This expanded overview of the timeline’s thumbnails can be helpful for colorists who

find the Thumbnail timeline in the color page too restrictive. With a single glance at the
Lightbox, you can determine which clips are graded and which aren’t.

8 Click the Information button in the upper-left corner of the Lightbox panel to
display clip numbers, timecodes, video track numbers, codecs, source names, and
version information.

9 Next to the Information button, click the Clip Filter button to expand the
filtering options.

10 In the clip filter list, click Ungraded clips.

The Lightbox panel is reduced to just five clips. The first two clips clearly belong in the
Garage group but must have been overlooked during grading.

Using Lightbox to Check Timelines Prior to Delivery 339

 11 Select both clips and choose Groups > Garage > Assign to Group.

Most of the grading in the Garage group was carried out in the post-clip stage, so
the two clips will immediately adopt the look of the rest of the group. They will remain
in the Lightbox panel until the next time you change the filter, after which their new
status as graded clips will be acknowledged.

The third and fourth clips in the ungraded filter results have not been touched at all.

12 Select clip 03.

13 In the upper left of the page, click the Color Controls button to open the grading
palettes in the lower half of the screen.

If you’re working with an external monitor, you will see a full-screen output of the
selected clip in the Lightbox. This allows you to continue grading and tweaking your
media in Lightbox mode.

14 Raise the Offset master wheel (35.00) until the bulk of the image’s waveform occupies
the bottom half of the scopes graph. Lower the Lift master wheel (-0.01) to address the
raised shadows and establish a deeper contrast.

15 Select clip 04.

This clip was part of the final exterior sequence after the Home group, which had a
distinctly warm appearance.

16 In the Primaries palette, raise the Temp (200.0) to maintain a consistent look at the end
of the timeline.

The last filtered clip is the solid white matte at the end of the sequence, which doesn’t
require grading.

340 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

17 In the sidebar filter, select Noise Reduction.

When performing noise reduction in Lesson 8, you learned that disabling the Denoise
node would facilitate faster playback during the remainder of the grading process and
result in a more efficient workflow.

If you use this method of performance optimization, you must remember to re-enable
Denoise nodes before outputting a project.

18 Click the Lightbox button in the upper-right corner to close the Lightbox interface.

The Noise Reduction filter is still active in the timeline on the color page.

19 Click the two clips one-by-one and verify that their Denoise nodes are not disabled.

In Lesson 8, you also disabled the Magic Mask track in Clip 02 for faster playback.

20 In the color page Clips filter, select Magic Mask.

21 Go through the filtered timeline and verify that all Magic Mask nodes are enabled
and tracked.

Enable the Track node in clip 02. Re-run the track if necessary.

Using Lightbox to Check Timelines Prior to Delivery 341

 22 Select Clips > All Clips to remove the timeline filter.

TIP The Timeline Thumbnail mode is another great option for visually assessing
the status of clips in the timeline while in the Lightbox panel. Choose View >
Timeline Thumbnail Mode > Source (C Mode) to switch the order of the clips in
the timeline from their edit order to the order in which the media was created.
When working with original camera footage, this will display the order in which the
footage was recorded. C Mode will place clips that were captured on the same day/
location next to each other, which makes for faster matching, grade copying, and
visual assessment. When done, remember to set the Timeline Thumbnail Mode
back to Record (A Mode).

The media has now been checked to verify that all relevant clips are graded, and all their
nodes are active. When working on your own projects, think about the types of workflows
you use and what is important to verify before delivering a project.

As well as the standard filters already present in the sidebar, you can also use the Smart
Filters option at the bottom of the list to design filters based on the metadata of the clips
in the timeline.

Understanding the
Render Workflow and Presets
The deliver page is designed to help you quickly set up one or more render jobs. Before
we dive into the intricacies of individual render parameters, it’s helpful to remember that it
takes only four steps to export a project from DaVinci Resolve:

A In the Render Settings panel, set up the video output format. These settings include
the file type, codec, and audio format of the rendered video; its name and location
on your workstation; and a variety of advanced controls to optimize the render speed
and file size.

B Define the timeline range you want to export. By default, each job is set to render the
entire timeline, but you can use In and Out points to define a custom range.

C Click Add to Render Queue to send the job(s) to the Render Queue.

D Select the job(s) in the Render Queue and click the Render button.

342 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

In the following exercise, you will create a render job based on a preset in the Render
Settings of the deliver page.

1 Enter the deliver page.

At the top of the Render Settings panel, you will find a horizontal list of render presets.

Custom Export opens the full range of render settings in the panel beneath.

ProRes, H.264, and H.265 Masters produce common video files for a variety of
uses, from high-end exports appropriate for broadcast (ProRes) to compressed HD/
UHD files for client review or online playback (H.264 and H.265). Note that the ProRes
Master preset is available only on macOS systems.

Understanding the Render Workflow and Presets 343

 YouTube, Vimeo, and Twitter optimize the Render Settings panel based on video
configurations recommended by user-generated content and social media websites.
Enter your login details in Preferences > Internet Accounts to upload videos directly to
your account upon render.

Dropbox and Replay facilitate faster playback and review, as well as automated
uploading, when using Dropbox file-hosting services. It is even possible to sync a
timeline to Dropbox Replay to see collaborators’ comments and annotations directly in
the DaVinci Resolve viewers.

IMF features a set of SMPTE ST.2067-compliant resolutions and codecs for tapeless
deliverables to networks. In DaVinci Resolve Studio, this option does not require a
license and supports multiple media streams for video, audio, and subtitle tracks.

NOTE The Interoperable Mastering Format (IMF) is used for broadcast

distribution and online streaming services like Disney+, Netflix and
Sony Pictures.

344 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

 Final Cut Pro 7/X, Premiere XML, and AVID AAF accommodate return trips to their
respective NLE software. This assumes a workflow in which media is edited in a third-
party NLE, migrated to DaVinci Resolve for grading/VFX, and then returned to the
same NLE for final delivery.

TIP Another way to roundtrip color grades between applications is to

export a CDL (color decision list), provided that the receiving software supports
the format. When generating CDLs, only primary color grades in the first node
are retained. The Lum Mix of this node must be set to 0 for the color data to
travel accurately.

Audio Only disables video output and delivers a single audio-only file. You can specify
the audio file format in the Audio tab of the Render Settings.

Pro Tools renders out three files: a self-contained video for reference, individual
exports of all audio clips and their channels, and an AAF file for Avid Pro Tools
migration. This preset accommodates workflows in which the final audio mix is
mastered by an external audio engineer in Pro Tools.

2 Click the disclosure arrow next to the YouTube preset and choose 2160p to load the 4K
UHD version of the preset.

Understanding the Render Workflow and Presets 345

 The Render Settings panel changes to display the most relevant values for the selected
YouTube preset.

To name the video file, you will use the File Name and Location fields under the
preset list.

3 Click the empty text field next to File Name and enter Workday_YouTube_1.1.

The Location field identifies where the video file will be rendered to. A job cannot be
sent to the Render Queue without an assigned location.

4 Click the Browse button next to the Location text field.

5 In the File Destination window, navigate to your Desktop, create a new folder called
Exports, and assign it as the render destination.

346 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

6 In the Timeline panel, ensure that the render range is set to Entire Timeline.

7 With the render settings configured and timeline range defined, click Add to Render
Queue at the bottom of the Render Settings panel.

A pop-up dialog asks whether you want to export the project at a higher resolution than
your timeline. For the purpose of this exercise, you will confirm that this is intentional.

TIP If you’re rendering out a video project at a higher resolution than the
original footage, it is best practice to upscale the timeline in the Project
Settings using the Timeline resolution parameter of the Master Settings tab.
In addition to improving the rendered result, this method will also give you a
more faithful representation of the final image in the viewer and allow you to
apply your grades and effects directly to the upscaled clips.

8 Click Add to close the dialog window.

9 In the Render Queue panel, click the Job 1 title and rename it to YouTube.

Understanding the Render Workflow and Presets 347

 Supporting Multiple Resolution Options
for User-Generated Content Websites
Video players on user-generated content (UGC) websites such as YouTube or
Vimeo often offer the option to choose a playback video resolution. A lower
resolution video allows for smoother playback on a low-bandwidth internet
connection, whereas a higher resolution will produce a better-quality image.

This change in resolution does not occur in real time within the UGC player.
Instead, every resolution of every video is generated at the time of the video’s
upload, which is why there is usually a wait period before an uploaded video goes
live. When switching between resolution options, the user is actually switching
between separate renders of the video as generated by the host website.

For this reason, it is advisable to render and upload your video in the highest
possible quality and leave it up to the UGC website and the end user to determine
which resolution is best suited for playback.

Creating Custom Renders

and Saving Presets
Presets are an efficient method of exporting projects quickly with the confidence that the
settings are appropriate for the intended destination. However, it’s valuable to understand
how and why certain settings are used and to be able to configure them to meet more
specific needs, especially when your project deliverables extend beyond the destinations
targeted in the presets list.

Most post-production professionals, from editors and compositors to audio engineers and
colorists will configure render settings based on a wide range of factors—for deliverables,
it will be the industry or technical standards of a broadcast, transmission, or display
format; for collaborative workflows, it may be the software and hardware specifications of
the receiving department.

In this exercise, you will set up a render job to deliver dailies to an editor who is working on a PC.

1 At the top of the Render Settings, click the Custom Export button.

2 Under the File Name and Location fields, choose to render Individual Clips. Doing so
will export every clip in the timeline as its own video file. In the case of dailies, you’ll
want to place untrimmed clips on the timeline to ensure that the editor receives all the
media for every take.

348 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

3 Set the Video Format to MXF OP-Atom.

4 Set the Codec to DNxHD and the Type to 1080p 145/120/115 8-bit.

TIP Click the Expand button to the left of the Render Settings button in the
interface toolbar to expand the panel to the height of the deliver page. Click
the button again to collapse the Render Settings panel, expanding the timeline
across the full width of the deliver page.

5 The lessons throughout this training manual did not focus on audio syncing or editing;
however, in a dailies workflow, it is assumed that the audio from an external recorder
would have been synced to the video files prior to them being assembled in a master
timeline. For this export, the option to export audio can remain selected under the
Audio tab using the high-quality Linear PCM codec.

6 Click the File tab to the right of the Audio tab to configure the naming convention of
the dailies.

By default, “Filename uses” is set to “Custom name.” When working with dailies, it’s
highly advisable that you preserve the original filenames (“Source name” in the Render
Settings). Doing so will enable you to quickly switch between offline and online media,
as well as maintain consistency between post-production departments.

In this case, you don’t want to use the source name because all the clips came from
the same video file (Project 3 - The Long Workday SCD.mov) and will overwrite one
another. Leave “Custom name” selected.

7 Enter the Custom name underneath as Workday Dailies.

8 To prevent them overwriting each other upon export, select “Use unique filenames.”

9 Choose Suffix as the method by which the files will be distinguished from one another.

10 At the top of the panel, click Browse to change the Location file path.

Creating Custom Renders and Saving Presets 349

 11 In the Exports folder on the Desktop, create a subfolder called Dailies and select it as
the location.

When collaborating on a largescale project, or working consistently with the same

editor, you may want to generate a preset of your settings so you can set up future
renders more quickly.

12 In the options menu of the Render Settings panel, choose Save as New Preset.

13 Name the preset Dailies for PC.

The custom preset appears on the left of the horizontal menu at the top of the Render
Settings panel.

14 In the Timeline panel, ensure that the render range is set to Entire Timeline.

15 Click Add to Render Queue.

16 In the Render Queue panel, change the Job 2 title to Dailies.

Configuring a Timeline
for Digital Cinema
A digital cinema package (DCP) is a collection of media and metadata files used to project
digital movie files in a theatrical venue. DaVinci Resolve makes it possible to create a digital
cinema package with its integration of the DCP plug-in. The next few exercises combine
some practical information about DCPs with the configuration steps necessary to generate
a DCP in the deliver page.

When creating a DCP, the timeline must be set to one of three 2K resolutions:
— 2K Native (1.90:1) 2048 × 1080 @ 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, or 60 fps
— 2K Flat (1.85:1) 1998 × 1080 @ 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, or 60 fps
— 2K CinemaScope (2.39:1) 2048 × 858 @ 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, or 60 fps

Or one of three 4K resolutions:

— 4K Native (1.90:1) 4096 × 2160 @ 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, or 60 fps
— 4K Flat (1.85:1) 3996 × 2160 @ 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, or 60 fps
— 4K CinemaScope (2.39:1) 4096 × 1716 @ 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, or 60 fps

350 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

1 Continue working in the Lesson 10 Timeline.

The resolution for your DCP will be 2K Flat because it’s the closest resolution option
when starting from full HD. You’ll need to slightly scale up the project and crop the top
and bottom of the frame.

16 x 9 frame 1.78:1

Native 1.9:1

Flat 1.85:1

Scope 2.39:1

TIP 4K DCPs use a lower bit rate than 2K DCPs when played on 2K projectors.
For that reason, when your target projector is 2K, always make a 2K DCP, even if
your content supports higher resolutions.

2 Open Project Settings.

3 In the Master Settings, set the Timeline resolution to 1998 x 1080 DCI Flat 1.85.

4 Click the Image Scaling tab and set Input Scaling to “Scale full frame with crop.”

5 Click Save to close the Project Settings.

Configuring a Timeline for Digital Cinema 351

 The project resolution and aspect ratio are now DCP compliant. The timeline frame rate
is 24 fps, which is also appropriate for DCP delivery. In fact, if you were working on a
23.976 fps project, DCP would still interpret it as 24 fps and audio playback would be pulled
up to match.

Rendering a DCP
With the resolution and frame rate appropriately set up, all further output parameters can
be configured in the Render Settings panel.

The DCP format in DaVinci Resolve 18 Studio features two codec options. The Kakadu­
based JPEG 2000 standard needs no license and delivers unencrypted digital cinema
packages. The easyDCP format encrypts digital media but requires the purchase of a
licensing package.

1 In the Render Settings panel, click Custom Export.

2 Near the top of the panel, select Single Clip. Unlike the dailies, you want this timeline to
be rendered as a single, self-contained video file.

3 In the Video tab, set the Format to DCP.

4 Set the Codec to Kakadu JPEG 2000.

5 Set the Type to 2K DCI Flat.

TIP DCP uses the XYZ color space. The conversion of your project color space
to XYZ is performed automatically during the creation of the DCP file. In the
Project Settings, your project color space is determined by the Timeline color
space, even when DaVinci YRGB color management is not in use.

352 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

 The “Use interop packaging” checkbox determines whether you are generating the
DCP based on the older but more widely supported Interop standard or the more
current and feature-rich SMPTE standard. One of the benefits of using the SMPTE
standard is that it supports a wider range of frame rates. The major benefit of using
the older Interop standard is that it is compatible with more theater projection
systems, although it is limited to either 24 fps or 48 fps.

6 Ensure that “Use interop packaging” is selected.

7 Leave all other settings as they are.

TIP Unencrypted DCPs can be played back on any DCP player/encoder without
restriction. The alternative DCP codec option, easyDCP, features an “Encrypt
package” checkbox for additional file security. This option will set the encoder to
generate a Digest containing the keys used during file encryption. With the Digest,
you will be able to play the resulting DCP on your system and generate Key Delivery
Messages (KDMs) to allow the DCP to be played on other servers.

Naming and Outputting a DCP

DCPs follow a somewhat specific, yet voluntary, Digital Cinema Naming Convention for
the content title. For each version of a movie you create (such as the English 5.1 version,
the Spanish 5.1 version, the stereo version, the in-flight version, and so on), a composition
playlist (CPL) is created containing the appropriate content name. DaVinci Resolve’s DCP
preset creates this CPL for you and includes a straightforward way to generate a name that
follows the appropriate naming convention.

1 Continue in the Video tab of the Render Settings.

2 Scroll down and expand the Composition Settings.

3 Click the Edit button next to the “Composition name” field.

Configuring a Timeline for Digital Cinema 353

 This launches the Composition Name Generator window. Here you can enter the
metadata that will be used to create a content title compatible with DCP servers and
theater management systems.

4 Enter the Film Title as TheLongWorkday, leave the Content Type as ADV
(Advertisement), and set the Audio Language to EN (English).

TIP Separate the words in your project title using initial capitals—not spaces,
hyphens, or underscores.

The selected metadata is added to the composition name at the top.

5 Click OK to close the window.

The composition name is not to be confused with the package name that contains the
DCP. The package name is managed in the File tab of the Render Settings panel.

354 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

6 Click the File tab and enter the Custom name as Long Workday DCP test.

Lastly, you need to select a destination for this DCP.

7 Click the Browse button and select your Desktop as the render location.

When delivering a real film project, you can output the DCP to a hard drive in a Cru
Dataport DX-115 enclosure that will load directly onto many digital cinema servers and
is often required by film festivals. More conveniently, you can output to a USB 2 or
USB 3 hard drive or even a USB stick, if it accommodates the film’s file size. No matter
which storage device you choose, it must be formatted as a Linux Ext2 or Ext3 drive.
You can use online resources to find various ways of accomplishing this on macOS and
Windows workstations.

TIP Some projection servers don’t provide enough power to mount certain
USB-powered drives. To guarantee playback, use USB drives with an external
power source.

8 In the Timeline panel, ensure that the render range is set to Entire Timeline.

9 Click Add to Render Queue.

10 If you previously changed your project timeline resolution to 1998 x 1080 DCI Flat 1.85,
you should not see the pop-up dialog informing you of the higher resolution render. If
you didn’t change the resolution and see the dialog, click Add to proceed.

11 A second dialog pop-up will inform you of an Invalid Audio Track Count. This is due
to the DCP job anticipating a 5.1 audio mix, which is common with digital cinema
deliverables. Your project has a stereo output and will play without issue on most
projection systems. Click Add Anyway.

12 In the Render Queue, change the Job 3 title to DCP.

When rendering a real film project, you will want to test it after generating the DCP file.
The only definite way to test your DCP is to rent a theater and run the projection just as
you would for an audience. That is the only way you can absolutely verify that the color
conversion (from your Timeline color space to XYZ) worked correctly. DCPs can also be
tested by importing them back into a new DaVinci Resolve project file and managing the
color space from DCI X′Y′Z′ to your monitoring standard. It’s a quick way to verify that the
colors have not been corrupted due to incorrect color conversion, but a computer screen
will never be able to truly represent how a project will appear when projected.

Configuring a Timeline for Digital Cinema 355

 Exploring Advanced
Render Settings
In addition to choosing how your footage is compressed, you have additional control over more
nuanced aspects of the rendering process. This exercise is designed to familiarize you with
these settings and empower you to set up your future custom renders with more purpose.

1 In the Project Settings, reset the Timeline resolution to 1920 x 1080 HD and click Save.

2 In the Render Settings panel, select the Vimeo preset at the default 1080p resolution.

Presets are convenient as a quick starting point for renders, but they can be further
customized if unpacked in the Custom Export controls. In this exercise, you’ll produce
a video with a lower data rate than the default.

3 At the top of the panel, scroll to the left of the presets list and click the Custom
Export button.

The panel reverts to its custom layout but has adopted some of the Vimeo
preset settings.

4 Ensure that the Video Format is QuickTime and the Codec is H.264.

5 For certain codecs, encoder acceleration options will appear under the Codec
parameter. If you’re using a workstation with an Nvidia NVENC GPU, you will see
a dropdown menu allowing you to accelerate your Native and GPU encoders.
Workstations offering QuickSync hardware encoding will display an option to use
hardware acceleration.

Select Auto from the dropdown menu or select “Use hardware acceleration if available”
if you see either of these encoder options.

6 Leave the Resolution at 1920 x 1080 HD and the Frame rate at 24.

7 The Quality parameter in the Render Settings panel specifically refers to the data rate
of the digital data—that is, the data per second required to transmit the audiovisual
stream. A higher data rate contains more visual information, which results in better
motion representation and detail quality, whereas a lower data rate selectively
discards some data in the interest of generating a smaller file size.

Restrict the Quality setting to 7500 Kb/s. Doing so will reduce the data rate of the file,
significantly lowering the file size while still maintaining a good level of visual quality.

356 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

 TIP As counterintuitive as it seems, the resolution of a video has no impact on
its file size. Only the data rate determines the file size of a rendered video. If
you export 720p and 1080p versions of the same video at 8000 Kb/s, they will
have the same file size, although the 720p will likely look a little crisper, while
the 1080p video will have more macroblock artifacting because it’s forced to
use the same amount of data to reproduce the image in a larger frame.

This is not true when using an Automatic Quality setting (such as Best), which
will configure the data rate based on the resolution of the timeline.

8 The Encoding Profile determines the level of complexity involved with encoding an
H.264/H.265 file. The listed profiles allow for the selection of higher encoding and
playback qualities in exchange for computational intensity. They are listed from lowest
(Base) to highest quality (High 4:4:4), with Auto determining the optimal profile based
on the timeline’s media resolution and bit depth.

For this render job, set the Encoding Profile to Auto.

9 Key Frames are full-data, intra-coded frames (also known as i-frames) that are inserted
into a lossy video stream at regular intervals, such as every 30 frames. These i-frames
are reference points for recreating the temporally compressed p- (predicted) and b-
(bi-directionally predicted) frames that make up the majority of the moving image in
a distribution codec (such as H.264). The default Key Frames setting is ideal for most
project types. If you have very fast-moving imagery and see glitch effects in your
rendered video, increase the Key Frames frequency.

Set the Key Frames to be grabbed every 24 frames to ensure slightly less distortion
during the temporal compression and playback of the video.

10 Frame reordering allows for the encoding of b-frames to improve the quality of
the resulting video file. It can be disabled for faster encoding at the expense of
visual quality.

Leave Frame reordering enabled.

11 Depending on your workstation, you might see Entropy Mode listed under the
Encoding Profile or at the bottom of the video parameters list. A dropdown menu lets
you choose which algorithm the encoder should use for compression. Auto will choose
the most appropriate option for your workstation.

In both cases, this mode will also reveal additional controls that allow you to further
configure how the video is compressed. As a rule, these controls are already optimized
to produce the best temporal compression results, but they can be modified if you

Exploring Advanced Render Settings 357

 experience some extremely specific artifacting in your rendered video. You can
confidently leave these controls as they are (for now and likely forever).

12 Click the disclosure arrow to see the Advanced Settings.

13 The “Pixel aspect ratio” allows you to indicate whether the video pixels are Square
or Cinemascope (rectangular). This option pertains to older workflows in which
digital footage recorded for analog television (at a rectangular 1.33:1 aspect ratio)
was converted for computer displays (which had a square 1:1 aspect ratio). If your
video looks horizontally distorted (too squashed or stretched out), change the pixel
aspect ratio.

Since you’re working on digitally recorded and encoded media, you can leave the “Pixel
aspect ratio” as Square.

14 Data Levels specify the data range of an image based on its source. The default Auto
setting renders the media at the data level appropriate for the selected codec. Video
refers to YCbCr formats that constrain to pixel data values between 64–940 in a 10-bit
system in formats using a Rec.709 video standard. Full expands the range to the film
standard of 4–1023 values utilized in high-end digital film formats. If you find that your
final video looks substantially darker or lighter than it appears in the viewer of the
color page, it’s likely that the data levels are incorrectly assigned. This can sometimes
happen when offline media is transcoded with a different codec from the original
media. To fix this, make test exports with the Data Levels set to Video and/or Full until
you find the correct data level.

For this render job, leave the Data Levels on Auto.

15 Color Space and Gamma tags allow you to embed colorimetry metadata into the video
file that can be read and interpreted by operating systems and applications. These
tags allow you to overcome the color shift that can occur between the DaVinci Resolve
viewer and video players/browsers with an internal color profile.

358 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

 Leave the tags set to Same as Project. The resulting video file will be tagged with the
project’s Output color space. When not using RCM, the tags will reflect the Timeline
color space.

NOTE In Lesson 4, we identified that Macs have a unique internal color

management utility that affects how videos are displayed in its native
applications. By enabling DaVinci Resolve to use the Mac Display Color Profile
in the Preferences, you can get DaVinci Resolve’s viewers to match how the
footage appears in macOS applications. However, this is only a monitoring
configuration and does not affect how the footage is rendered out. To export
clips from a macOS workstation without experiencing a color shift, you will
also need to include gamma tag metadata in the rendered video. Click the
dropdown arrow in the Gamma Tag field and choose Rec.709-A. This will map
your rendered videos to Apple’s internal Rec.709 curve when viewed in its
applications, while bypassing the tags when displayed in players and browsers
that do not use internal color management.

16 Set the “Data burn-in” to None to ensure that the viewer’s data burn-in information will
not appear in the rendered video.

17 Selecting “Bypass re-encode when possible” will render a direct copy of the original
media file when possible. This option will have no effect if you have graded or
composited your media or if you’re exporting to a format different from the source.
An example of when this setting is beneficial could be if you were editing a project
using ProRes 422 media, with the intention of delivering in ProRes 422. Bypassing re-
encode will deliver such a project at the highest possible quality.

Leave “Bypass re-encode when possible” selected.

18 The following options, “Use optimized media,” “Use proxy media,” and “Use render
cached images,” allow you to employ previously-generated renders of the footage in
the export process. It makes sense to select these options when your optimized or
proxy media and render cache are set to a high or lossless quality such as 444 or HDR.

Exploring Advanced Render Settings 359

 The current project is set to render caches at a high-quality 12-bit depth codec, so it
makes sense to use the cached files in the final render.

Select “Use render cached images.”

19 The “Force sizing to highest quality” and “Force debayer to highest quality” settings
bypass the quality settings for resizing and debayering in the Project Settings.
Selecting these is convenient when working on a processor-intensive timeline that
uses high-quality images or raw footage. You can adjust the Project Settings for lower-
quality visual output during editing but bypass these settings for the highest possible
quality output upon final render.

Select “Force sizing to highest quality” to ensure that the optimal resize filter is used
during rendering.

It’s not necessary to select the debayer option because this project does not contain
any raw media.

20 “Enable Flat Pass” allows you to bypass grades as indicated in the version settings of
clips in the Thumbnail timeline. The default choice is Off, which means all grades will
remain intact. Choosing “With clip settings” means the render will consider the bypass
status of each version (as set in the Versions contextual submenu in the color page).
Choosing Always On will disable all the clip grades in the timeline, thereby providing a
quick way to export an edited timeline or a set of dailies without a grade.

Set Enable Flat Pass to “With clip settings.”

21 Selecting “Disable sizing and blanking output” removes any transform changes and
blanking that were applied to the clips in the edit or color pages. Leave it deselected.

22 In the File tab at the top of the panel, set “Filename uses” to “Timeline name.” The File
Name field will adopt the name of the timeline (Lesson 10 Timeline) as the filename.

23 In the Timeline panel, navigate to the last frame of clip 05 and press O to place an out
point (01:00:26:09). The dropdown at the top of the panel will show that you will be
rendering a custom In/Out Range.

24 Click Add to Render Queue.

25 In the Render Queue, change the Job 4 title to Preview 1080p.

360 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

26 In the Render Queue, in the options menu, choose Show All Projects.

You should now see all the jobs that were added to the Render Queue in any project
associated with the project library you’re using. If you split longer projects into reels,
or if you’re working on timelines with different frame rates, you might want to create
all your render jobs first, and then access and render them from a single project
Render Queue. This way, you won’t have to wait for a project to finish rendering before
launching the next project.

27 In the options menu, deselect Show All Projects to return to the current project’s
Render Queue.

Editing Render Jobs

A job can be removed or modified even after it has already been added to the
Render Queue.

1 Find the DCP job in the Render Queue and click the X in the upper-right corner of the
job to delete it from the queue.

2 Find the YouTube job and click the pencil icon in the top-right corner to edit it.

The Render Settings panel changes to reflect the YouTube job settings. The presence
of additional buttons (Cancel, Update Job, and Add New Job) at the bottom of the panel
indicates that a job is currently being edited.

3 Change the Resolution to 1920 x 1080 HD.

4 Change the Format to QuickTime.

Exploring Advanced Render Settings 361

 5 Click Update Job at the bottom of the panel to exit the Edit mode.

The change overwrites the original YouTube job settings.

6 Click the YouTube job in the Render Queue panel.

7 At the bottom of the panel, click Render 1.

Note that the remaining, unselected jobs do not get rendered. When delivering
multiple timelines or formats, ensure that you select all necessary jobs in the queue
before clicking the Render button. When no jobs are selected, the button is set
to Render All.

TIP The fastest way to export a timeline from DaVinci Resolve is to choose File >
Quick Export. This export feature is designed to produce light video files for
immediate viewing or uploading to social media.

Using the correct render settings is vital for delivering technically correct, visually
optimized video project files. Understanding these settings has even greater benefits; it
elevates your skillset as a colorist and imbues confidence that your projects are delivered
at their optimal quality while adhering to industry standards.

Remote Rendering
DaVinci Resolve Studio allows you to offload rendering to another DaVinci Resolve
workstation. This feature requires that all workstations have a copy of
DaVinci Resolve 18 Studio installed, a shared Postgres project library, and access
to all necessary media files using the same filename paths. With one computer
acting as a render station, all other DaVinci Resolve workstations can continue to
be used for editing, grading, compositing, and mixing.

362 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

Lesson Review
1 True or false? You can continue to view and grade media in the Lightbox.

2 True or false? The deliver page supports roundtrip workflows with other
NLE programs.

3 How would ensure that the highest quality debayer settings are used for the final
render of a raw project?

4 How do you save a custom render preset?

5 True or false? It is possible to continue editing a render job after it has been added to
the Render Queue.

Lesson Review 363

 Answers
1 True. You can view and grade media in the Lightbox if you enable color controls and
have an external monitor.

2 True. The presets at the top of the Render Settings panel allow you to select an NLE
program for a roundtrip delivery of individual video clips and an XML timeline.

3 Select “Force debayer to highest quality” in the Advanced settings for the highest
debayer quality when exporting a raw project.

4 In the Render Settings options menu, choose Save as New Preset.

5 True. Clicking the pencil icon in the upper-right corner of a render job allows you to
continue modifying its settings.

Congratulations!
You have completed The Colorist Guide to DaVinci Resolve 18 and are now ready to
explore more editing, visual effects, and audio mixing workflows using the additional
certified books in this series.

Completing all the lessons in this book has prepared you to become a certified
DaVinci Resolve color page user. You can take the free online exam by following this link:
https://bit.ly/3PBqwwo or by visiting the DaVinci Resolve training page and clicking the
Complete Online Exam button under the Colorist Guide lesson files. When registering,
please select the BMD training partner country as ONLINE and the BMD training partner
name as BMD Training Page.

The exam is made up of 50 multiple choice questions that must be answered within
a 1-hour limit. A passing score requires 85% accuracy or better. Every user has
three attempts at the exam, with a 24-hour wait period between attempts. If you
are unsuccessful after the third attempt, please wait 6 months before contacting
[email protected] to request that a further three attempts be added
to your account. The exam is open book and open software to encourage you to research
the questions as you answer them. Upon passing, your certificate will be emailed to you.

We also invite you to become part of the DaVinci Resolve community by joining the web
forum on the Blackmagic Design website (https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/). There,
you can ask further questions about the creative aspects of filmmaking and connect with
industry editors, colorists, compositors, and audio engineers.

We hope that you have found DaVinci Resolve 18’s professional nonlinear editing and
world-class color correction tools to be intuitive to learn and a perfect fit for your
creative workflow!

364 Lesson 10 Delivering Projects

Appendix A

Using the DaVinci

Resolve Panels
Blackmagic Design manufactures a variety of control surfaces for use with
DaVinci Resolve 18. The DaVinci Resolve panels allow you to make faster, more
nuanced changes to your images. Instead of being limited to color grading
one click or drag at a time, you can use the panels to adjust multiple controls
simultaneously. This is why professional colorists worldwide working on
commercials, television shows, and feature films prefer using control surfaces
rather than grading with a mouse and keyboard. It can be the difference between
taking 5 minutes to taking just 30 seconds to complete a shot. Three control
panels are available for DaVinci Resolve: Micro, Mini, and Advanced.

DaVinci Resolve
Advanced Panel

DaVinci Resolve
Micro Panel

DaVinci Resolve
Mini Panel

Using the DaVinci Resolve Panels 365

 DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel
The DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel is a high-quality, portable, low-profile panel that features
three high-resolution trackballs and 12 precision-machined control knobs for accessing
essential primary correction tools. Above the center trackball are keys for switching
between log and offset color correction, as well as a key to display DaVinci Resolve’s full-
screen viewer, which is great for use with laptops. Eighteen dedicated keys on the right
side of the panel give you access to many commonly used grading features and playback
controls. The DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel is perfect for anyone who needs a truly portable
solution. It’s great for use on set to quickly create looks and evaluate color, and it’s ideal
for grading in broadcast trucks, for education, and for anyone whose work relies mostly on
the primary color correction tools.

Y LIFT Y GAMMA Y GAIN CONTRAST PIVOT MID DETAIL COLOR BOOST SHADOWS HIGHLIGHTS SATURATION HUE LUM MIX

LOG OFFSET VIEWER

ALL ALL GRAB
LEVE LEVE UNDO REDO
STILL
B B
RG L RG L

PLAY PREV RESET

ALL STILL MEM
LEVE
B
RG L

LOOP BYPASS DISABLE

PREV NEXT
NODE NODE

PREV NEXT
FRAME FRAME

PREV NEXT
CLIP CLIP

 

DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel

The DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel is a compact device packed with a massive number of
features and controls. You get three professional trackballs along with a variety of buttons
for switching tools, adding color correctors, and navigating your node tree. In addition to
every tool and feature available on the Micro Panel, the Mini Panel also includes two 5-inch
color LCD screens that display menus, controls, and parameter settings for the selected
tool. Eight soft buttons and eight soft knobs give you direct access to the menus of most
of the palettes in the color page. The Mini Panel is ideal for users who regularly switch
between editing and color grading, users who wish to access both primary and secondary
color correction tools from their panel, and for freelance colorists who need to carry a
panel with them when moving between facilities. It’s also great for colorists working on
location shoots, for corporate and event videographers, for houses of worship, and more.

366 Appendix A
 Y LIFT Y GAMMA Y GAIN CONTRAST PIVOT MID DETAIL COLORBOOST SHADOWS HIGHLIGHTS SATURATION HUE LUM MIX

LOG OFFSET VIEWER

ALL ALL
GRAB
LEVE LEVE UNDO REDO
B B STILL
RG L RG L

PLAY PREV
RESET
ALL STILL MEM
LEVE
B L
RG
LOOP BYPASS DISABLE

PREV NEXT
NODE NODE

PREV NEXT
FRAME FRAME

PREV NEXT
CLIP CLIP

 

DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel

For the ultimate in speed, power, and control, Blackmagic Design offers the
DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel. The Advanced Panel has been designed in collaboration
with professional colorists to work in total harmony with the software. This large panel
consists of left, center, and right consoles that give you quick, one-touch access to
virtually every parameter and control in the color page. The DaVinci Resolve Advanced
Panel lets colorists instinctively reach out and touch every part of the image, adjusting
multiple parameters simultaneously with complete responsiveness for a smooth grading
experience. While the Mini Panel gives you access to nearly all the color correction tools in
Davinci Resolve, the Advanced Panel gives you even more flexibility with physical buttons
and knobs to control Memories, Open FX tools, Dolby Vision, and many other speed and
workflow-based tools that will increase your efficiency even further.

Using the DaVinci Resolve Panels 367

 The Advanced Panel also features a unique T-bar for playing back gallery stills, shuttle
controls for cycling through frames and speeding through your timeline, as well as a slide-
out keyboard. Used in many of the top color grading facilities around the world, the Davinci
Resolve Advanced Panel is the ultimate control surface for Davinci Resolve.

DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel Overview

The Mini Panel is mapped to virtually every tool and parameter in the color page while
sporting a compact design and an accessible price point. This makes it incredibly popular
among both professional colorists and industry newcomers. The following overview will
introduce you to its layout and key functions.

1 2 3
HOME v w SERIAL PARALLEL LAYER

4 5 6
RAW PRIMARY MOTION NODE + NODE + APPEND
LINEAR CIRCLE

7 8 9
CURVES QUALIFIER WINDOW COPY PASTE FULL
VIEWER

10 11 12
TRACKER BLUR KEYER PREV NEXT HIGHLIGHT
STILL STILL

13 14 15
SIZING FX USER PREV NEXT REF
KF KF

Y LIFT Y GAMMA Y GAIN CONTRAST PIVOT MID DETAIL COLOR BOOST SHADOWS HIGHLIGHTS SATURATION HUE LUM MIX

LOG OFFSET VIEWER

ALL ALL GRAB
LEV LEV UNDO REDO
STILL
RGB EL RGB EL

PLAY PREV RESET

ALL STILL MEM
LEV
RGB EL

LOOP BYPASS DISABLE

PREV NEXT
NODE NODE

PREV NEXT
FRAME FRAME

PREV NEXT
CLIP CLIP

 

The lower half of the Mini Panel contains the primary control tools. The largest controls
on the Mini Panel are the three trackballs and rings that control Lift, Gamma, and Gain.
Their behavior and layout mirror the color wheels in the Primaries palette, with the
trackballs controlling hue, while the rings control brightness. When the Lift ring is rotated
counterclockwise, the image shadows darken. When the Gain trackball is moved toward
the upper left, the lighter areas of the image become warmer. The Offset soft key maps the
right trackball to the Offset wheel and the two left trackballs to the temp and tint controls.
These tools are identical in the Micro Panel.

Y LIFT Y GAMMA Y GAIN CONTRAST PIVOT MID DETAIL COLORBOOST SHADOWS HIGHLIGHTS SATURATION HUE LUM MIX

LOG OFFSET VIEWER

ALL ALL
GRAB
LEVE LEVE UNDO REDO
B B STILL
RG L RG L

PLAY PREV
RESET
ALL STILL MEM
LEVE
B L
RG
LOOP BYPASS DISABLE

PREV NEXT
NODE NODE

PREV NEXT
FRAME FRAME

PREV NEXT
CLIP CLIP

 

368 Appendix A
 Above the Lift, Gamma, and Gain controls are the Primary knobs, which are mapped to the
adjustment controls in the Primaries palette. They control frequently used DaVinci Resolve
tools such as Contrast, Pivot, Saturation, Color Boost, and Hue. These knobs (as well as
all knobs on the panel) have 4,098 points per turn and can be pushed to reset the tool
they control.

CONTRAST PIVOT MID DETAIL COLORBOOST SHADOWS HIGHLIGHTS SATURATION HUE LUM MIX

LOG OFFSET VIEWER

ALL
GRAB
LEV LEV UNDO REDO
EL B EL STILL
RG

PLAY PREV
RESET
ALL STILL MEM
LEV
B EL
RG
LOOP BYPASS DISABLE

PREV NEXT
NODE NODE

PREV NEXT
FRAME FRAME

PREV NEXT
CLIP CLIP

 

To the right of the Gain trackball are useful playback and shuttle controls to help you
quickly navigate between clips, nodes, and frames. Some additional playback options
include Loop, which will repeat the playback of the currently selected clip; Bypass, which
will temporarily bypass all the nodes/color corrections on the timeline; and Disable, which
will temporarily disable the selected node of a clip.

1 2 3
HOME v w SERIAL PARALLEL LAYER

4 5 6
RAW PRIMARY MOTION NODE + NODE + APPEND
LINEAR CIRCLE

7 8 9
CURVES QUALIFIER WINDOW COPY PASTE FULL
VIEWER

10 11 12
TRACKER BLUR KEYER PREV NEXT HIGHLIGHT
STILL STILL

13 14 15
SIZING FX USER PREV NEXT REF
KF KF

The lip of the Mini Panel consists of palette soft keys; two 5-inch, high-resolution color
Y LIFT Y GAMMA Y GAIN CONTRAST PIVOT MID DETAIL COLOR BOOST SHADOWS HIGHLIGHTS SATURATION HUE LUM MIX

displays; and even more node, keyframing and selection controls. All the palettes found
RG
B
ALL
LEVE
L
LOG OFFSET VIEWER

RG
B
ALL
LEVE
L
GRAB
STILL
UNDO REDO

in the color page toolbar are mapped to their own buttons on the Mini Panel. The two
PLAY PREV RESET
ALL STILL MEM
LEVE
B
RG L

LOOP BYPASS DISABLE

displays—as well as the eight soft buttons and eight soft knobs above and below the PREV
NODE
NEXT
NODE

displays offer advanced control over the active color page palette. PREV
FRAME
NEXT
FRAME

PREV NEXT
CLIP CLIP

 

Using the DaVinci Resolve Panels 369

This page intentionally left blank.
Index

NUMBERS C
4K to 1080p to 4K workflow, 274 cache, clearing, 303–304
cache quality, 302–303
A caching, enabling, 226,
AAF file type, 131, 345 Camera Raw palette, 308, 311–312
A/B difference button, 72, 293 Chroma-Luma grid, Color Warper, 101–105
ACES (Academy Color Cinema Viewer, 192
Encoding System), 313 clips. See also pre-clip grade; post-clip
Advanced Panel, 367 grade; raw clips
Analog Damage effect, 262–263 adjusting after post-clip grade, 258–262
animating grades, 283–290 comparing, 46–59
Aperture Diffraction effect, 259 copying grades from, 188
appending grades and nodes, 194–198 creating versions of, 189–193
archive project file reframing, 275–276
creating, 5 resetting, 159
opening, 4–5 Clips filter, 42–43, 301
aspect ratios, 276–277, 358 color and log wheels, comparing, 23–29
atmosphere, adding, 86–89 Color Boost, 110
Audio Only render preset, 345 color charts, 230–233
AVID AAF render preset, 345 color management, 140, 146–152, 222–226
Color Match palette, 230–233
B color monitoring, 151
backups, 5–7 color page
balancing footage, 19–22 layout, xv–xix
Beauty effect, 112 opening, 5
Bézier curves, 88, 108 color space, 146–152. See also
Black Offset, HDR palette, 319 Rec.709 color space
Blackmagic Cloud, xiv, 335 Color Space Transform (CST) effect, 313
blanking, 276–277 color temperature, 14, 315, 319
Blur palette, 71–73 Color Warper palette, 95–104
color wheels. See Primaries color wheels

Index 371
 ColorSync utility, 148 DPX and DRX files, 201–202
ColorTrace, 203–209 Dropbox render preset, 344
Compound node, creating, 183–184 .drp file extension, 7, 128, 141
Conflict Resolution window, 138 dynamic attributes, 289–290
conforming, 133–141 dynamic keyframes. See also keyframes
contrast and tonal range, 10–19 animating position values, 284–286
copying changing color values, 286–288
grades from clips and stills, 188 dynamic range, maximizing, 145–149
grades using Timelines album, 209–210
nodes from stills, 196–198
E
timeline grades using easyDCP format, 352–353
ColorTrace, 203–209 Edit Sizing, Sizing palette, 276
cover-ups, 279–283 editing render jobs, 361–362
curves Effects and Definitions panel, 206
adjusting luminance, 16–19 Effects Library panel,
balancing colors, 19–22 Analog Damage, 263
Mini Panel, 22 Depth Map, 30
Custom Export render preset, 343, Face Refinement, 105
348, 352, 356 Noise Reduction, 295
Patch Replacer, 280
D opening, 30
data burn-in, 134, 264–267 Sky Replacement, 89
DaVinci Resolve, downloading, xii Tilt-Shift Blur, 66
DaVinci Wide Gamut, 222–226 exam, taking online, 364
DCP (digital cinema package) exporting
2K and 4K resolution, 350–352 DPX and DRX files, 201–202
naming and outputting, 353–355 timelines, 362
playing back, 353
rendering, 352–353 F
XYZ color space, 352, 355 Face Refinement effect, 105–113
debayering (demosaicing), 308 Film Grain effect, 264
deliver page workflow, 342 Final Cut Pro 7/X render preset, 345
delivery flags, using to organize shots, 40–43
checking timelines prior to, 338–342 frame mode, tracking in, 76–78, 182
render workflow and presets, 342–348 frame size, changing, 272–277
Depth Map effect, 30–33, 66–67
depth of field. See shallow depth of field
G
depth planes, isolating grades to, 30–33 Gain, Primaries color wheels, xviii
digital cinema, configuring timelines Gain master, 13, 24
for, 350–352 gallery, xv, xvi
downloading DaVinci Resolve, xii Gamma, Primaries color wheels, xviii

372 Index
Gamma master, 14 I
Gamut Mapping effect, 313 IMF render preset, 344
grades importing
animating using keyframes, 283–290 LUTs (Lookup tables), 140
appending, 194–198 XML timelines, 128–131
Input Sizing, Sizing palette, 275–276
copying from clips and stills, 188
ISO, changing, 314–316
isolating to depth planes, 30–33
resetting in clips, 159 K
saving for projects, 198–203 Kakadu-based JPEG 2000 standard, 352
grading workflow, 7–9 key inputs and outputs, 156–157
groups key mixer, 84
balancing with color charts, 230–233 keyboard shortcuts
creating, 227–228 bypassing node trees, 33
Cinema Viewer, 192
H copying and pasting, 51
H.264 render preset, 343 creating clip versions, 191
cycling through versions, 193
H.265 Masters render preset, 343
enlarging viewer, 17, 58
HDR (High Dynamic Range) media,
keyframe navigation, 286
grading, 317–329
layer mixer, 171
HDR palette
navigating cut points, 228
customizing zones in, 327
navigating viewer, 281
mapping to color panels, 329 resetting grades in clips, 159
options menu, 326 Select All, 147, 220, 224
tonal ranges, 320–327 serial nodes, 44, 263
Zones Graph, 324 toggling grades on and off, 15
Highlight master wheel, 25 toggling wipes, 53
Highlight mode, viewer, 64, 80, 165, undoing actions, 15
178, 293, 323 keyframes. See also dynamic keyframes;
static keyframes
Highlight Recovery, Camera RAW
palette, 314–316 navigating between, 286
using to animate grades, 283–290
HSL curves
Keyframes Editor
Curve palette, 113–119, 256–258
description, xvi
Qualifier palette, 80, 164–165
Expand button, 287
hue curves
Mini Panel, 121 L
naming convention, 114 layer mixer node, 169–184
Hue-Saturation grid, Color layer nodes, creating, 171. See also nodes
Warper, 101–105 lesson files, acquiring, xii–xiii

Index 373
 Lift, Primaries color wheels, xviii node grades, disabling/enabling, 15
Lift master, 13, 24–25 node order, 157–166
Lightbox, 338–342 Node Sizing, Sizing palette, 276–279
Live Preview, changing behavior of, 191 node trees, bypassing, 33
Live Save feature, 5–6. See also saving nodes
local versions, working with, 189–193. adding, 44, 263
See also remote versions; versions anatomy of, 156–157
log and color wheels comparing, 23–26 appending, 194–195
Loop button, viewer playback controls, 286 disabling, 15
Lum Mix, 55 labeling, 44
removing Resolve FX plug-ins from, 112
M
switching order of, 158-159
Mac displays, using noise reduction, 291–295
DaVinci Resolve with, 148
Magic Mask palette, 240–253, 241 O
markers, using with filtering, 43
Object Mask, 241–244
Mask button, 88
Object Removal effect, 283
master wheels
objects, tracking, 74–78, 241–244
adjusting luminance, 10–15
obscured objects, tracking, 74–78
Primaries color wheels, xviii
offline references, 131–133
matching. See also shot match
Offset, Primaries color wheels, xviii
between clips, 43–57
Offset mode, enabling, 16
shots at clip group level, 234–238
Output Sizing, Sizing palette, 275–277
matte data, sharing across nodes, 90, 181
overcast skies, fixing, 79–95
memories, saving stills as, 199
memory colors, 121. See also colors P
Micro Panel, 366
panels
Mini Panel
Advanced Panel, 367
curves, 22
Micro Panel, 366
features, 368–369
Mini Panel, 366, 368–369
hue curves, 121
Parade, Scopes palette, 11, 27
Offset mode, 16
parades
Power Windows, 70
comparing, 47-51
qualifiers, 83
versus waveforms, 27–28
tracking, 77
parallel mixer nodes, 167–170, 174
mini-timeline, xv, xvi
Patch Replacer effect, creating cover-ups
Motion Effects palette, 292 with, 279–283
people, tracking, 244–246
N performance, optimizing with Render
node cache, 296–299 Cache, 296–304
Node Editor Person Mask mode, 244–246
decluttering, 184 physical features, masking, 247–253
grading workflow in, 9 Pivot control, 14

374 Index
plug-ins, removing from nodes, 112 Render Settings. See also remote rendering
position values, animating, 284–286 Advanced Settings, 356–361
post-clip grade. See also clips “Bypass re-encode when possible,” 359
adjusting clips after, 258–262 Color Space tag, 358–359
applying, 254–258 “Data burn-in,” 359
Power Windows, 63–65, 68–69 Data Levels, 358
PowerGrade stills, 198–202 “Disable sizing and blanking output,” 360
pre-clip grade, 203–233. See also clips “Enable Flat Pass,” 360
Premiere XML render preset, 344 Encoding Profile, 357
preset render settings, saving, 348–350 “Force sizing to highest quality,” 360
Primaries color wheels Gamma tag, 358–359
accessing, xv Key Frames, 357
described, xvi “Pixel aspect ratio,” 358
overview, xviii Quality parameter, 356–357
toggling between log wheels, 25, 28 render workflow and presets, 342–345
Primary knobs, Mini Panel, 369
renders, customizing, 348–350
Pro Tools render preset, 345
Replay render preset, 344
project backups, setting up, 5–7
Reset UI Layout, 10
ProRes render preset, 343
resolution
proxy workflows, 144
and aspect ratios, 276
Q versus file size, 357
rescaling media to, 273
qualifiers, 79–89
Resolve FX plug-ins, removing from
R nodes, 112
RGB parade, 11, 27, 27–28, 47–51
raw clips, identifying, 308. See also clips
RGB Mixer palette, 158, 172–175
raw projects, setting up, 307
raw settings S
adjusting at clip level, 314–317
sampling visual data, 277–279
adjusting at project level, 308–313
saving
RCM (Resolve Color Management),
140, 146–152, 222–226. See color grades for projects, 198–203
management render presets, 348–350
Rec.709 color space, 146–152. See also scene cuts, 219
color space stills as memories, 199
Reference Sizing, Sizing palette, Scene Cut Detection, using to prepare
54, 236, 276 media, 216–221
remote rendering, 362. See also scene cuts, saving, 219
Render Settings
scopes, using to match clips, 46–57
remote versions, 193. See also local
versions; versions Scopes palette button, 10–11
Render Cache, optimizing performance Scopes palette, Parade, 27–28, 47–51
with, 296–304. See also caching secondary grading, performing, 8
render jobs, editing, 361–362 Select All command, 147, 220, 224

Index 375
 serial nodes, creating, 44, 263 Timeline resolution, Project Settings,
Shadow master wheel, 26, 28–29 272–274, 277, 347
shallow depth of field, mimicking, 66–67 timelines
shared nodes, 198 applying blanking to, 276
sharpening, 71–73 associating HQ footage with, 141–143
shot match. See also matching checking prior to delivery, 338–342
applying, 43–45 configuring for digital cinema, 350–355
manually, 51–57 conforming, 133–141
using stills, 46–51 exporting, 362
Sizing palette, opening, 53, 57, importing, 128–131
236, 275, 278 sharing, 141
skies, fixing, 79–95 Timelines album, 209–210
skin, color grading, 105–121 Tint field, Primaries palette, 14
skin tones tonal ranges, HDR palette, 317–329
adjusting manually, 113–121 tracking
enhancing with face refinement, 105–113 features, 247–253
Sky Replacement effect, 89–95 objects, 241–244
Smart Cache, enabling, 226, 296–297 obscured objects, 74–78
sorting contents of bins, 220 people, 244–246
source file locations, switching, 141–143 tracks, fixing, 74–78, 250–253
smart filters, 342 Training and Certification Program, xi
Spatial NR, Motion Effects palette, 292, 294 translation errors, fixing, 135–141
split-screen views, using to compare clips, Twitter render preset, 344
xvii, 58–59
static keyframes, using, 285, 290. U
See also keyframes undoing, 15
stills User Cache modes. See caching
copying grades from, 188
copying nodes from, 196–198 V
saving as memories, 199 versions, 189–193. See also local versions;
using to match shots, 46–51 remote versions
subtractive strokes, 252 Vectorscope, 96, 99, 115–118
Super Scale upscaling feature, 273 viewer
syncing offline references, 131–133 adding data burn-in to, 264–267
system requirements, xi enlarging, 17, 58
expanding, 109
T features, xv–xvii
Temp field, Primaries palette, 14, 315, 319 Highlight mode, 64, 80, 165,
Temporal NR, Motion Effects 178, 293, 323
palette, 292–294 Loop button, 286
thumbnail timeline, xv, xvi navigating, 281
Tilt-Shift Blur effect, 66–67 warping colors in, 95–101

376 Index
 zooming in and out of, 81
vignettes, 68–69, 272–274
Vimeo render preset, 344

W
warping color ranges, 95–101
watermark, applying over video, 266
waveform, 10–29
versus parade, 27–28
settings window, 12
windows
customizing, 87–88
using to draw attention, 62–65
using to limit qualifiers, 84–86
wipes
inverting, 47
toggling on and off, 53

X
XML file type, 127
XML timeline, importing, 128–131
XYZ color space, DCP (digital cinema
package), 352, 355

Y
YouTube render preset, 344–348
YRGB color management,
140, 146–152, 222–226

Z
zooming in and out of viewer, 81
Zones Graph, HDR palette, 324

Index 377
The Colorist Guide to

DaVinci
Resolve 18
DaVinci Resolve 18 is Hollywood’s most popular color correction
software and is used to color grade more feature films, television
shows, and commercials than any other application. This official
Blackmagic Design hands on training guide takes you through
a series of practical exercises that teach you how to use DaVinci
Resolve’s color correction tools in detail. You’ll learn a wide
variety of workflows, effects, and the tools necessary to perform Color Page Workflows
Hollywood caliber grades.

What You’ll Learn

• Launching DaVinci Resolve project files and restoring archives
• Normalizing, balancing, and matching footage
• Analyzing and color correcting images with the help of scopes
• Tracking people and objects with windows and the magic mask Reading Scopes

• Migrating XML timelines and roundtrip workflows

• Preparing projects for film and television with color management
• Working with nodes to create sophisticated grades
• Managing and copying grades with stills, versions, and color trace
• Creating groups to streamline your workflow
• Color grading high dynamic range raw footage Secondary Grading

• Render cache and delivery settings for optimal quality

• Dozens of tips and tricks that will transform how you work!

Who This Book is For

This book is designed for video editors who want more control over
the final appearance of their projects and colorists who want a more
advanced understanding of industry workflows and best practices. It
Node Editor Pipeline
contains clear and concise lessons, along with dozens of tips and tricks
from professional colorists to help you create cinematic images that
stand out! You’ll learn about the primary grading tools used for balancing
and matching images, secondary tools for isolating parts of an image,
how to read scopes, create unique looks, and much more!