Davinci Resolve settings for CDNG (Decode, Color Space, Gamma)

[dpjpandone]

Hey guys, I'm back!

Way back in 2016 We used adobe camera raw via After Effects and Visionlog to develop our MLV files. Nowadays I am exporting CDNG's from MLVapp and dragging the folders directly into Resolve.

Can someone advise the correct settings for the "camera raw" settings in davinci?

It seems that if "Cinema DNG Default" is selected in the (decode) drop-down it defaults to using rec.709 for the color space and gamma

If I choose "clip" in the decode field I have the options to choose between Rec.709, P3 D60, or Blackmagic Design in the color space.

If I choose blackmagic d.esign the only gamma available is BMD Film. If I choose Rec.709 the available gamma options are: 2.4, 2.6, Rec.709, SRBG, and Linear

What settings are you guys using?

Also, why does the camera metadata always have the tint set to 7.42 regardless of camera settings?

[vastunghia]

Can someone advise the correct settings for the "camera raw" settings in davinci?

As often is the case, I think that the “correct” setting depends on your project desired properties.

Are you grading and delivering in a a true HDR environment? If so, I would go for BMD color space and gamma. You will need a transformation from log, but DVR will be happy to take care of all of this for you automatically via its automatic Color Management.

If you are delivering SDR content, I would stick to plain vanilla Rec.709 decoding, as there should be no point in getting a wider color space.

PS: I suggest you boost exposure by 1-2 EVs in order to have your mid tones roughly where they should be. This is not a destructive amplification, so your highlights will be safe!

[Danne]

Regarding white balance. If auto(AWB) is applied you´ll get whatever kelvin temperature underlying since we are not calculationg auto wb into the dng file. I´d suggest selecting any other wb but auto to get better control over wb.

[dpjpandone]

Are you grading and delivering in a a true HDR environment?

PS: I suggest you boost exposure by 1-2 EVs in order to have your mid tones roughly where they should be. This is not a destructive amplification, so your highlights will be safe!

I'm not sure what you mean by "True HDR environment" The output to my grading monitor is 10bit SRGB The first delivery for film projects is a DCP with an LUT I made for our local cheapie movie cinema's projection system (I did tests there when we premiered "The Refractor" and Rec.709 was way too dark so I made the LUT for the final output when rendering to DCP)

Streaming uses same grade, just different resolution and not LUT on output.

I agree with the exposure boost. If I expose skintones at 70% in camera they are coming through about 1 stop under after import. After playing around some more tonight, I realized p3 D60 is the most neutral colorspace option. Rec.709 shifts the skintones toward magenta, and BMDFILM makes them so muddy it takes a ton of extra work to get them back.

Regarding white balance. If auto(AWB) is applied you´ll get whatever kelvin temperature underlying since we are not calculationg auto wb into the dng file. I´d suggest selecting any other wb but auto to get better control over wb.

I balance the camera manually for the approximate color temperature of the lights, then finetune in post with the vectorscope. I was just curious as to why every clip defaults to 7.42 tint in resolve. Maybe MLVapp is adding it, maybe it's harcoded in .MLV maybe it's just a resolve quirk. No biggie, just odd....