With the 'color' page you get absolute control over the look of your clips.
First, click on the 'color' tab to open the 'color' page.
You'll see the color wheels, curves palettes and general color correction tools as well as the
preview and nodes window. Don't feel overwhelmed by the vast array of features in front of you,
they are all there to help you get the most amazing looking pictures. The DaVinci Resolve
manual will show you exactly what the tools are for and how to use them in easy to follow steps.
You'll learn the same techniques the professionals use in high end color correction facilities.
Generally, the first thing you'll want do is optimize the shadows, mid tones and highlights in your
clips. In other words adjust the 'lift', 'gamma' and 'gain' settings. This will help get your pictures
looking their brightest and best with a clean, uniform starting point from where you can begin
grading the 'look' of your film.
Using Scopes
Most colorists make creative color choices by focusing on the emotion and the look they want
their program to have and then simply work using the monitor to achieve that look. You can look
at everyday objects and how different types of light interact with them to generate ideas on
what you can do with your images with a little practice.
Another way to color grade is to use the built in scopes to help you balance shots. You can
open a single video scope by clicking the 'scope' button, which is the second from the right on
the palette toolbar. You can choose to display a waveform, parade, vectorscope and histogram.
Using these scopes you can monitor your tonal balance, check the levels of your video to avoid
crushing your blacks and clipping the highlights, plus monitor any color cast in your clips.
The 'color wheels' palette contains the 'lift', 'gamma' and 'gain' controls which will generally
constitute your first adjustment. These should resemble controls you've seen in other
applications for doing color and contrast adjustments. For more accurate control of each color
using a mouse, you can change the color wheels to 'primaries bars' which let you adjust each
color and luminance channel for the lift, gamma and gain controls separately. Simply select
'primaries bars' from the drop down menu near the top right of the color wheels.
Using DaVinci Resolve
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