How To Color Grade Automatically Transform Apple LOG to rec.709 footage in DaVinci Resolve Studio

To color grade your iPhone 15 Apple LOG ProRes and H.265 video footage in DaVinci Resolve Studio is very easy. Using the Blackmagic Color Management set to DaVinci YRGB Color Managed. This will automatically transform your Apple LOG gamma footage to standard dynamic range SDR Rec.709 gamma 2.4
Of course I have taken liberties and used the words grade and LUT, when this is just an automatic transform function within the Color Management settings in DaVinci Resolve Studio. However, within this workflow Resolve does use its own internal Apple LOG LUT to transform the gamma characteristics. Plus, this is KZbin after all.
Video chapters:
00:00 Intro and explanation
01:10 DaVinci Resolve & media settings
03:16 Unprocessed LOG play through
05:43 Switching to color managed settings
08:04 Switching the timeline color space
10:49 Color grade using the curves
16:23 Processed "graded" play through
17:45 Summary
18:23 Don't be fooled by LUT Packs
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I’m David Harry. Thank you very much for watching this video, take care and goodbye now.
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#DavidHarry#LiverpoolTV

[@SIDHURAJAKVLOGS]

After going through so many LUT selling videos , finally your video gave solution to my problem! Great Job Sir !

[@DavidHarry]

Hi. I'm glad the video was helpful Sir. Cheers, Dave.

[@kenweaving]

Thanks David, so glad I found your channel, very new to video editing, just starting, and new to Davinci resolve, i have watched to may tutorials, your has been the most helpful to me. I only just subscribed and have niot had a kook at what other tutorials you have. I think my step will be using LUTs ,the basics, have you got anything in that line , once again thanks Ken

[@DavidHarry]

Hi, Ken. I don't really do any grading I only touchup a little bit but nothing serious. My use with LOG files is to use the automatic transform, which is going to get the picture into the ballpark fro the correct output colour space and I then just touch up a little bit from there. For serious grading, check out Darren Mostyn www.youtube.com/@DarrenMostyn Cheers, Dave.

[@enriqueruiz4751]

Absolutely about the LUTS. I really appreciate you honest comments. Also, like 2 months ago I ended up buying one of the thunderbolt cases you recommended for my mac. Thank you sir.

[@auviance222]

Dragged on a bit but with each passing minute I enjoyed your energy and accent more and more ✨☺️

[@DavidHarry]

Yes, I do have a tendency to be a bit boring 😆 However, I'm glad you liked the video and my accent (I'm from Liverpool in the UK our accent is locally known as Scouse). Cheers, Dave.

[@Tim-Miller-]

This is exactly what I was looking for. Going to experiment with iPhone15ProMax gear. Thanks!!!

[@DavidHarry]

Hi, Tim. I’m glad the video was useful and you are very welcome 👍 Cheers, Dave.

[@TheHomeImprovementChannel]

Thank you for giving a real solution! Most of the other videos I'm watching are just wanting to sell you a LUT... 😀

[@TristanPope]

enjoy your videos subbed.

[@DavidHarry]

Hi, Tristan. I’ve just responded to one of your comments. Thanks for the sub buddy, I really appreciate it 👍 Cheers, Dave.

[@colingregg]

Nice one! Good rant at the end but so true. Well done.

[@DavidHarry]

Thank you kindly!

[@shering808]

Just watched ur video. I will try now

[@photography3571]

Amazing vid , this what I was looking for , great thanks

[@DavidHarry]

Glad it helped 👍 Cheers, Dave.

[@TonesAdventuresHD]

Nice end summary! I would expect this end summary on your other channel😂 I am not a color grader either! I just like fast turnarounds 😂 cheers!

[@DavidHarry]

Alright, Tone. I was going to do this on my vlogging channel but no matter what I do there I don't see any meaningful growth. At least here, the videos add up to something. As you know I'm the same as you, I don't want to be messing with colouring in post, I just want to cut the footage and upload it. However, because the iPhone is giving better results than the GoPros and using LOG gives way better skin tones than the GoPro or the standard Apple colour. I'm going to see if I can adapt to spending a slightly longer time in post with Apple LOG, as I'm really happy with the results. In fact, Tone, check out this test. I went out a few nights back with a couple of mates and had the phone in my pocket. I just took some odd clips while we were out and edited some together. It was night time, so only street lighting etc. and I shot in LOG. In post I only done the auto gamma transform with the project settings, so no "colouring" or processing whatsoever. So this was the same as my usual edit process, no messing about. Now, I'm not saying that it is amazing or anything but a GoPro would have just been a blurry mess doing this. Plus, if I spent a little bit of time with the correctors and noise reduction etc. This could look way better. None the less, this was all done from something that was in my pocket, as it always is. So no extra camera to have to mess about with, even a small one like a GoPro. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6GYfaV_mN2GaLcsi=Kvoiy4_mDSN8SdtJ Cheers, Dave.

[@TonesAdventuresHD]

@@DavidHarry it looked pretty good! I agree, if you were using a GoPro in that situation it would have been blurry!

[@dialogandointerculturalmente]

Thanks David. You explained the THINGS in a way a understands and like it. I have some questions.... If you could share your opinions on this topics.... I would love it.... Maybe one of them could became a video. Context I had an iphone 10 and i wondering if I should buy a 14 promax or a 15 promax.... (1) I had two MICs male lighting conector....(a) Does exist and SPLITTER to use both at the same time::: (2) If I goes for an iphone15 should I go for a MALE USBC to 2 lighting conector or 3...or a HUB for 2 Lightning, um p2, 1 usbC... That works: Too much thing holding to the iphone.... .... .... .... (3) Lenses...filters.... mounts...sizes.... too many things changing .... I dont want to loose what I have but... .... Any suggestions about:::.... .... (4) I do short films for youtube... I ve being working in full HD....If I start using 4K I will be needing 4 times more memory:.... my edition will push 4 times more cpu.... And with the new codec more and more memory and cpu.... HOW could we measure , compare, sizes and codec and ^better quality imagine^ to find my choice.... to help each one to choose each better options..... Tnahks!!!!

[@JoseZegarra]

muchas gracias

[@DavidHarry]

Hola, Jose. Eres muy bienvenido 👍 (Google translation 😄). Cheers, Dave.

[@StephenDedalus503]

Great Video! Is there a difference between this method and the one where you create a node with the Color Space Transform? Some people made the argument that by doing so, you can adjust temperature and saturation etc. before the CST does it‘s work. As a beginner - should i even care?

[@DavidHarry]

Hi, Stephen. I wouldn't worry about it. Once inside the wide gamut space I doubt you'll notice any difference to the ordering of where any transforms occur. Or at least I've not seen anyone show any conclusive advantages one way or the other. However, working in the colour managed space is definitely quicker and easier and no need for all those crazy node trees. I see far too many people concentrating on elaborate node trees (basically showing off) instead of actually showing good content. If you are professional commercial colourist then elaborate node trees etc. are part of the job. However, pro colourists will be working with different source material than most KZbinrs and will be using more elaborate colour workspaces. Bottom line, I'm not saying don't care about it but don't get bogged down with it and put more of your time into the acquisition of the footage and the edit itself. Or put it this way. How many KZbinrs do you actually see doing a full blown "proper" edit and the colouring workflow is just a part of a wide post workflow? Because I don't see anyone doing that, they all just seem to concentrate on showing very specific colouring setups without it being implemented into a practical edit and then try selling "LUT packs". Cheers, Dave.

[@StephenDedalus503]

@@DavidHarry Thank you so much!

[@MaximoJoshua]

They do the same thing, both are using the published apple equations to transform the image. The node based method is useful if you want to do something before or after the transform. I wouldn't worry about it, the way he showed is the easiest way to get an accurate starting image.

[@MaximoJoshua]

You don't even have to get a starting LUT to tinker with, just open resolve, pick any clip, apply any grade, right click the clip and export the LUT. Anyone can do it using Resolve...the creation of the actual LUT takes no skill, the decision of what the LUT should do should, but it really depends on if the person you are buying it from is trustworthy and has the skill to actually create a LUT that translates across many images, etc. Also, given that Resolve has the CST's and Color Management, I would never even want a LUT that does a color space conversion. I prefer the ones that take Davinci Wide Gamut Intermediate as input and return Davinci Wide Gamut Intermediate. This way you can stack and play with different combinations, etc. One other note, Apple Log footage is already HDR footage, it can easily be put into HLG or PQ, if you want to do that. That is just another reason why buying a LUT to do what Resolve can do for free makes no sense, especially that you are being locked into converting to only Rec709, and not as accurately. Great video as usual, David!

[@Bluemanta69]

Hi David, thanks for your video. Actually I'm using DaVinci Resolve in the free version (not studio) and when I import H265 Apple Log files (from the Black Magic Camera App), it seems that they can't be rendered in Da Vinci. They are rendered like audio files and that's it. I tried to open those same files in VLC player (given that it has H265 codecs) but the results are the same. Someone told me that with the free version of Davinci Resolve, I won't be able to read H265 10 bits files. I'm a bit suprised of that limitation given that I can render ProRes 422 HQ or even 444 files that are to me more "professional-oriented". Do you have any idea why H265 10 bits files are not usable in my free version of DaVinci? Several users reported that problem but I didn't get a real response yet to know why. I can't whether it's a bug or a freeware limitation on purpose. Thanks for your insights!

[@DavidHarry]

Hi, Thomas. I have the free version on a Mac Mini M1 and will give it a try. Although ProRes, up to 4444XQ, may seem like it should be more difficult to use, it’s actually much easier to use compared the long GOP H.265. H.265 and H.264 are mostly long GOP. Long GOP, or long Group of Pictures, is just another way of saying inter-frame. An inter-frame codec is one that typically has I frames, B frames and P frames. I frames, or intra frames, are “proper” frames as in they only refer to themselves. P frames are predictive frames and B frames are bi-directional frames. P and B frames are essentially not “real” frames, they are frames that are made up from one and other and another and from I fames that preceded them, or I frames that come later in the GOP sequence. This is what’s call temporal frame redundancy, or simply a temporal video codec. This whole processing and decoding of Inter-frame codecs is actually quite processor intensive, even just playing them, unless you have dedicated hardware to handle inter-frame codecs such as H.264 and H.265. On Windows PCs we have things such as QuickSync on Intel CPUs and NVENC on Nvidia GPUs, which help to decode, encode and process inter-frame codecs. On Mac PCs we have the Apple media accelerators for the same job. Depending on the Mac, some don’t have the extra media accelerator hardware. ProRes on the other hand is what’s called and intra-frame codec. You may have heard people saying I frame only, this is just another way of saying intra-frame. An I frame only, intra-frame codec, is where every single frame is a “proper” frame, a bit like using a jpeg or tiff or for every frame. Although ProRes is generally much larger as files and you’d think should be harder to work with. Because of the intra-frame characteristics, ProRes or any other intra-frame codec, such as Avid’s DNX variations, are easier to decode and process. There’s more to it than this simple explanation, such as data compression as well as video compression (chroma compression). But that’s the general gist as to why ProRes is easier to handle. But there’s another issue on top of all this and that’s the chroma subsampling. For whatever reason, and I’ve never understood why, but most manufacturers simply didn’t implement 4:2:2 chroma subsampling into their software and hardware for H.264 and H.265. So on top of inter-frame codecs already being a pain to deal with, the addition of 4:2:2 makes it even worse. It’s only quite recently that manufacturers have started accounting for 4:2:2, so I expect that my M1 Mac MIni will also have difficulty with the H.265 LOG file. Just to be clear, it’s not the LOG element that makes things difficult, LOG is simply a different gamma response at its basic level. The difficulty is 4:2:2 and maybe 10 bit, depending on what’s playing it back. Once I’m past all my iPhone 15 videos, I’m going to start doing stuff about video production and the technologies etc. Unfortunately, while I am traditionally a Windows PC person, I now mostly use Mac PCs for my editing and post production stuff, so my videos will most likely all be done on Mac, although, the same principles will apply for Windows. Maybe keep an eye on my channel. Cheers, Dave.

[@Bluemanta69]

@@DavidHarry Thanks a lot David for this very complete answer. I have to admit, I'm quite new to video editing and I don't master all the technical differences between the different video format / codecs. You explanation is very clear and whilst I already knew that H264/265 are much more demanding on CPU / GPU, I didn't know exactly why. If I could shoot ProRes 422 HQ files all the time, I would do it for sure but it's clear that having a SSD tethered to my iPhone all the time is not ideal either. I saw some IQ compararison on YT and was surprised to see how good the H265 log files are compared with ProREs with significantly lighter weight. I'm lucky enough to have both a high end CPU (13900K) and GPU (4090 RTX) and I thought H265 could be a good pick to make shooting easier (no SSD) instead of editing (I'd rely on my strong setup). I can't figure out if my current issue is related to some DaVinci Resolve limitations or if it's a bug from the BMD Camera app. For example, I'm perfectly able to run H264 10 bit files in Resolve (free version) so I doubt they put a limitation only on H265 codec files. Besides, if it was just in DaVinci, I could normally read those files in VLC player that supports H265 10 bit files but it doesn't work either. So to me, there must be a bug with H265 Apple log files generated from the BMD camera app on Windows but I'm still not fully sure...

[@DavidHarry]

@@Bluemanta69 Hi, Thomas. I think the issue is because the H265 files are 4:2:2. I’m not sure if the free version of Resolve is able to deal with H265 4:2:2. Also, I can’t remember what the specs are for the 13900/QuickSync and the 4090/NVENC as far as H265 4:2:2 is concerned. Go into the settings in Resolve and there’s an option for the decoding of H265. Change that option so that it is using QuckSync, it may say the CPU name or iGPU then change it to NVENC, it may just say the name of the GPU/4090 and if there’s an option for CPU (no GPU or iGPU) then change it to that. One of those three options might work. If not, then it may be a limitation of the free version. I know this is one of the differences between Resolve on Windows and Mac (Apple Silicon). Because Apple Silicon Macs have to have no options for GPU, as it’s part of the SoC and can’t be switched off, this is what gives the Apple Silicon Mac version of the free version some differences between the X86 Mac version and X86 Windows version. Cheers, Dave.

[@Bluemanta69]

@@DavidHarry Thanks again for your help. Unfortunately, I browsed the different settings and preferences menus but I couldn't find where to change the settings you mentioned above... If you have a shortcut or further indications about how to access it, I'd love hearing from you. Many thanks

[@tls.coaching]

i have one problem. I'm using Iphone 15 Proress Log and this method help a lot. But in Davinci am getting more "saturated" colours than on my iphone screen. So its really hard to do any color grading. Basically right after changing project setting im getting pretty nice looking colors on my screen in davinci. So i try to export this ungraded, only transformed footage to see how accurate im seing colours on screen compared to iphone (most people are watching their reels and tiktok on phones). But colors on iphone are much less saturated. Any tip? Before than when i was using just HEVC with my iphone 13 both screen in davinci and my iphone screen was perfectly matched.

[@DavidHarry]

Hi. That sounds really odd, I’m not sure what the problem is. What are you editing on, computer and monitor? If I shoot log and just transform in Resolve on my MacBook then export to H.265, I don’t get much difference between my MacBook screen, my iPhone or my external monitor connected to my MacBook. There are very slight differences as you’d expect between different monitor/screens but nothing easily noticeable. Are you using a colour profile on your Mac for its video output? For instance, using a MacBook with HDR applied to its screen will make playback on its screen look different to other screens that the same file plays on. Cheers, Dave.

[@tls.coaching]

@@DavidHarry i have macbook pro M1 but im colorgrading on external monitors. Colors on my MBPRO are much more brigher / less saturated than on my iphone and because most ppl use phones i decide to match my monitors to colors of my iphone. (are your colord on MB and iphone identical?) External monitors are nothing fancy but i was able to mach colors almost identicaly to iphone so was happy. I switched to iphone 15 pro max and this will be my first video in log but im getting trouble with things i am mentioning above. Anywas - in my PC i forget to turn off true tone. So that was main problem. My bad. It help quitte bit but there was still BIG difference when i have true tone off on both devices (pc and iphone) Closest colors i can get is if i turn off true tone on PC, TURN ON on iphone. After that picture on PC is still little bit more saturated. but just a little bit. with saturation on 40 insted of 50 colours are indentical. Isnt this weird? What do you think?

[@DavidHarry]

@@tls.coaching Hi. Yes, it does sound weird. For my setup I mostly monitor on an LG Ultrafine monitor. I have my output set to SDR rec.709 from the MacBook to the external monitor and whatever I do in Resolve essentially translates on other screens. Between the MacBook screen or external monitor I would definitely avoid using Truetone or any colour profile other than SDR rec.709. The vast majority of streaming services and playback devices will be using SDR rec.709. There’s also the issue of gamma shift when using Mac, depending on what’s playing the video file back. This is where the colour range isn’t reported properly and can be played back incorrectly. Aside from what I’ve mentioned, I’m not sure what else could be causing the big difference you are seeing. Cheers, Dave.

[@MaximoJoshua]

Is your iPhone screen showing you the Log footage? The default camera app will show you Log footage, not what it actually looks like. In order to match these up, use BlackMagic Camera, and create a LUT in Davinci Resolve to use as a preview LUT. This means that what you see when shooting should match up pretty perfectly with what you see in Davinci AFTER transforming to your output color space

[@radiozelaza]

I wish Kasey from Camera Conspiracies actually was selling his mighty "Demon LUT" lol

[@DavidHarry]

That’s FA you want to see my LUT pack, I have the DEMON LUT MK2 😂 Cheers, Dave.

[@aa72on]

Why “DaVinci YRGB Color Managed” and not “DaVinci YRGB” and then “Apple Log” for the timeline color space

[@DavidHarry]

I explained why in the video.