This is so great. It helps demystify what’s going on under the hood in a LUT as something pretty simple. It’s not magic, it’s 4 nodes! Even if the details get complex, the basic principles of look dev are not. Thank you, Cullen Kelly.
This is by far the best color grading channel 💯. I love the way you explain and simplify the color grading process. You're amazing Cullen Kelly! Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge.🙏🏽❤️
Great content. Would you mind explain a bit about the difference between creating the saturation "shoulder" and "toe" using HSV and HSL nodes versus doing so using one node with sat vs sat and sat vs lum curve? Thanks a lot
Always, always, always worth to watch. Even from the more simple topic you can learn a lot. After i discovered your channel i defenitely become a better colorist.
You make some great content. I'd love to see how you would go about correcting and grading D-Cinelike footage (from DJI drones). DJI doesnt provide any LUT for this so contrast/sat has to be done by hand. Can make it hard to be consistent across shots.
Such a cool and helpful video - I know all the singe ingredients, but was not really aware how these compile up to a look! Now, I see much clearer - thanks so much!
@@CullenKelly I've seen that HSV node for saturation video, which is a great technique! I think the question was about the difference between using HSV and HSL color spaces. Is there a difference in the "S" channel of those modes? Or are they interchangeable if you're turning off channels 1 & 3 anyway? I had the same question since you used both (HSV and HSL) in this video and it wasn't clear why you used HSV in the first node and HSL in the second.
Hello Cullen! I have the exact same question. Whats the difference between HSV and HSL, could you make a video of that? Why for example do you combine them to achieve this saturation-effect. Wouldn’t that be possible by just using HSL and raise the gamma and drop the gain there?
Any chance you could do a tutorial on pushed looks? I know you always say less is better. But how would you go about tackling a michael bay look or david fincher look where teel or greens are heavily pushed in the image? Thanks!
@@flochfitness Yes it is. Then you can tweak the DCTL to show only middle grey in DWG and save it as a power grade so you don’t have to do that every time.
Cullen- whenever I see you use RGB mixer, I see you setting the node gamma to Linear. But here, I assume you’re in Davinci Intermediate? In what scenarios would you use Linear vs Log on RGB mixer? Or like- how do you decide?
Would it be harmful in any way to set the two saturation nodes in composite mode to color? Does that effect the hsl and hsv color space in any way other than not altering the contrast?
Most test images with a color checker and manufacturer logo, like the one at the beginning of this video, can be found on the camera manufacturer's website!
Great video! Is there any advantage of achieving split toning through curves as opposed to, say, the HDR tools? Ive been using those since they make it pretty easy to balance blacks/whites after toning
Can someone explain or give a link to the explanation: why combination of pulling up saturation in HSV and pulling down in HSL makes a ramp similar to what we did on CURVE node? How can I check or see that ramp. How can I see that just simply adjusting saturation/gamma knobs I'm doing different thing? Thanks
Quoting a comment from below for your first question: Conor Tychowski "HSV is best used for adding saturation because it only adds density when increasing saturation. HSL works differently and adds density when saturation is decreased. So by adding saturation in gamma in HSV, and then subtracting saturation from gain in HSL, you’re creating a saturation curve whilst adding density all the way throughout" For your second question - you can pull up from the "Generators" in the "Effects" panel the "Grey Scale" generator and place it on your non-color managed timeline. By going to the Color tab and opening the Waveform Scope, you can see the effect that changing the Gamma and Gain will have on your image. When in either HSV or HSL with only the S channel active, the gamma and gain will directly affect the saturation of the image, essentially the luminance tools became saturation controls. This has the added benefit of changing the saturation in a more 'filmic' way (watch some Cullen's videos on this more in depth explanation).
Very new to color grading, kind of figuring this all out as I go along and this is all very helpful! You use the eyedropper on the davinci wide gamut gray still- What do I do if I do not have this? Is there a place to download/use this still or would it be something i could locate through other means?
I like how 1 spit toning helping all the different shots and with different lighting condition, but is that always the case?, sometimes we have to change lut, look for different shots in same scene right ?
I downloaded the exposure chart DCTL. However I am struggling with the step to grab still the DWG gray like your tutorial. It's was a wide range of grey not the only one grey. So what should I do after follow your instructions with DCTL
Why does the gain down adjustment have to be in an hsl node? Couldn't it also be in another hsv node since we're only operating on the saturation channel?
HSV is best used for adding saturation because it only adds density when increasing saturation. HSL works differently and adds density when saturation is decreased. So by adding saturation in gamma in HSV, and then subtracting saturation from gain in HSL, you’re creating a saturation curve whilst adding density all the way throughout
Hi Cullen, thanks for another great video! I'm trying to use the saturation technique that you explained but I encountered a strange phenomenon. When I use the gamma wheel to push in some saturation a lot of chroma noise artifacts appear. When I use the gain wheel it still happens but much less heavily. When I just raise to the top the RGB mixer bars instead it looks fine. I prefer the result achieved by using your technique but it is hard to handle. Do you have any idea why it happens? Thank you!
I am experiencing the same thing, even with 10bit footage. I have asked this before, but I haven't yet been able to get an answer. I agree, I really enjoy the aesthetic, but the image gets ripped apart in areas with low saturation. I think the issue is that the gamma is adding too much saturation to areas with next to no saturation, so it is forcing color into areas where there's nearly no color information, and this causes color "blocking" in the image since color is injected into areas that are more prone to color differences due to noise, rather than actual saturation. I've been experimenting with using the curves instead of the gamma wheel so that I can make sure to keep the saturation low in the blacks and shadow so as to avoid this. It's still challenging though to get it just right. Cullen, if you have any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated!!
@@henri-julien exactly, in the areas with dim light and low saturation it happens a lot. Hope that Cullen knows how to fix it. Btw do you mean that you use the curves in HSV-HSL color space?
@@nm800 Yes, instead of the 'Color Wheels' on the HSV node, use the 'Curves'. Keep the bottom-left node (node 1) and top-right node (node 4) where they are, and add 2 more. One (node 3) about half-way through the first of the major quadrants, and raise it up 1-1.5 minor quadrants. Then, add a final node (node 2) between nodes 1 and 3. Place this one on the top-right corner of the very first minor quadrant in the bottom-left corner so that it prevents any of the least saturated colors from becoming saturated. After hours of experimenting today, this finally worked for me. Let me know if any of that isn't clear!
hallo! i'm trying to figure out which parameters should I use in the DCTL to get this middle grey. I imagine "total steps = 1" and the "tone curve = DWG", but what about "middle grey" and "step increment" and the "show ramp checkbox"? someone can help? thanks
Definitely set your total steps to 1 and disable the ramp. You can leave the rest of the settings as is. Once you select your tone curve from the drop down menu, the patch of gray you see will be the middle gray value for the tone curve you selected! Hope that helps!
@@CullenKelly really hope to have an answer....: since I've studied much more videos of yours in those days, ive understand much more whats about this chart and I feel that ive such an important question especially after the "Build Your Resolve Toolkit for Perfect Contrast" video, where I got the "mid grey cheat sheet". trying to connect the points, I feel that, on the base of which log (tone curve) I'm working with, I should set the "middle gray" parameter, so that the middle gray chart will be more accurate. is this right? thanks again
@@lucaventurinicolorist Great question! Nope, that parameter works independently of your log curve, as it’s specifying your original linear value prior to log encoding. Hope that helps!
@@CullenKellyuh! thanks a lot, more clear now. so just out of curiosity, what can i use these other’s parameters for? btw im really waiting a video of yours talking about tone mapping and gamut mapping in the specific 😮 thanks again as usual!
Is there any reason why you placed HSL/V nodes before the Curves? In general, wouldn't you be adjusting exposure and curves (Contrast) first, before Saturation?
Great question! My general preference in look development is to let creative contrast and split-toning be the very last things in the pipeline -- great example of how methodology often differs between shot-level grading and macro-level look design
Does look involves hue to hue or hue to sat manipulations? Maybe not film look but others? If yes we can’t put them to timeline page because they have to be fed with the source using the parallel node right?
@@thatcherfreeman if you put for example the arrival movie lut you will see big hue to hue and hue to saturation changes, now we were taught to use those secondaries in the parallel so it’s fed with the original footage then how you put these into the timeline section
@@RafalGendarz Tbh it's all up to you, but my understanding is that Cullen will put the overall "Look" nodes in the Post-Clip group section or in the Timeline section of the node graph and then do per-clip adjustments in the Clip section. The HvH secondaries in the parallel node mixer would be per-clip adjustments. If you want your whole project to have some hue or saturation adjustments, you really should feel free to put those with the rest of your overall look. There's no reason to recreate the same adjustment on every clip in the parallel mixer at the Clip level. That's the whole "macro beats micro" thing Cullen talks about all the time.
@@thatcherfreeman yes sure that’s the problem. You want to keep them global but you can’t keep them in timeline as then they are not fed with original but they are going after the individual clip manipulations
@@thatcherfreeman Cullen is also talking about creating tools, so I would like to see one where I can put global adjustment that are fed before the individual as the parallel node 😀
This is THE video that I've been waiting for from CKC. So many great ideas in one place!
One of the best tutorial i've seen on color grading. Very uncommon knowledge and very helpful !
This is so great. It helps demystify what’s going on under the hood in a LUT as something pretty simple. It’s not magic, it’s 4 nodes! Even if the details get complex, the basic principles of look dev are not. Thank you, Cullen Kelly.
Thank you very much, I always want to know what happened in LUTs instead of using one. This has made it much clerarer now
This is by far the best color grading channel 💯. I love the way you explain and simplify the color grading process. You're amazing Cullen Kelly! Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge.🙏🏽❤️
Great content. Would you mind explain a bit about the difference between creating the saturation "shoulder" and "toe" using HSV and HSL nodes versus doing so using one node with sat vs sat and sat vs lum curve? Thanks a lot
Always, always, always worth to watch. Even from the more simple topic you can learn a lot.
After i discovered your channel i defenitely become a better colorist.
You make some great content. I'd love to see how you would go about correcting and grading D-Cinelike footage (from DJI drones). DJI doesnt provide any LUT for this so contrast/sat has to be done by hand. Can make it hard to be consistent across shots.
Another good one ! makes me want to play more with RGB mixer :D
I just feel so good after watch your videos, real knowledge
Such a cool and helpful video - I know all the singe ingredients, but was not really aware how these compile up to a look! Now, I see much clearer - thanks so much!
I would love a video of this length on density and potentially the difference behind HSV and HSL, or otherwise put substractive colour emmulation.
Hey Joel! You might try this video and see if it helps. ruclips.net/video/bAAjyNHDpyo/видео.html
@@CullenKelly I've seen that HSV node for saturation video, which is a great technique! I think the question was about the difference between using HSV and HSL color spaces. Is there a difference in the "S" channel of those modes? Or are they interchangeable if you're turning off channels 1 & 3 anyway? I had the same question since you used both (HSV and HSL) in this video and it wasn't clear why you used HSV in the first node and HSL in the second.
Hello Cullen! I have the exact same question. Whats the difference between HSV and HSL, could you make a video of that? Why for example do you combine them to achieve this saturation-effect. Wouldn’t that be possible by just using HSL and raise the gamma and drop the gain there?
Any chance you could do a tutorial on pushed looks? I know you always say less is better. But how would you go about tackling a michael bay look or david fincher look where teel or greens are heavily pushed in the image? Thanks!
Do you have a tutorial somewhere on how to create this 18% grey still of yours?
Great video as always :) Is there a way to download the "DWG gray"-Still that you used in this video? If you said it and I missed it, I'm sorry.
I believe it’s part of the starter pack when you sign up for the email list.
@@flochfitness Yes it is. Then you can tweak the DCTL to show only middle grey in DWG and save it as a power grade so you don’t have to do that every time.
@@jseamans I followed the install instructions for the DCTL but the drop-down menu just doesn't show up. What am I doing wrong?
I did not get the "DWR gray" to work in the free version but i took a screenshot of Cullens greycard and used that :)
@@jseamans I'm sorry.. I'm having problem trying to figure out how to get that middle grey.. what does it mean that I have to tweak the dctl? thanks
Cullen- whenever I see you use RGB mixer, I see you setting the node gamma to Linear. But here, I assume you’re in Davinci Intermediate? In what scenarios would you use Linear vs Log on RGB mixer? Or like- how do you decide?
Would it be harmful in any way to set the two saturation nodes in composite mode to color? Does that effect the hsl and hsv color space in any way other than not altering the contrast?
I learned so much with this. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Where do you get the collor checker still?
Most test images with a color checker and manufacturer logo, like the one at the beginning of this video, can be found on the camera manufacturer's website!
Great video! Is there any advantage of achieving split toning through curves as opposed to, say, the HDR tools? Ive been using those since they make it pretty easy to balance blacks/whites after toning
Can someone explain or give a link to the explanation: why combination of pulling up saturation in HSV and pulling down in HSL makes a ramp similar to what we did on CURVE node? How can I check or see that ramp. How can I see that just simply adjusting saturation/gamma knobs I'm doing different thing?
Thanks
Quoting a comment from below for your first question:
Conor Tychowski
"HSV is best used for adding saturation because it only adds density when increasing saturation. HSL works differently and adds density when saturation is decreased. So by adding saturation in gamma in HSV, and then subtracting saturation from gain in HSL, you’re creating a saturation curve whilst adding density all the way throughout"
For your second question - you can pull up from the "Generators" in the "Effects" panel the "Grey Scale" generator and place it on your non-color managed timeline. By going to the Color tab and opening the Waveform Scope, you can see the effect that changing the Gamma and Gain will have on your image. When in either HSV or HSL with only the S channel active, the gamma and gain will directly affect the saturation of the image, essentially the luminance tools became saturation controls. This has the added benefit of changing the saturation in a more 'filmic' way (watch some Cullen's videos on this more in depth explanation).
@@henri-julien thank you! It's more clear now
5.40 why mke two nodes, filp about with colour space when you could just do a luma vs sat curve on a single node?
Very new to color grading, kind of figuring this all out as I go along and this is all very helpful!
You use the eyedropper on the davinci wide gamut gray still- What do I do if I do not have this? Is there a place to download/use this still or would it be something i could locate through other means?
Nevermind! I Found it in the comments :P
I like how 1 spit toning helping all the different shots and with different lighting condition, but is that always the case?, sometimes we have to change lut, look for different shots in same scene right ?
I downloaded the exposure chart DCTL. However I am struggling with the step to grab still the DWG gray like your tutorial. It's was a wide range of grey not the only one grey. So what should I do after follow your instructions with DCTL
Just set your Total Steps to 1, and turn off 'Show Ramp' and you'll be good to go!
Why does the gain down adjustment have to be in an hsl node? Couldn't it also be in another hsv node since we're only operating on the saturation channel?
Same question here. Why HSL on the second node and not HSV. Great video Cullen, your technique and approach is excellent.
HSV is best used for adding saturation because it only adds density when increasing saturation. HSL works differently and adds density when saturation is decreased. So by adding saturation in gamma in HSV, and then subtracting saturation from gain in HSL, you’re creating a saturation curve whilst adding density all the way throughout
@@conortychowski I understand. Thank you so much for the reply!
@@Erik_001 No problem Erik!
@@conortychowski The whole process seems unnecessary to me, why is he using this setup instead of doing the shoulder in the lum vs sat tab?
I love this video so much!!
Hi Cullen, thanks for another great video! I'm trying to use the saturation technique that you explained but I encountered a strange phenomenon. When I use the gamma wheel to push in some saturation a lot of chroma noise artifacts appear. When I use the gain wheel it still happens but much less heavily. When I just raise to the top the RGB mixer bars instead it looks fine. I prefer the result achieved by using your technique but it is hard to handle. Do you have any idea why it happens? Thank you!
I am experiencing the same thing, even with 10bit footage. I have asked this before, but I haven't yet been able to get an answer. I agree, I really enjoy the aesthetic, but the image gets ripped apart in areas with low saturation. I think the issue is that the gamma is adding too much saturation to areas with next to no saturation, so it is forcing color into areas where there's nearly no color information, and this causes color "blocking" in the image since color is injected into areas that are more prone to color differences due to noise, rather than actual saturation.
I've been experimenting with using the curves instead of the gamma wheel so that I can make sure to keep the saturation low in the blacks and shadow so as to avoid this. It's still challenging though to get it just right. Cullen, if you have any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated!!
@@henri-julien exactly, in the areas with dim light and low saturation it happens a lot. Hope that Cullen knows how to fix it. Btw do you mean that you use the curves in HSV-HSL color space?
@@nm800 Yes, instead of the 'Color Wheels' on the HSV node, use the 'Curves'. Keep the bottom-left node (node 1) and top-right node (node 4) where they are, and add 2 more. One (node 3) about half-way through the first of the major quadrants, and raise it up 1-1.5 minor quadrants. Then, add a final node (node 2) between nodes 1 and 3. Place this one on the top-right corner of the very first minor quadrant in the bottom-left corner so that it prevents any of the least saturated colors from becoming saturated. After hours of experimenting today, this finally worked for me. Let me know if any of that isn't clear!
@@henri-julien thank you so much! I'll try that and will get back to you🙏
Just to the clear, shouldn't your colour balance node(s) occur AFTER you've set your Luminance and Contrast?
hallo! i'm trying to figure out which parameters should I use in the DCTL to get this middle grey.
I imagine "total steps = 1" and the "tone curve = DWG", but what about "middle grey" and "step increment" and the "show ramp checkbox"?
someone can help? thanks
Definitely set your total steps to 1 and disable the ramp. You can leave the rest of the settings as is. Once you select your tone curve from the drop down menu, the patch of gray you see will be the middle gray value for the tone curve you selected! Hope that helps!
@@CullenKellythanks a lot Cullen, for this and for every single video that u create for the community!
@@CullenKelly really hope to have an answer....:
since I've studied much more videos of yours in those days, ive understand much more whats about this chart and I feel that ive such an important question especially after the "Build Your Resolve Toolkit for Perfect Contrast" video, where I got the "mid grey cheat sheet". trying to connect the points, I feel that, on the base of which log (tone curve) I'm working with, I should set the "middle gray" parameter, so that the middle gray chart will be more accurate. is this right?
thanks again
@@lucaventurinicolorist Great question! Nope, that parameter works independently of your log curve, as it’s specifying your original linear value prior to log encoding. Hope that helps!
@@CullenKellyuh! thanks a lot, more clear now.
so just out of curiosity, what can i use these other’s parameters for?
btw im really waiting a video of yours talking about tone mapping and gamut mapping in the specific 😮
thanks again as usual!
Is there any reason why you placed HSL/V nodes before the Curves? In general, wouldn't you be adjusting exposure and curves (Contrast) first, before Saturation?
Great question! My general preference in look development is to let creative contrast and split-toning be the very last things in the pipeline -- great example of how methodology often differs between shot-level grading and macro-level look design
@@CullenKelly Thank you.
What percentage of gray did you use?
So Cullen, do you have videos grouped by just "Colour grading" as opposed to look dev?
Does look involves hue to hue or hue to sat manipulations? Maybe not film look but others? If yes we can’t put them to timeline page because they have to be fed with the source using the parallel node right?
I'm sure it's fair game to make those sorts of adjustments if the other tools aren't doing what you want.
@@thatcherfreeman if you put for example the arrival movie lut you will see big hue to hue and hue to saturation changes, now we were taught to use those secondaries in the parallel so it’s fed with the original footage then how you put these into the timeline section
@@RafalGendarz Tbh it's all up to you, but my understanding is that Cullen will put the overall "Look" nodes in the Post-Clip group section or in the Timeline section of the node graph and then do per-clip adjustments in the Clip section. The HvH secondaries in the parallel node mixer would be per-clip adjustments. If you want your whole project to have some hue or saturation adjustments, you really should feel free to put those with the rest of your overall look. There's no reason to recreate the same adjustment on every clip in the parallel mixer at the Clip level. That's the whole "macro beats micro" thing Cullen talks about all the time.
@@thatcherfreeman yes sure that’s the problem. You want to keep them global but you can’t keep them in timeline as then they are not fed with original but they are going after the individual clip manipulations
@@thatcherfreeman Cullen is also talking about creating tools, so I would like to see one where I can put global adjustment that are fed before the individual as the parallel node 😀
Thank you for these lessons
Thank u so much sir♥
Why not use Sat vs Sat?
Amazing as always, thank you Cullen!
How can i make DWG Grey
Here's a link to my exposure chart DCTL. Enjoy! procolor.ist/exposure-dctl
I appreciate.
@КалленКелли page not found at this link 😕
@@Kaprygunov it sends an email with a link to download
Oh yes 🎉
Free version please!
Thx Cullen! another great tut! I wish someday you'd make a tutorial on Braw Film Emo workflow! Cheers :)