DaVinci Resolve Colour Workflow
**An Updated Post on a new workflow will be coming soon**
Any Queries or questions feel free to email me on r@uffy.au. Still images above are example from this process from variuos projects that I've shot or worked in the past, a link to the work in progress film emulation and its demos are below.
Node Structure
Part 1 - Post Clip
The basis of this workflow is using a 2 stage grade, so we are going to start with the last node in the structure. In this it’s a Colour Space Transform with timeline as the Input and Cineon as the output, with a Kodak 2383 D60 Film Print Emulation LUT to convert to this Colour Space.
The next Node Behind is a Arri LOG C to DCI P3 conversion LUT (Arri 709 can also be used). Pretty much for the same Reason as Film Print LUT. If I’m doing my Film Emulation this would be my LOG C to Kodak 5207 conversion LUT instead. If I was combining Both my Conventional look and Film Emulation in the same project I’d use this at the end of the Main node graph on a per clip basis.
Part 2 - Pre Clip
This is only important for those mixing clips from different cameras, the first thing is grouping by Camera or by Camera Colour and LOG space. Arri Wide Gamut and LOG C would go into one group, Sony Gamut3 and SLOG3 would go into another group.
Once grouped a Colour Space transform is used to convert to Arri Wide Gamut and LOG C, so the cameras have as close to the same starting point as possible.
If it’s only one shot or very few this would be the first Node in the normal Node Tree.
Part 3 - The Normal Node Graph
My first step when making a Node Tree for a project is to press ALT+S four times (or five times if I’m combining two looks based on different conversion outputs), to make four (or five) normal nodes. Since all the footage has been input as LOG C and there’s an Output Transform going on timeline wide we already have a basic starting point.
The Second Node is where the majority of the basic occurs, This is where a YRGB S Curve is created to give the image a sense of contrast. It’s also where the Offset Wheel is used to define the Colour Cast of the Image whether it’s meant to be neutral or not. Basic corrections are done here.
First Node Highlights, this is simply using the Qualifier to isolate the Extreme High Lights in an Image around 60-65 with a In/Out or 10-20, using the light I’ll go between -15 to -90 to bring back some of the highlights.
Third Node is set to Hue Saturation Value (HSV) Colour Space with the First and Second Channel Turned off to separate the Second Channel. This is used to add Saturation or Density to the Image without adding Luminance. The Gain Dial in this node modifies this parametre.
Fourth Node is a Skin Tone qualification, Base Tones are Selected then the Mask tools are used to smoothen out the selection. Hue v Hue is used with base tones as well being selected, with the vectorscope turn on the Skin Tone Indicator the Hue is increased and decreased around this. The Top Right corner has a magic wand that lets you isolate the selection, this allows for masks to be placed easier. A selector can also be used for the Hue v Hue to select the skin tones. Try keep skin to the left of the indicator line on the Vectorscope but also make sure that skin looks natural on screen, you move skin tone using the Offset and Gamma wheels. Skin Tone is mainly a Midtone so Gamma is the most effective.
Fifth Node is made by pressing ALT+S as normal but then followed by ALT+L to make a layer node. The top node is where the creative grade is done, the bottom node is where the skin tones are isolated and mixed in.
Sixth Node Bottom, ALT+S is pressed to make another bottom node where the Blue Alpha from the fourth node is dragged. Node Six is where the HSV Saturation is copied to just focus on the skin if wanted. The Node Following is for mixing in the Skin Tone using the layer mixer options.
Sixth Node Top, this is where I would start my creative grade usually to Split Tone using Curves, I start off with something then dial back the percentages on the RGB mix. Offset is then dial in more of a look with Lift then Gain being added in when needed. Moving from Macro to Micro in this case. More Nodes are added if I want to use Qualifiers or more curves, if they are needed.
Seventh Node is another Saturation node to Clean up the Shadows and Highlights using Lum V Sat to make sure that they’re going to Black and White.
From this Point on We’ll be using Nodes that require the Studio Version of Resolve and where most performance issues come from.
Eighth Node is Noise Reduction particularly important for RAW footage. I like to keep this to as little as possible and really only use the Chroma reduction unless I’m doing Film Emulation. Temporal is set to 2 Frames and Better with Decouple on the Side and use around 15-30 Chroma 0 Luma. Spatial is Faster with 15-30 Chroma but this is where I’ll add up to 5 in Luma. Just a warning for this effect I’ve been seeing it tank playback performance on Apple Silicon machines, if you’re using one of these leave the effect off until export.
Ninth Node is for Halation which is something I like to add even to normal grades as it just softens and brings out skin just a little bit, but only a subtle amount.
Simplified Node Graph for Fast Turn Around.
This is based on the same fundamentals, but I use something like for fast turn around or quickly developing a look that's more subtle. This process will deliver a decent amount of colour separation and can be used to develop a certain look.
Part 1 & 2. Pre & Post Clip is the same as the general node graph. Or can be applied at the start and ends of the Node Graph, as seen in the header image above.
Part 3 The Node graph
Node Two, Contrast S curve
Node One, High Control using a general qualifier
Node Three, HSV Saturation
Node Four Bottom, Skin Tone correction. Using the Hue v Hue and making a selection on the skin tone will allow for a decent amount of corrective control, paired with using Offset and Gamma. The Contrast and Pivot can also be used sparingly. Key Output is used to control the Mix of the through the layer node.
Node Four Top, This is where a split tone grade is applied using the Curves, Offset and Lift controls. Similar to the general Node Graph you can be as aggressive if not more.
Node Five, Saturation Roll Off control using Lum v Sat.
Node Six, Noise Reduction.
