Depth Map in DaVinci Resolve Studio 18

A few days ago, over at our facebook group, I had some pretty harsh criticism for a DP teaching a painfully obvious way to use power windows in DaVinci Resolve to create a halo effect around the subject’s head in order to make them stand out. A better way – particularly if you’ve got a stationary subject that’s not in a cluttered environment (e.g. an interview) – is to use the depth map in DaVinci Resolve Studio 18. You can desaturate, darken or blur the background a bit to create separation and draw the viewer’s eye to the subject in a way that looks very natural. Of course, it’s better to get it right in camera, but not all of us have the the time, the resources or the budget to hire a production designer! In the past, I’ve used the depth map to reduce the amount of film grain in the talent in order to create textural depth. Daria Fissoun, who’s written about color grading for DaVinci Resolve since version 15, explains how to use the depth map.