F55: Da Vinci Resolve 10 Workflow

Chris Langer

Chris Langer

Well-known member
I was reading up on Da Vinci's Resolve Lite for an upgrade to my current Da Vinci. I notice we can edit Sony F55 files now natively and export 1080p. Would I need to do anything else with these files? I know their paid version unlocks exporting at higher resolutions but if our final output is 1080p, I could color-grade 4K F55 footage and just export it at 1080p.

Whats the best way to get the timeline into Da Vinci from Premiere CC? I am editing the native files and want to get those native files in Da Vinci.

Thanks!
Chris
 
You would need nothing else at all. The paid version let's you output in resolutions higher than HD, but it does not stop you from importing 4k RED, F55, etc.. footage and grading it. There are a few other differences between paid and unpaid ie. noise suppression, etc.. but nothing major. All the differences are outlined on the BlackMagic website.

I am doing full round-trip color grading in Resolve from Premiere edits on most of my projects and the best way to get your timeline into Resolve is simply go to your Premiere timeline and select "export to XML".

Then in resolve you can import this XML and link up all your clips automatically. You can color grade using the edit from premiere and your sequence/timeline from premiere will show up in Resolve. But another nice feature is you can switch to a complete clip layout view of all your imported clips and grade the full clip if needed too.

(The second option might be necessary if later whoever is doing the edit in premiere plans on trimming any clips where you might not have keyframed power windows or color correction before or past the original edit.)
 
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Also watch the video below on how to do a roundtrip workflow using premiere and resolve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0S2MJT9wDY

Note that in my own personal workflow I never output the final edit from Resolve. I found that Resolve doesn't recognize many Premiere effects like generated color mattes, posts zooms or crops, titles, etc.. so what I do is render all new clips from resolve with the same name as the original ones - then I trick premiere by renaming the folder of my new cc'd clips to the same one that contained the files from the original edit. You don't have to "trick" premiere, you could just open up your edit again and re-link the first few clips and Premiere will find the rest no problem.

Well, there are many ways to skin a cat so really just play around until you find the right workflow that works for you.
 
When is coming out? I wont be color grading the F55 footage probably for another 3-4 weeks, so I am hoping they will release it by then! :D
 
Q3. July to September, but historically June/July. So hopefully soon.

But I wouldn't expect the workflow process to change much in v10. From what I read some of the changes improve the NLE, performance, give you multiple windows for matching shots better, and a few other UI changes.
 
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9.1 Lite supported XAVC, I'm not sure what other versions (if any) prior to that. But by the time the F5/F55 started shipping in March, Resolve was able to open the XAVC files no problem.
 
I was late too, but better late than never. :cool:

Learning Davinci for cc and grading was the best move I ever made, I will never go back to coloring in anything else.
 
While were at it....Do you guys have any good links to Resolve training and general CC guides. Tried of fumbling around with it, would like to learn more.
 
I have to admit, for whatever reason learning resolve was not as easy as picking up and learning other software. Mostly I read the manual and watched a lot of videos, and googled a ton of stuff I couldn't figure out how to do. There is a lot of good information on Creative Cow too.

Assuming you know the basics of color correction, you'll want to learn about using multiple nodes for your color correction and grading so you can break up the cc and grading into different sections. Power windows are really good for grading up or down only certain parts of your frame, or for selective color correction (ie. secondary pass on skin tones after primary). Even better is you can animate these power windows using Resolve's built in tracker which works amazingly well. Also a bit more advanced is learning how to keyframe the color wheel values so you can change color, gain, gamma, etc... over time throughout a frame. For example I have used this if an actor leans in towards a light and their face gets "hotter". I can put a circular power window over their face that follow them as they lean in and reduces the gain or levels on their face. I said it before, but I will never use anything else for cc or grading again.

By the way here's one video that goes into detail about using multiple nodes to color correct an image. It might seem overwhelming at first but it gets easier:
http://vimeo.com/58251457
 
This, from Blackmagic just yesterday:

DaVinci Resolve 9.1.5
We have a small software update for DaVinci Resolve 9 that adds improved compatibility with Avid Media Composer 7.0 round trip, supports reel names in Final Cut Pro X XML, adds support for Avid EuControl Software Package Version 3.0, improves handling of multi track Quicktime audio files and adds improved Cinema DNG file format support.

Thanks,
Joe
 
Just in case you downloaded the DaVinci Resolve update noted on the forum a couple of weeks ago, it is the same one. Here are the changes listed in the read me...


What's new in DaVinci Resolve 9.1.5• Support for Avid Media Composer 7.0 round-trip• Support for reel names from FCPX XML• Support for Avid EuControl Software Package Version 3.0• Improved handling of multi-track Quicktime audio files• Improved DNG format support• General performance and stability improvements
 
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