DaVinci Resolve 20 Color Grading Tutorial: Achieving an Orange and Teal Look

Director Qim

Summary:

This tutorial guides viewers through a detailed color grading process in DaVinci Resolve 20, demonstrating how to achieve a popular "orange and teal" look.

• Initial Setup and Color Management: The video starts by showing raw footage shot on a Sony Alpha 4 and explains converting its color space to Arri Log and then to a Rec. 709 Davinci Wide Gamut to sRGB, using a Kodak LUT.
• Exposure and Contrast Correction: The presenter then addresses the overexposed nature of the footage due to the initial color space conversion, followed by applying compression and reintroducing contrast to restore image detail, especially in the midtones.
• Balancing and Color Grading: White balance adjustments are made to achieve a desired warm output, maintaining color separation, and then saturation is boosted for a vibrant look.
• Applying LUTs for an Orange and Teal Look: Custom LUTs from the presenter's package are applied, one within the color space and another outside, to quickly achieve an "orange and teal" aesthetic.
• Skin Tone Refinement and Detail Enhancement: The tutorial concludes by demonstrating how to refine skin tones by reducing saturation and increasing lightness, along with minor adjustments to blues and overall image detail.

Introduction and Initial Footage Analysis [00:00:14]

The video begins with the presenter, Director Qim, introducing a color grading tutorial in DaVinci Resolve 20. He references a previous Instagram post where his color grade received significant positive feedback, prompting this detailed explanation.

• The footage being graded is from a music video shot with Director Ghana from Tanzania.
• The video features a young woman and was shot during the day on the street using a Sony Alpha 4 camera.
• The initial footage is described as having good makeup and overall shot quality.

Color Management and Space Transformation [00:01:46]

Director Qim explains his preferred method for initial color management, especially when working with Sony camera footage.

• Custom Color Space Transformation: Instead of using standard Sony color profiles, he opts for a different color space transformation.
  • Input Color Space: He uses "Arri Wide Gamut" and "Arri Log C" for the input color space transformation.
  • Reasoning: This combination, although not typically for Sony footage, provides excellent results, especially when shooting in daylight.
  • First Step: Converting the footage into a "Davinci Wide Gamut" color space.
• Output Color Space and LUT Application [00:02:37]:
  • Normal Conversion: The next step involves a standard conversion from Rec. 709 Davinci Wide Gamut to sRGB, which is the common output format.
  • Kodak LUT: He then applies a Kodak LUT, specifically "Kodak 2383 D60" from his collection.
  • Denzell Pro LUT: An additional LUT, "Kodak 50D Version 3" from Denzell Pro's picture profile, is also applied.
  • Purpose: These steps are part of the "color management" and "preparation of color grading" phase.

Exposure and Contrast Correction [00:03:36]

After the initial color space and LUT application, the footage appears overexposed and aggressively contrasted.

• Exposure Adjustment [00:03:39]:
  • The footage becomes overexposed because of the custom color space transformation (treating Sony footage as Arri).
  • The presenter controls and balances the light, making necessary corrections.
• Compression [00:05:23]:
  • The image initially had too much contrast, leading to a loss of detail in highlights and blacks.
  • To prevent a messy grade, compression is applied to recover lost midtone details.

    

  • After compression, more detail is visible, especially in the midtones.
• Contrast Restoration [00:06:16]:
  • Following compression, some contrast is lost.
  • The presenter reintroduces contrast to bring back the depth and pop to the image.

White Balance and Saturation Adjustments [00:04:41]

Refining the image's overall look.

• Temperature and Tint [00:04:41]:
  • The initial temperature was slightly warmer.
  • The presenter cleans up the temperature to achieve better separation between the background, skin tone, and other elements, while still aiming for a warm final output.
  • Tint adjustments are made for a well-balanced image.
• Shadows and Highlights [00:06:31]:
  • Minor tweaks are made to the lift and gain controls.
  • Shadows and HDR lights are adjusted to properly balance the light.
• Saturation Boost [00:06:47]:
  • Since compression slightly reduced saturation, it is increased to make the colors pop.

    

Applying Look and Skin Tone Refinement [00:08:55]

The final steps involve applying aesthetic looks and perfecting skin tones.

• Applying LUTs for the "Look" [00:08:55]:
  • The presenter uses two of his custom LUTs (Look Up Tables) from his professional packages.
  • One LUT is applied "inside" the color space, and another "outside" to achieve the desired "orange and teal" look.

    

  • He emphasizes that LUTs are tools to save time but should be controlled by the colorist, not dictate the look.
• Skin Tone Refinement [00:10:16]:
  • Saturation Adjustment: Saturation in the skin tones is slightly reduced.
  • Lightness Adjustment: The skin tone lightness is increased to make the subject "pop," which is crucial for commercial and beauty shots.
  • Shadow Management: Shadows in the skin area are gently lifted to prevent overly dark or saturated patches, ensuring a smooth and radiant look, especially considering varied lighting conditions (e.g., key light, fill light, backlight).

    

• Minor Blue Adjustments and Detail Boost [00:13:01]:
  • Slight reduction of blue tones in certain areas to achieve desired separation, followed by a minor boost to blue.
  • Overall image quality is enhanced by boosting fine details.
  • A final "before and after" comparison is shown to highlight the completed color grade.