User Manual

To make an automatic correction, do one of the following:
 Open the Color Wheels palette to any mode, and click the A button in the lower left-
hand corner.
 Choose Color > Auto Color (Option-Shift-C).
 Press the AUTO COLOR button on the T-bar panel.
The advantage of Auto Color is that it gives you an immediate result for any clip without the
requirement for sampling the image or having a specific test pattern to analyze, but the
disadvantage is that this lack of guidance makes the usefulness of this command somewhat
hit-or-miss. When it works, it can work very well to give you a neutral starting point for further
grading. When it fails, you’re better off resetting the resulting adjustment and grading the old
fashioned way.
Legacy Auto Color
The previous methods for doing Auto Color and Shot Match are available from the
Color panel of the User Preferences, via two checkboxes named “Use Legacy Auto
Color/Shot Match.” With these enabled, DaVinci Resolve looks for the darkest levels in
the image to neutralize the RGB color balance in the blacks, and the brightest levels to
neutralize the RGB color balance in the highlights. Furthermore, Master Lift and Master
Gain are adjusted to maximize image contrast at the outer boundaries of 0 and 100
percent. Using this control with the Primaries Bars mode open makes it easier to see
what’s been changed after these automatic adjustments are made.
Auto Color Using the
DaVinci Control Panel
If you crave a bit more control over how the automatic color adjustment is made, and you have
a DaVinci control panel, you can use the cursor to choose which color values to sample when
making an automatic color balancing and contrast adjustment. It’s like a cross between the Auto
Color control and the White and Black Point controls found in the GUI. This additional bit of
guidance can make the results a lot more predictable.
To use Auto Grade to sample a feature using the DaVinci control panel:
1 Press the CURSOR button, on the trackball panel.
2 Use the fourth trackball to move the cursor to a feature you want to use to define the
automatic correction. Whichever color you move the cursor over will be sampled to
form the basis of the resulting color and contrast adjustment. Ideally, you should place
the cursor over a feature that’s supposed to be neutral, such as a black shadow, gray
wall, or white T-shirt. Don’t place the cursor over a feature that actually consists of
saturated color, or that’s overexposed, as DaVinci Resolve will overcompensate and
you’ll get poor results.
3 With the cursor placed over the desired neutral feature, press AUTO COLOR on the
T-bar panel.
DaVinci Resolve calculates an appropriate correction, which is applied to the
selected node.
Chapter – 116 Automated Grading Commands and Imported Grades 2636