DaVinci Resolve 17

For a limited time, purchasers of DaVinci Resolve Studio 17 will receive a free DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor (value $295.00), reason enough to upgrade for many. For me though, it’s all about the new HDR grading tools. When working in Final Cut, I make my basic adjustments (till now I haven’t done any proper grading!) using the color wheels, which usually involves reducing highlights, pulling down shadows and lifting the mids – then uploading to YouTube! hehe But there’s no convenient way to adjust a narrow range of highlights or shadows, so essential to HDR grading. In steps Blackmagic, with Resolve Studio 17:

DaVinci Resolve 17 adds an entirely new, next generation HDR Primary Grading Palette with customizable zone based exposure and color controls, along with perceptually color-constant image processing, giving you total control over HDR grades.

New HDR Color Wheels

Modern digital cinema cameras can capture 13 to 19 stops of dynamic range, which offers incredible potential for producing imagery that closely mimics human vision. However, extremely bright highlights or very dark shadows can be challenging to balance using traditional tools. The HDR palette allows you to address the different tonal ranges of the image, from shadows and highlights, to super blacks and specular whites. You can also create new color wheels and define your own custom tonal ranges in each image, enabling you to adjust tonality and colors based on the media’s unique requirements. The HDR grading palette gives you a level of creative control that has never been possible before!

That still doesn’t help me if I’m working with ProRes RAW though, which I greatly prefer to S-log3 for HDR; and HDR is all I see myself doing from here on out.