The biggest color grading mistake on YouTube

[@supercurioTube]

As a developer who wrote color management code and worked on color camera and display calibration, it hurts every time I see tutorials on how to "grade" images using curves and saturation, ending up with most of the colors being off due to mismatched primaries. Then when watching content I see so many being only the log image with a bit of contrast added, it's crazy. Something I found effective is to describe a colorspace or log as "encoding": it often helps understanding what it is, as well as why it requires a specific "decoding" to get the normal colors back. Then grading, and output transform, in that order.

[@MartinAaberge]

I think this is because a lot of beginners (or people who don't want to or have time to dive into color management and grading) find it extremely confusing. If the world of standards wasn't bad enough, here you have 1 million ways to set up attributes to get the image right - or wrong. For someone who just wanna shoot some vlogs and get footage out of the door, the contrast plus saturation gets them "back" to what they saw... ish. In the end, I guess we need to be aware of the differences between scientifically correct, which is important in a professional setting, vs. just getting something to look OK for your KZbin channel without investing in a Ph.D. in Color. We also need to be critical of what we watch. Amateurs should also be allowed to make tutorials on what works for them even if it is incorrect. Then it is up to the person watching (and other professionals who can supply additional information, like the video we just watched) to digest the material. Lots of people who aren't professionals just want a one-click solution.

[@PopoRamos]

And what makes the matter worse, is that people that don't know what they doing, paired with customers that don't know what they want ultimately create a trend to a point where when other clients see it, they want it because its different, i had people request the "Smokey look" lol

[@omerlikos2549]

the camera file defines black and white at an specific luminance level in the file… why is that so? why doesnt the file just leaves it as it is to max black and max white? if we change the display format like rec 2020 HDR and so on, the levels dont change. So for me, the coded form of light in the file doesnt make the image more flexible for different colorspaces.??

[@Fireandagrill]

So CST node to Widegamut, grade, then final CST to Rec 709 for the output?

[@supercurioTube]

@@Fireandagrill yes or in my case transform to Rec.2020 PQ last, with KZbin SDR preview with a custom LUT to check.

[@zbigniewvolkov7952]

Im new to colour grading. On every forum Ive visited, they all recommend you. I understand why! I have been going through your videos all week. I greatly appreciate that you share your knowledge and experience with us common folk. 🙂 Thanks a lot!

[@marklongchamps6741]

This is the biggest thing Resolve ever did. Color managed is the way to go and this change was huge. Thanks for the tutorial. I think of Color Management as kind of a global lut.

[@jeffforeman6407]

Great work Cullen (and great meeting you at ResolveCon). As a beginner that has been shooting with one of the prolific pro-sumer cameras available and having recently started using log, I will offer that one of the big hurdles to cross towards working in a Color Managed environment is figuring out what Input Color Space to use. My new camera for instance has three different log profiles and three different color space options for a total of nine different combinations. For me, the biggest head-scratcher wasn't figuring out how to set up Resolve to switch to Color Management (thanks to your excellent presentations) but rather learning to set my camera to record in a log profile and color space that Resolve has an option for within the Input Color Space dropdown. I know you don't do camera tutorials, but its food for thought. I'm probably not the only rookie that is (or in my case 'was') unaware of the myriad of options to sort out before even pushing the record button. Thanks for sharing your wisdom. Keep 'em comming!

[@jaykellett7693]

Great tutorial - I've really enjoyed the deep dive technical aspects of colour grading on your channel as opposed to "get the X LoOk" on others... the way I've been getting around the issue with the double transform in a colour managed work flow is a little convoluted but works for me, and thats a series of CSTs with the cineonlog transform at the end before the lut, working in the middle in a DWG node tree, A hybrid of scene/display refereed I believe.

[@BadRadBR]

Brilliant!! I came across your 'Color Management' videos a couple of weeks ago. I tried it out and to my great satisfaction clicking on 'Save', it was like snapping my fingers and 'poof', like magic, realization! In the past 6 months I've searched through countless videos and I'm quite surprised of how many 'pros' do not teach this. 6 months is a short time, better late than never!

[@givebackdocumentaryproduct5981]

Each video is so clear to understand. I have been pretty much terrified of grading my own documentary film but since I invested in a Tangent Ripple , I have decided to learn the basics of colour grading and to be completely honest, it was not until I started watching your videos that I now have some understanding how how to start the process of colour grading so thanks Cullen truly appreciated dude.🙂👍

[@TubeSilva]

Very classy and concise, Cullen! Thanks for helping us understand the world of color science. Please don't stop putting out videos. I'm looking forward to Grade School this Friday!

[@JimRobinson-colors]

I have to say Cullen, that it's been a long time since I have seen youTubers doing the LOG to rec709 using the primaries and sat/contrast method. Maybe a few years ago. But most, even the simplest of youTuber tutorials are telling people to use transforms- granted they don't always teach that correctly, but rare to see the old way taught anymore.

[@milquetoes]

Hey Jim, in what way are KZbinrs using transforms wrong?

[@JimRobinson-colors]

@@milquetoes I am commenting in reference to ones I have seen in the past- I don't actually take notes, so the actual ways are sometimes learned incorrectly from a youtuber learning from another youTuber. I am an admin for the "Davinci Resolve User Group" and we have 114k members and approx 40k posts and comments per week. So when anyone ( at any level ) posts a tutorial that they have made for youtube- in most cases I watch them. This ends up over a year being hundreds ( maybe thousands ) of tutorials on Davinci Resolve. so my comment above is not aimed at any memorable or well known youtubers that I can name off hand. But in general setting up the transforms is usually the problem and the reason for the transform and explanation of why they are using it, is a problem sometimes. Duplication of wrong information that is regurgitated by some youtubers is like any information on social media, the source or logic is sometimes questionable.

[@kcoppa]

Even if many don't show this mistake any more. Many people like myself who thought what they learned years ago is correct may still be doing it and may not think to update their knowledge. I was blown away by this video and I have been editing professionally for 7 years.

[@BackusCreativeImaging]

My workflow allows me to color grade my LOG footage with a 1 click application of my PowerGrade in Resolve (kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZSqfGWLnNOebJY) which features my custom LOG to Rec709 corrective LUT I created in Resolve using the DSC Labs ChromaMatch Pro color chart. Granted, this works because I know how to shoot my footage correctly in the field, but for dedicated colorists, they definitely can't rely on such a method. I do not use Color Space Transforms nor do I arbitrarily use primaries for the basic foundational corrective grade. There's a third way which I developed, but again it is only applicable if the camera operator shoots the footage correctly (exposes with middle grey, tone mapping and the Zone System in mind)

[@_fatmum_]

Its people like you that make me happy I live in a world where technology like KZbin exists. I'm new to grading and don't know where to start, but I've watched probably 3+ hours of your stuff up to now and I'm starting to get the foundations understood. Thank you for making this available and thank you for explaining things so well. Truly appreciated

[@Veptis]

even those arri-c to rec709 creative luts can be made to work inside a color managed working space. You can make use of a CST in the node before (maybe even same node) to give it the color space it expects. You might still need to be careful as color managed usually has an output lut from working to rec709. So you might want to turn that off and manually use csts to 709. If you have the tricks to avoid the double to 709 conversions. You might even work in the fully managed workflow. Or you use a CST to HSL and then a splitter combiner (alt+y) to take out the luma component of a lut. And the apply just the hue and/or saturation adjustments.

[@Marina120785]

Hi Cullen, I just did the BMD color trainers course and in the book there’s a tip that we should always apply LUTs on the pre-clip level. Since in the exercise the color management is done on the project basis, I assume they are talking about creative LUTs. I know you’re an advocate of grading upstream of a LUT, so could you please comment on that. Thanks :)

[@nopro_films]

What's the difference between color managing the whole proj and using the color space transform fx clip by clip?

[@nopro_films]

@@CullenKelly Thanks! Keep up the good work!!

[@suminkim4249]

Can not thank you enough . Watching your video and learning is life changing !!!! Thank you every day ❤

[@j.oakley9588]

Aside from the color management settings, what are other settings to consider (render page) in order to get a consistent look with the rendered image. You know…that persistent issue we Mac users deal with-having a lighter or “washed out” looking final image.

[@j.oakley9588]

@@CullenKelly thanks for the reply. I honestly didn’t know if I’d get one. Also, I posted pretty much the same question on another video of yours-your talk on Color Management. You can disregard haha. That was probably the most articulate explanation on the subject that I have seen yet. Great presentation.

[@oscarabello84]

can you tell me the explanation please? I don't see the Cullen answer

[@jmalmsten]

One thing that make me hesitate a bit to set the input format as a particular manufacturer is that question of what to do with projects with mixed cameras. But I have a sneaking suspicion that we can set input format on a clip by clip basis...

[@thatcherfreeman]

You should be able to choose a per-clip color space/input transform by right clicking on the clip in the color page and in the media pool.

[@jmalmsten]

@@thatcherfreeman Yeah, that's probably what I'm thinking of. I didn't have my workstation at hand to look it up.

[@Photo-N-Pursuit]

I am an absolute beginner. No prior knowledge on color correction and color grading. Thank you for the greate video. I have a couple of questions. Hopefully they aren't silly. I was going through the Colorist Guide to Davinci Resolve downloaded from their website. In the first chapter, there is a section on Understanding grading workflow, which divides the entire process into two main sections: Color correction and color grading. As per the gudie, Color correction involves the following: 1. Balancing and Shot Matching (using Primary) 2. Performing Secondary Grading Then, it goes to describe Color grading. The book doesn't seem to mention setting up Color management and doesn't include that in the workflow. Rather, it talks about correcting color by using primary grading tools. It doesn't talk about setting up color management to normalize and balance clips. Is there a video that you put together on the entire workflow? Just confused as to when we must use color management vs primary grading tools for color correction. Thank you once again.

[@jeffkyle6974]

Really great succinct, clear, wonderful explanations! You are truly great at translating color management into digestible bites. I don't use Resolve, but I've had to explain this concept frequently and wow you knocked it out of the park.

[@die_dunkelheit]

before watching... I'm guessing it is "throw a LUT on it, and by the way I sell these LUTs you might be interested in..." -OR "just add contrast and sat" I'll come back in a sec after watching to see how well this comment aged.

[@die_dunkelheit]

LOL, it didn't age that well.

[@robertdocherty6127]

Learning sooh much here. Thanks, and I'm going to try out this new (to me) approach. Thanks also for the LUT.

[@vazz5607]

Thank you so much for such a heplful video. Is there any difference between this method and the method of using a node with Colour Space Transform for building the foundation?

[@UraFlight]

What a great tutorial and valuable information. Thank you so much for sharing this information with us. I came to your channel today from Darren Moistyn advice

[@AlainDuchesneau]

Yeah, I completely agree with problem #1 BUT! I shoot in ZLog2 … camera colour science that won’t be supported in DR anytime soon. And the plug-in the manufacturer, Z-Cam, has release is garbage - buggy, unstable and slow. I wish I had a solution other than using a curve…

[@AlainDuchesneau]

@@shebbe is there a good tutorial online that shows the setup process? I’m not sure I’m doing it properly. Thanks!

[@AlainDuchesneau]

​@@shebbe I don't know if I've followed correctly but for what I can see, what I'm getting is pretty impressive. Thanks!!

[@HikingWithCooper]

I think a fundamental issue we're missing is "What the camera sees." In this video you chose one of two Arri spaces (around 5:46). There are several BM spaces. I shoot on a BM and I've never seen any options to, say, shoot in Gen 5. So when I go to set my input, I'm just guessing. I think every grading video I've watched, this is glossed over. I've watched as many of your vids as I can find as your teaching style is far and away the best but I don't recall seeing this answer anywhere. A dedicated video (if you don't already have one out) about WHY certain options are chosen would be 🎆🎆🎇🎇

[@Khaleel_Mohammed]

You’re amazing Color Grading Teacher!

[@MichaelKaykov]

This needs to go viral. Pure gold (as always).

[@pxlmvr7]

This is great information and make *total sense!* This info would have helped with issues on my last project where I did the initial grade by hand that I could have done with color management! This will save a crap-ton of time in the future!

[@archonoff]

What to do with a footage if there's no appropriate option for "Input color space"? For example I've got a footage from a DJI drone shot in D-Cinelike (not D-Log)

[@serranokeys]

Bro, thank you! As I'm starting to work with S-LOG with wedding videos, No ones talking about how do you batch convert all the shots to a normal baseline color science.

[@pacoalanis]

Great lesson Cullen! I have a question: Where should the 2383 LUT live in the node tree in relation to CST´s? Thanks.

[@seancloutier2577]

since I have started using color managment I cannot go back....like many people who started this journey...all I ever did was lower shadows, raise highlights, create an S-curve, and maybe saturate a color....now with watching Cullens videos I no longer do that... 😁

[@franztaztic]

why not using color space transform OFX to do the basic correction inside the color managed workflow and then switch back to log (or whatever input color space your LUT assumes) incorporate the LUT this way. Easy set up and you get the best out of both worlds - WITHOUT losing any image quality!

[@ImaginaFX]

What about a timeline with 2 brands of camera?

[@alexbulliofficial]

you just use Color Space Transforms as a first node on each shot (or Group if you don't need to use your groups for acts in a long-form piece of content) to accurately map every camera in. It's the same concept as an ACES workflow just a a larger color space with less issues

[@AlexPetrov108]

Hey Cullen, thank you so much for everything you do! Speaking of the KZbin, and seeing that you use a Mac for your work - can you please shed some light on Rec709-A? It's the first thing you notice when you start grading on a Mac, even having your display calibrated and color profiles applied to your viewers in DVR - the rendered result that you play in QuickTime and see in Safari on KZbin doesn't match what you saw in the viewer when you made creative decisions on contrast and exposure in particular, considering that you start with the default Rec709 Output. When you dive deeper, you realize that Mac has its own idea of what videos tagged as Rec709 should look like and you end up with results not matching your intentions. Then you realize that Apple's way seems to be using Rec709-A which I ended up using as my Display and Delivery color space so that at least within Apple ecosystem my videos would look the same. I believe it's not the case even for those who will watch it on Windows, is it? And then what strikes me more is that everyone says Rec709 is the most common universal standard for displays. Rec709 has a gamma close to 2.4 and the majority of consumer displays (I mean computer monitors) apart from TVs are meant for sRGB with 2.2 gamma. Then how can Rec709 2.4 be considered common and default when your display most likely won't handle it? What would be your advice on viewing and delivering the content intended for KZbin to have some consistency of the results and intentions? PS Bonus question - how can we add to that equation the fact that Mac's system color space is actually P3? Thank you in advance =)

[@tomanders329]

Did you ever figure out the answer to this? Still scratching my head at what output I should be using as rec.709 gamma 2.4 doesn’t seem to make sense to use when the majority of what I’m creating will be viewed on a computer monitor or phone?

[@AlexPetrov108]

@@tomanders329 Yes and no =) On the one hand, if you're a Mac user, then setting the output to Rec709A is the only option but it's not gonna be perfect since there is no single standard in the industry unfortunately and even Windows users will see your video slightly differently but at least it will work in the majority of cases. On the other hand, it all comes down to the Color management system of each computer that's supposed to know the source color space (any gammut and gamma) and the output colorspace defined by the display capabilities, and try to translate the colors and match/map color spaces so that the intentional color was reproduced on any device if possible. I ditched this topic a while ago being tired of not having a single full explanation but separate pieces of this puzzle that don't help when something's missing. The most fulfilling answers I got were from ChatGPT, should be saved somewhere, but that conversation was looong and I still would need to go through it again to remember how it works =)

[@tomanders329]

@@AlexPetrov108 thank you for the response! Yes I definitely share your frustration that there’s no single explanation anywhere, it’s so confusing, I think I’m getting to grips with it and then read something completely different 😂 if you ever find that ChatGPT answer please send it my way! Thanks

[@KayakFishingAddict]

Awesome content! Question for you though. What about popular formats like DJI DLog-M and DJI DCinelike. How can we get those into color management?

[@itsathingimagery]

You mentioned a video of what to do when you have multiple cameras. I’m grading with the R5, a drone and a GoPro. Could you lead me to that video so I know what to do after setting the main colour management?

[@peternavanac9310]

Amazing insigh and perspective, skilfully articulated. NICE!

[@cinematicpictures]

Hi Cullen, what if you handle footage from different cameras, so e.g. different RAW-files in one project? If your preferences are once set in color management as you recommend, this wouldnt work. What about doing the color management in Resolve on the color page using color space transition? Thanks for your great efforts!!!

[@natepotter6911]

Love your channel! Thanks, brother! Always educational!

[@mccartikiss]

Can you make a video on creating LUTS for your workflow, I currently use powergrades Ive saved from previous projects . I like having access to the layers/nodes to make tweaks if needed. Maybe that is the best way ?

[@DavidWagelmans]

Super channel. Glad i found this. But i film with a leica sl2s, in l log but davinci doesnt have a profile (yet). What do i have to chose than? 😊

[@ChadtheFilipino]

Regret that I second guessed joining your course this year, but next year I will!!

[@KatsuyosDimension]

Great video. I have just one question: What should I don't know what format of the source images is? Sadly, I have no way of asking the person that recorded it.

[@th8132]

Cullen, I think your talking head shots look just fine. I come to this channel for advice from a colorist, not a cinematographer. Thank you for the FREE information you give myself and the ungrateful children in the comments!

[@conradmavundla5221]

Very true but this methods only works if the footage is shot RAW if it was shot using DSLRs (log) you will have use CST

[@alanap173]

This worked incredibly well! I can finally play it thanks

[@XVIIsionsProductions]

Hey Cullen, In my constant search for how to ACTUALLY get good edits done I found your channel. THANK YOU! I shoot with Sony, I have an a6400 (8-Bit Camera, I can shoot S-LOG 3 but, S-LOG 3 is for 10 bit, or so I've been told on youtube...), and the new FX30 (8 & 10 bit camera) MY QUESTION is, if I want to film outside of a LOG format, and use like Cine 2, or something like that, HOW DO I COLOR MANAGE THESE?! I like the Cine 2 look but, it's never consistent because I'm manually trying to match shots etc. I'm thinking about switching to S-LOG 2 on a6400 and s_LOG 3 on FX30 but, I feel like I may run into some matching issues there too... Not sure yet I've literally searched and searched for days and days and I can't find a good answer anywhere. How do I set it up in Davinici 18 since it's not a LOG format, I've tried experimenting in Davinci and it seems like it's a constant battle and trade off between destroying one thing to make another thing look good. I think there's a lot of people out there who shoot in something like Cine 2 that could find this info helpful and give us the ability to do it correctly if given the proper information on how to not destroy our images in these formats. lol Thanks again, keep up the great work! -Colton

[@LoKimLinProject]

what about cineon film cst before kodak 2383. Doesn't that solve he issue?

[@JimRobinson-colors]

The biggest issue if that the film look luts do the conversion from Log to rec709 and in color management is also does that - and because you can't turn one of them off during that process- everything gets done twice. Hence the mess.

[@LoKimLinProject]

@@CullenKelly I understand thanks Cullen! So that's why my powergrade with csts always looks so much better so I primarily do my color management through csts for this reason.

[@inspyremusicnl5826]

Sorry i dont really get it. So the only downside of using CST to cineon before using a kodak LUT is the fact that u dont have the flexibility todo CST after that for example to HDR conversion. So if im sure i dont need HDR i can still do CST to cineon log conversion and use kodak lut afterwards?😊

[@slangdoll]

@@inspyremusicnl5826 that’s the downside of Cullen’s second point… there is also his first point.

[@verybutton]

@@CullenKelly Thanks but confused on point 1 - If you use eg. a DWG->Cineon Film Log CST, do you get something different from a "Cineon primary", that'll work with the LUT? Maybe I don't understand what "Cineon primary" means.

[@gabuchancreates9813]

Awesome video #CullenKelly, you are a great teacher, found you through Casey's channel. Was great to see you online at Resolvecon, love the way you explain the difference between color managment vs color grading, before your channel I always thought they were the same thing, this in intself is a game changer. Thank you as always!

[@michaelmetzlerjr]

this is awesome, one question though, in terms of using the Film Looks luts or other luts, can't I just use a CST node on the top of my grade to convert to the color space needed for a specific LUT? and then put the lut on top of that one?

[@joenicklo]

Excellent video. You’ve gotten me on a color managed workflow from here on out. One question though: I use filmconvert to add a film stock and grain. Is that the same as using a LUT with conversion baked in?

[@RavikantRai21490]

Cullen, when I set up my two color transform color nodes on my BMPCC 4k clips based timeline, I set the first one's "input color space" to "Blackmagic Design Wide Gamut Film Gen4/5", input gamma to "Blackmagic design film", output color space to "Davinci wide gamut" and output gamma to "Davinci intermediate", then as per your advice of output transform, I set the input colour space for that node to "Davinci wide gamut", input gamma to "davinci intermediate", output color space to "rec709" and output gamma to "gamma 2.4", but on doing this, my blacks don't appear as black, they're still somewhat closer to log, but not exactly pure log type image that I started with. What am I doing wrong here? Footage is from bmpcc 4k, in Film mode.

[@rollonfood]

is there a hack to see how i can preview what color managed will do to my footage in camera? using a bmpcc 6kg2 (what a effing name for a camera eh?)

[@DavidBlodgett]

Appreciate this! Im going to follow your method but just to be sure: - How should I set up my color management if I am color grading mainly sLog3 footage with a small mix of other media (iphone, goPro, canon 8, 360 cam, etc) and I am grading on an apple display and my main destination is KZbin but I still want it took look as good/comparable on tvs/other non apple displays? I see tutorials that say to use a CST towards the end of the node tree, or to use Rec-709A for the input and output color space, and now I see your method and I wonder am I grading on top of a CST by doing this. Sorry if this is a dumb question. Theres too many options! Please make it stupid simple or refer me to the video of yours that will answer my question. I Wish you had a buy me coffee link :)

[@brad_in_yyc]

Just a quick question, how do we figure out what our display is capable of for the output color space? I know yours is Rec. 709 Gamma 2.4. But how do I figure mine out? It's been hard to find answers to that. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place or asking the question properly when I search.

[@ilgiumadop]

I think that many people are feared by the wrong thought that color management would affect the starting point of color grading, as I used to think before my teacher taught me during my film academy journey. It’s important to say that when you convert from log to rec709, and then you start to build your nodes, YOU ARE NOT working on a rec709 basis, but YOU JUST SEE that image in REC709 even if you’re still working with your LOG image (taking all the benefits that it has). Trust me, many people think they would loose the versatility of the log if they convert in rec709, that’s why they don’t do it!

[@ryanpaulretouch]

This is a great video. My main question is how do you overcome the difficulties in keying and Vs curves when working in log gamma? I'm hoping that my understanding of the colour management settings happens after the colour page is correct.

[@ryanpaulretouch]

@@CullenKelly Thanks so much for your response and all of the content you provide!

[@deejayody]

Hi Cullen, what is the advantage of using color management instead of CST?

[@DayoDeLeon]

Hi Cullen. How do you color manage from a camera or log curve not available on the vendor list? Thanks

[@BeveledMesh]

will it be a good idea to use a AcesCG render into Davinciwideganut as i think DWG has a wider range than Acescct Currently but for vfx AcesCG is our Best shot so maybe we can merge both

[@BeveledMesh]

@@CullenKelly Thanks...Please Make a Tutorial On This If Possible

[@musicelect]

Resolve’s color managed workflow is nice in theory, but it has never worked for me. In the first place it doesn’t understand the log profile for every camera on the market. Anything outside Sony, Canon, ARRI, DJI, and a few other is basically out of luck. Some manufacturers have ACES transforms that can be used in RCM, but it requires knowledge beyond the average user’s capabilities. I could not make sense of that process. Furthermore, I output to Rec709 and Rec2100 ST2084 (HDR) and it never handles that conversion well. In fact it handles it terribly and it’s one of the things that RCM is supposed to do for us. Yes, I could be doing everything completely wrong because I’m a noob. But if I’m a noob then so are many others. How are they going to make it work? I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and I encourage people to experiment for themselves to find a solid workflow. There are many ways to skin the proverbial cat.

[@adventureuav]

@@CullenKelly that describes my experience as well. With Sony mirrorless cameras, the SLOG3 transform is absolutely terrible. What is the advantage to using Color Management vs a technical LUT?

[@-ride-]

Thank you for that video Cullen as i´m really interested in that color manegement thing (as a very amateur...) And as such i´m filming with my old Gopro Hero 7 and have no idea at all to what to set the input color space, is there a chance you would help me out please? Thank you in advance ;-)

[@nickyxvq]

thanks a lot!!! so nice reverb

[@benpellet5878]

This his so helpful ! I was struggling with colors by using "Primary Rec709" conversion, thanks for sharing you're knowledge ! Just a question I know it is not big drone but How did you set the colorspace for DJI Cinelike colors ? Feeling a bit stuck with DJI colors 😰

[@BenCalza]

Hey, thank you for this amazing tutorial :) One question, I use CST to convert my log signal to rec 709, and I saw in others tutorial that it's better to use CST node at the end of the node tree, to use da Vinci's tools on a log signal. If I use CST, where should I use it on my node tree ? at the beginning ? or at the end ? and if I use color management at a timeline level like you did, how does it work ? Thank you for your time

[@sarahuddin1453]

Maybe a very beginner question because I am very beginner but how do you know the calibration of your monitor (output display source)

[@jcama4850]

What happens if you are using different colour profiles eg. Documentary footage shot on a Black Magic colourspace and Sony colourspace

[@LobstersLobsters]

At this step, how would you deal with clips whos Log profile doesn't have a matching input color space?

[@mauricerichardson]

Cullen , Thanks for this. A question though, another method I've been recommended is in settings to stay in DaYRGB -timeline color space Davinci WG/Intermediate-output Rec.709 gamma 2.4 . Then in nodes a color space transform to rec709 another node transform to Cineon Film Log & then the Kodak film LUT node. I've tried this & your method & they definitely react differently. I'm wondering what the advantages are to either in actual outcome?

[@mauricerichardson]

Cullen, I meant to say that I saw your live stream the other day & you answered this. I’d say I’m only a beginner at all of this & it feels like a rabbit hole for me 12 months on. However you are the only person I’ve found explaining this . Much appreciated

[@KaceyBakerFilms]

Hey mate. Jill Bogdanowicz teaches to use lift gamma gain before even thinking about touching curves. She says colourists don’t do this enough. Do you think she is grading from log footage. Or would she be using LGG over the top of this method you are teaching here.

[@KaceyBakerFilms]

Thank you sir.

[@Freddd95]

Please help! A beginner in color grading here, trying to understand which output gamma setting to use: 2.2, 2.4 or use Rec.709-A (whatever gamma that one has). The more I read, the more confused I am. I would really appreciate if you could help me choose the correct setting, without me having to take a PhD in color science. I'm more interested in the "what" and less interested in the "why", so short answers are very welcome. I'm grading on a macbook air (without a separate monitor) and delivering to the internet (youtube and social media, perhaps also vimeo). All I want is to have an identical looking image when grading, when viewing the exported file (in quicktime in my case), and when uploaded to the internet. In my testing, Rec.709-A has been the only one to look correct in quicktime, and one source said it's good for youtube as well. Gamma 2.2 exports look completely washed out in quicktime, and 2.4 looks better but still not correct (lifts the blacks). Therefore I've been using Rec.709-A so far. However, I've read that 709-A has its limitations (on windows, vimeo and certain web browsers apparently) and gamma 2.2 seems to be the standard for web(?). Therefore I'm having "trust issues" with 709-A. As long as I'm grading on a mac screen and delivering for web, I want to make sure I have one single gamma setting that I can use consistantly on all projects. (Now obviously I'm not grading for netflix or TV in the near future, so I guess 2.4 is not even relevant for me?)

[@directedbymarvin]

Hey Cullen, thank you for all your videos. Considering you're working on a Mac and I'm assuming you're reference monitor is connected to an I/O, I'm curious about your Output Color Space when delivering for web. Currently, my ref monitor is calibrated for Gamma 2.4 but since there's this weird tagging issue with Macs going on, I'm switching my Output Color Space after the grade is done and approved to Rec 709A. Obviously looks horrible on my ref monitor but it looks correct in color managed Web browsers on Mac. Is this your workflow as well or do you found a better way?

[@sramosmedia]

I tried to buy your color grading kit but the link is broken!

[@julienrobert5998]

What if you have different color space on the timeline ? Like Sony Log and DJI Drone Log and maybe Go Pro or other sources. How would you manage ?

[@CullenKelly]

Hey Julien! You could try making groups for each camera on your timeline and adjust the input color space of those groups as needed!

[@aylenstudios]

So how does this compare to using CST's in a non colour managed workflow?

[@demetrixxx8962]

Hi. I would like to use the color management technique but what do you do if the camera's format is not listed? I shoot on sony fdr ax 53 camcorder shoots in xavc s format AVC/ h.264 . Any help would be appreciated.

[@waq92as]

color space transform effect does the same i think. right?

[@myskycam3764]

Help .... I tried to edit my footage with color management. My Scene was DJI LOG material. All settings like yours but when i pushed save ... nothing changed

[@vivekjoshi115]

Excellent tutorial for a beginner with Davinci Resolve like me however, in the Second method of Setting up Resolve YRGB Colour Management, after checking the "Default" checkbox I am unable to right click on my Video clip in the timeline (as you have shown in the video wherein one can see the video frames in the Timeline and when you right click on the same you get an option to choose the Input Colour (in your case you have chosen Arri) however I see an entirely different Timeline (blue band) and I do not get any options when I right click on that. Could you please share the what mistake am I doing as the video timeline view in my case is different . Than you.

[@azfilmmaking6734]

Why just don’t use a color space transform plugin? You can use any luts with it 😉

[@azfilmmaking6734]

@@CullenKelly it’s the same approach that you do, but instead I do it in a node and can play with colorspaces right in the color tab via two clicks and use any luts I want… Your way assumes working with one camera. In case you have more than one you need to use CST anyway.

[@thornnorton5953]

@@azfilmmaking6734 You can set the input color space by right clicking the clip in rcm color tab.

[@Sundirre]

I used color managed to edit, so i dont edit video in flat log profiles, but when it comes to grading i had problems with different types of codecs, like when you have braw, dji, some panasonic footage all on the same timeline

[@vapricot]

use CST node

[@thornnorton5953]

You can set the input color space by right clicking the clip in rcm color tab.

[@hikkub]

Hey, the color managed work flow seems like the best, but doesn't seem to work with the Fuji F-Log I need to process. Is this me doing something wrong, or due to the nature of the format?

[@KayandBurtonMedia]

It worked perfectly!!! Thank you so much

[@samymerad6738]

That's definitely the type of content that should appear more often on youtube and socials instead of people just increasing contrast and saturation. Those are the people that make other beginners misunderstand color management. Great video Cullen. By the way are the footage from a client's project or you picked up on a stock footage website like artgrid?

[@daviddecsi4962]

Wait, couldn't you still use the rec709 luts tho? By just doing a CST from whatever input log you have to dwg, then having the grading nodes here so it's still a wide workflow, then CST from dwg to film log and finally from film log to 709 by using the film lut. Isn't this "valid"? Or would this not be considered color managed?

Thank you for this video ! I have a question on color management, when we do corrections on the grades, are we applying them after the REC709 conversion or before ?

[@drewmastromartino492]

after

[@TnSNet]

Which video does he go into what his RATIO node is used for?

[@Arun-qp9hv]

Hi sir, your videos are very informative thankyou for sharing your knowledge. I'm a beginner in color grading I need to know about your book "10 commandments", is it only for those who already learned color grading or is it for beginners most preferred?

[@KrunoslavStifter]

I have to say, that this video as a whole, including not just the recording of yourself in a room, but the screen cast of the Resolve UI, it all feels about a stop or more underexposed. Is that a mistake?

[@KrunoslavStifter]

@@CullenKelly That is interesting you say that, because it does not seem to match the exposure of some of your other videos, or standard videos I see elsewhere. Also there is someone else in the comment who noticed the same thing. So I'm curious, if it was not a mistake, why are not all videos you make the same?

[@LukasGevaert]

Hey Cullen Am I able to still use creative LUTS when I do a colormanaged workflow?

[@LukasGevaert]

whoop you're saying it at the end

[@giovannispinosa182]

Many of the Sony aficionados, read: fanbois, are bellowing about the fact that the A7S III development dies with that model. I contend however, there is more than a niche need for a video-centric, hybrid camera that can easily take stills. One would never want to use their Cine-line FX series to take stills unless one was desperate; that viewfinder comes in oh-so-handy if you're shooting stills. Methinks the A7S IV will be co-released with the FX-3 refresh. Moreover, it should have a stacked sensor. The issue is to make a stacked sensor as sensitive as the one in these current models. This would probably mean a rather high MP stacked sensor binned down to enhance sensitivity but also allow for 6K DCI. That would make a heck of a video-centric specimen, indeed.

[@Landonlacey10]

I noticed the link to the LUT is not working btw

[@Ameerhamzaminhas]

What id you’re working with two different cameras in the same time line

[@AlexLancashirePersonalView]

As a learner, what are NITS ,Cullen

[@kressvisuals]

Hi Cullen, great tutorial, I've already seen and implemented that way to work but it is really well explained. However your .cube files are only 2Ko, and don't work on my computer. Is there any issue with it?

[@kressvisuals]

I reuploaded the zip file and it worked. Don't know what happened with it the first time. Thanks once again Cullen

[@napatsaeng]

If we work with many camera can setting input to rec 709?. And problem link not work for download Lut

[@ericberger4511]

Thanks so much!

[@handwoundpickups6555]

Amazing video thank you so much.👍

[@danivasilioglufilms]

Awesome stuff! Thank you!

[@prottentogo]

What color space should I use for GoPro video with flat picture style?