Cheat Code for Setting up Color Management in Resolve

Hi Cullen, great video! I’m using your method for setting up my Color Management project settings, with the default input color space as Apple Log. In my clips, I also have some RED footage. When I right-click a RED clip, there is no option for setting Input Color Space. But if I right-click an Apple Log clip, there is an option for setting input color space. Now, since I have Apple Log as my default input in my project settings, I don’t need to set those clips. But, how do I set my RED clips without creating a Color Space Transform node? I really liked your workflow, but was surprised when the Input Color Space wasn’t available for RED when right-clicking the RED clips.

I have a question for you Cullen. I have some sony cine 4 footage using color mode Cinema. How would I set this up in color management or even a node. There are no presets for Cine flavors in resolve. I understand they are rec 709 based but finding the right settings is? Well ,frustrating LOL! I am really not laughing at this point but have lost a few hairs. ; ) Any help for settings would be incredible. Thank you for your awesome help and knowledge on everything color!

In " How to Color Manage using Nodes in DaVinci Resolve " you say you prefer using nodes. Yet here you use global color management. So which should I use? T_T

Wish there was a cheat sheet for HDR too

Amazing video. Thank you very much

Hello, one question Cullen, what if all of the clips are log and you cannot find de color space metadata, and you dont know in which color profile it has been recorded, what should it be your input color space in the color managment settings?

Thank you so much for your videos! What about if my output color space is aimed for Cinema, Film Festival's?

The V-Log input is so bad on DaVinci Resolve. it always makes my footage looks horrible.

Thanks for your video.
I still have a problem with this workflow when using graphics such as logos. Colors are never correct even when trying various input color spaces for those medias.
I tough 18.5 fixed that, am I missing something?

Cheat sheet is exactly what I was looking for, thanks!

So helpful! Thank you!

Dear Cullen
Assuming I have a custom camera conversion LUT from Log to Rec.709. Where and how should I integrate it into my color grading pipeline? In the project color management I can only set the the manufacturer LUT.

Should I extend the Node Tree to
[Conversion with custom LUT] – [Exposure] – [Contrast – [Balance] – ... – [Conversion to DaVinci Wide Gamut?]

And what would I put as the project's input color space?
Thank you in advance.

Can you make a video/cheat sheet of how you would configure your project settings when color managing using nodes? Do you change anything such as timeline and output colorspace (does it even make a difference). That's my confusion 😥

Thank u so much sir

It's good that you also show conditions that are not ideal. Just recently I was solving this problem, I got a rendered source video and the production wouldn't give me information about the cameras used. Thanks for this video:)

Thank you Cullen - this is amazingly helpful 😎☀️🎬🎥

In-depth video, how to work in proxy please🙏

fabulous......

@Cllen Kelly. Absolutely love your videos, can you please do one on common export practices and trouble shooting!

Brilliant as always. Thanks for the tips Cullen. It is interesting to see the workflow shift. I still use your original ACES workflow (your 6 part series) and enjoy the results.

Question for those that work with graphics and overlays when editing videos together, should I adjust the "Graphics white level" to something different here to make this easier?

Excellent tutorial. Thank you.

You can change input colorspace of SonyRAW in Raw menu. Do not need it, but have this option)

Just be aware that setting your input DRT different to your output DRT will lead to images that should not be altered (like already finished 709 material or graphics) will come out differently and you will HAVE to grade these even if you don't have to. Also setting your input luminance leads to having most of your image data "to the left" of your curves for example, meaning highlights (that won't necessarily always be there) taking up most of your histograms. Also that luminance value had "step" and resolve will apply different math above or below certain values (try 48 and 49 for example or 200 and 500). I highly recommend playing with this value until you feel comfortable with it. I prefer having a bit more "space" in the shadows than in my highlights so I go for a lower value line 2000 or 4000. Just my 2 cents, open for criticism :)

What if your working with 3d renderings or animations or motion graphics? Will those settings work?

I'm so confused with all these color management settings.. there's so many of them and all are different.. I just want to have 2 simple ones.

One for SDR & HDR
One for Cinema.

I always work in a davinci wide gamut timeline where I use double cst at the start and end (slog3 to dwg, than from dwg to rec709 /rec2020 for hdr?)

EDIT: Great video btw! Will this color management workflow work for both sdr and hdr? And when I use this color management setting I don't need to use cst's anymore? I only work in slog3 so this would be great! 😁

Also would like to see how you export for Cinema (DCP) stuff. For Short / Feature films for example. 😁

I've been using this settings since the first time you mentioned them a couple of years ago. (Thank you so much for this!) Except for the input color space. I frequently use the "split screen" option with outside references and for some strange reason, unlike "image wipe", it interprets the stills based on the input color space. Until they give us an option to color manage stills I'll go through the hassle of tagging everything manually.

Cullen would be great if you do a video about creative ways using negative 3x3 matrix in resolve, please

Another incredibly helpful video. I have been using your method for some time but it is great to have this information consolidated into one video and to have the cheatsheet beside me ready to go! Thank you very much.

Hi Cullen, again a great video. In one of your videos you were explaining about input DRT and Output DRT. I wanted to revisit the video to learn about them, but couldn't find. Can you please point out or mention the link of that video? I would be very thankful. Thank you.

Love this. I'm curious if you can make a video going over HDR grading with a XDR display from Apple, which the macbook pro max and iPad pro also have and can be used as a reference monitor to an extent with netflix before final pass through with a dolby vision reference monitor. HDR is so confusing by I want to tackle that so I'm not in the dark...quite literally with some of my exports. Thanks Cullen

The flow chart is missing?

Thanks for the fantastic video! I'm a photographer that started doing video work a few years age and was only shooting raw CinemaDNG which was surprisingly easy to grade in resolve but after moving to a system that only shoots log, it has been so difficult to find a channel that doesn't jump LUT first into a grade. This channel has been a breath of fresh air and Cullen's explanations are succinct and concise and he expounds on numerous concepts so many others seem to breeze past.

Thank you. This should be labeled #1 of Lesson 1.

I have some Alexa WG Linear EXR ftg, I tried using this setup and the image is fringing and artifacts appear on the edges near the bright areas?
Could it be the Vendor did not Debayer these .EXR files correctly out of Resolve??😱

Hey Cullen, great episode. The cheat sheet that downloads isn't the one you reference in the video...

Thank you again! I come from a still photography background and have found your explanations of color mgmt to be clear, and easy to understand . . . and not too different, conceptually, from color mgmt in my still photography world. That, plus this is purely a hobby for me and the only log footage I shoot is from one camera so my situation is not as complex. Thank you!

This came at the right time. Struggling with how to best set up project that deal with multiple source formats - and voila, Cullen to the rescue. Thanks mate 🙂

Please, please, please pay your electricity bill and let a little light into your room.

It’s like squinting into a dungeon.

It appears to link to the wrong cheat sheet.

Wonderful video!
I downloaded the cheat sheet, but it's only one page and doesn't match the discussion in the video.

Id say good tips in general. 2 additions: if you dont know the input colorspace ask the dop, 95% you get the answer, if not also check out the resolution of your clip. If its larger than like for example 5k you could mostly think of red etc and then test it out. Also most footage is either arri, red or sony (some Blackmagic aswell i guess in lower budgets).

Followed the link but it downloads something different. the colourist cheat sheet.

I've been watching your tutorials for about a year. Everything in these are in line with what other pros do in practice. This particular video is proof. Thank you for the generous amounts of information.

What about if all your clips are RAW clips, you don't need to set any input color space/gamma then? Just leave at default REC.709 (Scene)? And this apply even for cinema DNG raw?

Great job CK! So useful.