How to Grade DRONE Footage with a PRO Colorist!

Why is my drone footage so saturated and has too much contrast ? DJI Mini Pro 3 (and DJI Mini Pro 4) and Mavic Classic all covered here. Learn how to avoid the most common mistakes and make your drone footage look great with DaVinci Resolve. Ive been a professional colourist for over 17 years now, clients include BBC, C4, C5, Sky, Amazon Music and many more.
Subtitles have been hand checked and are correct English.
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#dji #drone #davinciresolve

[@talltaleradio]

"....so I bought a drone and drove to Italy" is like the coolest sentence I have ever heard. Great tutorial!

[@DarrenMostyn]

I don't mess around when I want to get something done right!

[@skyracer7]

agreeeeeee!!!

[@paulchernotsky6827]

That was already a sign I’d be lost in the rest of the video 🙄

[@nemesis9410]

Average day for a European, the North American mind cannot comprehend ☹️

[@DennisSchmitz]

One important thing to mention: To get a less digital and crunchy looking image on the Mini 3 Pro, just adjust sharpness and noise reduction both to -2. The image will also look much cleaner in low light situations then.

[@DarrenMostyn]

thanks for the tip

[@TheForgeFunctionalFitness]

Great tip, thanks.

[@elbanzo8110]

One thing I always do on consumer drone footage, is taking of the sharp edges with „edge detect“ and put out the alpha to a gauss blur. Works great to match with cinema cameras. Secondary masks or depth map can also help to make the shot look more interesting

[@DarrenMostyn]

Thats a great tip - Thank you!

[@DennisSchmitz]

Even better, adjusting sharpness and noise reduction on the mini 3 pro in camera to -2. The image doesn't need any filtering then anymore and matches perfectly well with professional cameras then.

[@RoyGregorio]

Can you provide some steps on how this is accomplished? I'm in color page and add a node with edge detect. The colors become inverted to show the edges. Then I add a second node with gauss blur and connect the nodes with alpha. But I'm not getting the intended effect.

[@elbanzo8110]

@@RoyGregorio I use the "Edge Detect" on a parallel node. Then I feed the video out signal of the node to the alpha of a node further back in the node tree. I set a strong blur in that node to see the effect. Then adjust the edge detect and blur, depending on the footage. With this method, you only blur the edges, not the whole image.

[@laniakeasupercluster4606]

D-Log is different to M-Log which is now common in the newer DJI drones. AFIK M-Log is not yet available for use in a CST. You’ll have to use a LUT which may not bode well depending on how you use CST’s in your workflow.

[@hadirazmi]

Expecting a sit down tutorial but this man also suddenly gave me an amazing and refreshing travel vlog.

[@DarrenMostyn]

ha! glad you enjoyed that - not my specialist area but enjoy delivering every now and again. There's a few more vlog style here - Thanks kzbin.info/aero/PL6VNHhfsVYJZZFJPCAgEc_BJ0lut_Qdbf&feature=shared

[@AllThingsFilm1]

Fantastic tutorial. Not only for drone footage, but you included tools that help with exposure and color in any shot. Well done!!

[@DarrenMostyn]

glad you appreciated.

[@yorkunt]

Darren is just buying a drone for a tutorial, I remembered the keyboard hoarding episode! Cheers, always nice to see you on platform!

[@DarrenMostyn]

I like buying tech tbh! Glad you appreciate it.

[@fadah_fpv]

Finally! The tutorial I was looking for 🔥 I'm wondering if you can do the same tutorial for Action Cameras such as the Gopro?

[@2calzinifilms]

Saved my day with the cinelike thing. 🙏

[@NaturalBornQuerdenker]

FANTASTIC tutorial! I've learned a lot. Thank you very much! 😃👍

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad to hear that!

[@joeymorelli2511]

Just when I thought you couldn't get any cooler...shooting your own drone footage to show how you grade it...and driving to Italy to do it. Man, you rock!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Was a fun trip! Thanks Joey!

[@joeymorelli2511]

Really wish I could relocate my fam to a region (UK / Euro) where we could take such epic trips spontaneously!! Were there any issues with authorities or people giving you a hard time about drone shooting? Do you have to carry license papers or anything like that? @@DarrenMostyn

[@DarrenMostyn]

I did my research - each country has its own laws on drones. Please make sure you check before flying!

[@Stigcrafter]

That colour stabilizer tool is a game changer

[@theoldgitwatgames4640]

Excellent video, and couldn't have come at a better time for me, as someone's just dropped a job on me at he last minute with a ton of drone footage. Also using the colour stabiliser to even out the exposure of the footage was a "bloody hell" moment. Much appreciated

[@JoshConnectMedia]

Okay , let's roll with it

[@acaiv1797]

Going above and beyond to get the content! Keep up the excellent work. Would have loved to take your color grade course, but I was swamped.

[@DarrenMostyn]

thanks. I'll run it again in 2025. It sold out

[@acaiv1797]

@@DarrenMostyn I will be looking forward to it.

[@MegaFr33dom]

Darren, thank you for this! I have the Mavic 3 and this is helpful as an apples to apples color grade. I am right now working on some D-log footage. I have always struggled with whether I am setting it up correctly from the beginning. Now I know. Also was unaware of the color stabilizer and what it did. Great video!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@JoshConnectMedia]

Another non hustle way to keep consistency for your exposure when flying from a lighter environment to a darker shade is to lock your exposure on the drone. 1. long press on the RC controller to lock the exposure or 2. set your C1 or C2 button to lock exposure . and viola , you are done. I have to sit down hard to get my hands dirty on Davinci. I see it as trying to understand the physics behind a space rocket's engine .

[@Through_the_lens_art]

Brilliant work as always! Davinci is such an amazing tool when used correctly.

[@FoolWithACamera0]

THANK YOU for this video. It has addressed many issues I've experienced while working with DJI drone footage.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@movie-trailer19]

💥Thanks for the clarification with the DJI material. There was a lot of confusion about the development of the material in REC 709. It was displayed incorrectly and with distortions. Now you have clarified the situation, how to properly evaluate such personnel.

[@DarrenMostyn]

very welcome

[@worldwidewayman]

Perfect. Just what I was looking for as a Mini-3 Pro & Mavic 3 Classic flyer. Brilliant... thanks.

[@Lloydbar]

Been waiting for this! Don't know how much time I have wasted treating D Cinelike as log footage and getting nowhere. Thanks for putting me on the right path.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad to hear your future grades will be improved ! Enjoy.

[@TinkerVisionMedia]

This was great! So much packed in here, so well explained!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad you enjoyed it. Lots of good advice in here for you.

[@mohammad.hammal]

This is literally the best channel fir color grading on KZbin! you deliver the information like a true master, grateful for that! Can you please show us how to color grade the new iphone Log footage ? whether shot natively through apple prores log or through blackmagic app! would be interesting and am sure will benefit lots of people !

[@gergelymuli]

Köszönjük!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Thank you very much. Appreciated. All the best, darren

[@sergiobasilioli384]

First of all i'm glad you come to Italy and that you also helped me how to colorize Dji cinelike video and with the exposure tip too! Great video!

[@chrisbogart687]

You made a couple of very useful points that were very helpful and key to understanding Drone footage issues and causes. Thanks. ❤

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@IsaacBaboki]

This has popped up at the right time. Thank you Darreen

[@ThePixelSurgeon]

As always, thanks for clarifying. What a Boss !

[@sodhicreativefilms]

You got my subscription for being so knowledgeable and concise 👏🏽

[@DarrenMostyn]

I appreciate that! welcome.

[@ChristiaanRoest79]

Very useful video Darren! Thanks for sharing your drone video grading method. My workflow is similar. Good to know that i am doing it right 👍

[@DarrenMostyn]

Great to hear!

[@kevin-haggerty]

Dude you are the man. I’m battling color on the drone footage. This will help heaps!!

[@TheSangjy]

I brought Audiio lifetime :) Annddd I am happy :)

[@DarrenMostyn]

good choice! Im still discovering the library but Im enjoying so far!

[@shan8274]

Great introduction for color stabilizer tool, gonna try it in one shot that was taken in a cloudy day. Thank you! Really helpful.

[@markramer]

Thank you so much for these pro tips! I can learn so much from your videos.

[@timsnider336]

Great tips, Darren. The Texture Pop effect is now one of my new favs. Thank you!

[@tarask9971]

Great lesson Darren! As always. Thank you very much for finding a time to teach others.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@tarask9971]

@@DarrenMostyn no big deal, but you didn't put the link to the DJI luts in the description

[@DarrenMostyn]

@@tarask9971 ah! thank you. adding it now!!!

[@NickinNashville]

This was the most helpful video, very well done sir, you’re a great teacher , no fluff

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@DrBobMedia]

You're a lifesaver. Just got a bunch of drone footage in for a feature I am doing post production on, and this pops up.

[@DarrenMostyn]

hope it helps you. all the best,

[@TEWE-Mountain-Adventures]

Wonderful! Welcome to Italy! Ciao.

[@robhurley5258]

nice effect with the windshield wiper :)

[@UraFlight]

Amazing tutorial Darren ! I did learn new things today 😊

[@DarrenMostyn]

Makes me happy!

[@londonztoa6359]

Thanks Darren. You covered a lot of detail there as always. Great stuff..

[@DarrenMostyn]

My pleasure!

[@IoRisparmio]

I hope you enjoyed my beautiful country! I hope you are coming out one day or another with a full "color grading course!" Love your videos

[@DarrenMostyn]

A full colour grading course is coming! Sign up to my free email list here bit.ly/2RrjvpN - announcement this week as a YT live so you need to subscribe and hit notify so you don't miss it - My first one last April sold out very quick !

[@IoRisparmio]

@@DarrenMostyn done it already! Looking forward to it

[@BruceMoyle]

Excellent tutorial. The D CineLike definetly got me first time I tried to grade it. I suspect this will be a very popular video for you mate.

[@BransBowler]

Love videos like these!! Would be awesome to see a similar type of video for GoPro footage!

[@muledogrecords]

Just what I needed! Working on a clip from Google Earth Studio, and needed help with the color. Great tutorial. Thanks!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad it helped!

[@muledogrecords]

@@DarrenMostyn You da man!

[@hhlame9394]

Very cool video!

[@DarrenMostyn]

was fun to make!

[@howzchannel9843]

Love the new style Darren!! Great tutorial, btw ;)

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad you like it!

[@subbbass]

thank you Darren ! I needed this tutorial so much ! great work as usual!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@petermclennan6781]

Excellent, Darren. My Mini 3 will love you. My Sprinter is envious of your VW's interior. He wishes he could drive to Italy, too, but he has to be content with North America. Please consider a tutorial on of grading log footage from the new iPhone 15 Pro. Lots of us will be shooting this seemingly ground breaking camera.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Thank you. Yes, just need an iphone 15 now!

[@epicbucketlist]

Thank you, Darren! I really appreciate you taking the time to make this useful video. :)

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@thomaswindfeld728]

Great! Thanx 🙂

[@teejaysimon]

Two things: 1) love the story leading up to the "how to". Mostly because I just love Europe and am jealous of how all of that is so close compared to the the US (which everything is so far apart here). 2) Very jealous of the California and wish we had those over here in the states!

[@DarrenMostyn]

thanks. Its not a California, its a VW T6 regular van converted and lowered and extras added of course, but works out cheaper than a Cali. Lots of fun driving it!

[@martinekwall4671]

Thanks for a very helpful video! Your tips makes me get more professional videos.

[@DarrenMostyn]

thanks

[@jamied6166]

Really great ! I love the look on the video - and really handy tips on the Dji stuff!!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@RonClifford]

This solved my white balance shfit going up and over fall colours in the trees. I forgot to lock exposure and white balance.

[@DarrenMostyn]

glad it helped. thanks Ron

[@IdRatherBeHiking]

Wow didn't know about that texture pop or color stabilizer. Thanks mans good stuff.

[@DarrenMostyn]

great tools beyond just drone too!

[@IdRatherBeHiking]

@@DarrenMostynI use dji pocket 2 for some of my hiking films and this is just want I've been looking for to take the edge off that clinically sharp footage

[@ayeeeck4512]

Wow! What a tut. Need a video on how to grade Iphone 15 Pro Res Footage correctly please!

[@DarrenMostyn]

I have a 14 Pro, sorry.

[@frenchiecolorgrading]

Superb tutorial ! Hope you had a lot of fun in Italy and in the French Alpes ! The color stabilizer will be a life changing tool for me ahah, thanks a bunch !!!

[@DarrenMostyn]

you Arte welcome Chloe. I had a fab trip!!

[@kcaokim]

that's grand, great information, thank you for your precious work, Darren

[@DarrenMostyn]

My pleasure!

[@timsnider336]

Always great insight, Darren. Thank you!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Thanks Tim!

[@Fuffuloo]

Definitely run into these problems myself. Thank you for the solutions! Also love the vlog bits!

[@Coatsey007]

How spooky, I don't know when you were there Darren, but I've just literally returned from a five week motorbike tour around places nearby. As always love the video and hope you and yours are well.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Hi - I did the same trip on a motorbike back in 1994 - no mobile phones or trip advisor then to ruin the magic!! Hope you had fun! Was quite nostalgic seeing some of the old places again, albeit this time in a van!

[@-PiP-]

Loved the vlog bit of course! Saw the short as well, loved it! Great drone footage! You get the clap 👏👏👏

[@Rob_eight10media]

I'm thinking I would probably transcode to ProRes first..

[@DavidWinstead]

Wow, thanks for that man, I've never found a use for Color Stabilizer and I color grade a lot of drone footage. I've always had to use keyframes which takes a bunch of time to get right! You Rock!!!!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad I could help!

[@Gearedfilm57]

Insane!!! just buy a drone and drive to italy for a video! haha thank you for this!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Dedication to the channel!

[@bauriedlmarkus]

Thank you, great tips!

[@fabimesizae]

Greatest! You came to Florence, my home, if I had known I would have gladly greeted you.

[@DarrenMostyn]

ah, I loved Florence!! I only scheduled 2 days and stayed for 4 I loved it so much! Would have happily met up! Next time!!

[@FrancescoPaggiaro]

Cool the color stabilizer, I never use it, cool to know. And thanks too for the link about official DJI LUTS 💪💪

[@DarrenMostyn]

No problem 👍

[@andreacolletto9843]

Beautiful video! What about Dlog-m , what would you change? I'm struggling to get a decent color from dlog-m

[@Clickumentary]

That's a helluva road trip!

[@DarrenMostyn]

It was fantastic!!

[@QualityAntics]

Another banger video mate!

[@geoffreymee7671]

You're really great at this but I wish u would slow down a bit sometimes such as when you change a setting in the grading section or wherever. The title of the change is over in a split second - two would be easier to recognise rather that rewinding n trying to stop precicely on the wording that makes the change. Great info as always though. Thk u Darren

[@thecalloftheroad]

Excellent tutorial Darren! I took your original color grading course, but grading this kind of footage is much more the reality of my everyday work. (and kudos for using the mouse [well, really your Wacom tablet] vs the your color panel, I know that takes time)

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad it was helpful and pleased to hear you were on my first course!!

[@idiotwithattitude6295]

Thanks for the tut!! Now I know why the lut f**** it up the whole time 😂😂

[@JunsMiniCam]

Can you make a tutorial video for color grading D Log-M? Thank you..

[@danieltrudel]

Amazing tutorial, been struggling with drone footage!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad I could help!

[@ErikWerlin]

Great video! I never knew about color stabilizer tool. Thats something I'll be using in the future for sure.

[@DarrenMostyn]

thanks Erik

[@WaddleAero]

Good stuff! It is going to take several watch throughs to work this all out!

[@DarrenMostyn]

This covers the usual stuff I have to deal with when working on drone footage for broadcast.

[@bnk48analyzer82]

I really like your vlog.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Thank you - I certainly enjoyed making it!

[@VISION-IT]

Very cool and interesting Intro ... How to make short movies - is very interesting .. THX, nice 1st Advent and KR ♥

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad you liked it!

[@VISION-IT]

@@DarrenMostyn idea drop - fonts: A detailed tutorial or course about font licences in resolve and which fonts are free for comercial use and for which we need a payed licence ... would be very interesting

[@MIHAO]

Thanks for this, Darren. Mini 3 Pro owner here :)

[@DarrenMostyn]

Nice one!

[@GoTravelPlanet]

Fantastic video mate! thank you

[@shredingerscat6180]

Hey. Hope you are still reading comments on this one 😅 When not having proper color management for dlog m: Would you prefer setting the drone to HLG and use color management or use DLOG M with the DJI lut? Thanks for teaching us a ton 🤙 Cheers

[@DarrenMostyn]

Of course RCM would be great but Im very happy with the DJI Lut with a bit of fine tuning in the grade! I can only work with what i have.

[@YTFPV]

Awesome !

[@sorvolando]

Really good lesson! Thank you! 😉

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad you liked it!

[@dwade_fpv]

Great tutorial! Thank you

[@DarrenMostyn]

You're very welcome!

[@ALECDRAY]

Thank you for this!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ALECDRAY]

@@DarrenMostyn DJI green colors are so painful to correct and not look like nuclear waste green

[@graemetowner7257]

Another great ep Darren, thank you....... loved the extra techniques of exposure and texture pop. Next ep...how to explain to tax inspector you had to drive 3200KM in order to test a drone rather than 32ft from you office to Brighton beach !!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Thanks Graeme. I did actually consult my accountant before I left so Im safe!!

[@masterof]

Thank you - I have always wanted to know how to grade the D-Cine-like! I have DJI Pocket 2, probably very similar camera as like on the drones.

[@DarrenMostyn]

yes, treat it as REC 709 like this episode and you'll be good

[@663]

Thank you so much for this tutorial

[@DarrenMostyn]

You are so welcome!

[@sashazephiria3869]

Wow I didn't know about the color stabilizer, seems super powerful and time saving ! Definitly have to implement that in my process :D

[@DarrenMostyn]

Been there for years!

[@jacksonfilm]

Very handy. Thank you Sir!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@AlanzFPV]

Great tips! I’d love to see you do a video on using CST on D-LOG-M footage. This is key because with the Mavic 3 Pro, it’s the only Log-type color space that’s consistent across the 3 cameras. (The 7x zoom is the weak link, the other 2 have D-Log). Apparently DJI will not publish the details of the ‘M’ color space… so it’s a mystery to solve

[@DarrenMostyn]

There is not a cst setting for d log M. Use a Lut from dji or build from rec709.

[@AlanzFPV]

@@DarrenMostyn thanks. Now I believe it after hearing it from you. Keep up the great work!

[@ianjmcdonnell]

@@DarrenMostyn Switched to Color Managed after watching your videos on that, where previously was using a combo of CST and LUTs on the timeline - I shoot with 3 camera types pretty regularly, sometimes more. After reading some forums I tried out HLG on my Log-M footage and really do prefer it to the LUT. I flagged the Log-M footage as Rec. 2020 HLG ARIB STD-B67 and love the result but am not sure that's the correct choice.

[@DarrenMostyn]

@@ianjmcdonnell if you prefer it it is perfectly acceptable to do that! I use array cat on footage sometimes that is not arri

[@AlanzFPV]

@@ianjmcdonnell I am going to try your settings and see if I like them. Seems better to me to at least pick something in cst than to work in the limited Rec 709 space. Thanks for posting!

[@markwarren3743]

Hey Darren welcome back, looks like you had a great time... Toscana is amazing, we loved living out there, just come back from Rimini my old town, loved every second, weather is still amazing, anyway as always fantastic content and learnt alot, I have the dji mini 2 that doesn't have loge unfortunately but there is an app called Litchi For DJI Drones that gives you more wiggle room (bringing it to the centre) for colour correction and getting a better start, need to play with it more but it indeed helps when there is no Log, not sure if let's will work the same... will have to give it a go. Anyway thanks again, glad your back safe and sound, the night I got back there was a fire at Luton Airport.... eeeesh, just missed it

[@DarrenMostyn]

hope this episode helps anyway. Yes had a great trip thanks. Love Tuscany! Thanks Mark.

[@markwarren3743]

@@DarrenMostyn Thank you Darren, for sure any video, with your content, for me is always a great help with a learning curve straightened out and much appreciated by me and I am sure the DR Community. Like I have said before, its like learning from a friend... the best way👍🏼 All the best Darren and have a great week.

[@B-Moye]

I don’t even have studio resolve yet but this was great to watch.

[@DarrenMostyn]

use the free version for now.

[@casperfranz9787]

Thank you Darren. This answers my question regards to grading protocol when CST is not available and only have a manufacturer Log to Rec.709 LUT to work with. I do both stills and video and thinking about getting the OM-1 for its weather sealing, but want to perform my grading professionally by the book.

[@foaly8]

There are actually some d-cinelike luts from dji as well. Works quite well for me.

[@DarrenMostyn]

correct.

[@exploring_thailand]

Could you say where they are? On their LUTS page I can find only LUTS for d-log.

[@DarrenMostyn]

@@exploring_thailand I can see some in their forum but they not officially from DJI. Just grade as I explained in this video for best results.

[@exploring_thailand]

@@DarrenMostyn Thanks for that, Darren. Would a viable alternative be to use a CST to go from Rec709 to a genuine LOG colour space and then use a LUT or CST on that LOG colour space?