Advanced DLog-M colorgrading in DaVinci Resolve!

[karlo_m]

EDIT: I am replying to your comments, but as I can see, my comments require moderator’s approval since I’m a new member. Hope they’ll be approved soon!

Hello everyone! Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I’m back with advanced colorgrading tutorial in DaVinci Resolve for your Mavic 2 DLog-M footage! I’m showing you how much you can get from your image and how powerful DLog-M is!

This took me a week to prepare and edit so I hope you’ll enjoy the video and you’ll learn something!

This is the first of the two advanced tutorials where I begin to explain some advanced features Resolve offers. Even though the tutorial is suited for users who already know their way around Resolve, I also explain some beginner stuff.

Sit back and enjoy! If there’s anything left unclear, feel free to ask!

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[crazyju]

Welcome karlo. If you have a second, can you look here and see if you have any imput?
Need some help

 

[Drone on]

Hello everyone! Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I’m back with advanced colorgrading tutorial in DaVinci Resolve for your Mavic 2 DLog-M footage! I’m showing you how much you can get from your image and how powerful DLog-M is!

This took me a week to prepare and edit so I hope you’ll enjoy the video and you’ll learn something!

This is the first of the two advanced tutorials where I begin to explain some advanced features Resolve offers. Even though the tutorial is suited for users who already know their way around Resolve, I also explain some beginner stuff.

Sit back and enjoy! If there’s anything left unclear, feel free to ask!

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

I'll be watching this over and over.
Please share what your in camera settings are for Sharpness, Contrast and Saturation

 

[Brian D]

Ok i got a really simple question .....I know what looks good as a vibrant and clear image ... as I'm pretty sure everybody else reasonably does .... So .... WHY doesn't the video recording already have that ??? Why is there a recorded image that seems gray but can be " edited " to what it actually looks like ?? This seems like a bunch of unnecessary actions ...

 

[macfawlty]

Ok i got a really simple question .....I know what looks good as a vibrant and clear image ... as I'm pretty sure everybody else reasonably does .... So .... WHY doesn't the video recording already have that ??? Why is there a recorded image that seems gray but can be " edited " to what it actually looks like ?? This seems like a bunch of unnecessary actions ...

Fair question. Complex science. In short, these log profiles allow for greater latitude color grading in post. Every image that comes from a camera Is processed. You may not like what it gives you. Or You may like it about 90%, but it’s a bit too contrasty or oversaturated. Perhaps the lighting conditions were not ideal while you were filming and you really need to add contrast, saturation or adjust color balance. Or maybe you forgot to check your settings and need to correct for your screw up. Log and other cinematic style profiles generally look washed out straight off the card, but they allow for a lot more flexibility in creating your own ‘looks. It’s easier to add contrast, saturation, sharpness, clarity, etc. than it is to take it out. One fairly common issue is exposure differential between the sky and the terrain. If you exposure for the terrain, the sky is blown out. Blown highlights are unrecoverable whereas shadows allow for lift. You make exposure choices while filming based on how well you can grade for the differential. The more latitude in your profile the better.

 

[karlo_m]

I'll be watching this over and over.
Please share what your in camera settings are for Sharpness, Contrast and Saturation

Glad you like it that much!

Ok i got a really simple question .....I know what looks good as a vibrant and clear image ... as I'm pretty sure everybody else reasonably does .... So .... WHY doesn't the video recording already have that ??? Why is there a recorded image that seems gray but can be " edited " to what it actually looks like ?? This seems like a bunch of unnecessary actions ...

Hi! The other comment explaining this did a fairly good job. Log shooting came from cinema cameras which are able to shoot RAW (like RAW photos th mavic takes, imagine that much information in EACH frame of your video). I’ll be honest, 10-bit footage Mavic can shoot SHOULDN’T be used for log filming. The same goes for DSLR and mirrorless cameras such as Sonys and Panasonic GH5. Log SHOULD be used only when shooting RAW.

But! As technology progresses, they were able to bring us 10-bit image, so they threw in log shooting to seem oriented towards professional users. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still log, but all I’m saying is that 10-bit footage has just too little information to work with properly.

Professional colorists are strongly against shooting log unless shooting RAW.

I’m actually working on a log explanation video on the example of Panasonic GH5 VLog-L, altough the principle is the same for any type of log shooting. In layman terms, without any visual aid, shooting log “lifts” the shadows and midtones so that the representation of the whole dynamic range of the sensor’s bit-depth is more “correct” and so that the highlights don’t get 128 values and the rest of the image (where your most important midtones are) gets the rest. I suggest reading up some articles, generally, don’t trust youtube videos, I still haven’t found anyone who made a correct explanation of log footage.