Uploaded November 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Today I'll be showing how to get the most out of the NEW HDR Controls in DaVinci Resolve 17 and how to use them to make fine adjustments to your images and bring your color grading to the next level.
Red Sample Footage: red.com/sample-r3d-files
Black Magic RAW Sample Footage: blackmagicdesign.com/ca/products/blackmagicpocketcinemacamera/gallery
Download Davinci Resolve for Free: blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
Notes:
The goal of this video was to demonstrate how working in a larger color space will better let you take full advantage of the HDR controls and then I demonstrated that with the clouds, however there are something I want to clear up. Both of the cameras used have large dynamic ranges so there is quite a bit of depth to the clouds. This however is not always the case, especially if you're not shooting in a log format. The control themselves do not give you access to more data, they simply allow you to better control the data you already have.
Of course this also means that if an area is blown out, there's nothing that these controls can do to bring that information back. I just wanna make sure that no one is misled and is under the impression that these controls are are going to increase their dynamic range.
I also intended to showcase how you can take advantage of HDR without actually delivering in HDR. Using Black Magic's new Wide Gamut really allows you to dive deep into your image and tailor it to your liking. As I mentioned in the video this can also be done in a number of different color spaces using RCM, you also could use ACES though with ACES the controls for resolve will respond differently.
Finally, at one point in the video I say that BM Wide Gamut can hold more stops of dynamic range than current cameras can shoot. I'm sure somebody is going to point to some type of bracketed shooting technique eg. Red's HDRX, or just HDRI's in general. In that sense I guess you technically could bring in an image that has a larger dynamic range, but how practical is that for 99% of filmmaking (from a grading standpoint, of course they're used in VFX all the time), and even then you'd have to reach a point where the dynamic range would exceed the human eye which right now I have trouble seeing the benefit of doing this.
References:
Check out the DaVinci Resolve 16 reference manual to learn more you can find it in the help tab of Resolve.
The HDR Palette is currently covered in page 113 of the beta manual.
Gear I use:
Camera - Black Magic Pocket 4k
Microphone - Rode NTK
Main Lens - Meike 12mm f2.8
Other lenses - Meike 35 mm f1.7, Rokinon 50mm T1.5, Rokinon 24mm T1.5
Tripod - Velbon Videomate 638
Computer Specs:
CPU - Ryzen 1700x
GPU - GTX 1070
Monitor - Eizo CG2420
Today I'll be showing how to get the most out of the NEW HDR Controls in DaVinci Resolve 17 and how to use them to make fine adjustments to your images and bring your color grading to the next level.
Red Sample Footage: red.com/sample-r3d-files
Black Magic RAW Sample Footage: blackmagicdesign.com/ca/products/blackmagicpocketcinemacamera/gallery
Download Davinci Resolve for Free: blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
Notes:
The goal of this video was to demonstrate how working in a larger color space will better let you take full advantage of the HDR controls and then I demonstrated that with the clouds, however there are something I want to clear up. Both of the cameras used have large dynamic ranges so there is quite a bit of depth to the clouds. This however is not always the case, especially if you're not shooting in a log format. The control themselves do not give you access to more data, they simply allow you to better control the data you already have.
Of course this also means that if an area is blown out, there's nothing that these controls can do to bring that information back. I just wanna make sure that no one is misled and is under the impression that these controls are are going to increase their dynamic range.
I also intended to showcase how you can take advantage of HDR without actually delivering in HDR. Using Black Magic's new Wide Gamut really allows you to dive deep into your image and tailor it to your liking. As I mentioned in the video this can also be done in a number of different color spaces using RCM, you also could use ACES though with ACES the controls for resolve will respond differently.
Finally, at one point in the video I say that BM Wide Gamut can hold more stops of dynamic range than current cameras can shoot. I'm sure somebody is going to point to some type of bracketed shooting technique eg. Red's HDRX, or just HDRI's in general. In that sense I guess you technically could bring in an image that has a larger dynamic range, but how practical is that for 99% of filmmaking (from a grading standpoint, of course they're used in VFX all the time), and even then you'd have to reach a point where the dynamic range would exceed the human eye which right now I have trouble seeing the benefit of doing this.
References:
Check out the DaVinci Resolve 16 reference manual to learn more you can find it in the help tab of Resolve.
The HDR Palette is currently covered in page 113 of the beta manual.
Gear I use:
Camera - Black Magic Pocket 4k
Microphone - Rode NTK
Main Lens - Meike 12mm f2.8
Other lenses - Meike 35 mm f1.7, Rokinon 50mm T1.5, Rokinon 24mm T1.5
Tripod - Velbon Videomate 638
Computer Specs:
CPU - Ryzen 1700x
GPU - GTX 1070
Monitor - Eizo CG2420
