My GOTO DCTL For My Latest Broadcast Jobs!

[@gregormarini]

I've known Ringelschwandtner's stuff for some time now. He's a godsend...just like you! Thanks for these great videos!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad you like them - he's a very talented guy!

[@graemetowner7257]

love the shared node trick....great explanation as always, thanks

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@HspncAt7heDisco]

This is such a game changer. I also really appreciate you showing how to do it similarly for free with the Color Slice tool. Thanks Darren!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Thank you - glad you appreciate it - getting a few messages from people thinking Im just trying to sell something ! Im just showing what I do and how I do it! Its a great DCTL but appreciate its not cheap and thats why i showed a workaround. Enjoy and thank you! Darren

[@martinfox4569]

Great thanks for taking us through your process

[@lukaszforster]

The shared node trick is awesome. Thanks!

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad you liked it! Stefan gets the Kudos for that tip!!

[@colourgradebytm]

Great to see you use this during the live grade session yesterday. Nice to see you run through it as a tutorial too! Thanks Darren.

[@ChristineLinge]

Hi Darren, All of your videos have been extremely helpful! Thank you so much for sharing your videos! 👍

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad you like them!

[@MJ_Pictures_Studio]

Sir Darren is my best teacher. i hve learn many trick . Im a Davinci User. we love your tutorial

[@DarrenMostyn]

Thank you! Appreciated.

[@MJ_Pictures_Studio]

@@DarrenMostyn Sir make a Green screen Composition with Camera Tracking

[@Dylan.R.C]

Thanks for this wonderful explanation Darren, really good !! Stefan DCTL are unique for color work.

[@DarrenMostyn]

I use them all the time!

[@chieltjuuhh]

Great video again Darren! I also bought the color shaper tool now. I think a video about combining the different Mononodes tools would be nice. If you show when to use what and where in the node tree.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Great suggestion!

[@chieltjuuhh]

@@DarrenMostyn you’re welcome, succes with your projects.

[@kdzuin]

Huge thanks for sharing the tip on the shared node approach. It’s a timesaver.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@seancloutier2577]

I am not a pro colorist...however I tried out this tool and it is excellent. I purchased Waqas Qazi's tool "Look QT DNA" which gives me an over all look...then I used this tool to refine the skin tones...even as a journeyman color grader I got some fantastic results...and it was relatively simple...did not need to use the qualifiers or masks..

[@DarrenMostyn]

glad you enjoyed it - Stefans DCTL's are super clean.

[@seancloutier2577]

@@DarrenMostyn I may still have some learning to do...but I am struggling with the Color Shaper on skin tones when there is a lot of red in an image. The tool still tends to pick up all the reds and not just skin tones.

[@DarrenMostyn]

@@seancloutier2577 Hi Sean. It's hard for me to judge when I cant see your image. Red is of course in the skin tone range so not sure what your expectation is ? Experience tells you when and how to use a certain tool in the grade. No one tool for all jobs.

[@seancloutier2577]

@@DarrenMostyn its all good...the tool works very well...I was working late and noticed how it plays with the overall reds...I am very pleased with the Mononodes Color Shaper...just giving feedback...DCTLs do make grading easier...but still need to work with the other tools..

[@DarrenMostyn]

@@seancloutier2577 I'm still always learning and playing and I've been a colourist for over 18 years!

[@ChiJee]

Always appreciate you being open to share your fav daily tools, thoughts on why, even when you don’t always need to, and being so transparent about it. Great value!! Keep up that amazing energy :) And no need to add more, Stefan’s products are just sooo good & high quality. p/s: I literally bursted out laughing when you mentioned “NE” in the same tone, thought you’re about to say something about color model or science related, nope, just non-emoij 😆

[@DarrenMostyn]

Thanks Chi. Appreciated.

[@ginoamadori]

Nice!!! thanks Darren 🙌

[@brianrogers549]

Awesome Tip Darren about using the shared node for the Balance DCTL 😎👍

[@DarrenMostyn]

Its a good one!!

Keep it up @Darren, very good. I use the mono dctls all the time but it's good to see the workaround

[@DarrenMostyn]

I wanted to show a work around too. Glad you appreciated

[@heymiranda512]

I am salivating. This is soooo helpful. I struggle with balancing around the skin. I needdddd this. 😅

[@DarrenMostyn]

Utility DCTL is a game changer if you are starting out or even a Pro.

[@evananthony4883]

Great video. I also use Mono Nodes. I have also started using Hue/Shift by Pixel Tools. I do like that it has a way to highlight the color and even swing the vector to adjust what the sliders will change.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Jasons pixel tools are top DCTLS! Highly recommend.

[@yadekeffieh8139]

Hello, and thank you for your content. A word to those who disagree with the proposal he's making. If you want to buy, go ahead, otherwise let him do his job. You're not obligated to buy, as far as we know. In that case, go ahead and send emails to KZbin, which bombards you with 36 ads in a single video.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Thank you for understanding what I am trying to show here. It's a choice. Im just educating and sharing tools that Im using to get my work done. I could also just keep it secret!

[@yadekeffieh8139]

​Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Do you plan to make a video showing how to make an image lean more towards green or blue, like in the series Succession or the movie Joker, for example? I believe this is split toning, is that correct? Or maybe you have one to share ? Im planning to learn so if you have a course to sell I would be delighted to check it out. ​@@DarrenMostyn

[@DarrenMostyn]

My next masterclass details will be sent to my email list first - details are in the description of video at the end

[@tigran3409]

You can also make a LUT from the Balance DCTL and use it in omniscope

[@DarrenMostyn]

Omniscope has a similar balance tool built in - why build a LUT ?

[@equisetuminc]

Excellent! Only one question-how do you use color slice on the micro panel 🤔

[@DarrenMostyn]

I think the 'user' button may do it, but dont quote me - in fact, no Im not sure you can! I only have the advanced panel so I cant check, sorry

[@phpn99]

Beautiful stuff and borne out of necessity. A prediction is easy to make : AI will do style transfer to match your desired look and it will do so, auto-matching and levelling your shots. We''re not there yet, as it's not real-time and the resolution is still too low ; but it's coming. Another approach that is possible is to use AI (maybe auto-encoders) to find the optimal graph structure and parameter setup to match a desired look. Endless fun.

[@DarrenMostyn]

We are heading that way - Tools like colorlabAI are doing great things to aid colour matching. I'l keep my thoughts on AI to myself for now.

[@arturog67]

Amazing tutorial Darren! I’m learning A LOT with you!! Do you have any course or some you would recommend? I use Davinci for editing our podcast now that we are using Blackmagic cameras :) Keep the amazing work!!

[@DarrenMostyn]

I have a Masterclass that i run. Sign up to the email list in the description of each video, usually at the end.

[@yezdi]

Dear Darren. Thank you for posting these lovely tutorial videos on youtube. I have just started out venturing into colour grading and am a complete noob. I would love if you could help me out by answering a question I have. How do you use mononodes color shaper dctl to add more depth on secondary colors like orange or papaya (eg mclaren is papaya orange). do I have to move dept slider range in two separate colors say yellow and red and on adjacent serial nodes or are there easier options. thanks once again for the lovely videos

[@DarrenMostyn]

The range and centre sliders cover all hues so you should be able to dial it in with yellow/red/magenta hue centre points adjusted.

[@yezdi]

​@@DarrenMostyn Thank you for clarifying my doubt. 🙏

[@Snider-Films]

A morning coffee and a Darren Mostyn video is a good start to the day! 😂 Fantastic, Darren. Thank you. I've been using the Mononodes for a while but this greatly expands my understanding of how best to use them. I have a question about your node tree. Mine is very similar to yours in the music video you showed. I noticed you have a SAT node and then in the parallels you have a HSV SAT. I've been using only the HSV SAT ahead of the parallels. Do you commonly use traditional SAT ahead of HSV SAT? Or is that just a placeholder to allow you the option? Again, another great video. Really appreciate it.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Thanks Tim. I was wondering how scrutinized my node tree would get!! In answer, yes it's a placeholder - pretty rare I would sat twice apart from secondary like with colour shaper. Hope that helps and enjoy your coffee!! All the best, Darren

[@Snider-Films]

@@DarrenMostyn Thank you!

[@tylerstewartmedia]

I just purchased the utility dctl two days ago and it helps so much! appreciate your discount! Question: Once we create the shared node on the timeline level, is there a way to paste it to all clips after you've already created your node tree and applied it to all clips? I was testing it on an old project and found myself pasting into each clip, i'm hoping there's a quicker way to do this? If not, would you recommend pasting into one clip THEN copying that and pasting to all clips? (or even just grabbing a still / creating power grade and apply to clips that way?)

[@DarrenMostyn]

I only learned that trick from Stefan last week from watching one of his videos - I'd make it part of my fixed node tree - that way it is sent to all clips immediately!

[@tylerstewartmedia]

@@DarrenMostyn that makes sense, I'll have to add that. He went a little fast in that video, so I wasn't sure if I missed something. Thank you so much for always offering such great info!

[@DarrenMostyn]

@@tylerstewartmedia appreciate your kind comments.

[@TZOBIEntertainment]

Hey Darren, Do you use Filmbox and Scatter? Also, I am looking to purchase another Mononodes DCTL. I am currently testing Color Shift and Color Shaper

[@DarrenMostyn]

I use Dehancer and mononodes. See discount codes at the bottom of the description of each video if you want either.

[@frankinblackpool]

That Utility DCTL does look sexy, and quite possibly the one I’d go for. I think it will help with my little projects to add a little polish. I’ve come to understand that if balancing is done correctly, nobody should notice. But if it’s done wrong, then it should be noticed but to a casual viewer then they can’t quite put their finger on why. With each project I do, I learn a little more as I delve into your back catalogue of episodes. May I ask you one question about saturation of colours in a Vectorscope? Where can I go to learn where saturation levels should normally sit on the scopes? At the moment I’m bluntly trying to open everything up until stuff starts to hit the 75% markers, but I’m guessing this is a schoolboy error and lacks sophistication and awareness in my attempt to make the scene vibrant and eye catching. I’m also not happy with the way KZbin treats its upload codecs for 1080p projects compared to 4k. For me it really crushes tones at the lower end of the waveform. But then it could be explained by user error as well.

[@StefanRingelschwandtner]

My advice would be to work with reference footage to understand where saturation should sit 'normally.' Aiming for the 75% markers might be overdoing it, as saturation in most films often stays well below that. Many movies, for instance, don't even come close to those levels. It really depends on the project and the creative intent you're going for.

[@frankinblackpool]

@@StefanRingelschwandtner This is indeed a genuine surprise and honour to be chatting with you. I will indeed take you up on your suggestion of source reference material to base my little projects on especially to learn how to control saturation levels. Now that you've said hello, it would be rude if me not to get your Utility DCTL. Cheers.😀

[@DarrenMostyn]

Hi Frank. I've known you a long time now, always appreciated your comments, and you really need to come on my masterclass to answer these questions in a logical sense! as we go through why and how sat is affected. Sat to 75% on vectorscope is not great general technique, however there is no normal as it depends on the brief - Its pretty rare Im near 75%

[@frankinblackpool]

@@DarrenMostyn Good evening Darren. The next available masterclass that you have which matches up with my days off, then I will be on it. I may do a bit of juggling and shift swaps to get the time off, but I genuinely want to come out to play and learn stuff on your masterclass. I think that, over the years of tinkering around, I've built up enough rudimentary underpinning knowledge to get a good experience out of your course. The scary part will be creating a Facebook account, because I've never signed up. I may have to step into the 21st Century and do it. And as for the Mononodes Utility DCTL, I'm having a play with it right now trying to learn how to use it and improve my on my efforts of my latest episode. I felt there was room for improvement and hopefully this DCTL will show me where I went wrong. If it wasn't for that Pandemic which shall not be named, I may never have fallen into the rabbit hole called Colour Grading, or found your KZbin channel that sucked me into this fascinating discipline to begin with. Before you there really was only Casey and Alex, that I trusted, helping me fill in the gaps on how to use Resolve. BTW before you entered KZbin land, NOBODY was talking about Colour Management. Everybody was explaining how to use the Primaries to get a Log image into a good place to work on. I noticed that after you let the cat out of the bag about the power of CST's, other KZbin Tutorial Presenters quickly learned about Colour Management and started to discuss it. The power of KZbin to share knowledge at its very best promoting Resolve as an alternative to Adobe products. Cheers 😀

[@DarrenMostyn]

if it wasn;t for the pandemic I wouldn't have started a channel and the government gave us NO financial support in my sector! I know its a small thing in a big situation but many freelancers got hit hard with zero payments of support in UK.

[@StefanNitzsche]

Hi Darren! Do you offer 1:1 sessions to solve specific problems or discuss specific topics?

[@DarrenMostyn]

I offer 1:1 training on zoom. I don’t offer 1:1 technical support. Get in touch via instagram. 👍

[@martinfox4569]

Thanks

[@DarrenMostyn]

Appreciate the super thing! Thank You Martin - very kind of you. All the best. Darren

[@TheHyphenate]

I purchased the Color Shift DCTL you made a video on before... whats the difference between the Color Shifter and the Color Shaper in this video?

[@StefanRingelschwandtner]

Color Shift is perfect for making broad, global color adjustments across multiple hues, helping you create a unified look quickly. Color Shaper, on the other hand, is designed for precise, targeted adjustments. It allows you to focus on individual hues, fine-tuning specific hue ranges and luma range levels for detailed color corrections. You can find a detailed answer on my website.

[@TheHyphenate]

​@@StefanRingelschwandtnerso with this, could you easily do a parallel, select a single color and select a range (like shadows) and in a parallel node create another range of the same color (like brights) and be able to use density or sat to even out the same color that has darker/brighter parts?

[@StefanRingelschwandtner]

@@TheHyphenate Yes, that's definitely possible! There's a free demo version available, so you can try it out yourself and explore the features firsthand.

[@TheHyphenate]

@StefanRingelschwandtner awesome. I will most definitely be getting this soon. I have the Color Shift and I use it on almost every single thing I do. 🙏

[@denaco]

so Darren, i got the old mono dctls with your code a year or so ago. is this mono shaper the same as the mono den,sat,hue but with the fine tuning sliders added? I still find the mono dctl gives better results than the new colour slice tool in the recent update too.

[@DarrenMostyn]

I think that sums it up yes. The DCTL does give a better job IMO than colour slice tool (as of version 19) which is why Im openly sharing the tools I use in my professional workflow. All the best, Darren

[@Mochizukky]

Hey Darren! I love your videos but I can't seem to subscribe to the email list with the link, an error keeps popping up but it isn't explaining what the error is...

[@DarrenMostyn]

Try a different browser maybe? Link is working.

[@Mochizukky]

@@DarrenMostyn The link is working but I can't seem to sign up as a new listee, keeps sayin there's an error with my details, thanks for your help and the great work!

[@AliazAfe]

Can you please show us how to grade p3-d65 footage shot on iPhone with Blackmagic app?

[@DarrenMostyn]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJC4poyobpamhtE

[@AliazAfe]

@@DarrenMostyn unfortunately can’t shoot log because I don’t have iPhone 15 pro or 16. The next best thing is “hdr” which I don’t like, it just makes the footage too saturated but p3 is less saturated. Thank you for replying though.

[@DarrenMostyn]

OK, Just change input settings on the CST that I set - the video covers the same

[@AliazAfe]

@@DarrenMostyn thanks 🙏

[@user-xm8sq1mu1c]

What Nits do you work at I set mine to 120% is this too bright? Also I have a hdr monitor should I still work in rec 709 color space at gamma 2.4 I have the option to choose

[@DarrenMostyn]

No not at all. Im at 100 but old school settings that I have no problem changing to maybe 120 too. I wish it was more regulated TBH so we know where to be at.

[@user-xm8sq1mu1c]

@@DarrenMostynSo do you think PD65 is more ideal? All of these little things can get more confusing than they need to be 😂

[@HspncAt7heDisco]

I've noticed you're making broader selections and kinda just letting the skin tone adjustments do their thing to the overall clip. I always feel like I need to go out of my way to power-window and track people's limbs to ensure I'm only affecting actual skin. Am I over-doing it?

[@DarrenMostyn]

well I grade skin at more base level so no need to isolate tight so maybe yes you maybe over-doing it - I correct other stuff later

[@tideon4704]

Drren. Often times you are covering the UI as you make adjustments. At 19:00 I couldn't see what you were moving. My advice to people is that if you are not talking directly into the camera and/or you are changing something in the application. You can totally remove yourself, as we already know what you look like.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Thank you. Fantastic feedback and noted for future episodes! Appreciated. Hope it didn’t ruin the episode too much and a very fair comment. I just watched it back. All the best. Darren.

[@tideon4704]

@@DarrenMostyn It wasn't ruined. Keep up the amazing work you do.

[@Thisisme4444]

It's a great tool for sure but the pricing is way off. £250 for every single thing in Resolve, £200 just for this is way too much when most people won't stump up for the Studio version.

[@DarrenMostyn]

It's for professionals I'd say, not the hobbyist. That sort of price is quite normal for plugins to enhance your Daily work. I think I make that pretty clear in the video and thats why I show how to do it for FREE without. All the best, Darren

[@TechMediaLifr]

your Instagram logo looks a little Log-ish, you need to grade that, too 😉

[@DarrenMostyn]

Its too strong if anything!

[@2424rocket]

Booo! Love all of your videos but When you start to become a salesman… It’s a real turn off. If we can’t completely color correct in resolve all by its lonesome… Then I give up.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Wow. I do show you how to do same in Colour Slice tool FOR FREE!!. Showing options here. People have a choice. The video hasn't been up long enough for you to have watched it yet.

[@simarock]

@@DarrenMostyn i've felt the same, watched first 13 min of it

[@DarrenMostyn]

Its a premium product. Thats why I show how to do for FREE in Resolve.

[@DarrenMostyn]

Im also showing here EXACTLY the tools I use in my Broadcast workflow. I could actually keep it a secret! Im showing how to do it without the DCTL too. I could not be any more transparent. Im always honest - so here s the tools I use. You dont have to buy them - use my colour slice workaround. Those who may want to use this tool - this video is for them. Im sorry everyone thinks that Im here to just sell - really ?? If I wanted to do that I could EVERY video sponsored for a start - listen to my this video is sponsored by .... - followed by 60 seconds of sell.

[@DarrenMostyn]

@@simarock Showed how to do the same for FREE using color slice. Not sure what the issue is TBH !!

[@kentcurrie7326]

Stefan sends out an email to notify MONONODES owners of any update!

[@DarrenMostyn]

yes, all updates are free,