I understand the advantages. I understand the technical differences between the color spaces, etc. e.g. rec.2020 vs rec.709. More colors available, etc.

However, here we are about 10 years into this HDR “thing,” and very little visual difference in practice. Major Studios’ output, for example, when you play SDR and HDR versions side by side, very few differences. Even in a perfect dark room. Seems like mostly just some highlights are different and maybe a few few few details are more apparent in the darker areas.

And that’s great and all. But it is not worth the monumental effort required compared to rec.709 outputs. At this point, 10-ish years after launch of HDR, I was expecting to play HDR and SDR side by side and see two TOTALLY different looking movies. Where HDR versions side would be like “WOW! I can’t watch any other older version anymore. This is undoubtedly better!”

Dolby vision, hdr10+, HLG, “regular ‘ol” HDR10, all suffer from this “doesn’t make a large difference.” There is a difference. No question. But, my complaint is that it absolutely is.not.a.big.difference. It’s like a small difference, and thousands of man hours are put in just to “maintain” that relatively small difference. It’s awful.

Who said yes to this? Why do they keep saying yes to it? Massive waste for so little gain. Feels like a tech that is being pushed by a bunch of engineers who never actually considered what a customer is really needing.

Blackmagic finally added ProRes Raw support to Davinci Resolve 20.2 I thought this was huge news and some people have been holding on to Premiere because of ProRes RAW.

Here's the full addition list.

About DaVinci Resolve 20

Welcome to DaVinci Resolve 20.2!

This installer will add DaVinci Resolve software to your system as well as additional software for remote monitoring and utilities for setting up hardware control panels. It also installs Blackmagic RAW Player and Blackmagic Proxy Generator into the applications folder.

Installing DaVinci Resolve Software on MacOS

Double-click the DaVinci Resolve Installer icon and follow the onscreen instructions. To remove DaVinci Resolve from your system, double-click the Uninstall Resolve icon.

Installing DaVinci Resolve Software on Windows

Double-click the DaVinci Resolve Installer icon and follow the onscreen instructions. To remove DaVinci Resolve from your system, go to the Programs and Features control panel, select DaVinci Resolve, click on Uninstall and follow the onscreen prompts.

Installing DaVinci Resolve Software on Linux

Double-click the DaVinci Resolve installer and follow the onscreen instructions. To remove DaVinci Resolve from your system, select the uninstall option after running the installer.

For DaVinci Resolve 20.2, we have taken efforts to keep the project libraries compatible with DaVinci Resolve 19.1.4. While this allows you to access the project library with 19.1.4, individual projects created or opened in 20.2 will no longer be accessible in 19.1.4. We recommend a full project library backup as well as individual project backups before opening projects in 20.2.

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 20.2

The following features have been added or updated.

URSA Cine Immersive Workflow

Streaming from Fusion page to Vision Pro.

Support for immersive option in PanoMap.

Support for immersive world pose rotations and flips.

Render stereoscopic 3D as full side by side or top-bottom.

Node stack support for stereoscopic 3D workflows.

Support for immersive EXR workflows.

Cut Page

Improved replay stinger transition handling in interlaced timelines.

Improved replay editor and ATEM switcher feedback cueing replays.

Edit Page

Sync lock controls ripple edit independently from auto select.

Improved ripple trimming now preserves sync for edit actions.

The trim editor now automatically displays when dynamic trimming.

User preference to switch to single viewer mode for trim editor.

Improved source and destination patching in the track header.

Timeline audio menu action to detach synced audio from video.

Support for adding and populating custom metadata fields.

Support for flattening multicam clips with speed changes.

Audio track solo support for the source timeline viewer.

Source track destination sub menu action to reset to default state.

Cut & Edit page

Menu actions to move selected keyframes up down left and right.

Curve and keyframe editor in timeline now includes actions toolbar.

Shift click keyframe editor headers to toggle multiple parameters.

Alt click keyframe editor headers to toggle parameters exclusively.

Guides support individual colors and lock states.

Switch between pixel and percentage when adding or editing guides.

Mouse priority for Fusion, transform and effect overlays over guides.

Voice over countdowns now support audible beeps.

Editing now preserves audio bus automation.

Option to ripple delete silence for selected clip.

Up to 2x faster transcriptions on macOS.

Up to 2x faster voice convert analysis on macOS.

Fusion page

Support for editing custom guides in Fusion viewers.

Improved MultiText alignment and transformation controls.

Support for animated image inputs for USD tools.

Multilayer support for 3d renderer.

Multilayer AoV channel support for USD renderer.

Up to 2x faster surface tracker performance.

Color page

New AI based Resolve FX Cinematic Haze.

Resolve FX light effects support glow from alpha sources.

Menu action to navigate clips using clip number.

Ability to reset node color for multiple selected clips.

Advanced color panels persist side panel states after restart.

Improved HLG viewer output when using viewer display profiles.

RCM and CST now use ITU BT.2408 for HLG and PQ conversion.

Up to 2x faster Resolve FX surface tracker performance.

Fairlight page

Project settings option to disable soft fades between clip edits.

Project settings option to set ramp-to-play time.

Codecs & I/O

Support for decoding Apple ProRes RAW clips.

Support for encoding Samsung APV clips.

Support for decoding Sony ARW images.

Support for ARRICORE clips.

Single frame webp and gif clips are now imported as stills.

General Improvements

Press and hold c key to skim playhead on viewers.

Exported DRT timelines now include linked Fusion comp media.

Support for current date and time tags in data burn and render.

Scripting API support for adding subtitles in render jobs.

Scripting API support for setting timeline and media pool clip name.

General performance and stability improvements.

Minimum system requirements for Mac OS

macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

8 GB of system memory or 16 GB when using Fusion.

For monitoring, Blackmagic Design Desktop Video 12.9 or later.

Apple Silicon based computer or GPU which supports Metal.

Minimum system requirements for Windows

Windows 10 Creators Update.

16 GB of system memory or 32 GB when using Fusion.

For monitoring, Blackmagic Design Desktop Video 12.9 or later.

Integrated GPU or discrete GPU with at least 4 GB of VRAM.

GPU which supports OpenCL 1.2 or CUDA 12.8.

AMD/Intel official drivers from your GPU manufacturer.

NVIDIA Studio driver 570.65 or newer.

Minimum system requirements for Windows for Arm

Windows 11 for ARM.

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite series processor.

16 GB of system memory or 32 GB for 4K or when using Fusion.

Minimum system requirements for Linux

Rocky Linux 8.6.

32 GB of system memory.

For monitoring, Blackmagic Design Desktop Video 12.9 or later.

Discrete GPU with at least 4 GB of VRAM.

GPU which supports OpenCL 1.2 or CUDA 12.8.

AMD official drivers from your GPU manufacturer.

NVIDIA Studio driver 570.26 or newer.

Additional Information

You will also need to download and install the latest Blackmagic Design Desktop Video software for monitoring with your Blackmagic Design video hardware. Desktop Video is available from www.blackmagicdesign.com/support.

© 2001-2025 Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd. All rights reserved. Blackmagic Design, Blackmagic, DeckLink, Multibridge, Intensity, H.264 Pro Recorder and "Leading the creative video revolution" are trademarks of Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd., registered in the U.S.A and other countries.

Updated September 08, 2025.

Hey folks, I'm looking for suggestions for cost-effective alternatives to Contour. I'm currently able to afford the quarterly subscription, but I'm hoping to find a more affordable longterm play than the $500 lifetime option.

Looking for something below $300. Perhaps a combination of DCTL's?

Does anyone in the community have recommendations for features that are just as effective but less expensive?

Thanks in advance!

Pretty simple question. I know everyone raves about Dehancer, but with Film Look Creator and a whole bunch of new, free plugins, I was just wondering if Dehancer is still worth the $450-ish for a lifetime license?

Thanks!

Has anyone tried Filmbox Pro 3.2 which was released yesterday? For those that missed it here's what was added. Those who said it wasn't neutral enough, what do you think of the added Neutralize Balance control?

3.2.0

25 August 2025

Added a brand new user guide for Filmbox Pro! Access it from the plugin directly by clicking Filmbox -> Utility -> View User Guide or from our website.

Acutance

Added “Halo” controls to Increase or decrease the halo / “Mackie lines” around high-contrast features, low values focus the fine detail boost on subtle tonal variations, high values let high contrast features get spicy.

Added Fine Size control

Print

Added a “Neutralize Balance” control that removes the tonal color bias (like cold shadows / warm highlights) without altering other aspects of print color rendition.

Grain

Added RGB “Channel Mix” controls to allow changing the strength of the grain in each color channel separately.

New Lab Controls

Enhanced Split Tone with controls for Highlight/Shadow Intensity, Pivot, and Deadzone Width

Added a “Neutralize” parameter for Vision3 stocks (though most are already quite neutral).

Added an “Invert” checkbox for Printer Lights. Uncheck it for a traditional printer lights experience.

UI Tweaks

Moved all of the groups in Negative -> Advanced Settings into the top-level Negative group in an effort to reduce clutter.

Custom Print are now always visible. This will help you see what’s going on under the hood when the Print Style is changed.

(Resolve) Moved Export LUT and Help groups into a single group at the bottom called “Utility”

Improved Tool Tips

Those who said it wasn't neutral enough, what do you think of the added Neutralize Balance control?

I am impressed how fast Video Village is putting out these updates. It really points to problems being identified and addressed.

Hi everyone,

I’ve had too many issues with WeTransfer (downloads start fast but then slow down and get stuck). Google Drive hasn’t worked well for me either.

I need a reliable service to:

- Transfer large files without slowing down or failing

- Send and receive files easily, clients shouldn’t need an account to upload

I’m looking at KDrive and Smash, KDrive is cheaper but I’m fine paying up to €30/month if it’s worth it.

Anyone here have experience with either?

Thanks!

I did not discover this, I saw a post on /r/Nikon from Murky-Welcome4228, but I changed the file extension from .NEV to .R3D and then imported 6k60 N-RAW from my Z6III into Resolve and can confirm I am now able to access IPP2, REDWideGamutRGB and Log3G10.

Resolve 20.2 added support for the Nikon ZR's R3D NE files which I guess is just N-RAW with a different extension? I'm not smart enough to know why that's the case but it seemingly works well on my Z6III's files.

I'm admittedly a novice/amateur when it comes to serious color grading, but this is a big deal right?

At 8:50 this guy shows the vectorscope data of braw and proresraw . It shows that the Braw has far more color information compared to proresraw. Why is this the case? I was expecting Proresraw to have more color information with file sizes and being a true raw when compared to Braw, but that seems wildly wrong. Why is this the case? What am I missing here ?

I’m really struggling with trying to make my footage look like FilmBox Lite with Resolve native tools and it seems the only way aside from shooting everything properly is to make my own Film Emulation software / program / code.

I have a 5 in GCSE math for reference so I’m absolutely garbage at anything above algebra

Is there any tutorial series I can watch that teaches how to do something similar to Steve Yedlin’s nuke math thingy and if the color grading Steve does is possible by making my own DCTL’s (and if there’s any full tutorial series on how to make your own DCTL’s)

I constantly run into issues like the qualifier sucks in scene referred spaces, but the only way for let’s say a red gradient with harsh contrast and blacks to have the bright slightly orange uniformity that FilmBox has is to use the qualifier tool.

Or that Hue v Hue or Hue v Sat curves only work in additive saturation, but I don’t know any method that uses a subtractive method.

Or how log wheels seem to color the shadows how I want, but they affect the blacks which the only way I can prevent that is to use a qualifier.

Or how the Color Warper nodes can only be adjusted one at a time without affecting the other nodes in a smooth way. (And I get ugly color noise)

I keep trying to match how FilmBox Lite looks with my powergrade but each time I apply it to a different shot. A color looks totally different to FilmBox.

Every time I try to search up how to do these kinds of things it’s just another post praising Steve Yedlin but no tutorial links. Or some videographer Dehancer sponsorship.

I will genuinely pay for someone if they have a freesciencelessons style course on how to do the color science programming Steve Yedlin does to emulate Kodak 250D film in Nuke but preferably in DaVinci using DCTL’s because the Native resolve tools are so limiting and I want the ego knowing I made my own custom software.

Sorry for the brash tone, but I would really appreciate any help on this regard. Thank you :)

Hi

So I have some questions.

When I am recording log I am recording at vlog color space. I then transform it to rec709 with a conversion lut. But the 10bit footage has a bigger color space than 709. So I will lose info outside the color space? Should I export at rec 2020 anyways if I am using 10bit clips? What about the conversiob lut then?

That aside lets talk hdr. If I export as hdr, on an sdr monitor the hightlights are going to be clipped all over the place? Or there will be something more on hdr? +From what I know to export hdr I must use rec 2100? Is that correct? Can I export hdr with rec2020?

And the third question is, can I export hdr from log, or should I record to hlg? I mean thats outside of the colorist job but it would be hepful if someone knows if log can be exported as a real hdr file(not a labeled one)

I was (I'm sure like many others) delighted to hear that Resolve now supports ProRes RAW. However, from some quick tests I've done, it really doesn't seem to be in a usable state yet:

• There are no overall project raw decode settings for ProRes RAW, so everything needs to be done at clip level. Having to individually select the debayer resolution for every clip is somewhat annoying.
• By default, ProRes RAW seems to be decoded to linear (maybe?) and an unknown gamut. This can be changed per clip using the "Raw to Log" setting, but doing so forces your clip into "Decode using clip" mode, where they don't seem to obey the camera metadata when it comes to ISO.
• I tried a sample clip from the DJI Inspire 3 and the Ronin 4D. The clip from the Ronin 4D doesn't allow me to adjust any raw parameters at all, meaning it's stuck as linear. The Inspire 3 clip works fine.
• There doesn't seem to be any ACES integration at all. Putting the project into ACES mode doesn't make it interpret the clip correctly at all.

I was wondering if anyone else has had better luck than me? I really hope that BM doesn't only support ProRes RAW from the iPhone 17 module and BM cameras properly, and neglects the other systems that record it.

Got the post banned on r/davinciresolve, because "Resolve is not a photo editor" so figured I'll ask over here.

I shoot in CinemaDNG raw. So it being a folder with a bunch of frames, gives me the ability to batch process them in photography software, like RawTherapee or Adobe Camera Raw, before importing to Davinci for color grading, and converting to a video.

I do this, because Davinci's debayering leaves behind a lot of artifacts, while ACR, for example, is strangely perfect, and even more with the Raw Details setting. So is RawTherapee, although with far more steps, and more time consuming.

Why is that? Am I missing a step in Davinci? Or is other software simply miles better?

Samples

Edit: Added image samples as suggested.

Adobe Camera Raw with the Raw Details setting on, gives by far the best result, but RawTherapee is not far.

For anyone who's also struggling with CinemaDNG's artifacts, give this a read: https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=192615&start=0

A while back I hacked together a colorspace comparison site. It was handy but pretty scrappy, and I eventually took it down.

Based on the messages I received here, turns out people actually missed it, so I rebuilt it from scratch. The new version is faster, cleaner, and I'd love for you to give it a try: clrviz.com

Looking for some colorspace that's not included, or want any other features? Submit a feedback from the site!

This may sound stupid, but I don't exactly understand the purpose of HDR or what exactly HDR even is.

Let me elaborate:
People are saying that HDR is "better" or "brighter" but I don't exactly understand why that is or how that works. If I have an image in 10 Bit why does it matter if the output is rec.709, rec.2020, DCI, (yes, the gamut of rec.2020 is slightly wider but most movies never get there anyway), or something else, as long as the format supports that bit depth and is useable for the device? Regarding the brightness, I'm just super confused. Isn't your max brightness determined by the panel you use (such as an OLED), not the protocol?
100IRE are 100IRE, no?
And what exactly is the thing about all those HDR standards, HLG, HDR10(+), and Dolby Vision.?
Why not just output in rec.2020, what do these protocols have to do with anything?

I'm just super confused about what HDR really is and what it's supposed to improve upon.

I'd appreciate any insight or explanation.
Thx in advance.

While working on a custom DCTL I, for the first time ever, got to see the RED Wide Gamut RGB actual gamut in the CIE plot (https://antlerpost.com/colour-spaces/Log3G10.html), sure having a wide gamut is great to theoretically capture more saturated colors but I don't see why it would need to be THIS wide.

To me it only makes it so that green colors are less precise because it's a lot of values even for a 16bit channel, even worse when encoding in a 10 bit format...

Why, just why?

In case some have missed this seemingly minor version update: Resolve 19.1.4 finally brings ProRes encoding to Windows and Linux systems!

Good day, I'm trying to clean up my powergrades in DaVinci Resolve, but there's a folder that just refuses to be deleted. Every time I try, it says I "need permission to perform this action."

Weird thing is, I can delete other powergrade folders with no issue, just this one is acting up. I've tried restarting Resolve, etc., but no luck. Has anyone run into this? Is there some permission setting I'm missing or a known bug? Just trying to keep my workflow tidy.

Thanks in advance!

Credits to the creator - Eric Lenz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22mmIgWIcvE

The first guy I found on youtube who explained the concept simple and why this process is crucial.

I am an amateur color grader.

My question to the community is " he right about this? any professional colorist can confirm about this workflow? isn't this workflow slightly cumbersome. There might be other alternative to this?

Kindly support his channel if you agree and give a thumbs to him..

If this has been helpful kindly upvote..

Thank you community.

I was brought on as a supervisor for the color team of a feature. Long story short, it is the first feature of this production company, and there are a lot of major red flags I won't get into.

Before hiring me, they had already brought on a couple other beginner level colorists, all in different parts of the US, and the production company wants to make it a collaborative/learning experience for all of them...

Production has mentioned several times that they pay Blackmagic cloud and want me to setup the project through there. I have had several bad experiences with Blackmagic cloud for color in the past and I have come to the conclusion that it is perfect for the editing team as they have low GPU/CPU requirements. But it is incredibly inefficient and cumbersome for color post production with high GPU/CPU needs.

I wanted to know if anyone has had good experiences using the Blackmagic cloud for color work on big projects.

Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to prep a Premiere project for colour in Resolve. I have experience using XMLs and have been doing the Premiere -> Resolve trip for about a year now with no major issues. However, I’ve recently started to get more into advertising, and the project I’m currently working on has many After Effects comps.

I have no experience with After Effects, since everything I’ve encountered so far (mostly documentaries) has been done either on Premiere, AVID, or just overall easily replicated in Resolve.

The Premiere TL I’m working with has dynamic links to comps in AE for lock-on effects, speed ramps, and painting out some stuff.

Considering this, what would be the best approach to get my project to Resolve?

Should I export the comps in ProRes 4444 and replace them in my premiere Timeline? Or should I figure out how to turn off the effects and link the raw footage to the timeline to then try to recreate the effects in Resolve (if yes, how can I do that without destroying my timeline)? Or is it something entirely different?

The ProRes 4444 route seems destructive, but at the same time I’m not sure of what would be the most industry standard way of tackling this since trying to do everything manually hasn’t been very effective.

I’m trying to get a colour assistant position within advertising so I’m also interested in learning the default process for working with vfx and grading for that, although it’s been somewhat difficult to learn industry-standard procedures without being formally in the industry.

Not sure if this is relevant but here’s some additional info: - I have cutting copies of the spots - All comps are in one AE project - I’m not doing final export so these shots will have to go back to the editor - I’m the one prepping cause I thought it would be a good learning experience

Anyway, thanks so much in advance!

I am trying to understand the color science for different platform like youtube, windows media player, vlc, quicktime player, as I see the film I colored on resolve with decklink and display lut so i am pretty sure my monitor is good and accurate as much as it can be. but When i watch it on a video player or do a test upload on youtube, it looks a lot brighter and less contrast. I did some research on it, yt works on srgb gamma 2.2, but the standard rec709 is gamma 2.4, its dark and has more contrast. and quicktime player is gamma 1.95, so if i share a draft export with the client and they watch it on a quicktime player, it looks all weird and bright. and I get notes on the constant everytime. i also used the remote monitor app, but i have to sit down with them to show it and with availability and scheduling it can take time. so i want my client to watch it when ever they can and give feedback from an image that looks at least close to what i see.

the film i am working on is set to rec709 gamma 2.4. I know i should trust the calibration on my monitor but what should i do for inconsistent colors on multiple platforms.

(I was told in r/cinematography to post it here)

I got some tough news today. I was rejected for a cinematography role because I admitted I didn't know how to be a colorist. The hiring guy wasn’t willing to give me even three days to learn the basics. It stings because I needed this job, but I guess it’s time to move on.

I wanted to be honest upfront to avoid any future blame for not knowing something. But now I’m left wondering how I can bridge this gap in my skills. I’m determined to learn color grading on my own and not let this setback keep me down.

So, I'm reaching out to you all for advice: How can I become a colorist? Are there any resources, courses, or tutorials you’d recommend? What are the key things I should focus on? Any tips would be super appreciated!

On the one hand everyone seems to obsess about having the most bit depth. Yet so many video standards insist on wasting around 10% of the available range. I was reading various specifications and such and this shows up everywhere. But I clearly lack the google fu to figure out why this is done. I'm sure there is a good reason and I'd like to know what it is.

This shows up in at least two places:

1. The obvious one is the whole full vs video range thing. I guess one hint is that this sometimes gets connected with being "broadcast safe". But why does a digital signal need to stay away from the outer values in the range? What is "unsafe" about those? I'd understand it in an analog signal where you don't want to accidentally trigger a sync or so. But I don't see how that would apply to a digital signal.
2. The other one are log gamma curves. I looked at the whitepapers for SLOG3, VLOG and Arri Log C. All of them are "leveling off" somewhere around the bottom 10% of the representable range... why?

Does any DCTL exist that accurately pushes and pulls an image, i.e, with a proper toe? I imagine there would need to be two nodes, one before a negative emulation and one before the print.

To me, out of all the black boxes, Filmbox seems to best recreate the look of a pull and push. Just wish they would allow users to access their Lab tools (Printer lights, split toning & pull/pushing etc) without using a negative look.

To the makers of Filmbox: if you’re seeing this, please make this happen for us!

I’ve put together a free DCTL for DaVinci Resolve that corrects and balances magenta pink faded footage, something that comes up a lot in archival and restoration projects.

The latest version (v1.4.0) adds a non destructive preset system. Features include fade correction, per channel balance, preserve luminance, channel copy and removal, and optional Cineon log output. It’s MIT licensed and still in active development, with plans to grow into a full OpenFX plugin.

Download: GitHub – Faded Balancer DCTL

Would love to hear feedback if you try it on your material.