Understanding Nodes in Color Grading // Davinci Resolve 18
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มิ.ย. 2024
- Nodes for Color Grading can seem scary when you see them for the first time but I promise you, it's actually quite simple and when you understand the basics, you can never go back!
So, in this video, I wanted to teach you the basics of Nodes, how they work and how you can use them in color grading for yourself.
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments!
Happy color grading!
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Overview:
00:00 - Intro
01:22 - The basics of Nodes
02:51 - Serial Nodes
11:24 - Parallel Nodes
15:37 - Layer Nodes
20:46 - Outside Node
23:43 - A Simple Node Structure
27:24 - Outro
If you want to learn how to color grade in DaVinci Resolve I have lots of videos on my channel but you can check out my Color Grading Course: geni.us/color-grading-course if you want a structured and easy to understand way of learning everything you need.
This tutorial didn't just teach me, it also made the process, which was beginning to be a "head-banging against the wall" sort of process, really fun, so thank you
Truly appreciate your comment! And I'm happy I've kept you from banging your head against the wall!
I’ve purposefully avoided the colour tab in DaVinci Resolve as too complicated to even begin to understand so this was actually a welcome introduction. Granted some of the stuff zipped way over my head but still helped get me out of the wilful ignorance phase. Thanks.
Happy to hear that Martin! I think Nodes and the Color Grading tab is both the best part of Davinci but probably also the most scary part! Luckily, it's actually not that bad to understand when you dive into it, so I'm glad this video helped 🙏🏻
When you get the hang of it, a whole new world opens up! So it's worth investing a bit of time into. Good luck!
Color tab is super easy. Its confusing in the beginning with all this node but once you wrap your head arround it you will never work with a non node based editor again
@@AlexBjorstorpfusion is scary. I love the color tab
Best nodes tuto ever! Thanks mate😍
This was somehow both comprehensive and thorough at the same time. One of the best explanations on nodes I ever saw. Bravo Alex and thank you!
Amazing man! Love to hear that, glad it helped you out!
Thank you so much for this tutoria! I appreciate the thorough explantions and examples. Nodes are usually glossed over in a lot of other tutorials and this helped me fill in gaps in my understanding.
Appreciate your words man! I had that feeling myself as well, which is why I made the video in the first place - I'm glad it helped you out and filled the gaps!
A great tutorial on nodes. I love the explanations and explaining the ins and outs and showing where you go and how you create nodes, where in the color graphs, etc. Thank you!👍😃
Love to hear that, thank you! Appreciate it!
I really love how well you explained this. Thank you.
Happy to hear that James! Thank you too!
Superior demonstration. Thank you so very much for this.
You are welcome. Glad it helped out!
Great work! You made that very easy to understand, Thank you!
Cheers Mike! Happy to hear that!
I have liked and subscribed. I have learned more basics of nodes in the first 8 minutes of this video than I expected by a large margin.
Thanks a lot! Glad to hear that it was helpful and you found it more informative than expected, very appreciated 🙏🏻
Nicely done. Thank you for taking the time to create this video. I am in the process of moving from Premiere to Davinci. Your video will be very helpful.
You’re welcome Dave. Glad you found it helpful!
Thaank you for this! Alot of value. I never understood the difference between layers and nodes but this brought more clarity.
You're welcome! Happy to hear it helped you out! 🙏🏻
thank you so much for the easy to understand tutorial on this subject.
You are very welcome!
Thank you, well explained, the more detail you give, the easier it becomes to understand nodes. You don’t rush through the exercise, and that is a welcome blessing. Step by step guide, makes it easier to understand 👏👏
You are much welcome, thanks for watching and taking the time to share your thoughts 🙏🏻
This is very powerful and helpful I just started messing around with DR and this was something I needed to push me to keep using it THANKS!
You are welcome! Happy to hear it's helped you out! DR is such an amazing software, especially when you get a hold of the Nodes!
Great tutorial. Thanks Alex :)
Happy to hear it was helpful! You're welcome!
Thank you so much my man! This was the intro to nodes I was looking for. Not too dense, not too easy breezy, perfect. I can actually look at a node tree now and not just panic out of pure lack of knowledge hahah
You're welcome! Super happy to hear that you found it useful and it helped you out - and that you're less intimidated by Node Trees now haha, they can feel a bit scary in the beginning for sure!
Best tutorial on this topic. Thanks so much!
Really appreciate that Marty! Thank you! Glad you found it helpful! 🙌🏻
Super helpful explanation! Many thanks.
Glad ot hear it helped! You're welcome, thanks for watching 🙌🏻
Great video, thank you so much!
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
Thankyou for valuable tutorial ❤
You're welcome, thanks for watching!
This was very helpful explaining how this works. Wow, very powerful. Thanks.
Glad it helped you out 🙏🏻
Thank you so much! This is so unbelievably helpful😅
You’re welcome! Glad to hear that 🙏🏻
Great tutorial ! really helped me
Super happy to hear that! 🙌🏻
Thank you. That was extremely helpful.
You're welcome! Glad it helped you!
Very helpful. I learned a lot about the nodes. They make more sense now. Thanks for creating this video for us.
Thanks a lot for your support Doug! Truly appreciate it!
Thank you for great explation. Its really useful
You are welcome! I'm happy to hear it helped you out!
great tutorial, i like how you explain what everything does. would like to see more tutorials for all the other features in the software
Definitely coming in the future!
Thanks. This was a great explanation. Just what I needed to know to start practicing and improving my skills.
Happy to hear that! You're welcome!
One of the most useful and educating videos on TH-cam 👏
Appreciate your kind words! Thank you!
Wow this is a really helpful video , great job
Glad it helped you out! Thank you for watching!
Handy video! Thanks a lot!
You're welcome!
Now I understand! Tanx much!
Love to hear that, you're welcome!
Thanks for the detailed video ✌🏻
You're welcome, glad you liked it!
Thank you so much! helped me to understand how the node system works, tutorial is easy to understand 👍👏😍
You are welcome! I'm glad it helped you out!
Wow this tutorial is amazing!!! TY!!!
You are welcome Jefferson!
Many thanks it was great
You're welcome! Glad it helped you out!
A complete confusion to understand without help, made easy by a paused and clear english dictation explained by Alex. Now I understood, and I hope I also can do it. Davincy has so many options to get the work done in a high level. Thank you!
Really .. Well Explained.. useful video
Thank you! Glad to hear you liked it 🙏🏻
finally I understand the parallel nodes, Thanks pal
Glad to hear that man! You're welcome!
Thanks for the tutorial 🎉
You are welcome! Thanks for watching along!
This was great! Recently switched from Premiere and really nice job 👍
Awesome! Love to hear that, welcome to DaVinci!
Thank you Alex.
You're welcome! 🙏🏻
Kæææææft du er en kæmpe champ Alex! Tak for den store hjælp🙏🏻
Haha, tusind tak Frederik. Jeg er glad for det hjalp dig på vej!
I haven't even watched this video yet but I'm saying thank you for explaining this as this is the main reason I haven't jumped into DaVinci yet. The nodes seem so daunting.
I hope you were as satisfied with it after you watched it too! Nodes seem difficult but when you get to know the structure it gets quite simple!
I love you for this.
Cheers!!
Very well explained. Subs🎉
Appreciate it Matthew! 🙌🏻
Hey! Great tutorial! You gained a subscriber for sure!
I do have a question tho. When you would hover over one of the nodes, it would show you what you've done to it. What feature is that, and how do I turn that on?
Right now I am just labeling every node once I do something to it.
Thanks! And keep up the good work!
Awesome! Welcome 🙌🏻
I've been looking through all the settings in Davinci and I think it's something that's on by default. It's not something I've turned on myself at least. I would continue to label the nodes anyway as that's a much better and future-proof workflow ☺️
The Node system is a Love/Hate scenario, depending on how you think. Hyper logical people will end up loving it. As a CNC Programmer, I couldn't be happier with it.
I think it can be made very simple so everyone can have a good time using it but it confuses many in the beginning. Honestly, I find it more confusing, scrolling up and down a menu of controls, having no workflow overview and everything blended together - but that's how most are used to working.
I do agree that it's easier for hyper logical people to get it initially but I'm on a mission to make it easy for everyone! Haha
Yoo thanks man
Hey! You're welcome!
Thanks Guy!
Cheers!
Thank You!
You're welcome!
Good stuff!
Thanks man!
me reacting to every step of the edit : wow 😱:D
i need to save this one
Haha thank you so much mate!
Just thank you man
You're much welcome mate!
thanks a lot. very well explained i couldnt understand the purpose of node before this video. search and watch many videos but no one explained like this.
thank you so much😍
if you can please add shortcut keys to the videos so we can learn which shortcuts did you use for the exact thing 🙂
You are very welcome! I'm glad to hear it helped you out! 🙌🏻
Thank you 😊
You're welcome!
Nice tutor🎉
Thank you!
thank u sir, every time i open color tab in davinci i feel confused, now u solved my problem thankss!
You are welcome, I'm glad to hear it helped you out!
Thanks!
You are welcome!
Thank you so much
You are very welcome! Thanks for watching!
THANKS😄😄😄
You're welcome!
EXCELENTEEEE!!!!
Thank you!
Wow my Davinciphobia is lessen due to this video for sure! Subbed!
Love to hear that man! Let’s get you the rest of the way 🙌🏻 Let me know if there’s anything you’re struggling with in Davinci and I’m happy to guide you to a video of make one covering it, if I haven’t already!
Thanks a lot
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
I been doing photography for years. And now getting into video. And before watching your videos I wanted to just quit all together. So thank you 😂
Happy to hear that! The transition to video can be a bit tricky but it's a lot of fun when you get started!
thx!
You're welcome!
thanks man
You are welcome!
Hi, this was so so helpful , when should we perform noise reduction in this workflow?
I usually do it before the first node - I'll be doing the entire grade first and then noise reduce on the first node before it all happens in the Node Tree. I'll be making a tutorial including the Noise Reduction tool within the coming weeks
Hai.. I really love what's you doing.can you try cooler grade underwater video?
Спасибо Реально
You're welcome!
thank you
You are welcome!
Excellent tutorial. So basically, to summarized, a basic node tree should be in this order: exposure, contrast, color grading (creative style) and finally log conversion at the very end.
Thank you! Yes, that's how I structure it to utilise the colours in the footage as much as possible!
@@AlexBjorstorpso is it detrimental to put the log converter in first? In photography terms would that be like converting it to jpeg then doing adjustment’s? Great video thank you for your time!
Thanks
Learned a lot from this video, thanks! :) I do have one question.. When you click on your first couple of nodes (before the conversion one at the end), the color management that I did in the conversion node disappears, and in your video it doesn't. How do I fix that?
I know there’s a million and one different ways to color grade in general but I’m learning nodes in resolve since I’ve been stuck with Pr for a while and every video I watched do bodes different but in a way the outcome is completely different for the way things are done, specially the color transformation
There's no one way to set up a node tree and depending on workflow different things might make sense. To me the essentials are: Color Conversion into Rec.709, making sure it's the last node in the tree that converts to rec.709. Then color correction is the first thing that happens, making sure the image is as close to "real life" as can be. Then for the subjective color grade in which there are a million different ways to go about it. I get that it's confusing sometimes but it's all about understanding the basics and building your own workflow from there 🙏🏻
wow!
Thanks man!
Very nice Teaching 😊😊😊hope to make tutorials for iPad Also 😊😊😊❤❤
Thank you! I most likely won't be making anything for iPad as I don't use it myself, so I can't really test out the workflow but as far as I know most of the features are available for iPad, so the same workflows and techniques will apply :-)
i've always been told that the transform node goes at the beginning and then you do your grade. i.e. correction "log to rec 709" first, then light, detail and color changes. just goes to show, everybody's got their own way to do this. you'll go nuts trying to sort it all out. i know, i've watched 1000 videos on this topic for the past few years! lol
from ChatGPT: When using the Color tab in DaVinci Resolve, the Color Space Transform node should generally be placed at the beginning of the node tree, before any other color correction or grading nodes.
The reason for this is that the Color Space Transform node is used to convert the input color space of the footage to the working color space of the project. This ensures that all subsequent color grading and correction nodes are working with a consistent color space.
If you were to place the Color Space Transform node at the end of the node tree, after other color grading nodes, it could potentially cause issues with the color accuracy and consistency of your final output.
So, to ensure the best possible results, it's recommended to place the Color Space Transform node at the beginning of your node tree in DaVinci Resolve.
There is no truly right or wrong but it's up to workflow, however you are losing out if you do it as the first thing. The reason being that Rec.709 is a small color space, meaning less nuance in hue, luminance and saturation. The camera however, capturing the footage in LOG will have captured a lot more information since it's a larger color space.
So by doing it as the last step you will be grading in a larger color space and have a lot more nuance available for it to then at last be converted properly into Rec.709.
Completely up to you how you do it but personally I get a lot more out of my footage by grading in a larger color space - and you will see the professional colourists here on TH-cam do the same, the likes of Cullen Kelly and Waqas Qazi :)
@@AlexBjorstorp ahhh, this helps! and makes sense! thanks so much for the answer. i can finally put that puzzle to bed!
A lot of learning
Yes, there's a lot of possibilities but the base of it is quite simple 🙏🏻
Hi thanks for creating this tutorial - what if I've received footage and don't know what camera it's been shot on. What do I set up the input color space and gamma to?
You are welcome! What I would do in your scenario is try to see what gives some great or at least decent results.
There's no way really to identify what profile has been used if you don't have a file on it. So, if it's shot in LOG I would start with the popular brands, Canon, Sony and Fuji. Try their LOG profiles and see what works best. In the end it's not important that it's the perfect conversion if you don't know what it was shot in but that you are satisfied with the outcome and most log profile conversions in Davinci will get you a step forward.
So I would go trial and error, starting with sony s-log3, then canon log 3 or 2 and then fuji and see what I like most and then grade from there.
@@AlexBjorstorp thanks!
The mask you have made for the sun and shadow part, will stay there even frame moves to different angle?
The mask will stay in place but you can track it to make it move with the scene if you have a pan or other movement that requires it 😊
very nice video but my question which color space transform i should use for Luts or color grade if my sequence 3d animation render not camera video?
Thank you! I'm not sure about this, sorry! I haven't worked with CSTs and animation renders but top of head I'd assume that it's already in Rec.709, so no CST would be required :)
@@AlexBjorstorp thanks 👍🏼
Hey can i ask you a question? Lot of videographers in my area use sony 10 Bit cam for shooting and they dont use pictureprofile instead they use light inside creative style. So my question is what will be the input CST for these kind of footage?
I'm not sure I understand the question fully but if by Picture Profile you mean LOG and Creative Style you mean the 'Sony Presets' then I would assume they are shooting in Rec.709 and in that case you shouldn't use a CST. Having 10-bit and shooting in Rec.709 can be just fine if you want to get to an end result fast but even with 10-bit you'll have less room to work with than if you shoot in LOG, say PP8 (S-log3).
So the shorter version: If you use a creative style I don't think you need a CST as you won't need to convert the footage :) Hope it makes sense and if I misunderstood let me know and I'll try to answer the actual question!
Bro...if its possible to give us somr brief setting to get most of from what we recorded if we are using like old cameras canon 6D with cinestyle profile ...maybe what log is correct to use ...
That will differ from camera to camera - I think it's easier to google it. I didn't use the 6D myself but I'm no sure it was meant for video, so the video capabilities might not be the best - I could be wrong though.
I've primarily shot video in the mirrorless realm and with newer cameras, so I unfortunately don't have the experience to tell you how to get the most out of your camera, sorry
@@AlexBjorstorp thanks bro I will try to play with the setting anyway thanks for replying really appreciate it
Btw. This might be a stupid question. But what's the function called, when you slide your cursor on the image and it shows you that exact point on the graph with the 2 little circles? I feel like this could be really handy. Thanks
Thank you! When you have the qualifier selected on your preview window, down by the scopes you can click the three dots and check "display qualifier focus" and that'll do the trick for you! :-)
@@AlexBjorstorp mhm, nice and easy. Thanks!
@@DanielHanka you're welcome mate!
I thought it was really cool too and asked the same question a few vids ago haha
🖤
🙌🏻
What colour transform do you select if you dont know the shot log details? Or how do you do this for stock videos you have downloaded thank you
I will start by applying the most common ones for Canon Log 3 and 2, S-Log 3 and perhaps V-Log so see what gives me the best starting point and go from there.
If you don't know what color profile the footage is coming from, the most important thing is to get to a good neutral starting point, and you can achieve that trying to find a conversion that fits the best possible.
In the end the CST is "only" applying a bunch of adjustments so you should be able to work with the footage with this approach!
@AlexBjorstorp Hey thanks Alex for replying back to mate, I have to say I get confused with the CST, because am thinking if I download stock video's I don't know what camera it was shot on etc.
So will just try and play around with these. Also, there's some when you select on the CST it just makes your clip dark and ugly.
I have to say your tutorials are really helpful and very insightful, so thank you for making them.
I'm looking forward to more
hi, how can i make it so that a node only affects the previous node? example: i am in the color tab. node 1 is film grain and node 2 is blur. i only want to blur the grain, but not the entire video.
I haven't tested it but I would think putting the grain on an adjustment clip on top of your original clip and then using the blur in the next node will do the trick.
Do you have an S-LOG tutorial?
Not exactly but all my videos on grading and node trees, no matter what LOG-profile they are in, will be the same workflow just different parameters in the Color Space Transform. I have a few videos from Sony, one from the FX3, which is shot in S-LOG 3 😊
Nice but I have question to you
How can I link Adobe premier with DaVinci? I love to edit my videos on Adobe premier and use DaVinci for coloring it
I don't have an answer for that yet sorry. I think you can export your project in Premiere and import it into Davinci. Then after I think you can do the opposite and export from Davinci. I haven't done it myself yet since I made the full switch. It is something I will be looking more into in the future though. As soon as I know I will make a tutorial :)
Hello, thought I could help a bit. So jumping from working in Premiere to Resolve and back is called roundtripping. What you want to do in Premiere is to export an XML of the timeline. Head over to Resolve, and import timeline, and find your XML.
So Resolve will give you this pop up of options, and the default should work fine. However, there's some issues with translation because each program treats clips differently. So things like scaling or positions might be off. Speed ramps give me the most headaches. Always have a reference clip to help with conforming.
Once you're done with grading, head over to the Delivery tab, and export as a Premiere XML. It'll export your graded clips as individual files. Jump back to Premiere and import the XML and it should import the new graded clips too.
Hope that helps!
great work and also provide source videos please.
Sorry, it's my personal videos I use to showcase my grading. I have a footage pack with some of my clips available but it's not all of them and this one is not included either :-)
@@AlexBjorstorp ok sir not a problem
May I know how did you exported the Nodes in PNG on your thumbnail ❤
I didn't, I took at screen shot and manually fiddled around with it in Photoshop to get rid of the background. I haven't found an easy way to do it, unfortunately!
Thanks.... How to open the nodes window?
You mean where you create nodes and build out the tree? There is a button in the top right corner on the Color Page that says "Nodes", toggle that and you'll see the Nodes area :-)
I love you
Haha cheers mate!
Bro
Could you make a video for beginners?
About all nodes and their properties...
This is a little bit pro level
So beginner wont understand..
We hope broo..❤❤❤❤
This is my video for beginners, making it as simple as I could - sorry if it’s still a bit too difficult man. Maybe later this year I’ll look to make another version but I have a lot of other videos waiting before that 🙏🏻 Hope you’ll figure it out either way!
hey! 07:00 why does the fourth node affect the previous ones?
It doesn't affect the previous Node but the 4th node in this case is the Color Space Transform which takes the footage from LOG to Rec.709. What you're seeing in the source monitor is what's outputted at the end of the node tree and since the Node was turned off and then is turned on around the 7 minute mark, it becomes visible what happened in that node as well :-)
But the 4th node is affected by what happened before, not the other way around :-)
@@AlexBjorstorpthanks!
Do colors have to be converted, can I grade colors without conversion
If you shot in a LOG-format, then they need to be converted properly. If you shot in a 'normal color profile', then you don't have to make a conversion :)
Hi I'm looking for perfect color grading course includes everything like how to learn stuff and apply on clients work. I purchased many courses but I can't find the right information to apply. Everybody is talking about the tricks but I want to learn perfect method so I can apply properly on work and one most important thing is nobody talking about how to approach clients.
Please if you know my questions answers than reply.
Approaching clients is always a super difficult part - that's why it's so difficult to put in a course or a video as well. I'll go into the thinking box to figure out a way to show and explain how you can work properly on client projects but until then I can highly recommend watching Cullen Kelly's channel here on TH-cam. He's a professional colourist and while there may not be the client approach, if you follow his videos on Color grading, you'll know how they apply and grade in Hollywood.
That said. My three tips for approaching clients are:
1. Build a portfolio showing that you can deliver high quality and on a diverse set of projects.
2. Create a short brief or media kit describing how you deliver projects like timeline, estimated hours for different size projects, number of revisions etc.
3. Reach out to studios and agencies as a freelancer, as they have bigger clients and often need extra freelancers to deliver.
I hope that helps!