Monster Guide: HDR10 in Resolve Studio 18 (Part I)

Part I: Project settings

Part II: BT.2020 or P3-D65 Limited?

Part III: HDR Palette, project render settings, generate MaxCLL and MaxFall HDR10 metadata

Part IV: HDR to SDR Conversion LUT for YouTube

Part V: RAW

Part VI: The Grade

Part VII: The State of HDR Film Emulation LUTs & Plugins

Part VIII: Why HDR Production Monitors Matter

Note: The information in this guide is continually revised and expanded and the reader is urged to check back occasionally for updates. The current recommendations are valid as of macOS Ventura version 13.0, DaVinci Resolve Studio 18.0.4 build 5 and Desktop Video 12.2.2. RED Komodo project settings have been added to Part V: RAW.

Since publishing our exhaustive workflow for HDR10 in Final Cut Pro, we’ve been inundated with requests to do the same for DaVinci Resolve – and with the introduction of customizable HDR color wheels that allow extremely precise exposure and color adjustments from super blacks to specular highlights in Resolve Studio 17, a terrific NLE just got even better! It’s baffling how to this day the single greatest contribution to cinema since the talkies remains woefully neglected by many in the filmmaking community and that there exists in 2021 no one-stop source with concise, accurate, up-to-date information for the enthusiast on the acquisition, processing and delivery of HDR video. Moreover, of the exceedingly few HDR tutorials that can be found on the Web, many have inaccurate, incomplete or outdated information. Our goal was to make this tutorial as intelligible as possible, with the aim of inspiring even more filmmakers to discover the incredible universe that is HDR. In part one, we’ll cover (1) how to set up your a7s III; (2) project settings you’ll need to grade HDR10 in Resolve (project settings for the RED Komodo are found in Part V (RAW) and (3) how to configure your LG OLED for use as an HDR grading monitor.

Far from being just a gimmick, HDR is an entirely new language with its own unique vocabulary and an expanded tonal range, allowing for immense expressive possibilities. Yet much of the HDR content on video sharing platforms and streaming services like Netflix is virtually indistinguishable from SDR. And some HDR YouTube videos are so oversaturated, so grotesquely bright, so utterly lacking in contrast, with hideously blown-out highlights, that they resemble monstrous caricatures – yet unaccountably, they amass hundreds of millions of views – while at the same time exercising a corrupting influence on the taste of the general public. Click here to read more about HDR brightness levels and how shooting for HDR differs from SDR. For an example of superb HDR cinematography and grading, we can’t recommend the exquisitely lensed Netflix thriller The Spy highly enough. The gritty French action crime drama Ganglands is another spectacular example of HDR shooting and grading.

Here’s how to set up your Sony a7s III.

In picture profile, select either S-Gamut3/S-Log3 or S-Gamut3.Cine/S-Log3. For what it’s worth, S-Gamut3.Cine/S-Log3 is the most common color space used on Sony FX9, F55, FS7, F5 and FX6 Netflix productions (which also happen to use the P3-D65 color space in post-production). We’ve also been informed that key mastering engineers at Sony Pictures in Culver City recommend selecting the S-Gamut3.Cine/S-Log3 settings in Resolve.

For further examples illustrating how to expose correctly using the false color guide of the Ninja V, click here.

To sync audio with the Ninja V, be sure to check out this post!

Note: For the best results, we really recommend shooting RAW, not XAVC S-I internal.

Judder/panning speeds

Because motion artifacts such as judder are exacerbated when shooting for HDR, it is advisable to slow down pans whenever possible. At the same time, because of their nearly instantaneous response time, OLED panels are extremely prone to stutter, an artifact that also makes the image look jerky and which just so happens to be most visible in slow panning shots at lower frame rates (i.e.. 24 FPS). Realistically, higher luminances will in all likelihood require higher frame rates and synthetic shutter (or virtual shutter) to reduce judder to acceptable levels.

Displays

In spite of bizarre claims made in some online tutorials, MacBook Pro and iMac displays may not be used for grading HDR video. Furthermore, it is not advisable to connect either directly to an HDR monitor or television set without an I/O box. Nor should one be relying on a field monitor like the Shogun Inferno for color grading. Focus and resolution should only be judged on a screen that is sufficiently large to allow viewing at 1.5 times picture height. Suitable displays include the Asus ProArt PA32 UCX and LG OLED televisions. Apple’s Pro Display XDR is not recommended, as one can pick up as many as three Asus monitors or four 55″ OLED televisions for the cost of one XDR display with stand, nano textured glass and 3-year extended warranty. You might also consider adding a consumer reference display.

Update 19.10.2022 The MacBook Pro (2021) with Liquid Retina XDR miniLED display may be used for grading provided you’re able to check for things like focus, added film grain, noise and what effect if any haloing has on the grade on an OLED TV. Use Display Preset HDR Video (P3 ST2084).

The Liquid Retina XDR miniLED display of the MacBook Pro (2021) has greater brightness and something like double the color volume of the LG CX, making it possible to see details in highlights and color differences that are indiscernible on the OLED display. On the other hand, the larger size of the TV makes it possible to see noise, grain and details in the shadows that are difficult if not impossible to make out on a 16″ display. Which is why we keep them both!

“HDR mastering is for X” lets you specify the output, in nits, to be inserted as metadata into the HDMI stream being output, so that the display you’re connecting to correctly interprets it. Set the “nit” level (cd/m2) to whatever peak luminance level your HDMI connected HDR display is capable of. Under Lookup Tables, be sure to select Tetrahedral interpolation, as it outperforms Trilinear. Whenever possible, use 65grid LUTs, because when it comes to HDR WCG, traditional 33 X 33 X 33 LUTs are nowhere near large enough to avoid noticeable interpolation errors, particularly in the case of dark and saturated images.

Alternatively, unchecking Automatic color management reveals a wealth of options. For timeline color space, select either S-Gamut3.Cine/S-Log3 or S-Gamut3/S-Log3 and only limit output gamut to P3-D65 if your display is calibrated to P3-D65. Setting Input and Output DRT to None will result in a flat-looking, log-like image with lots of flexibility in post.

To use the HDR capabilities of an Apple MacBook built-in display in order to preview HDR content directly via the Resolve viewer, observe the following steps.

The Scopes

Be sure to enable extents to see the maximum overshoots and undershoots in your scopes.

Check ‘Show Skin Tone Indicator’.

Enable ‘Display Qualifier Focus’.

To prevent power windows from appearing on your external monitor, go to View > Window Outline and check Only UI.

Set up LG OLED for RGB 4:4:4

Both DaVinci Resolve and Dolby Vision certified trainers insist on full data levels for HDR video monitoring and delivery. Here’s how to set up your LG CX.

Double-check to confirm that you’ve disabled motion eye care, sharpening, TruMotion and other enhancements.

Display refresh rate

For sure, you’ll want to calibrate your LG OLED before using it as an HDR grading monitor.