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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Summer Blockbuster Colour Grading Tutorial - Shot on Epic

I would point out that while Juan's approach is interesting, it is not the only way to achieve these looks and is not the way the originator of the technique does it. There are many ways to mix colors and there are many techniques to achieve a particular goal. Some are cleaner than others, some are simpler, and some are more complex. Juan's approach is rather complex, and while there's nothing wrong with that, simpler approaches often get you cleaner and more predictable results. It should also be pointed out that the best way to get this kind of look is to shoot it with that goal in mind, and have production design and set lighting that gets you at least part of the way there. That's what's often done on these large pictures and it's one reason they look so natural.
 
M Most said:
I would point out that while Juan's approach is interesting, it is not the only way to achieve these looks and is not the way the originator of the technique does it. There are many ways to mix colors and there are many techniques to achieve a particular goal. Some are cleaner than others, some are simpler, and some are more complex. Juan's approach is rather complex, and while there's nothing wrong with that, simpler approaches often get you cleaner and more predictable results. It should also be pointed out that the best way to get this kind of look is to shoot it with that goal in mind, and have production design and set lighting that gets you at least part of the way there. That's what's often done on these large pictures and it's one reason they look so natural.
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Mike, with respect, there aren't any other tutorials to show how to achieve the look. Unless you or any other top colorist want's to do a tutorial than this is how most will get their information (from guys deconstructing and trying to recreate). There's a reason why DP's make their lighting diagrams public and post tests and examples etc. online for everyone else to see. I don't see any colorists doing that...

Do you mind sharing some simple techniques?
 
Matt Ryan said:
Mike, with respect, there aren't any other tutorials to show how to achieve the look. Unless you or any other top colorist want's to do a tutorial than this is how most will get their information (from guys deconstructing and trying to recreate). There's a reason why DP's make their lighting diagrams public and post tests and examples etc. online for everyone else to see. I don't see any colorists doing that...

Do you mind sharing some simple techniques?
Click to expand...

The technique, such as it is, is feel, vision, and an understanding of the ranges of the controls. There is no teaching that in a magic bullet kind of "push this button" approach. Stefan Sonnenfeld is arguably the creator of all of these approaches, and quite frankly, he does it using the basic lift and gain controls and very little else. That level of intuitive talent is rare, and the level of precision he achieves with the basic DaVinci controls is largely unmatched by almost everyone else. Even if you understand his technique, achieving the results his way is very, very difficult without a lot of innate talent and a lot of experience. I know that's not what people want to hear, but it's the truth.

The simplest approach if you're not Stef is probably to use parallel nodes. If you get a basic balance in one node, attach 2 parallel nodes to its output. In one, do the "blue/teal" push using primarily the gamma control but with a contribution from the lift control. In the other, do a relatively soft key on flesh tones (you should be able to do that fairly simply if you're feeding it from the basic correction node). Once the key is set up, use both the lift and gamma trackballs to push the fleshtones back to a more proper color. You can then use either a saturation vs. luminance curve or the log Shadows control to get the blacks to be a bit more pure (if that's what you want). Same with the whites if you prefer. Then feel free to vary the key level of the "blue teal" node to either increase or decrease the effect. That's one approach that's quite a bit less complex than Juan's method but should get you similar results.

But don't expect it to be what Stefan gets...
 
I am always doing an S curve in Redcine X prior to grading in Premiere. I was wondering how that affects the Lut in Davinci when I grade after locking in an edit. Is the original S curve overridden by the the Kodak Lut Juan is using or does this affect it some way?

I suppose I want to know in general what should the state of the R3D when you bring it into Davinci in terms of prior grading in Recine X?
 
Steven Blye said:
I am always doing an S curve in Redcine X prior to grading in Premiere. I was wondering how that affects the Lut in Davinci when I grade after locking in an edit. Is the original S curve overridden by the the Kodak Lut Juan is using or does this affect it some way?

I suppose I want to know in general what should the state of the R3D when you bring it into Davinci in terms of prior grading in Recine X?
Click to expand...

It would double-down... Your s-curve would make the kodak/fuji LUTs look even more contrasty. Thing is, depending on where your exposure is on the RLF files coming out of RCX, it may look better (or worse)... That is to say, you may need to add a bit of contrast to get the proper look from the LUTs. Of course there is nothing stopping you from doing that in Resolve anyway, so it shouldn't be a big deal to hold off until you're in resolve before apply more curve.
 
Thanks Mike and Bob. In Resolve where do I turn off the prior color manipulation. Is using the camera setting using Clip or project decode sufficient for that to happen?
 
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