If you use Append Node Graph, the existing Node structure will be preserved, and Nodes from the Still will be Added to the End of your Node Chain.

Miscellaneous Stills Notes Stills Numbering Those numbers beneath each still denote the 1. Video Track 2. Shot Number 3. Number of Grabbed Still So a still labelled 1.5.2 came from a shot on Video Track 1, it’s the 5th Shot, and it is the 3rd still grabbed of that shot. The Still Number(last digit) will update if you happen to delete any Stills. (1.5.2 will become 1.5.1, if you delete the first grabbed still) However, if you change your edit(for example switching two shots in the timeline, the Video Track and Shot Number will not update.

ver. 2019-03-29 Page 26 of 28 Color Grading in Resolve Exporting Deliver Workspace Preview Monitor

Export Render Settings Queue & Presets

Timeline Viewer

Basic Workflow for Exporting: 1. In Timeline, set your Range: In/Out, Entire NLE Presets Sequence, selected clips, etc. What does using the Preset for Premiere Pro do? 2. In the export settings, select Custom for Completed Exports or select a present The presets for NLEs primarily does two things: for exporting to other Programs(FCPX/ 1. Sets your footage to export as individual clips PremierePro/ProTools) with unique filenames. 3. Set Resolution, Codec, Framerate, set 2. Exports an XML file making importing to other Destination folder NLEs/DAWs easy. 4. Add to Render Queue. When should I use it? 5. Repeat steps 2-4 as necessary If you are using DaVinci Resolve to create an 6. Select Start Render in Render Queue to assembly you will need this to get your editor’s export. grade into an NLE(FCPx/PremierePro) Note: Once Rendering has started, DaVinci Conversely, Do Not Use it if you’ve edited already Resolve cannot be used until completed. and you’re finishing your video.

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Exporting Single Clip vs Individual Clips Individual Source Clips will render the timeline and colorgrade, as separate clips. (each shot will be a separate file) Single Clip will render the timeline and colorgrade as one file. If you are exporting Individual Clips, it is important to make sure Use Unique Filenames is Checked. This will add the Track Number and shot number to each individual filename, preventing DaVinci Resolve from overwriting the same file for each shot.

Frame Handles Additionally, while exporting Individual Clips, you may want extra frames before and after your edit points. This facilitates the use of video transitions and crossfades in another NLE. I typically use 15-20 frames for frame handles. It is located under Video and within the Advanced Settings dropdown.

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