Can you share your workflow for editing dsrl footage and grading in Davinci Resolve

jambredz

jambredz

Veteran
Hey,
I'm used to Colorista II however I'm learning Davinci Resolve lite at the moment. I edit with Premiere cs5.5 and would love to know whats the most efficient way you guys do this?

If this has been discussed already just point me in the direction. I'd be greatly appreciative.
 
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yeah with DSLR footage, I think colorista is fine. It's not like you can push the image that much with DSLR footage. But when we're talking about a raw image like BCC, then I think that's when you need a pro grading software. I'm trying to learn da vinci resolve lite too myself, but I don't think I'll need it until I upgrade to BCC.
 
yeh im still considering the Blackmagic (not sure as yet). Cameras are moving 2 fast so I'm investing in learning more and honing my skills, so I'm learning resolve also. But i can see where resolve has some advantages
 
Well, I will disagree. Consider Resolve as Apple Color. It has just too many advantages over colorista 2, which I will not go into. The internet is full of them. BTW I am just guessing that you use colorista in After Effects. The OP asked for workflow and this workflow has worked for me like a charm.

-Edit and lock the picture. Export an EDL.
-Take the Premiere Project in After Effects and make the comp to 16 bit. Denoise your footage. And Export a 16 bit TIFF sequence with Trillions of Color. You can also export a DPX sequence.
-Take that TIFF or DPX sequence in Resolve and conform it with the EDL you generated earlier.

Now you have your shots as you edited but now they are better than your original h264. They'll be more responsive in grading and they are going to be much better. When you are done with the color grading there is an option of export to final cut pro. You select that and it will give you an option of various quicktime options. I generally choose DNxHD 10bit. Replace your footage in Premiere Pro with the DNxHD files. Just remember to uncheck the option of making unique filenames.

What you are doing now, I did that before Resolve Lite for Windows was available. Colorista 2 with Looks in After Effects and Syntehtic Aperture. But since resolve, I have never looked back. Seeing your system it will run smooth.

Also, if you shoot DSLR footage does not mean that you do not follow the process you would have followed if you shot it on RED or Alexa. Treat it the same way and you'll see it will give you results. I saw this short film shot on DVX100 and the guy color graded the film in Resolve.
 
But my advice would be that try out your own workflow. The workflow that I have written, sometimes faulters. You just need to be very careful. But for me it works.
 
sharry said:
Well, I will disagree. Consider Resolve as Apple Color. It has just too many advantages over colorista 2, which I will not go into. The internet is full of them.
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From what I can see, the biggest difference is that Resolve can do real-time and that's about it. I'd really like to know what advantage Resolve would have over Colorista II in processing 4:2:0 8-bit footage outside of real-time playback.
 
Pretty sure there is no final result you can achieve in Resolve that can't be achieved with Colorista/AE. The difference is just how you get to that point-- the workflow.
 
Gary Huff said:
From what I can see, the biggest difference is that Resolve can do real-time and that's about it. I'd really like to know what advantage Resolve would have over Colorista II in processing 4:2:0 8-bit footage outside of real-time playback.
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Its not about "processing"...

Advantages...How about...
...Nodes?
Multiple Power windows..Mattes and Masks?.
Tracking and Stabilising?
Keyframing and CC transitions?
Industry standard tools and controls?
Simple Interface?
Exportable sessions?
LUTs and looks creation and useage (saveable and exporteable even)
......and thats not all....

oh...you can display the entire clip as you work on it ..then play it...BTW
 
Shooter said:
...Nodes?
Click to expand...

Interface advantage. One can easily use multiple Colorista filters, turn them off, move them around. Not nodes per se, but works for what I do.

Multiple Power windows..Mattes and Masks?. Tracking and Stabilising? Keyframing and CC transitions?
Click to expand...

All can be done with a combination of Colorista II and After Effects.

Industry standard tools and controls?
Click to expand...

You mean "industry standard" along with Baselight, Apple Color (EOL, but probably still in use in some circles), REDCINE-X, AVID, and a host of others?

Simple Interface?
Click to expand...

I've pulled up Resolve and it's anything but simple...I haven't even figured out how to get footage into it yet. After Effects was far easier to learn, in my opinion.

Exportable sessions?
Click to expand...

Not sure what this means, aside from being able to save a project file or some kind of macro that can duplicate the effects?

LUTs and looks creation and useage (saveable and exporteable even)
Click to expand...

I've never tried to create a LUT, but I can definitely make use of them outside of Resolve.

oh...you can display the entire clip as you work on it ..then play it...BTW
Click to expand...

Not sure what you're saying here, unless you're talking about RT performance.

Look, I'm in no way arguing that Colorista II is better than, or even as good as, Resolve. That would be ludicrous. But if you can give me good reason why someone can't just remain within the Adobe ecosystem and return nearly equal results when grading H.264 footage, I fail to see why anyone should have to go through the process of exporting their timeline just to get their project in Resolve in the first place.
 
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But if you can give me good reason why someone can't just remain within the Adobe ecosystem and return nearly equal results when grading H.264 footage, I fail to see why anyone should have to go through the process of exporting their timeline just to get their project in Resolve in the first place.
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I can only give you the reasons why I go to Resolve for some of my work.

(I wont even try and convince you about something you dont need.)

But...my clients work over an image in detail and they will never get the results they demand ...in your smewhat cumbersome and slow workflow.

Biggest thing in CC is SECONDARIES.

These need to be qualified and controlled by mattes and masks ( power windows). If the subject of the secondary moves...it needs to be tracked.


All can be done with a combination of Colorista II and After Effects
Click to expand...
.

Not easily or quickly. But Resolve...simple... Create a New Node> Make a Window>Grade the Window>Apply a track to it.
Done in a single Node (2-3 minutes max.) all in RT

One does not export a timeline to get to any pro grading applications. One exports an EDL / XML and works on the source footage via a conform.

Exportable sessions means they can be shared across facilities. I can start one and my Colorist can use that in another Resolve Suite.

Simple Interface. I guess thats up to the indvidual skills of the user. (Me..I am profficient in about 5% of AEFX but 85% of Resolve... and about 98% in Premiere Pro)

Industry Standard tools for professional colorists are hardware control surfaces. These interact with dedicated CC Apps and not so much with plugin CC Filters.
 
Shooter said:
Industry Standard tools for professional colorists are hardware control surfaces. These interact with dedicated CC Apps and not so much with plugin CC Filters.
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Yeah, and there's no way in hell I'm plunking down cash for one of those.

And Colorista II has secondaries and color masks. Just used them to make eyes more striking in a video.
 
Colorista is just a plugin which tries to imitate what resolves does better in any way possible. Resolve is an enviornment designed specifically for just color grading. Colorista is a plugin mostly used in After Effects which is a compositing software which it does best. There is no argument. And I see no reason why someone should not learn the Lite version which is free. And its VERY user friendly. You just need to know the basics of color grading. I've worked on Scratch as well and Resolve is by far easier.
 
thanks for all the suggestions and lively discussion guys :). sharry, I will look into that workflow. thanks.
 
Gary Huff said:
I didn't have to in this instance, but the secondary mask in Colorista II supports keyframing, both for position and size.
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Well if you had needed to track a mask (power window)...you would have discovered that in Resolve it is a one button push to do so and it is automatically done in a flash.

That would have shown you a considerable advantage that a full blown CC app has over plugins.

I do suggest you have a play with it some day. I fnd it helps me as a D.P as well ...and its a lot of fun to use and experiment with.


BTW: Many good vid tutes availabe on the web .
 
I am willing to learn Resolve lite. With Black Magic leading the way, more affordable raw cameras are coming. I can't color grade raw yet, but I will learn now so in the future I have the ability to handle those footage. I think both Gary and Shooter are correct in their own way. Of course Resolve is much better, but Resolve is just overkill for DSLR footage.
 
Shooter said:
That would have shown you a considerable advantage that a full blown CC app has over plugins.
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I'm not arguing that it doesn't...however, sometimes it's nice to do it all within a single NLE, and that's what Colorista II allows me to do.
 
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