User Manual

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Exporting to CDL
DaVinci Resolve can export and import basic grading data to and from other applications via a
Color Decision List (CDL). CDLs are an industry-standard file format originally developed by the
American Society of Cinematographers’ technology committee. DaVinci Resolve supports the
1.2 CDL standard that defines the slope, offset, and power for each of the red, green, and blue
channels, as well as the overall saturation of each clip in a program.
CDL files are formatted similarly to EDLs, with SOP (Slope/Offset/Power), and SAT (Saturation)
values embedded as metadata in much the same way as comments are in a more typical EDL.
Here’s an example of a single CDL event:
020 001 V C 03:02:49:13 03:02:53:00 01:01:28:11 01:01:31:22
* ASC_SOP (1.109563 1.717648 0.866061)(-0.238880 -0.390357 0.353743)
(0.672948 1.384022 0.889876)
*ASC_SAT 1.000000
Because the CDL definition of a grade is so narrow, projects you’re planning to export to other
applications via a CDL must be constrained to only those operations the CDL mathematically
defines. Here are some things to keep in mind:
Only primary corrections in the first node of each clip are exported.
Restrict yourself to using the Lift/Gamma/Gain, Offset, and Saturation controls.
Keyframes are never exported. If keyframes are present in a grade, only the parameter
values at the first frame of the clip are used.
The track grade and group grades are completely ignored.
If there is an HSL Qualifier or a Power Window in the first node, it is ignored and the
corrections in that node are exported as if it were a primary correction.
Do not make Y’ only adjustments; they’re not compatible with CDLs. To ensure that
your exported CDL is accurate, set the Lum Mix parameter in the Primary Controls
palette for each grade to 0. For workflows involving frequent CDL export, you can turn
on the “Luminance Mixer defaults to zero” option in the Color section of the General
Options panel of the Project Settings to guarantee this parameter is always set to 0.
If your timeline conforms to all of these restrictions, then you’re ready to export a CDL.
To export a CDL:
1 Open the Edit page, right-click the Timeline you want to export in the Media Pool, and
choose Timelines > Export > CDL from the contextual menu.
2 Enter a name for the CDL, choose a location to save it to, and click OK.
For more information on importing a CDL to add grades to your project, see Chapter 123,
“Copying and Importing Grades Using ColorTrace.
Chapter – 169 Exporting Timelines and Metadata 3486