Dan Moran
Bristol, UK
Selected Skills
What I Do
Dan’s a Senior Colourist based in the UK. Dan used to work staff at Smoke & Mirrors and then Coffee & TV – both in London before setting up his Bristol, UK creative grading studio in 2018.
He’s collaborated with major directors such as Yorgos Lanthimos, Joseph Kahn, Anton Corbijn, Mert & Marcus, Emil Nava, Director X, Martin Stirling, Ninian Doff, Kathryn Ferguson and many more. He’s also worked with internationally renowned cinematographers including Daniel Landin BSC, Henry Braham BSC, Christopher Probst ASC, Tim Maurice-Jones BSC, Stephen Murphy BSC ISC
Commercial clients include: Nike, H&M, John Lewis, Netflix, Gucci, Ikea, Cadbury, Samsung, Smirnoff and many more.
His music videos clients include Radiohead, Bjork, George Michael, Zayne Malik, Calvin Harris, Sam Smith, Depeche Mode, A$AP ROCKY and many more.
During this period, Dan was also the co-founder of and a Contributor to MixingLight.com.
Tutorials by Dan Moran
315 tutorials found.
Behind The Curtain - Building a HDR Ready Show Look
In this Insight Dan (well known for his gritty looks) tries to bring a bit of that style to a cleaner, HDR ready show look created in Baselight
Demystifying The Horseshoe - A Guided Dive Into The 1931 CIE Chart
We've all seen the 1931 CIE RGB Chromaticity Chart but do you understand its importance to film and video? How does it map to human vision?
Grading HDR & Dolby Vision: Patrick & Dan Join The Fun
In this installment of 'From The Mailbag' Team Mixing Light discusses Patrick & Dan's newest HDR projects &the challenges they faced.
Milestones: 1,000 Insights, New Pricing, and More!
1,000 Insights are now in our Insights Library! In this article Team Mixing Light has new announcements and a look back at our favorites.
Colorist Inspiration - UK Music Video Awards 2020
Dan shares some grading inspiration from the 2020 best colour grading nominees at the UK music video awards
Webinar: The Birth Of Color Photography & The RGB Color Process
Help us celebrate the 160th Anniversary of the color photograph, its history, and the RGB color model! Presented by colorist Hector Berrebi.
Building A Dynamic Demo Reel With Dávid Láposi - Mailbag LIVE!
Team Mixing Light hosts Hungarian colorist Dávid Láposi to discuss creating a personal, story-based demo reel to help advance your career.
Mailbag LIVE! Selecting The Proper Storage For Post Production
Today's Agenda: What do digital video post production professionals need to consider when buying a storage solution for their digital media?
Color Grading Challenge – Tri-X Style Black & White
Dan briefs you on a Black & White Tri-X look. If you grade to his brief and post in the comments, he'll play 'client' and offer feedback.
Colorist Inspiration – January 2021
Dan looks back at a rollercoaster 2020 and his most memorable moments. Then he looks forward to a new color grading suite he's building.
Behind The Curtain – GH5 Music Video In Baselight Part Two
How easy is it to do final finishing in Baselight? Dan shares his approach to adding titles, audio, compositing and rendering
Behind The Curtain - GH5 Music Video In Baselight
Grading a one-shot music video shot on the Panasonic GH5 was challenging. Check out this Insight to learn Dan's approach.
A Mixing Light Special Report: Resolve 17 Announcement
Blackmagic Design just announced Resolve 17. We jump on a call to discuss the release, its timing, new features, and our initial thoughts.
Mailbag Live & Revisiting Why Does It Look Different On Export?
Team Mixing Light announces an upcoming new website feature & the Team revisits the issue of exports looking 'wrong'.
Moving To Baselight Fulltime
In July I started the proecess of moving to Baselight full time for my grading. As a 10 year Resolve veteran I need to let go of the past
Baselight Start to Finish – Project Creation & Conform
Everything you need to know from project creation to starting your grade including, colour management, project management & Scene Detection
Baselight Start to Finish - Series Overview Kodachrome Inspired Look
An introduction into building a Kodachrome inspired look on Arri Alexa footage using Basegrade, Looks, Grain and Color Crosstalk
Grading Challenge – Baselight Sci-Fi Grade
In this insight Dan reviews your submissions and shares his own Sci-Fi look using primarily Baseilght Base Grade
Grading Challenge – Modern Sci-Fi Brief
Dan plays client and dishes out a grade brief for a Modern Sci-Fi film that he'd like you to execute. Remember there are no wrong looks!
Colorist Inspiration - January 2020
Dan kicks off January 2020 by looking back on 2019 and speaks about his personal favourite grades & experiences of the past year.
Color Grading In Spectachrome Part 2 - Working With The Fuji XT-3
Working with new cameras is always a challenge. Get an inside look at what Dan does when working with the Fuji XT-3 camera
Color Grading 'Origins' In Baselight - Project Overview
In this new series, Dan's grading the short film 'Origins' (using Baselight). It's got VFX, ACES, multiple deliverables (and light sabers).
Color Grading In Spectachrome - Starting With Grain
Dan answers some comments from members about why he adds his grain to the image at the very beginning of his node graph
Color Grading In Spectachrome - Going Full Wes Anderson Part One
Dan cracks open another project fresh from the grading suite. In this part we take a look at the Spectachrome brief & project organisation.
Working On The Road - Taking Vacation As A Freelance Colourist
Working as a freelance colorist seems like freedom and flexibility. But what do you do on vacation - and the client has urgent revisions?
My Favourite New Feature In Resolve 16 - Analog Damage ResolveFX
Dan shares his thoughts on recreating tape based artifacts using the brand new Resolve 16 Analog Damage tool.
Troubleshooting 101 – Color Compressor & Node Resizing
Dan shares his breakdown of cleaning up a bike frame using the color compressor and node resizing in Resolve
Troubleshooting 101 - Cleaning Up An Annoying Background
Dan shares his thoughts behind his solution to removing a reflection using Resolve's Color Page - on a 16mm shot with moving grain structure.
Look Inspiration - Emulating VHS Camcorder Footage
What's harder than faking a VHS-look from a high-end camera? Intercutting that look with actual crummy VHS. Learn one way to do it.
Colorist Inspiration January 2019 - Most Memorable Jobs of 2018
Every year Dan looks back at the previous year and shares his greatest successes. This year, he focuses on his most memorable jobs.
Behind The Curtain - 16mm Style Grade Part Four
Dan wraps up his behind the curtain series with a watch through and matching pass on the whole video to make sure it flows as a whole film
Get Out There! - Updating Your 2019 Showreel
Dan shares the reasoning behind his new showreel and also gives some tips on when and where to share it for maximum views
Behind The Curtain - Not So Near-Set Grading
Dan shares his story from a recent "not so near-set grade" for an upcoming collaboration with friends on a short film.
Behind The Curtain - 16mm Style Grade Part Three
Dan is back in part three of his unfiltered look at a recent grade. In this part we take a look at matching the externals in this 16mm style
Behind The Curtain - 16mm Style Grade Part Two
Dan picks up where he left off in this series on real time grading a music video. In part 2 we look at the noisy internal scene.
Behind The Curtain - 16mm Style Grade Part One
Dan shares the opening part to his full unfiltered look at how he graded a music video in a 16mm film style.
Behind The Curtain - Cleaning Up For 2019
Dan shares his thoughts on trying to clean up his grades in 2019 and moving away from his favourite film emulation techniques.
Behind The Curtain - 16mm Film Emulation
In this Insight, Dan shares his approach to creating a classic 16mm Film Emulation that he used on a recent music video.
Behind The Curtain - 80s Release Print Dirt & Texture
Finding the right balance of noticable and realistic is always a challenge. Dan shares behind the curtain on a film release print style grade.
Color Correcting With Blending Modes -Recovering Highlights With Multiply
Dan shares his technique of using the multiply blending mode to recover highlights easily and naturally via a layer node.
Colorist Inspiration - UK Music Video Awards 2018
Dan shares his thoughts on the UKMVA Nominations 2018 for best grading. This year he was also part of the judging panel.
Grading Challenge - 90s Video Review
Dan shares his 90s video review and his attempt at going bold, bright soft and crushed in this grading challenge.
Color Grading Challenge: Recreating the 90s Pop Video Look
Dan kicks off a new grading challenge where he plays your client. It's based on a 90s pop video style color grade he recently recreated.
Behind The Curtain - Liberty Commercials: Adding Depth To Drone Footage
Drone footage is a very common occurance on timelines these days. Dan shares his techniques for adding depth to the footage.
Behind The Curtain - Liberty Commercials Sun vs No Sun
Sometimes we are gifted with better sun than other times. In this Insight Dan shares his experience on a job shot over multiple months.
Behind The Curtain - Thrice The Grey
In this Insight, Dan shares his experience in developing a look to back up the lyrics and narrative in a music video by his favourite band.
Colorist Inspiration July 2018: Beyond the Usual Suspects
For Dan's Inspiration July 2018 he shares his list of top colorists inspiring him in the summer of 2018 with their amazing grading work.
Rediscover The Basics - Fixing Exposure Shifts
Exposure shifts creep up in projects regularly. With the right node structure and correct technique you can easily fix these in seconds.
Behind The Curtain - Live Concert Grade
Dan shares a tale of things going a bit wrong on a live concert grade w/ high powered LED lights and how moving over to ACES solved things.
DaVinci Resolve Compound Nodes: Efficiently Managing Looks
Now that DaVinci Resolve is gaining tools by the month, Dan takes a look at managing the node graph to keep things organised and flexible - with the goal of allowing for quick changes.
Inspired By Lacoste, Timeless - Learning From An Award Winning Grade
What makes an award-winning grade so special? Dan attempts to break down what made the Lacoste, Timeless commercial so special and how we can pick up some tips to use on our own grades.
Colorist Toolbox 2.0 - Building A Look Library 2018
The only person that is going to inspire you is yourself. A Look Library surrounds you with inspiration keeping you motivated and current.
Practical Beauty Color Grading Level One: Quick and Effective
Sometimes even offering the smallest level of beauty work for a client can go a long way. Learn quick skin-smoothing / eyebag-reducing tips .
Practical Beauty Work - Why You Need To Be Offering It
Beauty work and re-touching can be a great additional source of income as a freelance colourist. Dan shares his thoughts and kicks off a new series on getting involved in retouching.
Inspired by Mini 2018 - How One Colorist Emulates A Vintage Look
We've all seen amazing commercials and films that inspire us, but how do we turn that into color corrections that we can use on our own projects? Dan shares his approach to being inspired by a recent award-nominated color grade.
Colorist Inspiration -Best Colorist Nominations 2018
Dan Moran shares his thoughts on the best commercial color grade nominations 2018. Top work from excellent colorists are great sources of ideas.
Behind The Curtain - Can You Prebuild An Ideal Node Structure?
Can you prebuild a perfect node structure and use it to speed up your grading? Dan is taking a deep dive to find out how well it works, and if it's a genius idea or a total waste of time.
From The Grading Room – Is Yellow The New Orange?
In the last couple of years there has been a shift away from teal and orange to teal and yellow. Dan investigates that transition and looks at his own grades. He also asks do you miss teal and orange?
Behind The Curtain - Refining and Enhancing 'Bread'
In this insight, we take a look at the final pass on the bread short film. Dan looks at his matching with fresh eyes, checks his black and white levels and decides on the sharpening and grain levels of the film.
Behind The Curtain - Shot Matching 'Bread'
In part two of grading the bread short film, Dan dives into the matching side of things. Although it's the least glamorous part of grading it's also the most important.
Behind The Curtain - Bread Short Film Part One
In this new series, Dan is showing a real-time grade of the bread short film he graded recently. Shot in less than ideal conditions with natural light on a compressed camera, it's a great chance to see the good the bad and the ugly from the grading suite.
Behind the Curtain - Commercial #2: From Base Grade to Final Look
In this Insight, Dan covers another of his behind the curtain commercials. This time we look at a bright morning kitchen scene. In this real-world assessment and grade, Dan focuses on getting a bright airy feel without losing on the filmic sense.
Behind the Curtain - Commercial #1: From Base Grade to Final Look
Dan returns to his Behind The Curtain series with a real-time insight that shows his approaches to this commercial grade. He covers primaries, look theory, shot matching and Look refinement.
From The Grading Suite: From Short Form To Reality
Dan shares the tale of his attempt at grading long-form reality television after spending 10 years being a pampered commercial colorist.
Grading A Short Film Part 2 - Testing The Feel Of The Footage
Dan shares his assessment of how to get the feel of the footage before you speak to the director. It helps when you can be upfront about what is and isn't possible.
Grading A Short Film Part 1 - Download The Footage
Dan is excited to launch a new series on Mixing Light that will feature a briefing from the real director of the project. In this intro Insight, download some RED 8k footage to attempt a grade before getting creative brief from the client.
What Not To Do When A Client Asks For A New Direction
Dan shares a tale from the grading room of a film emulation gone wrong and how by missing the mistake was destined to fail in the grade with his clients.
Building A Show LUT to Keep Your Looks Consistent
When you have complex node trees, rolling it into a show LUT can make your life. Learn how to build your own LUT for your project.
Colorist Inspiration - January 2018 Edition
Colorist Dan Moran spends the first day of January 2018 looking back on his best work from 2017. Picking his favourite commercials, music videos and long form narrative projects and also sharing the stories behind when he enjoyed them so much.
Image Cleanup In Resolve - Rotoscoping, Cloning, and Repeated Frames
Being able to offer Basic Cleanup in the grade is a great ability. It saves moving to and from a compositing application and helps finish off that job.
The Fundamentals of Rotoscoping in DaVinci Resolve
Sometimes a shot is so basic that a little VFX knowledge goes a long way. In this insight Dan shares his real world rotoscoping example
Fixing VFX Colorspace Issues In A Problematic Pipeline
VFX colorspace issues are the last thing you need when you are on a tight deadline. Dan shares his experience solving issues like these.
Inside the Color Grade Of A Furniture Brand - Series Overview
In a new series Dan shares a look behind the curtain at a real world grading project. From quoting to delivery he dives deep on his process.
Color Correcting Using New Software - Have Confidence In Yourself
Most of us are more comfortable using the same software all the time but why limit your opportunities? Dan shares his tips on learning a new software.
Colorist Inspiration - UKMVAs Best Color Nominations 2017
Dan shares his thoughts about the UKMVA nominations 2017 for best music video color grading award and asks you to predict the winner
Grade Rescue - Saving A DSLR Moving Portrait
Dan filmed some bad footage on his 7D with the wrong color temperature, harsh lighting & heavy compression. He offers up his best effort on a grade rescue.
Colorist Inspiration – September 2017
Dan shares his inspiration for this month by checking out the nominations for Outstanding Color Grading at the HPA awards
Color Grading Challenge - Beauty Grading Review
Dan critiques your beauty grading entries and shares his attempt. The challenge was quite advanced and the results are great. Dan's DRX is also downloadable
Grading Challenge - Beauty Grading Brief
Beauty grading is a discipline all on its own. Dan shares a typical client brief and will offer stages of feedback like a real world client
Grading Challenge - Reviewing My Car Brief Grades
In this insight Dan is reviewing your efforts on his car brief and also sharing his attempt at the shot to show his approach to the grade.
Eye Training : Diagnose and Compare
In a new series Dan shares his guide to training your eye for contrast issues. Follow this four step process to learn how to diagnose and fix your images
Grading Challenge - Follow My Brief
Following a brief for unattended grades can be incredibly difficult. Dan sets up a virtual client grade and will give feedback on your grade in the comments
Thinking Like A Colorist - The "Final Grade"
An old school technique that is still regularly used today in commercials. Having a break between grading the same footage has huge advantages.
Colorist Inspiration – August 2017
Dan is turning 30 and shares his work from across the years to show how his grading has evolved and improved year after year
Feature Grading: Using Markers To Keep Your Sanity Part 1
Managing the elements and components on a feature film is pretty much a full time job. Dan shares his tips for using markers to stay on top of his project
Thinking Like A Colorist - Assessing Tonal Range
Dan shares his new approach to Assessing Tonal Range and the initial grading moves by asking. Are you trying to make it look better or different?
Easily Create A Branded Before & After PDF Workflow
Sending before & after stills is part of our life as a colourist. Dan shares his template and thoughts behind using a branded PDF to send to his clients
Dust Busting - Removing Dirt In Resolve
Dust Busting in one of those tools you don't know exists in Resolve. Dan shares his tips on how and when to use it in the grade
Creative Color Grading - Blending LUTs | Mixing Light
Some jobs just call for the grade to be turned up to 11. A fun way to do this is by blending multiple LUTs together and enjoying the happy accidents!
From The Grading Room – Grading Lucy Rose
Dan shares the behind the scenes thoughts that go into such a stylised 70s era music video for Lucy Rose. 80% in camera and 20% in the grade
From The Grading Room – A Tribute To An Icon
Sometimes we need to go outside our role as traditional colorist. Dan shares his story form his work paying tribute to an icon
Dan's Month In ACES
Dan spent a month in ACES getting to know the new way of grading. In this insight he shares his thoughts on the good the bad and the ugly of ACES.
Creative Grading - Retro Sci-fi Look
Sometimes you have to go full cheese and pay homage to looks and films from the 70s and 80s. In this insight we create a retro Sci-Fi look
Find Your Color Correct Inspiration -Best Colorist Nominations 2017
Dan Moran shares his thoughts on the best commercial color grade nominations 2016. Top work from excellent colorists are great sources of ideas.
DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel - Scroll Mode
Using Scroll Mode in DaVinci Resolve is a quick and effortless way to audition grades for your current shot by loading grades
Colorist Inspiration - ACES In May
Dan is committing to doing work only in ACES in May. It's time to get out of the comfort zone & stop testing. Changing our technique is scary but also fun!
From The Grading Room - Are We Sterilizing Images?
Now that most people have a basic knowledge of color correction thanks to Instagram what does that mean for us colorists?
Colorist Inspiration – March 2017
Dan shares his inspiration for this month including BTS on Moonlight, Peter Doyle, A$AP Rocky and a Lorde video shot on 16mm
Becoming A Better Colorist - Stop Focusing On Individual Shots
We should be spending more time looking at the timeline as a whole than focusing on shots. Nobody ever watches a single shot!
Skin Tone Essentials: Hands, Arms, Legs and Feet Part One
Have you ever considered hands or legs when doing a beauty grade? We spend hours on faces but the skin should match all over the body.
From The Grading Room – Knowing When To Start From Scratch
Sometimes when grading you end up going in totally the wrong direction have to just stop what your doing and start from scratch.
Lens Profiling - What Is It And Why Could It Be Useful?
Is lens profiling something we should be looking at as colorists or is it a lot of extra effort to save a small amount of time in the grade?
Feature Grading: Getting Started
Getting started on a feature film can be a daunting process. Dan shares his experience on getting the ball rolling slowly and carefully
Feature Inspired Color Grading Looks - Blade Runner 2049
Inspired by the Blade Runner 2049 trailer Dan shares his attempt at recreateing the intense warm washed look.
Sky Replacement - Is It An Essential Skill For Colorists?
If a client asks for a sky replacement; as a colourist, should you? If so, how? Plus a tip on where to start when evaluating a sequence.
Why We Love LUTs and How To Replace Your LUT Addiction
Most of us love to use LUTs behind closed doors. Dan shares his thoughts on why and how to break out of needing LUTs
Creating Haze To Add Depth To Your Image Without Using Shapes
Using Haze as a grading tool is an alternative method to using Vignettes. Making things lower contrast helps them sit back in the image.
Finishing In Resolve - Reframing, Blanking & Delivering
Reframing in Resolve as become common practice. Dan shares his approach to finishing in the box and shares his tips and tricks
Developing Looks And Settling On Your Exposure Levels
In How I Grade Part Two Dan shares more steps in his grading process. We look at auditioning looks and checking the correct exposure
How A Colorist Makes Decisions Through The Grading Process
Dan attempts to walk through his thoughts when grading step by step from quality control to setting the first primary correction
How To Prepare And Quote A Bid To Color Grade A Feature Film
Dan jumps from commercials to features in this series and shares his guide to getting organized and plan for efficient feature grading
Creating the Classic Black and White Look By Thinking Like A Colorist
Dan shares the skills he learned in the darkroom and how he applies them to grading black and white in DaVinci Resolve
Thinking Like A Colorist: Breaking Down the Western Scene
Download the footage and follow along as professional Colorist Dan Moran, CSI color corrects a classic shot in the style of a Hollywood Western Look.
Thinking Like A Colorist - Color Correcting A Forest Scene
Colorist Dan Moran shares a color correction breakdown on how he approaches a new shot, sight unseen. How to make it an alien planet or a shed in a garden?
Matching Pantone References - And When To Say No
Matching Pantone references to video can be tricky at the best of the times. Get advice on getting that exact match - even if it's not precisely correct.
Warm Looks: Yellow Warmth Vs Red Warmth (which are you?)
Warm looks don't always have to be rosy red and cozy looking. Take a look at a non-traditional warm color and learn how to add it to your color toolkit.
From The Grading Room - Behind The Looks of 2016 UK Best Nominated Commercials
First, explore the list of the UK's 2016 Best Nominated Commerials - then ask a professional colorist to breakdown how they achieved their Looks.
Find Your Color Correct Inspiration - British Arrows Best Colorist Nominations 2016
Dan Moran shares his thoughts on the best commercial color grade nominations 2016. Top work from excellent colorists are great sources of ideas.
Showreel 2016 - Showcasing Your Creative Range To Win Clients
Are you showcasing your range of looks and grades with your showreel? Dan breaks down his latest reel and explains his approach.
Remote Grading Via Skype
When Your Director Is 6000 Miles Away In this Insight I’d like to share an experience I had this week. I had a room full of clients in London but…
Thinking Like A Colorist - Considering Final Contrast Pt 1
Considering Final Contrast before you make your first primary correction is a huge advantage creatively to help you get the best results
Colorist Inspiration - UKMVAs Best Color Nominations 2016
Dan shares his thoughts about the 2016 best color grading award nominations and asks you to predict the winner
Color Grading with the ResolveFX Lens Flare Plug-in
Dan shares his experimentation with the idea of grading using lens flares for subtle lighting effects to help match and lift scenes.
Colorist Inspiration – August 2016
The summer vacations are winding to a close, the kids are returning back to school and the post industry is winding up for that crazy blur that is the September…
From The Grading Room – Radiohead
Dan shares his story from the grading room on grading a short promo project for radiohead
Should You Go For That Film Look Or Embrace The Digital Clean Look?
Sometimes going for the film look is not the right decision. Dan shares his tips on going digital to give us great punchy sharp images.
How to Protect Skin Tones While Color Grading with a Heavy Look
When working with heavy looks we sometimes forget about protecting skin tone and making our artist/actor look as good as possible
How to Color Grade With Client Revisions In Mind
Sometimes we get lost in the heat of the moment and over complicate our grades. Dan shares his tips for responsible grading when time is short
Conform Issues Database – Introduction
Conforming timelines can be time-consuming before you even start color correcting. Learn the common issues (and how to fix them).
Colorist Inspiration – July 2016
Dan shares his top grades from July as a source of great colorist inspiration
Dirty Color Grading Looks - Taking Your Image To The Limit
Dan shares his techniques for taking your image to the brightness, saturation, and sharpness limits while maintaining legal levels.
Dirty Looks: Early '00s Looks
Dan shares some looks from his past focusing on two Early '00s looks in particular. One home digital camera one heavy 35mm music video
Dirty Looks - Emulating Early Film Looks with Light Leaks
Early film looks are a very popular request from clients.They can be tricky to build quickly so Dan shares his DRX files that you can download
Colorist Inspiration – June 2016
Summer has arrived and the annual down turn in business begins. My clients first head off to the cannes lions festival and then off on their summer holidays. It’s the…
Dirty Looks - Looks Throughout The Ages
At some point in every colorists career you will be asked to make some looks throughout the ages like 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. Dan shares how.
Dirty Looks – To Grain Or Not To Grain
Adding grain can help add a wonderful cinematic feel to a project but in the world of heavy compression is it a smart decision?
From The Grading Room – Wonderful Life
Dan shares parts of his conversation about the grade on recent wonderful life commercial grade.
Dirty Looks - Pushing Your Images Toward Extreme Warmth
Some projects call out for extreme warmth to help back up the story. Learn methods to get an extremely warm feel that looks real.
Inspiration - Color Grading Methods In A Fashion Commercial
Get an inside look on methods and techniques a professional digital video colorist uses on a short-form fashion commercial.
Colorist Inspiration - Creating Looks from Reference Images
Learn how Dan uses reference images to create his Looks - and download the sampe footage to try your hand and practice your skills.
Colorist Inspiration – What Makes A Good Colorist?
A topic that came up time and time again while meeting lots of awesome colorists at NAB this year was : How did you come up with the look for…
Colorist Inspiration – April 2016
NAB is over and a whole heap of new tools and toys have arrived for us colorists. The perfect time for another installment of colorist inspiration. This installment is slightly…
Resolve 12.5 - Dan's Favorite New Can't Miss Features
Resolve 12.5 is here and Dan shares his thoughts on the exciting brand new features and how they can be used to help you colour correct better.
Shot Matching Challenge – Match My Shot Part 2
Dan shares his node breakdown from his match my shot challenge including a downloadable Resolve project
Shot Matching Challenge – Match My Shot Part 1
Shot Matching – The Challenge I had an eye-opening experience in my grading suite this week. Some clients of mine asked me to match grade some new shots that were…
From The Grading Room: Turning A Session Around
not every session can be amazing and Dan shares his tips on turning a session around and winning over a client when things don't go your way.
From The Grading Room Grading Underwater Footage
Grading underwater footage is like grading footage from an alien planet. Dan shares his approach and technique for working in that world
Shot Matching 101 - Techniques for Matching Black Levels
In this insight dan shares his approach and methods to matching black levels. Matching is hard but with practice you can become much faster!
Shot Matching - Learning Through A Commercial Case Study
Dan shares a job as a commercial case study in shot matching - from pristine stock footage to constantly changing clouds.
From Big Shop To One Man Show - A Workflow To Minimize Downtime
Building a one man workflow to get the maximum out of your time grading.
Showreel 2016 – Who Is Your Target Audience?
It's time to cut your reel and Dan shares his advice on his Showreel 2016
An Introduction into Shot Matching
Shot Matching is one of the hardest areas of being a colorist. Dan shares his approach to going head to head with mismatched shots.
Colorist Inspiration - February 2016
Dan rounds up the best colorist inspiration from February 2016 with some of the best grades from the new year so far.
Look Inspiration - Inspiration From Unlikely Sources
Sometimes inspiration can strike in the strangest of places. In this insight Dan shares how he finds inspiration from unlikely sources.
Look Inspiration - Bond Movie Inspired Retro Look
Dan shares his attempt and look inspiration in DaVinci of a fabulous Bond movie inspired 35mm film look from the music video Genghis Khan by Miike Snow.
Look Inspiration - Getting the 70s TV Inspired Retro Look
There is a time in every colorist’s life when we need to add some retro 70s TV vibes to footage! This insight is based on both creating a parody of…
Look Inspiration - Adding To The Narrative In A Flashback
Sometimes we need to add more to our image to sell a flashback. Dan shares his tips for a firey look and adding diffusion and motion blur.
Look Inspiration - B&W Looks
Dan shares two of his favourite B&W Looks and the DRX files for you to download
Look Inspiration - Colorized Film Look
Dan shares his look and drx files for a Colorized Film Look
Colorist Inspiration – Dan’s Best Of 2015
Day 16: 25 Insights in 25 Days Holiday Marathon Colorist Inspiration – Dan’s Best Of 2015 As the year comes to an end I thought it would be the perfect…
Look Inspiration - Getting the Classic ENR Processed Look
Dan shares his ENR processed look with his nodes and footage to grade along with at home.
Look Inspiration - Executing the Cold Commercial Look
A cold commercial look can help bring bright natural commercial into a moody and grungy world
Christmas Clean Up: Refresh Your System
In this Insight Dan explores some things to think about when it comes to doing a refresh of your system.
Skin Tone Essentials
In this Insight, Dan guides you through key aspects of getting proper skin tone in your grade.
Colorist Inspiration - Adding Sunshine
Adding Sunshine In post can be tricky but Dan shares his techniques in DaVinci resolve to turn dull and grey images into warm and sunny!
Look Inspiration - Red Filtered B&W
Dan shares his thoughts on how to emulate shooting black and white with a red filter on front of the lens to give an interesting look.
Look Inspiration - Warm Commercial Look
Dan shares his attempt at matching the shot on 35mm film warm commercial look of one of his favorite commercials this year.
Colorist Inspiration - November
Its time for the big christmas ads to roll out and more colorist inspiration. Dan share's some of the top work and one of his own.
LUT Limitation - The Best Of Both Worlds
The main pain when working with LUTs is not knowing exactly what they are doing. Dan shares his technique of LUT Limitation.
Look Inspiration - Hyperreal Look
We all strive to create the most cinematic looking images possible but sometimes its fun to go for a harsh hyperreal sharp bright look.
Tales From The Grading Suite - Lighting The Looks
When jobs look good you wonder why your own work might not look as good. In this insight Dan shares his thoughts on Lighting The Looks.
Tales From The Grading Suite - DP Colorist Communications
Have you ever wondered what it's like to speak to a DP before a job is shot? Dan shares a real world discussion on a tricky job.
Tales From The Grading Suite - Pains In The LUT
Dan shares recent issues from his grading suite and focuses on noise and keying issues when working with a lut on recent jobs
Colorist Inspiration - Best Color Grade Nominations
The 2015 Best Color Grade nominations are out and Dan wants to know who you would vote for and award best music video grade of 2015!
Fusion - Expanding Your Colorist Toolbox
Blackmagic Design Fusion is now free for everyone so make sure to add it to your colorist toolbox. Dan runs down his favorite tools so far
Look Inspiration - Metallic Monochrome
Sometimes you need to go hard and contrasty with black and white and Dan shares his experience when building a metallic monochrome look
Colorist Inspiration - September 2015
Septembers most memorable grades roll in and dan shares the best work he has seen from young colorists including one of his own!
The Art Of Color Grading: Tech Versus Art
Color grading is a balance between technical knowledge and creative vision. Dan explores the issue of tech versus art colorists face today.
Rotoscoping In Resolve : An Introduction
Rotoscoping in Resolve is becoming more and more necessary. Dan shares some hints and tips on how he approaches the task.
DaVinci Resolve Remote Grading : An Introduction
Remote grading in DaVinci Resolve is a unique way to color grade. It allows clients to view real time grading anywhere in the world.
Colorist Inspiration: August 2015 MixingLight.com
Colorist Inspiration – August 2015 The Best Grades From Around The World The world of color grading is mostly a thankless craft. Regular viewers don’t even know we exist and most…
Rebooting Your Eyes : How To Step Back From Your Grade
Rebooting Your eyes can be tricky after spending hours, days or even weeks on a project. Dan shares how to refresh your eyes for a grade.
Anatomy Of A Commercial Color Grade
The question of how to commercials look so good crops up constantly. Dan shares the in and outs of a grading session to show you how
Compositing in DaVinci Resolve 12 - A First Look
Have you ever tried compositing in DaVinci Resolve? It used to feel like a work-around. In Resolve 12, it's MUCH easier. This video explains.
DaVinci Resolve 12 First Look : Colorist Crash Course Mixing Light
Resolve 12 is here and this insight is aimed to get experienced colorists up and running as soon as possible with some tips from Dan
Baselight For Avid - Using Windows and Shapes
Using windows and shapes for masking areas and localised corrections are essential when grading! Learn how it works in Baselight for Avid.
Baselight For Avid - Colorist Crash Course - MixingLight.com
In this insight Dan gives you a crash course on all the major tool sets that you need to know to start grading in Baselight
Baselight For Avid: Initial Thoughts on Primary Corrections
Dan shares his first thoughts on making primary corrections using the Baselight for Avid color correction plug-in.
Grade Breakdown - Challenge Your Imagination
In this insight Dan shares a Grade Breakdown on a recent commercial to challenge you to use your eyes to notice all his grades
Grading CG Footage - An Introduction To Video Game Footage
Video games are just as visually stunning as films these days but how to you approach color grading CG footage from one?
Degrading Footage - How To Mess Up Shots
Sometimes you need to throw the rules out the window and create the worst possible image for effect. Dan shows you how to do this in Resolve
Color Washes - Working With Extreme Washes
Color washes are the most extreme form of grading but can be very rewarding when done well. Dan shows you how he thinks they work best.
Rediscover The Basics - Invisible Look Technique
What do you do when a client says keep it natural? Dan shares tips for getting the most out of your image by building an invisible look
Advanced Beauty Grading : Stills Techniques
In this insight I borrow my Stills Techniques and try and apply them to my video work. The standard is very high and the results are amazing
Advanced Beauty Grading : Borrowing From Stills
The world of stills retouching has such an amazing standard. Dan looks at those techniques and will borrow them for the video world
Colorist Health - My Campaign For Eye Awareness
How much time have you spent thinking about your eyes? Dan starts a new series about health issues including eye awareness.
Rediscover The Basics - Defining Texture In Your Image
Defining Texture is a great decision to make early on when grading. Do you want it to look glossy and commercial or textured and filmic?
Frequency Seperation : An Introduction
When working with skin it's quite easy to make it look false and over worked
Advanced Beauty Grading Part Three : Smoothing Skin Tones
When working with people we always need to smooth skin tones. In this video I explore my three favorite skin smoothing tools.
Damage Control - DSLR Music Video Case Study
DSLR Music Video are pretty common and can be incredibly tricky. Dan shares one of his favorite music videos shot on DSLR
Damage Control - Working With Tricky DSLR Footage
Working with Tricky DSLR footage can be frustrating. Dan pulls out some awful clips from his archive and does his best to fix them.
Damage Control - Creating A Look With Difficult Footage
Grading high quality is fun but what happens when you have difficult footage to begin with? Dan takes a look at Damage control when grading
Rediscover The Basics - Preparing For An Important Grade
You've landed the grade of your career, what happens next? Dan shares his preparation when a big job arrives for him to grade
Colorist Look Inspiration - Food Commercials
Food commercials can be the trickiest of grades as they push your skillset and leave little room for error. Here are some techiniques
Colorist Look Inspiration - Car Commercials
How do they make car commercials look so polished and refined? Dan shows you some common techniques used on a car commercial.
Rediscover The Basics - Advanced Node Operations
When you get into very advanced grading there are even more node operations to worry about. Dan shows you his layout for commercial grading.
Rediscover The Basics - Node Operations
Have you ever paused to think of the order that you place your nodes? Dan shares his approach to getting the most out of your image.
Colorist Block - When Nothing Looks Good
Sometimes you just can't make a grade look good no matter what you do! The Colorist Block is real and dangerous but defeatable.
Rediscover The Basics - Color Temperature
Color temperature allows us to control many factors from time of day to adding to the mood of your image by warming or cooling.
Rediscover The Basics - Contrast
Its tempting to dive in with many nodes & advanced techniques but spend more time getting your contrast right & you'll love the results
Rediscover The Basics - Saturation
In a world where you can apply 20 nodes to build a look Dan challenges you to rediscover basic grading concepts starting with Saturation
Colorist Inspiration - The Best UK Commercials of 2014
We take a look at the Best UK Commercials of 2014 in the world of uk color grading.
Advanced Beauty Grading Part Two : The Fashion Look
Time to take the image into the next level with a fashion look in part two of the series on advanced beauty grading.
Advanced Beauty Grading Part One
Advanced Beauty Grading is quite a dark art in the world of color grading. Dan shows you his approach to beauty grading on a commercial.
Photochemical Grading - Part Two
In part two of this series Dan dives into Resolve and tries out the methods first hand. Enjoying the restrictions and relief of grading.
Photochemical Grading - Part One
Have you ever wondered why Christopher Nolan uses color timing instead of a DI for his grades? We take a look at the color timing world
Neo Noir B&W - Using Hardlight Blending Mode
Creating a feature film neo noir look can be tough. Dan shares his look using hardlight blending modes instead of his beloved curves.
Infrared Look - Emulating Aerochrome
Building an Infrared Look can give you some beautiful results if you have the right projects and feel adventurous!
Have You Progressed As A Colorist? One Way To Evaluate Your Progress.
Assessing Your Progress can be hard has a colorist. How are my grades better today than a year ago or even 5 years ago? Dan shows you how.
Footage Quality Control - When To Reject Footage
Footage Quality Control in a modern file based world can be tricky. Dan shares his advice on how and when to reject source material.
Color Correction Breakdown - Spanning the Ages
Commercial Breakdown - Rolo. Dan shares another instalment of his series of behind the scenes insights. We build looks for different eras.
Look Library - Halloween Slasher
Dan shows you how he built a Halloween Slasher Look inspired by classic 80s movies for a recent teaser commercial for Halloween.
Advanced Windows - Difficult Shape Masking
We take a look at difficult shape masking and combining multiple windows in DaVinci Resolve to give you total control over difficult images.
Automatic Database Management
Tired of manually backing up your Resolve? Using some handy scripts Dan shows you how to fully automate the process
Advanced Windows - Multiple Windows & Tracking
Using multiple windows and tracking them into your scene gives you total control of your image and allows you to build powerful looks.
UKMVA's Best Color
Dan showcases the best of the best in UKMVA's Best Color grading award catagory.
Commercial Breakdown - Smirnoff
Dan takes a look at his latest commercial grade and shares the thinking and techniques behind the grades.
Shot Matching - The Basics of Matching Cameras Together
In this Insight we take a look at doing shot matching with multiple cameras to create a smooth edit. Featuring: BMPCC, BMCC and Red Scarlet cameras.
Colorist Inspiration - Dave Hussey
We visit the colour grading work of Company 3 master colorist Dave Hussey – rock star colourist and all round awesome guy
Resolve Keyframes - From Newbie To Ninja
Resolve Keyframes can be confusing at first but if you follow a few essential rules you'll be keyframing like a pro in no time!
Shot Matching - Working With Skin Tone
Making people look as good is part of the dayjob for colorists. Working with skin tone can be tricky but Dan shares his tips and approach.
Essential Skills For Assistant Colorists
Essential Skills For Assistant Colorists to help you get the job in a big facility. Being an assistant is hard work but you'll learn so much
Circuit Training - From Camera Rushes To Final Look
Dan breaks down a shot from camera rushes to final look. He shares the good the bad and the ugly grades from starting point to final grade.
Shot Matching - Matching Skies
Shot Matching - Matching Skies. In this Insight, Dan shows you his techniques for color matching skies between multiple set ups and scenes
Resolve 11 Highlights And Shadows Controls
New Tools For Resolve 11 Are The Highlights And Shadows Controls. They offer up new creative options for setting the contrast in your scene.
When Color Management Fails : Dan's Strategy
Have you had a client reject a grade after they left the color correction suite? Learn how handle this problem without losing your client.
Attended Grading - Starting A Session
Attended Grading - Starting A Session is the hardest part of the grade. You need to understand what your new clients want from the grade
Resolve 11 - Softlight Blending Mode
New to Resolve 11 the softlight blending mode gives you a great new way to add texture and depth to your image.
Resolve 11 - New Matte Finesse Controls
Resolve 11 - New Matte Finesse Controls brings some great refinements to the qualifier controls. Clipping and noise reduction make pulling keys easier than ever!
Resolve 11 - Introduction To Lab Mode Grading
Introduction To Lab Mode Grading in Resolve 11. This new way of working gives us lots of new creative options when grading.
Working With The Clone Tool
Working With The Clone Tool in Resolve 11. Dan will be showing you how to paint and clone out elements of your footage.
Resolve 11 - Dan's First Thoughts
Dan Moran takes you on a tour of his favorite new DaVinci Resolve 11 features including grading tools, render caching and much more
Narrowing Your Color Palette
Grading isn't always about adding to your image. Taking away and controlling colors is just as important when building strong images.
Sky Replacement Challenge
Using a sky replacement we change a simple beach scene into a moody tropical sci fi establishing shot
Narrative Grading - Time Of Day
In this insight dan takes you through a journey of setting the time of day in a scene. The flow of the story is key when setting a time.
Best Exposure From Your Raw Files
Working With raw files allows you to to get the best possible results with your footage. Lets start with getting the best exposure
Narrative Color Grading: Practice Your Craft By Setting Time Periods
Have you ever had to build a look that helps put a shot into a certain era? Learn how to approach this challenge - and download a 6K RED Dragon shot to give it a shot and share with us.
Using External Mattes In DaVinci Resolve
When you need precise separation using External Mattes from a Rotoscope artist makes precise grading in DaVinci Resolve a breeze
Adding Grain Efficiently Using The Overlay Blending Mode
Adding grain can be hard to manage in Resolve but handy to have in your 'toolbox'. Dan shows you a simple way to add grain, without a plugin.
Colorist Tip: How to Build a Color Correction Showreel
How do you build a colorist showreel / demo reel that condenses your whole career into 3mins? Dan shares with you his approach.
How to create a light, airy feel by dropping the midtones
Are you having trouble getting bright, happy images that aren't also feeling flat? Learn how I get around this by dropping the midtones.
Managing A Grade – The Music Video
Grading a music video can be challenging from a time perspective. In this Insight learn about Managing A Grade for when time is tight.
Offset Controls - Introduction To Offsets
Dan takes a look at the offset controls. The oldest and most overlooked primary controls in Resolve. Great for shot balancing.
Reference Images - Matching To A Reference
Reference Images - Matching To A Reference. Have you ever had to match your footage to a famous movie or photo? Dan will show you how.
Colorist Inspiration – Jean-Clément Soret
Jean-Clément has been the most influential post production professional in London and for many years. Here is a look at his work.
Colorist Circut Training Part 2
In Colorist Circuit Training Part 2 we take a look at a sample exercise where Dan assesses his grades to find the best version.
Archiving and Restoring Jobs
In Part 3 of our series on the workflow for Commercial color correction projects, we discuss how we handle archiving and restoring jobs.
Colorist Circuit Training Part 1
In Colorist Circuit Training Part 1 we take a look at some exercises to help strengthen your style and color grading skills.
Commercial Workflow : Labeling And Ingest
Have you ever wondered how other colorists organise and run their jobs? Now is your chance to see a real commercial workflow in action.
Colorist Communication Dealing With Difficult Clients
Sometimes clients can have a very different vision of the project than you had.I offer some tips on grading in this situation
Dealing With Timecode : When The Rushes And Proxies Don't Match
When the rushes and Proxies don't match due to lack of timecode conforming in Resolve can be a nightmare. Here's how I approach that subject
Analysing Your Footage : Pieces To Camera
Get the most out of your 'Pieces To Camera' (on-camera Stand-Ups) using power windows and curves on footage that needs to look normal.
How To Analyse Your Footage For Color Correction: Beach Sunset
Learn how a professional colorist analyses an image. Learn what they focus on and how they grade using contrast, color and secondaries.
Color Correcting With Blending Modes : Using the Add & Screen Modes
In Part 2 of this series you learn how to use the Add and Screen blending modes to create glows, texture or light leaks to your moving images.
How To Creatively Use DaVinci Resolve's Splitter-Combiner Nodes
Learn how you can easily add some fun 'video distortion' to a music video or commercial using some creative Splitter-Combiner techniques in DaVinci Resolve.
Digital Video Noise Reduction: Targeting Individual Color Channels
In DaVinci Resolve, video noise reduction targeted to specific color channels lets us balance between sharpness and noise reduction.
Color Correcting A Film Trailer: Simple Compositing (in DaVinci Resolve)
Can you perform simple compositing in DaVinci Resolve? Yes. Plus, you can use blending modes and alpha channels to add visual effects or graphics.
