Davinci Resolve 18 | Simple Teal and Orange Look | Color Grading Tutorial
Davinci Resolve 18 | Simple Blockbuster Look Tutorial
Davinci Resolve 18 Blockbuster Look Tutorial! One of the most commonly used looks in cinema, it can be appealing and slightly annoying if not used correctly. There are many different ways to achieve this look, depending on factors such as budget, the film and wardrobe, how well the material is shot, and whether the look was planned during filming. I won’t be delving deep into the background of this, just know that there are tons of different ways of doing it. One thing I want to point out is that even high-end blockbuster films that have been shown in theaters around the world sometimes get this look wrong, and you can see obvious flaws. I won’t be picking on my fellow colorists here, but it’s something for you as a reader to be aware of. When you train your eyes, you can spot mistakes easily, and sometimes, budget doesn’t matter – mistakes happen. Anyways, here is one way of doing it. Enjoy
Special Thank you to FINDSTORY
Special Thank you to FindStory for making this tutorial happen. They generously provided footage allowing me to share knowledge with you guys! Be sure to check them out and use coupon code ARAMK to get 20% OFF
Blockbuster Look or Teal and Orange
This particular look works well with low color contrast, and the material was filmed on a cloudy day. Always learn how to analyze footage, as it will help you to immediately assess what can be done with it in the most efficient way!
The following material was shot on a RED Digital Camera, and here are the RAW settings. To achieve this look, you don’t need the raw file; however, you do need footage from a professional camera in real log format. Avoid using fake logs from DSLR cameras.
Once you have prepared your RAW settings, create a new node and add a REC709 LUT, or dial in a REC709 look with the curves or primary wheels. In this particular case, I used the Origami RED Natural LUT to convert the LOG into a REC709 look.
Now we have a nice clean looking image.Â
Check out from Origami LUT Store Collection
Create a new node after the REC709 and use a dropper to select the skin tone. However, it’s essential not to make any adjustments to it. Our skin looks perfect as is, we just need to define it. Don’t mess with it!
Now, with the skin tone node selected, convert it into a parallel node structure by pressing ALT+P or CMD+P on a Mac. Don’t do anything yet (see picture) and create a new serial node where we are going to add the film print LUT 2383 that comes with Davinci Resolve.
Luckily, in this example, I don’t have to tweak anything in the 2383 LUT node. However, sometimes by adding that LUT, it can crush the shadows and blacks. Be sure to use the primary shadows wheel to adjust it so that nothing is too compressed.
Now let’s get back to our parallel nodes and take care of the color temperature slider, which in this case, I am going to use to set the look. However, the first thing we need to do is to use the blue little square in our skin node and drag it to node number 4. It will pass on mask information to node number 4.
While we are in node 4, we need to reverse that mask so that we only apply the adjustment to the background!
Now, you can use the color temperature slider to adjust for that Blockbuster look. You can also use the tint control to add a slight hint of green, depending on your preferred flavor of the Blockbuster look.
Finally, to get a better blend of everything, add another serial node after the 2383 LUT node. In that serial node, use the curves control and only use the blue channel to add a little bit of green to the highlights, which will add better blending and warmth to the image.
And here is the final results.
