How to Make Your Grades Pop pt. 1

[@nicolmicah]

Yes! I love the inclusion of ETTR material. And guitar building! Lots to love here 😮

[@JimRobinson-colors]

Funny that while you were working on the first clip, my mind was thinking that it would pop a lot better if that guy was wearing a red mac shirt instead of the one he was wearing. Then boom! some of the other shots, there he is in"red", maybe the filmmaker thought the same thing and had him change his shirt. I have mentioned in passing before but I have studied 16th and 17th century oil paintings for the purposes of applying old tech, to our new tech. The one thing that I noticed was that the religious paintings, would almost all have Jesus in a red robe. Then when you analyse that further, the artists actually stayed to mostly 3 colors and neutrals. So in equivalent modern terms - using complimentary colors and Neutrals ( blacks,greys and whites) - they controlled the eyes of the viewer with a strong accent color. The not much talked about ( but really interesting ) - 60-30-10 choice for a pallette ( color of footage 60 % one colour / 30 % another and 10% highlight color )in most cases you can find in old oil paintings. I also use the vignette ( subtle ) on almost everything that I want the viewer to look at, being subtle is the trick with that though - it shouldn't be noticeable with it, but make a huge difference if you turn it off. Just like your example with the guitar on the stand, that was a really good example of that. Keep em coming Cullen, enjoying every minute.

[@Crimbtw]

yess the 60-30-10 rule

[@bryanwells1837]

I feel like this a bit of insight worth far more than most on KZbin realize.

[@MichaelKaykov]

I’m loving more vids every week. 🎉

[@GrigoryanFilms]

You’ve missed the point if you think he “cheated” by using his LUTs. You absolutely don’t need to use a LUT to do what he did with the Voyager LUTs. Additionally, he borrowed a very subtle portion of the LUT as well which is the point. In color grading 90% of the time subtly is KING.

[@Lonnh]

Your upload schedule has been fire recently. Your recent videos on look development has made me curious on color science for more advanced look development, any chance to get some tutorials on that?

[@senpera]

Nice to see your channel growing. It’s picking up pace.

[@MichaelKaykov]

Absolutely. People are finally discovering that this is PURE GOLD.

[@milquetoes]

Cullen could you consider doing a video on multiple delivery Workflows? Like a cinema project that needs different screeners for web and tv

[@VictorRiley]

Cullen, I think you should specify wether you're using S-Curve or linear contrast behind the contrast wheel. Changes the behaviour underneath color managed pipelines significantly.

[@Crimbtw]

I think he uses linear contrast

[@brmoogma]

Such a great channel!

[@Kenflyer]

Would love to see your color space/gamut transformation from the brand new GoPro Wide Gamut (GWG) to DWD with a raised log base like 250. :)

[@flochfitness]

Yes!!! What a great topic. I find that my color separation is lacking. Thank you!!!

[@outdoorsinontario3037]

Love it! Thank you! Please do more like this one, yet maybe a little longer? I ask for longer because the more we see yOu do, the more easy it is to retain the info. ‘Repetition is key! I would love to see some creative flow of yours, for another project. What you would do if someone were to ask you for a really pushed Look!!! A really pushed look that is extreme. We always get to see you make long broad strokes of grading but we don’t get to see anything too extreme. So, I suppose it’s a challenge of some kind…? I’d love to see a super pushed look from you where you would be asked to go beyond something like the joker movie or even something like mad max…. Super pushed and crazy looks, right?… let’s see what you can do for an extreme approach like those, but make it ur own please…. Ur a huge inspiration and I love what you do, so, thank you, thank you! Ur the best!

[@dominicpanico2682]

I always overcomplicate my color workflow when all I need to do is just watch one episode of Cullen and it brings me back down to earth. One question I had regarding building a timeline look is how to approach this where the footage received is run & gun style with many different environments and lighting. Can a timeline look translate across the entire piece or should each area be grouped and then create individual looks at the group level?

[@matthewblacklock2972]

I def don't have anywhere near the expertise or experience that Cullen does, but I'd say yes - an overall look is still really important (arguably more important) when the footage is all over the place as the look becomes a constant in the equation that will help tie things together. The tricky part comes in that you'll have to spend more time doing shot-to-shot balancing and more work on secondaries (windows, keys, etc) to further elevate and keep it all looking consistent. Like Cullen says though, get as far as possible with just exposure, contrast, and balance coupled with good colour management and you'll start to see things fall into place. Hope that helps!

[@jseamans]

CK says there is always something that can be done across the entire timeline. I just graded a 2 hour run and gun documentary and my experience proved to me that he's right. Besides making the grade go faster, working first with timeline adjustments forced me to look at the totality of the project and think about it as a whole. Otherwise, I'd be jumping shot to shot, without a sense of that macro perspective..

[@dominicpanico2682]

@@jseamans Thanks for the notes, I also recently wrapped up grading a short-form documentary before learning this and seeing how much this knowledge would have helped. What were some of the macro adjustments you were making when it came to those diverse lighting environments?

[@dominicpanico2682]

@@matthewblacklock2972 Awesome, thanks for the reply. I always second-guess it since one spot shot outdoors may have a higher contrast ratio compared to an indoor setup and a macro contrast adjustment might not look nice across the board. but I guess that is where you have to just break it down by group after the macro adjustment and dial in the contrast.

[@josephseamans1662]

@@dominicpanico2682 Sat vs Sat to bring down heavily saturated scenes across the timeline.

[@SCULPTURAMAplus]

I have the MT and I really like it. I’ve not looked at the back of it since I first set it up as I use the app. I wonder if they’ll drop the MT in favour of the Infinibar as there’s only one size still.

[@Crimbtw]

Don't mind this comment, its just an assumption of what I think the video will cover on I think: 1. Good Contrast/exposure 2. Color separation 3. Utilize color schemes Thats all that comes to mind with me.... edit: ok some of it I got right :D

[@jonicolton]

thank u. 🤟🏼

[@talktalk4503]

Hi Cullen. Where can we find ur 18% grey dctl file? I downloaded the starter pack but it isn't there 😢. Pls advise. Thx

[@koushikbhattacharya832]

Thank u sir♥

[@edwardwhite4790]

I’m interim your course & the cost? Can you send me information when it’s is opening up.

[@Rob_eight10media]

bring on Part 2 :-)

[@yungstyles4027]

Cullen, it's not clear what you're doing with balance/color separation node - what are you actually tweaking? Thanks

[@micheleguidi]

He’s using offset color wheel (moving the small ball in the center). Same tool used for exposure node, but to adjust colors.

[@yungstyles4027]

@@micheleguidi Merçi 👍. I see that now. I would call it colour balance, rather than colour separation - which threw me!

[@renatozanardo9648]

I have a question: we edit an image using curves, the result will be an image with a certain IRE. If I copy the curves on a subsequent image, but if this doesn't have the exact same exposure as the other, I will surely have an image that doesn't fit. Isn't there the possibility to copy the IRE instead of the curves?

[@stefanocson6237]

great

[@danielherz8808]

Why did you go for HSL and not HSV, like you usually do?

[@amadoucissefit]

Cullen, do your luts work with slog footages?

[@CullenKelly]

Great question! My LUTs are built to work in DWG and can take slog footage.

[@МАВ-ц6э]

Здорово! Спасибо!

[@SivalalRamakrishna]

Why didn't you show what was done to the thumbnail?

[@EverythingFilmmaking]

I was excited until once again you used your Luts to help get to the goal..not everyone can afford those and want to see everything done in Davinci without Luts😒

[@joraphpictures]

Maybe.... He should do a give away .... For his followers.... Or maybe a special coupon for us...

[@apocryphal_man]

There is an excellent free 2383 lut available from Cullen for free that beats out every commercial one I’ve had a look at. That’s a perfect start. Also in the look der videos you can learn how to make similar luts yourself (although the voyager luts are extremely well put together and I’d encourage you to get the pro pack, excellent value for money).

[@joraphpictures]

@@apocryphal_man I will really love to,but some of us are beginners .... From Africa... So it's a little bit difficult at the time

[@Crimbtw]

a lot of what his luts do, you cant in resolve.

[@EverythingFilmmaking]

@@Crimbtw so how we supposed to learn when we don’t have access to what he is using? It is my point.. it is a missing ingredient to making the grade pop.. it’s basically what we already have learned with exposure/ratio/balance but he is adding in his luts to the timeline as his base look.. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@gokayk4885]

hey buddy its me , fyi you are still underexposed

[@ayoubrh1444]

fIRST

[@apocryphal_man]

Actually you’re about 8 years late for this kind of comment

[@movie-trailer19]

Go ahead. Everything is going according to plan