Resolve Feature Requests

[Marc Wielage]

Don't know if any of these features are present in the "Studio" or "Advanced Control Surface" versions of Resolve, I'm using the free version, but here are a couple;

1) The ability to see and manipulate points on a curve by using their X ,Y coordinates like in Avid Media Composer.

I'd agree that their implementation of curves could be improved. They did at least allow adding Bezier handles to curves, and you can do some very tweaky stuff with them.

2) The ability to change "Hue Offset" values by entering different numerical values instead of sliders and offset wheels.

I don't see the use for that, but OK.

3) The ability to copy certain parts of a grade with others options than from copying it from the grades "Display Nodes Graph"

That has always existed. Use the Mark -> Keyframe Timeline Mode -> Color mode, then move to the node you want to copy to, and then center click from the Gallery still or the Timeline still. Only that one highlighted node will be affected.

A more simpler to read list of corrections in the corrections list.

If you're asking "I'd like to be able to see at a glance what each node is doing," you can do this to some degree by understanding the symbols in the lower right corner. There are also colorists that use a very strict Node layout, dedicating certain functions to specific nodes only, so they know a vignette is always going to be in the same spot, a key is only going to be in a certain node, a soft highlight clip is only going to be in a node near the end, and so on. So again, a lot of this hinges on the approach and philosophy you use for the specific session.

And more increments of change in the Blur/Sharp corrections control than in increments of 3

I'm confused. The Blur/Sharpness/Mist corrections I see go to two decimal points, starting at .50 for unity gain. If you can go .51, .52, .53 and so on, and also go down to .49, .48, .47 and so on, plus do it on a per channel (RGB) basis, I'm not sure I see the problem. This is basically in a 1/10th of a unit steps. There are definitely cases where the incremental adjustments jump wildly out of control -- Edit Transforms in particular -- but I get the impressions these are being worked on.

I'm not an apologist for Blackmagic, I don't work for the company, but I do think they generally do a pretty good job and are receptive to users. And believe me, I have my own long list of things I'd like to see changed. If you go back in time and look at Resolve 8 -- which was not that long ago, just 2009 -- you'd be stunned by the differences between it and 12.5.

 

[rand thompson]

That has always existed. Use the Mark -> Keyframe Timeline Mode -> Color mode, then move to the node you want to copy to, and then center click from the Gallery still or the Timeline still. Only that one highlighted node will be affected.

I'm not sure if we are talking about the same thing. What I was wanting to do was to copy the specific corrections of a specific node inside that grade. In the example below, I usually copy the specific corrections from a node from within a different grade to another node tree. Maybe we are saying the same thing.

"Display Node Graph"

[/url]display node graph by rand thompson, on Flickr[/IMG]


Node Tree

[/url]node tree by rand thompson, on Flickr[/IMG]

If you're asking "I'd like to be able to see at a glance what each node is doing," you can do this to some degree by understanding the symbols in the lower right corner. There are also colorists that use a very strict Node layout, dedicating certain functions to specific nodes only, so they know a vignette is always going to be in the same spot, a key is only going to be in a certain node, a soft highlight clip is only going to be in a node near the end, and so on. So again, a lot of this hinges on the approach and philosophy you use for the specific session.

My problem with what you suggest is that I may use 4 to 5 different correction per node with each addition node having 4 to 5 different corrections than the node before and after it. And before you say it, I know I need to be more disciplined. Ha Ha

I'm confused. The Blur/Sharpness/Mist corrections I see go to two decimal points, starting at .50 for unity gain. If you can go .51, .52, .53 and so on, and also go down to .49, .48, .47 and so on, plus do it on a per channel (RGB) basis, I'm not sure I see the problem. This is basically in a 1/10th of a unit steps. There are definitely cases where the incremental adjustments jump wildly out of control -- Edit Transforms in particular -- but I get the impressions these are being worked on.

Maybe it's just the free version of Davinci Resolve. My increments are .50, .53, .56, .59 and .50, .47, .44 and .41. Maybe it's a setting that I am unaware needs to be changed in Resolve.

 

[Christoffer Glans]

The only things I miss right now is ProRes encoding and IPP2 color management settings.

Prores encoding is very much needed since most of us aren't using mac machines anymore for performance heavy workflows, but we still need that codec as a delivery format. Right now, I have to encode in some uncompressed format and use my Macbook Pro to convert that to delivery ProRes, which is a very tedious workaround. If Redcine-X can have ProRes encoding then Resolve can also have it, especially since BM cameras use ProRes it means the licenses are in the house, just like Red could easily implement it in Redcine when they enabled ProRes in cameras.

IPP2 works right now with an output node and the RWG/LOG3G10, but there aren't any real settings for it in color management so it would be nice to know that every inner-working of the process works at optimal settings.

Other than that I would like a little better use of the link clip grades. Right now it just confuses more than solves anything and most of the time it's just easier to copy a grade over than linking. Speaking of copying grades, would be nice to be able to just CTRL+C the entire grade over to a clip in the clip timeline, instead of making a screen and applying that to the node-tree.

 

[Peter Moretti]

... Speaking of copying grades, would be nice to be able to just CTRL+C the entire grade over to a clip in the clip timeline, instead of making a screen and applying that to the node-tree.

Christopher, I'm sorry could you explain this a bit more? As I can Ctrl C and Ctrl V the grade from one clip to another while clicking on the clips on the clip timeline.

Also, if you middle click on the clip thumbnail of the grade you want to copy, it will be copied to the clip you are currently on.

I haven't linking, so I don't mean to say that linking works as well as it could/should.

 

[Peter Moretti]

HIGHLIGHT SELECTION IMPROVEMENTS

HIGHLIGHT SELECTION IMPROVEMENTS

Highlight Selection Improvements

1. Ability to change the highlight color, as sometimes grey is not distinct enough.

2. Have Highlight work when in Curves. While you can turn it on while in Curves it seems to do nothing.

 

[Christoffer Glans]

Christopher, I'm sorry could you explain this a bit more? As I can Ctrl C and Ctrl V the grade from one clip to another while clicking on the clips on the clip timeline.

Haven't really worked for me well, at least if the linking modes gets better, that would be much easier. When it works it works well, but it rarely works smoothly.

But there's one thing that I think is needed, or improved. The qualifiers aren't really very accurate. We need some very fine tuning capabilities of it. Right now it feels like painting a detailed painting with a mop.

 

[jake blackstone]

I'm not happy with BMD's decision where if you make a Raw adjustment on a clip, if the same clip is used elsewhere in the timeline, that Raw setting will still show up. In other words, you can't have two different instances of the same clip with different Raw settings.

If you click on "Save with Version" Resolve will do exactly what you ask for. That is what it's originally had been designed for But as usual, nothing is that simple in Resolve The same button, as you mentioned, must be used for RAW setting copy and ALSO the very same checkmark MUST be selected, if you want your RAW setting to work in Remote Grading session.
In other words, the usual Resolve mess...

 

[jake blackstone]

I'm not sure if we are talking about the same thing. What I was wanting to do was to copy the specific corrections of a specific node inside that grade. In the example below, I usually copy the specific corrections from a node from within a different grade to another node tree. Maybe we are saying the same thing.

Baselight, Nucoda, Lustre, Pablo, Mistika, they all can do that easily. Mind you, Lustre predates Resolve by a dozen of years or so and even that ancient software can do what you ask for, easily. Only Resolve can't do such simple operation, but that is what happens, when software uses nodes for color grading. NONE of other color grading platforms uses nodes for color grading. That all use Layers, like Photoshop. May be they all know something, that BMD doesn't?:nonod:

 

[rand thompson]

Baselight, Nucoda, Lustre, Pablo, Mistika, they all can do that easily. Mind you, Lustre predates Resolve by a dozen of years or so and even that ancient software can do what you ask for, easily. Only Resolve can't do such simple operation, but that is what happens, when software uses nodes for color grading. NONE of other color grading platforms uses nodes for color grading. That all use Layers, like Photoshop. May be they all know something, that BMD doesn't?:nonod:

Jake,

I believe you are at a higher color grading level than myself in your professional career. Right now the only color grading software that I can afford is davince resolve. I viewed a youtube tutorial on Baselight and it looked pretty dang cool and it can be tightly intergrated with avid media composer, which is my preferred editing nle. However, I believe its Mac only, correct me if I'm wrong, and I switched from Mac to Windows about a year ago. I'll look into the others you mentioned that will also work with windows and try them out if they have some kind of trial version. Thanks

 

[jake blackstone]

Jake,

I believe you are at a higher color grading level than myself in your professional career. Right now the only color grading software that I can afford is davince resolve. I viewed a youtube tutorial on Baselight and it looked pretty dang cool and it can be tightly intergrated with avid media composer, which is my preferred editing nle. However, I believe its Mac only, correct me if I'm wrong, and I switched from Mac to Windows about a year ago. I'll look into the others you mentioned that will also work with windows and try them out if they have some kind of trial version. Thanks

Baselight only works on Linux. Mac versions are plugins and prep stations. If you truly determined to check out Baselight, but can't afford it (who can?), you should take a look at Daylight. But t too is Mac based, but it's a budget version of Baselight.
If you interested in Windows platform, then Nucoda is your best bet, as it is excellent and it can write Prores. Scratch is another budget choice on Windows and it too can write Prores, but, personally, I'm not a fan. The last one is Pablo, but that is the most expensive of them all, but it too can write Prores. Lustre is no longer supported on Windows...

 

[rand thompson]

Baselight only works on Linux. Mac versions are plugins and prep stations. If you truly determined to check out Baselight, but can't afford it (who can?), you should take a look at Daylight. But t too is Mac based, but it's a budget version of Baselight.
If you interested in Windows platform, then Nucoda is your best bet, as it is excellent and it can write Prores. Scratch is another budget choice on Windows and it too can write Prores, but, personally, I'm not a fan. The last one is Pablo, but that is the most expensive of them all, but it too can write Prores. Lustre is no longer supported on Windows...

I will be checking out Nucoda then, shame about baselight. Thanks for your professional advice ,Jake.

 

[Marc Wielage]

My problem with what you suggest is that I may use 4 to 5 different correction per node with each addition node having 4 to 5 different corrections than the node before and after it. And before you say it, I know I need to be more disciplined.

Basically, you can't do that. You can do multiple corrections in a single node if you insist, but the flaw with this method is that you can't delete or bypass just the one change without affecting them all. This is very, very, very important for client-supervised sessions, when the DP or director asks for a certain kind of change -- a window, a key, a little brighter, a little darker -- and then they want to go back to the way it was, or they want to amp that up and make it even more dramatic.

There are good reasons to do one and only one mode of correction per mode (or layer). At my worst, I generally don't go beyond 20 nodes per shot, but they all aren't necessarily being used. If I have to work very quickly, I might cut that down to 8 nodes or maybe 12, and a lot of it is just to avoid letting one thing affect another, and so that I know exactly what's going on and where. But don't let me change your point of view -- work the way in which you're most comfortable.

If you click on "Save with Version" Resolve will do exactly what you ask for. That is what it's originally had been designed for But as usual, nothing is that simple in Resolve The same button, as you mentioned, must be used for RAW setting copy and ALSO the very same checkmark MUST be selected, if you want your RAW setting to work in Remote Grading session. In other words, the usual Resolve mess...

Not for me. the Raw change affected every instance of that same clip throughout the timeline, whether or not the "Save with Version" checkbox was checked (and it was in all cases). Peter Chamberlain -- who could well be monitoring this thread -- assured me that this was by design. I think this is a bug, not a feature, but there are ways of working around it.

Maybe it's just the free version of Davinci Resolve. My increments are .50, .53, .56, .59 and .50, .47, .44 and .41. Maybe it's a setting that I am unaware needs to be changed in Resolve.

I wouldn't know. I've never used the free version -- I've always paid for it. And yes, it's in .01 increments in Resolve Studio. Spend the money and get the real thing if you intend to do real work.

 

[Marc Wielage]

I will be checking out Nucoda then, shame about baselight. Thanks for your professional advice ,Jake.

Last I checked, Nucoda was $7000 for the software and required pretty substantial hardware (and quite a bit more if you get the plug-ins, which add some amazing capabilities). I think Nucoda is a good system and there are great post houses in LA that do very good work with it -- but we're talking a low-six-figures investment in panel, workstation, multiple GPUs, and so on. You're not going to get it in nearly the same price point as Resolve. We're talking the difference between a mid-priced Cadillac and a high-end Mercedes: both terrific cars, but they're not nearly in the same price range.

 

[jake blackstone]

Last I checked, Nucoda was $7000 for the software and required pretty substantial hardware (and quite a bit more if you get the plug-ins, which add some amazing capabilities). I think Nucoda is a good system and there are great post houses in LA that do very good work with it -- but we're talking a low-six-figures investment in panel, workstation, multiple GPUs, and so on. You're not going to get it in nearly the same price point as Resolve. We're talking the difference between a mid-priced Cadillac and a high-end Mercedes: both terrific cars, but they're not nearly in the same price range.

OK, I get it, you said "I wouldn't know. I've never used the free version", but if it's over $995, then all of them should go to hell and they all should disappear, as all software should be below $995...As the saying goes- you get what you pay for. You can't bypass a single correction in the node? Well, congrats, now you know why your using software is cheap and that's what you get for that low price...
BTW, Nucoda is cheaper, way cheaper than Linux Resolve, with all software and hardware included, so there goes your argument, that it's expensive. And for much less money you get a platform, that allows you to work the way you want to work, not the way some dude in Singapore decided it should be done. User remapping on inexpensive Tangent Elements! 'nuff said...

 

[jake blackstone]

Not for me. the Raw change affected every instance of that same clip throughout the timeline, whether or not the "Save with Version" checkbox was checked (and it was in all cases). Peter Chamberlain -- who could well be monitoring this thread -- assured me that this was by design. I think this is a bug, not a feature, but there are ways of working around it.

You are wrong Marc. I just checked it and it works just fine. Do this to test it.
Take one R3D shot and cut it in half. Make a new version with one of them, if you're in remote versions, as then they will not be locked together and grade will apply to only one shot. Then on one of them click checkmark "Save with Version". The second one leave alone. Now adjust metadata on the one with the checkmark "Save with Version". Voila, metadata adjustments affect only that one shot but not the other...

 

[Peter Moretti]

Jake,

I believe you are at a higher color grading level than myself in your professional career. Right now the only color grading software that I can afford is davince resolve. I viewed a youtube tutorial on Baselight and it looked pretty dang cool and it can be tightly intergrated with avid media composer, which is my preferred editing nle. However, I believe its Mac only, correct me if I'm wrong, and I switched from Mac to Windows about a year ago. I'll look into the others you mentioned that will also work with windows and try them out if they have some kind of trial version. Thanks

The Baselight Avid plugin works in Windows. And there is a 30-day free trial.

http://www.filmlight.ltd.uk/products/editions/range_ed/index_ed.php#BaselightAvid

 

[Peter Moretti]

BYPASS INDIVIDUAL CORRECTIONS INSIDE A NODE

BYPASS INDIVIDUAL CORRECTIONS INSIDE A NODE

Bypass Individual Corrections Inside a Node

... You can't bypass a single correction in the node?...

This feature is found in the very old CC tools of Avid's Media Composer and Symphony. And it's really helpful to able to toggle off/on an individual correction. For example maybe I'm deciding between using Lift and Gain vs Offset and Highlights to balance a shot. I could create nodes for each approach. But a lot of times it feels like it would be a lot easier to create nodes based on their end result than on what's going to make it easiest to toggle on/off a grade.

 

[rand thompson]

The Baselight Avid plugin works in Windows. And there is a 30-day free trial.

http://www.filmlight.ltd.uk/products/editions/range_ed/index_ed.php#BaselightAvid

Thanks Peter!

 

[rand thompson]

Basically, you can't do that. You can do multiple corrections in a single node if you insist, but the flaw with this method is that you can't delete or bypass just the one change without affecting them all. This is very, very, very important for client-supervised sessions, when the DP or director asks for a certain kind of change -- a window, a key, a little brighter, a little darker -- and then they want to go back to the way it was, or they want to amp that up and make it even more dramatic.

There are good reasons to do one and only one mode of correction per mode (or layer). At my worst, I generally don't go beyond 20 nodes per shot, but they all aren't necessarily being used. If I have to work very quickly, I might cut that down to 8 nodes or maybe 12, and a lot of it is just to avoid letting one thing affect another, and so that I know exactly what's going on and where. But don't let me change your point of view -- work the way in which you're most comfortable.

I think, At most, I will use up to 10 nodes. Some will have up to 5 corrections and some only about 1 or 3 but on average I only use about 5 nodes. I'm still a "Newbie" to resolve and I need to work on my node usages and organizational skills

Spend the money and get the real thing if you intend to do real work.

Roger That.

Last I checked, Nucoda was $7000 for the software and required pretty substantial hardware

I was going to see what it was about and its workflow differences between resolve and its basic color grading philosophy differences . I currently still wouldn't be able to afford anything near its price

 

[rand thompson]

Jake and Peter,

Thank you both for both The suggestion to use it (Jake) and the link for Baselight for Avid(Peter). I went through the interface and saw all of the controls and parameters and was like "WTF" this thing is great!!!.

I had added a few "Operators" on top of the default "operators".When I pressed "F6" and "F5" to go back an forth between two clips on my Avid Media composer timeline for grading, the "Operators" that I added for one clip weren't in the list of "operators" for the next clips. How can I use the same set of "Operators" (example "truelight","Video grade", "hue shift", "curve grade", "Sharpen", "Six vector"...etc.) for every clip without having to add them to every new clip. Still reading the user manual but will probably run across the answer eventually.