User Manual

Resolve Color Management for Editors
RCM is also easier for editors to use in situations where the source material is log-encoded.
Log-encoded media preserves highlight and shadow detail, which is great for grading and
finishing, but it looks flat and unpleasant, which is terrible for editing.
Even if you have no idea how to do color correction, it’s simple to turn RCM on in the Color
Management panel of the Project Settings, and then use the Media Pool to assign the particular
Input Color Space that corresponds to the source clips from each camera. Once that’s done,
each log-encoded clip is automatically normalized to the default Timeline Color Space of
Rec.709 Gamma 2.4. So, without even having to open the Color page, editors can be working
with pleasantly normalized clips in the Edit page.
Resolve Color Management and Camera Raw Formats
When you use RCM in a project that uses Camera Raw formats, color science data from each
camera manufacturer is used to debayer each camera raw file to specific color primaries with
linear gamma, so that all image data from the source is preserved and made available to
DaVinci Resolve’s color managed image processing pipeline. As a result, the Camera Raw
project settings and Camera Raw palette of the Color page are disabled, because RCM now
controls the debayering of all camera raw clips, and all image data from the raw file is available
no matter which Timeline Color Space you choose to work within.
Controlling the Input, Timeline, and Output Color Space
An additional benefit of using Scene Referred color management via RCM is that, not only do
you have the ability to identify the color science of each source media format (the Input Color
Space), but you also have explicit control over the working color space (the Timeline Color
Space), and you have separate control over the Output Color Space. Basically, Resolve Color
Management consists of two color transforms working together, converting the source clips via
assignable Input Color Spaces to the Timeline Color Space in which you work, and then
converting the Timeline Color Space to whatever Output Color Space you require to deliver
the project.
Resolve Color Management consists of three color transforms working together
This means that, as a colorist, you can set the Timeline Color Space that you’re working in to
whatever you prefer. If you prefer grading wide-gamut log media because you like the way the
grading controls behave in that color space, you can set the Timeline Color Space in the Color
Management panel of the Project Settings to any of the available log formats, including ARRI
Input Color Space Timeline Color Space Output Color Space
Chapter – 7 Data Levels, Color Management, and ACES 223