Recently, I’ve modified to doing all of my color management in nodes versus setting issues up in Resolve’s Project Settings. One of the massive questions that has accompanied this modification is, “How do I deal with multiple RAW formats within a single project?” In this text, I’m going to indicate you ways I deal with a number of RAW codecs within a single venture. Let’s dive in and have a look.
Answer the simple questions first
Right now, I’ve three clips in my timeline from three totally different cameras and they’re all in a RAW format. I’ve a Blackmagic RAW clip, an ARRIRAW clip, and a RED RAW clip.
Let’s begin organising the colour administration by filling within the straightforward solutions first. What is the simplest factor to unravel by way of organising this coloration administration? Well, we all know that we’re going to be outputting to Rec. 709 Gamma 2.2, so let’s begin there.
To do that, first go over to the Timeline degree of the node graph and drop in a preset. When I do that, I exploit a preset that I preserve saved in an album. This preset is a Color Space Transform that takes the footage from DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate out to Rec. 709 Gamma 2.2. It has the inventory settings that I all the time use for Luminance Mapping, Max Input, Max Output, and Gamut Mapping already arrange. It additionally all the time has Forward OOTF turned on.
Working backward
Next, we have to work backward to be sure that we’re getting the footage from every of those totally different cameras mapped into the DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate working coloration house, as that’s what our last output rework is anticipating.
When we’re coloration managing RAW footage with nodes, there’s a bit extra work concerned. You would possibly know that when you’re coloration managing RAW codecs utilizing Project Settings, Resolve will take over and routinely map these RAW picture codecs into no matter working house you’ve chosen. But that additionally means you’re extra restricted when coloration managing RAW utilizing Project Settings. So, whereas we would must do a bit extra guide work, we’ll have extra management if we coloration handle with nodes reasonably than Project Settings.
In our case, we have to go to the File menu, open Projects Settings, after which go to Camera Raw. I believe this menu is the supply of lots of the confusion relating to RAW codecs.
When coloration managing utilizing nodes, there may be an comprehensible false impression about what occurs when you choose a RAW profile. Lots of people suppose choosing a RAW Profile determines how all the RAW photos in your venture are going to be handled. That shouldn’t be the case in any respect. This menu doesn’t inform Resolve how you can deal with all RAW photos. What it does is say, “How do you want to unpack or debayer this particular RAW format into an RGB space?”
ARRIRAW
In our instance, we now have ARRI, Blackmagic, and RED RAW photos in our timeline. There is nothing we have to do by way of debayering the ARRI footage. ARRI footage is all the time going to debayer into LogC3 for an older ARRI digicam or LogC4 for an Alexa 35. There is an choice to decode LogC3 as LogC4, however that’s a bit past the scope of our article right now. So, we don’t have to do something with our ARRIRAW profile. It’s good to go.
Blackmagic RAW
Here’s how you can deal with Blackmagic RAW: set Decode utilizing to Project, Color house to DaVinci Wide Gamut, and Gamma to DaVinci Intermediate. With this, there isn’t any coloration house rework essential. These settings are going to make sure that the Blackmagic RAW picture unpacks proper into the working house of DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate. That’s all we have to do. We can depart White stability set to As shot, and all our different settings might be left the place they’re as effectively.
Highlight restoration can also be past the scope of right now’s article, nevertheless it’s one thing you may activate when you have scorching, pinging highlights that really feel like they’re clipping out. Remember, you may all the time return and switch it on later. For now, I’m going to depart it off as a result of I don’t suppose it applies to our one Blackmagic RAW shot.
A notice concerning the RAW profile setting
Before you turn over to RED, I would like you to toggle between Blackmagic RAW and RED within the RAW profile. As you may see, all the customized choices that we made a second in the past are nonetheless there.
Choosing a special possibility from the RAW profile dropdown menu doesn’t imply that Resolve will apply that change to all RAW footage within the timeline. It merely implies that we now have switched from specifying what we would like Resolve to do with Blackmagic RAW materials to specifying what we would like Resolve to do with RED RAW materials. The RAW profile setting shouldn’t be an possibility for selecting which RAW profile you need to use. It tells Resolve the way you need it to debayer every totally different kind of RAW profile.
RED RAW
Most of the time, RED RAW settings are already arrange. The solely change that you must make is to set the bit depth to 16. Also, test to be sure that “Decode using” is ready to Project. Resolve typically units “Decode using” to the digicam metadata by default.
RED recommends setting your RAW Project Settings to IPP2 for Color Science, REDWideGamutRGB for Color house, and Log3G10 for Gamma curve. Blend bias might be left at zero. You can even safely depart Apply metadata curves turned off until there’s an express artistic intent baked in by the manufacturing group otherwise you’re working with. All the opposite containers can stay unchecked as effectively.
The solely different two vital containers to tick are ISO and Color temp as a result of we need to move that info alongside to us from the set. We need to know what ISO the digicam operator or cinematographer was capturing at, proper? Likewise, we need to know what coloration temperature they have been utilizing. If the digicam was at 5600, we don’t need to land at 3200 by default.
Now we’re all arrange, and we haven’t simply specified one RGB profile. We have correctly arrange how Resolve will unpack all three of the RAW profiles in our timeline. Finally, bear in mind to hit Save.
Input mapping
Let’s transfer on to enter mapping. In the case of our Blackmagic RAW footage, we’ve already instructed it to unpack immediately into DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate. Since our work there may be carried out, we will transfer alongside to our ARRI materials.
The means that I wish to deal with enter mapping for any supply, whether or not it’s RAW or in any other case, is to make use of Resolve’s Group operate. Specifically, I exploit the Group Pre-Clip operate to cook dinner in or apply the enter rework. To do that with the ARRI materials, right-click on the clip and select Add right into a New Group. We’re going to call this group ARRI.
Then, go to the leftmost of the 4 dots on the high of the node graph to enter the Group Pre-Clip part. Group Pre-Clip merely implies that no matter we do there may be going to occur earlier than something occurs on the Clip degree. That’s excellent as a result of we would like our enter rework to be the very first thing that occurs to the picture earlier than any grading is utilized to it.
Create a Color Space Transform by looking for it after which drag the operate onto the Group Pre-Clip node. Next, arrange the rework to go from ARRI Wide Gamut 3, ARRI LogC3 to DaVinci Wide Gamut, DaVinci Intermediate. No tone mapping is critical and white level adaptation isn’t essential both.
You may give this a descriptive label in case you like. I’m going to name it ->DWG for “to DaVinci Wide Gamut”. Sometimes, I’ll merely name it “IN”. Now, we’re all arrange with our ARRIRAW materials. It’s good to go. Of course, we nonetheless must drop in a glance and do our grading, however we now have a sound coloration administration pipeline in place for this shot.
RED RAW Pre-Clip
That leaves our RED materials, which is able to bear an identical course of to our ARRI materials. First, right-click the shot, select Add right into a New Group, and label it.
Then, drop a Color Space Transform into that shot’s Group-PreClip node. The Input Color Space goes to be the identical as what we specified for our RED Camera Raw settings, which is PinkWideGamutRGB, RED Log3G10. Then, we’re going set the rework to exit to DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate. Everything else can keep off. That’s all there may be to it.
From there, you are able to do no matter you want. You can grade in a standard style. You can apply a glance, perhaps one thing from my Voyager LUT pack. We’re now prepared to start grading the clips on our timeline as we’d every other materials, RAW or in any other case.
Wrapping up
One of my ardour factors relating to organising coloration administration, RAW or in any other case, is to get away from a camera-centric coloration grading strategy. I need to work from an image-centric strategy in order that by the point I’m grading, I’m in the identical coloration house no matter the place the colour was initially set. No matter when or how the fabric was captured, it ought to all be on a degree taking part in area. That means, I can deal with the the picture itself as an alternative of what digicam the picture was captured on.
The RAW profile setting inside Resolve’s Camera Raw menu is the supply of a lot confusion, and understandably so. But I would like everybody studying to know this: the RAW Profile merely means that you can choose the way you need to unpack every of your RAW profiles respectively. The choices that you just make persist even while you click on over to a different profile and save out of your Project Settings fully.
