Work with clients worldwide and with a color-managed remote grading pipeline
In this Insight, Patrick Inhofer and I set up a complete remote color grading workflow and share our best practices for using the standalone application ‘DaVinci Remote Monitor’, which is automatically bundled with DaVinci Resolve Studio as of April 2023.
We also explore the free and paid workflows that can be used to share DaVinci Resolve’s output for a remote grading session and how to set it up correctly as a color-managed pipeline, end-to-end.
Note: This Insight was recorded while Resolve 19 was in beta.
Key takeaways from this Insight
By the end of this Insight, you will understand how to:
Why remote grading matters to me
While I feel lucky to live in the charming coastal town of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, the local color grading market is small and competitive, which is a reality I need to manage.
Peter Jackson’s incredibly large (and beautiful!) post-production facility, Park Road Post, competes for larger international projects that come through the city. Furthermore, most of the industry work flows into Auckland, New Zealand’s most populated city, with the largest post-production facilities. Auckland is nearly 400 miles from Wellington. It’s not somewhere I can commute daily.
For perspective, Las Vegas is closer to LA than I am to Auckland.
In this business environment, remote grading is not only an essential part of my work, but it is something that allows me to expand and retain more clients.
The DaVinci Resolve Studio Remote Monitor App
There are tools out there that enable live client reviews in complex and nuanced ways, but I was surprised to learn recently that a default, standalone application is automatically bundled with DaVinci Resolve Studio.
Search for DaVinci Remote Monitor on your desktop and ta-da – you probably have it too!
DaVinci Remote Monitor is a tool that allows the host colorist to output their viewer to a client.
To make this work, there are a few requirements:
Alternatively – if your client doesn’t own a DaVinci Resolve Studio license:
The client still needs to create a Blackmagic cloud account, which may or may not be a deal breaker for them. Keep your fingers crossed that they have an iPad, or consider purchasing one that you can ship to your clients – providing both of you with confidence in their viewing (and a display much larger than an iPhone).
What we’re covering in this video Insight
This Insight goes over:
Patrick helps me out here, playing the new client as I explain and host the session. It’s not without issues, as you’ll find out.
Want more nuggets of information? Jump into the video insight below!
External Links
Related Mixing Light Insights
Questions or Comments? Share Your Remote Workflow!
Remote grading is an extremely common request in the post-covid era. What are your go-to workflows?
DaVinci Remote Monitor application is bundled and ready to go in most grading suites, which is a huge advantage, but it has limitations and there are other competitive remote solutions out there.
PS – Were you aware that the DaVinci Remote Monitor application exists? I was surprised (and pleased) to find such a simple solution that I didn’t need to pay an extra dime for!
– Luke
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