You're Adding Contrast Wrong - DaVinci Resolve 16 Tutorial

Today we go over How the Different Contrast and Exposure Controls in DaVinci Resolve 16 work.
Download Davinci Resolve for Free: www.blackmagicdesign.com/prod...
Example video Downloads:
Train Track Shots: drive.google.com/file/d/1olUV...
Models Walking in Daylight: www.blackmagicdesign.com/ca/p...
I unfortunately can not share the original plane shot as it's part of an unreleased music video, and the full shot has the song in it.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
0:38 - Tutorial (Setup)
1:53 - How it works (Overview)
2:34 - How it works (Curves)
3:41 - How it works (Contrast Slider)
5:03 - How it works (Primary Controls)
6:17 - How it works (Log Controls)
7:33 - How it works (Offset Adjustments)
7:53 - Practical Application
9:45 - Before/After
9:55 - Outro
Notes:
Ultimately the goal of this video was to demonstrate the different ways of applying contrast in Resolve. Different tools that affect different areas linearly or logarithmically to achieve your desired result. Understanding how these tools operate will allow you to efficiently produce the look you want with practice and repetition.
So regarding the before and after at the end, to be clear the intent is not to say "look at how bad this image was before, and now we've fixed it" but rather demonstrate how to make contrast and exposure adjustments using multiple tools together in Resolve. I chose an overexposed starting image so the adjustments would be abundantly apparent, hope that clears up any possible confusion.
Check out the extra credit unlisted video for an explanation on how contrast impacts saturation. Ultimately adding contrast increases the distance between the brightest and darkest part of the image. With this change also occurring on a sub pixel level you get a larger difference between the sub pixels, resulting in increased saturation. The larger the initial gap, the more of an effect will be produced by adding contrast. If you're lost, just watch the video, that should make it pretty easy to follow.
References:
Extra Credit Color Saturation: • Contrast Saturation Ex...
Color Grading with Curves: • How to Use Custom Curv...
Balancing Shadows with Log Controls: • You're Balancing Shado...
Check out the DaVinci Resolve 16 reference manual to learn more you can find it in the help tab of Resolve.
Contrast and Pivot: Page 2434
_______________________________
Socials:
I don't have any yet, but if I get some you'll be the first to know.
Gear I use:
Camera - Black Magic Pocket 4k
Microphone - Rode NTK
Main Lens - Meike 12mm f2.8
Other lenses - Meike 35 mm f1.7, Rokinon 50mm T1.5, Rokinon 24mm T1.5
Tripod - Velbon Videomate 638
Computer Specs:
CPU - Ryzen 1700x
GPU - GTX 1070
Monitor - Eizo CG2420

[@AllThingsFilm1]

The best explanation of the relationship between the various controls for contrast and exposure I've seen to date. Subscribing to this channel was one of the best decisions I've made to getting better with Resolve. Cheers.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thank you!

[@artisarium]

You're my Go-To for Resolve stuff nowdays. Your formula is so clear and the rythm in your videos make it both easy and interesting to watch! Great job, and thanks for sharing!

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thank you. I appreciate the support

[@MikeKasprzak]

That was a great approach to demonstrating what everything does. Well done.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Glad it helped

[@trevorwright6058]

Such a great and clear teacher Nathan. Thanks for this comprehensive "behind the scene" look at contrast mate! I learnt some more stuff

[@NathanCarterVids]

My pleasure!

[@SoundItOutFilms]

I've been using these controls for years while knowing what they do without understanding how they do it exactly. This was amazing.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Awesome. Really happy hear that.

[@rosyaugust7095]

Great explanation and valuable to watch

[@jonathanlim9538]

Great video, Nathan! Thank you for providing this information.

[@NathanCarterVids]

No worries. Glad you found it helpful

[@aerofart]

FINALLY! I’ve found a channel that doesn’t waste my time pretending to explain advanced color grading topics or treating the viewer like a newb. Thanks @Nathan Carter. Subbed.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thanks for the support. Lots more videos like this in the channel and to come.

[@tonytoffolo9915]

very informative! thanks Nathan!

[@ShlomiMarco]

One of the best and more important, useful explanation I got for this topic. Thanks.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Glad it was helpful!

[@pavantv868]

Thank you so much for this video, truly a unique approach to teaching color grading.❤❤❤

[@clecle323]

Very good breakdown of how things works, very helpful to understand with the gray scale !

[@NathanCarterVids]

For me I find that super helpful too. Good to know when to use each tool.

[@amitsharmacheekymonkey1820]

this was really helpful! Thanks

[@aaronpeipert]

This Davinci vid was so good. You just earned a sub.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thanks for the sub

[@DreySantesson]

Thanks that was super informative !

[@DerekBianchi]

I was going to make a snarky comment about what else I was doing wrong. and then I watched the video. I was adding contrast wrong. Thank you and mea culpa. Great Video.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thanks, I know the title is a little provocative. I appreciate the kind words.

[@blazablaza]

Loved the gradient idea to show what's happening. Keep it up! Cheers and sub'd.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thanks for the sub!

[@laoyourface]

Great explanation - Thanks Nathan!

[@NathanCarterVids]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gkochanowsky]

Nathan, Thank You SOOOO Much. You've made the video I didn't know I really wanted to see. You have a new subscriber.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thanks for the sub!

[@yanccoliphotofilms1855]

amazing explanation of the control weels for adjusting contrast and temperture! subscribed and bell on! =D

[@Ronbc000]

Nice work mate. Thank you. 👍

[@NathanCarterVids]

No problem 👍

[@BursaProduction]

Grey scale is everything. Nice explanation

[@NathanCarterVids]

Yeah I find it super helpful just to understand what's going on.

[@alithehuman7852]

This video is a life saver 👌🏼 instant sub

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thanks for the sub

[@JoATTech]

Excellent explanation! Instant sub.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Welcome aboard!

[@yoshi-movies]

Thank you very mutch. I think, this is one of the best explaining I have ever heard in davinci for grading! PS: commandos 4 live :) Regards und please keep on!!!

[@AroundCooking]

🔥Excellent explanation, thank you man for these tips always very useful, much appreciated 💪

[@NathanCarterVids]

Happy to help!

[@takoyakeys]

Thank you for making this video!! It helped me so much with adjusting my content!

[@NathanCarterVids]

Happy to help!

[@mrkumaran]

Nice, excellent explanation, I have subscribed sir, Thank you

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thanks for the sub. Glad you found it useful

[@Jasondeheus]

Great content bruuda thank you 🙏🏻

[@NathanCarterVids]

My pleasure!

[@rbroach68]

Great video! I love learning how things work. If I understand how it works, I can make independent decisions on how and where to use it.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Glad it was helpful!

[@aberzvideo2285]

Superb tutorial

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@JimRobinson-colors]

Nice explanation Nathan. This kind of detailed explanation for people starting out is a big plus. I've been doing this "color" thing for a long time. I appreciate it, when people get the facts when it comes to how and why, things work the way they do in Resolve. I find it really frustrating when I see some youTubers zip through looks and try to impress, rather than explain and teach. Good job all around. As far as methods are concerned, I tend to set up exposure and ballpark skin tones in the offset, before anything is applied. And it is not the norm, but i can see luma and how it is reacting better in Black and White - so I temporarily desat and adjust curves on the second node to set contrast and fine tune. The trick to curves is like using a graphic eq in audio - subtle peaks and valleys will always work better for luma values to transition ( gradient ) from one tone to the next. In Black and white you can gauge that ( for me ) much easier, especially in skin tone. Skin tone always seems to look better when the luminosity values are smooth. I then bring the color back in and in most cases the saturation comes with the changes from the curves and not as much Saturation is needed to be pushed.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thank you. I really value your input and experience Jim. I will have to give your B&W method a try.

[@JourneywithBrandon]

I just use curves for everything. I never use the Contrast, Sat, Hue, sliders. I'm probably missing out on something, but it's worked for me so far.

[@TheWindyBurrow]

Thank you so much for this clear explanation

[@NathanCarterVids]

You are welcome!

[@svnairr16]

I was randomly playing with the pivot point! :D Thank you for this! Also for braw footage link! Much love

[@NathanCarterVids]

No problem!

[@Lifeof728]

Thank you!

[@mrtrx]

Isn’t it easier to add Auto colour to the node and then adjust to your liking?

[@DiviPhotos]

Great video thanks

[@NathanCarterVids]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@geodude9537]

how did you get color wheels , curves , waveforms and custom to be on the screen at the same time ? i can not do that

[@NathanCarterVids]

So what method do you use for your footage? As always, more info in the description. Edit: The missing auto generated captions is a glitch, I'm looking into it and hopefully everything will be back to normal. I appreciate all of you for your patience and understanding.

[@petrub27]

well, after your demonstration it make a lot of sense to use the curves, because you can be very precise the wheels will involve maybe using the high and low limit which is an extra step for no reason but essentially you get the same result so, curves with editable splines

[@TECNICASDEPESCAYMAS]

Thank you 🙏

[@ft.galpardo5081]

oh wow thank you so much!

[@NathanCarterVids]

No problem 😊

[@Mathew-vlogs]

Great video, wasn't sure if I was using contrast right, and now I know I stuck at color grading. 😂 but this really does help me to understand how to fix some of my contrast problems. Thanks!

[@NathanCarterVids]

We all have to start somewhere, and having an open mind is a huge step to learning. Best of luck!

[@Mathew-vlogs]

@@NathanCarterVids thanks!

[@lithinozone]

love it

[@willie1001]

Awesome. Thanks

[@NathanCarterVids]

You're welcome!

[@mearslab]

6:05 that's just like a parametric EQ!!!!!111!!1! ***MIND BLOWN***

[@NathanCarterVids]

Pretty cool eh. Plus I love that the contrast is designed to increase separation, but also maintain rolloff in both the highlights and shadows, which cannot be achieved if it were linear. The things you learn doings tests eh?

[@BobbyBaz]

So to apply a simple contrast we must understand nearly a thousand things here on DaVinci?

[@josip1382]

0:46 - that shot is not in LOG format, it's RAW (braw to be more accurate) which is visible under preview window thumbnail. There's a big difference between RAW and LOG; and each one has it's own workflow.

[@NathanCarterVids]

You're correct I misspoke. Braw is only partially debayered in camera. However I'm decoding to BMD film, so it would be the same essentially (bit depth and data rates aside) as me recording prores in their log profile which is "Film".

[@petrub27]

Lol

[@yashmistri17]

Woahoo! Look what KZbin recommended me on Home. Great content.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Happy to help

[@SnehithPamarathi]

That's a great tutorial so much new information for me, thanks nathan. btw where can I find log footage to practice color correction and grading ?

[@NathanCarterVids]

Great question. A lot of the manufactures have footage up on their sites. Here's the link to Black Magic's sample footage: www.blackmagicdesign.com/ca/products/blackmagicpocketcinemacamera/gallery

[@SnehithPamarathi]

@@NathanCarterVids Fantastic, thank you.

[@m.corentin7298]

🤯🤯🔥🔥 so simple explain like this

[@NathanCarterVids]

Glad you think so!

[@MaikKellerhals]

Wow i was just about to start writing a comment on how a tutorial on contrast is so very flat and ugly... Glad i watched more than 10 seconds ;)

great!

[@mbbalord]

Graaaandeeee!!!

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thanks!

[@richshinobi5009]

Really nice and focused on contrast. Eep it up. I was just wondering what is the name of that special effects at 0:42. The light flare sound FX

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thanks. So got it from audioblocks and it's called "fast rise"

[@richshinobi5009]

@@NathanCarterVids appreciate man . Ive been looking for this sound fx for years...cheers

[@giovannizappa7934]

Hey, great demonstration with the gradient! I have one question: would the contrast that you apply through the slider at the very start of a grade be an s-curve contrast or linear, with the s-curve function switched off? I heard people say that if you add s-curve contrast at the beginning of a grade it can ruin your colors etc... Thanks!

[@NathanCarterVids]

Good question. I'm not sure what you mean by ruin your colours, If anything it would reduce the ability to clip data because of the rolloff in either direction. I can understand the desire to work linearly though. I'm actually doing a breakdown on that right now on why using offset to create a general look is great because it will uniformly add color across multiple shots regardless of luminance, making it a great starting point.

[@giovannizappa7934]

@@NathanCarterVids Ok thanks! The reason I ask is because there's a video from Gerald Undone (here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4G6lICgfs92mKs) where he explains the way luma can affect color and how non-linear contrast can put colors off balance. So I thought maybe the correct way to start a grade would be to even things out linearly (kinda to get a Rec709 "conversion") and only after start to push things to get a look? But then I see almost all pro colorists going crazy with the contrast slider right away as a first step on log, so I'm like "What am I supposed to do??!" XD Am I missing something? Anyway, thanks for explaining!

[@DollyRanch]

With the X-T3, do you have your Atomos set to legalize? Otherwise I have to change the data levels to full in Resolve

[@NathanCarterVids]

Great question. I'll have to ask the DP to see if he can give yah an answer.

[@OFFROADTRIP]

Best!

[@NathanCarterVids]

I appreciate it.

[@giovanischerer]

Greeeeat!

[@joshuamyers5694]

hey - I'd love to know where you go the music in the intro. I'm on epidemic sound - hope its there. haha I heard some great textures...thanks for the content!!

[@NathanCarterVids]

Ah I've never really used Epidemic much though I'm sure it's great. For this channel I use storyblocks and productioncrate for pretty much everything. This song is from audioblocks and it's called himalaya future chill

[@joshuamyers5694]

@@NathanCarterVids Thanks Nathan. Have a good one brother.

[@SaschaKleiber]

Adding contrast via curves destroys the white parts in my video, it adds a lot of noise... :-(

[@NathanCarterVids]

Interesting. I've not encountered this issue.

[@formless4541]

is offset basically the same thing as exposure?

[@NathanCarterVids]

Great question. I'm assuming you're talking about the exposure tool in Premiere Pro. I haven't done any extensive testing in premiere so I can't say for certain. I'll think about covering it in a future video though. Could be interesting to note the differences between controls and demonstrate how they operate.

[@ngocanhao3981]

Hi. I just noticed that when you move your mouse pointer over the video, it shows the 3 circles indicators on the waveform. How can I enable that on my Davinci 16? Tks in advance

[@NathanCarterVids]

By the scopes, hit the 3 dots for options, the. Select display qualifier focus, and then select the qualifier tool, bottom right of the viewer

[@ngocanhao3981]

@@NathanCarterVids thanks a bunch!!!

[@neptunevisualz2062]

Hey there good video!! I just have one thing to point out. The title of the video refers to contrast and on the video you used not only the contrast but also balanced the overall image with other controls. That might confuse new colorists. Plus is very hard to say using contrast wrong its more like multiple options or combined options... Other than that good work🔥 *this is just my opinion... based on what i know*

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thanks you're totally right, and actually the first person to call me out. I went a little click bait with the title, I feel like "exposure controls explained" is ultimately what the video showcases, but I do also cover how you can add contrast to the image without using the slider so I went with that. Totally fair points though

[@thefunnytech4612]

3:03 how did you turn off/on like that what is the shortcut key for that

[@NathanCarterVids]

So to turn off and on an individual node you press Ctrl d (command d on Mac). To disable all nodes press alt d (option d on Mac)

[@thefunnytech4612]

@@NathanCarterVids thanks Nathan and could you make video on colour grading a video and explaining each and every thing in detail like you did in this video and there are many tutorial in youtube but nown of then goes in full deatail like what that particular slider do and what the impect in the video this will be very helpfull

[@NathanCarterVids]

I'm not gonna promise anything like that soon, but it's in the works. There's just so much to cover. The current plan right now is to explain the fundamental controls, and then show how to use them to achieve specific goals. I did however go through a pretty thorough list of some great time saving features in the color page a few months ago if that kinda fits what you're thinking: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZqPbc62cgbytgdE

[@MrSmithToday]

What about auto colour button?

[@NathanCarterVids]

I talk about that in more detail in my automatic corrections video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnPZZoKObb2YiKM

[@dariowolf8961]

Why was the subtitles disabled? I follow you from Spain and I don't understand English well

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thanks for letting me know, I'm looking into this. I'll try to get this fixed as soon as I can.

[@dariowolf8961]

@@NathanCarterVids Thank you very much, your channel is very good

[@steven_porter]

Being a fairly experienced colorist, you basically described my normal workflow to handle a job like this. However, I really appreciate seeing the demo using a gradient and waveform. Really gives a better understanding of how the tools work under the hood rather than just relying on my experience. Great video!

[@NathanCarterVids]

Thanks Steven.

[@TheSweetsOfSin]

Why is it so complicated to just change the contrast?

[@NathanCarterVids]

It's not. This video explains how the exposure controls work, as there are many ways to impact the contrast of an image. Just using the slider is fine, but knowing how it works and alternative methods gives a better understanding of how to manipulate the image however you see fit.

[@dominic-ryan]

Who down voted this video? Good one Karen! Another great video mate, I saw Avery Peck had a similar video, think yours is way better constructed for the amateur colorist . Question for you, I notice your system specs are very similar to mine though I have dual 6GB 1060's (16GB system memory). Just wondering how you manage system resources when using node groups? I have NR in my pre group and sharpening in my post group and am constantly bombarded with GPU out of memory errors when working on 4k timelines. I usually edit with a 1080 timeline, but almost always up that to 4k so I can deliver a 4k file. Am I doing something wrong here?

[@NathanCarterVids]

Hey thanks for the kind words. Avery is great, I'm still trying to figure out how to make DCTL's haha. Coding is not my strong suit. I also encounter the same problems. If you clear your cache you may see some improvements. To be honest I haven't found a great solution. If you can render a cache that would help. I leave NR unchecked until the very end if I'm not going the render cache method. Just using lightbox to quickly select everything that has it applied. Currently looking at an upgrade for next year

[@DoanNhuHang]

👍🧍‍♂️😍😍

[@Uthu777]

Could you say that again? lol. I don't think it is neccesary I will rewind :)

[@olegvorkunov5400]

Just click A button next to White Balance pen and all is corrected using AI.

[@NathanCarterVids]

Gonna have to hard pass on that. I applaud Black Magic for their continued AI efforts, but this "auto" feature still has a ways to go.

[@JustLikeRodney]

No captions for deaf people - so sad

[@NathanCarterVids]

I'm not sure why they're disabled. I'm looking into it though. Thanks for letting me know.