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Mezzo Soprano Emily Harmon: Seeing Color Harmonies In Music
See color differently by understanding the phenomenon of synesthesia, as explored in my conversation with Opera singer Emily Harmon.
Artist Anna Evans: We need to talk about Magenta
What can a contemporary painter teach colorists? Quite a bit about the fundamentals of additive and subtractive primary colors, actually.
Understanding The Baselight 'X Grade' Tool For Exposure And Hue
Get an in-depth breakdown at one of Baselight's newest innovative and intuitive primary color grading tools, 'X Grade' for hue and exposure.
Demystifying Colour Spaces, Transfer Functions, Colour Standards
Filmlight engineer Daniele Siragusano unpacks the foundations of colour science and how these concepts define essential industry workflows.
ColorSlice: Deconstructing DaVinci Resolve's New Secondary Tool
Learn to use Resolve’s new subtractive saturation tool, ColorSlice, to create more nuanced color grades. Colorist Jason Bowdach deconstructs.
Control Your Mastering White Point To Control Your Highlights
Learn how to use white points in color management and how to choose them creatively, in this interview with FilmLight's Daniele Siragusano.
Colourist Comparison Pt 2: Comparing Workflows and Techniques
Colorists Kali Bateman CSI and Luke Ross reveal gritty details of their node trees - grading identical footage to the same creative brief.
Old-School Color Grading - Shot-Matching People & Time Of Day
Learn how Patrick color graded (in Resolve) in 2013! In an upcoming Insight learn how he's overhauled his workflow - for better results.
Emulating Baselight's Texture Blend Tool For Noisy Secondaries
Colorist Marty Webb shows how to emulate Baselight's Texture Blending in DaVinci Resolve to control noisy secondary operations.
A Career Empowering Colorists: Talking with Peter Postma
Peter Postma of FilmLight shares his involvement in creating foundational color grading tools and standards at Kodak and FilmLight.
Upgrade Your Toolkit By Creating A Subtractive Color Balance Tool
Colorist Cullen Kelly teaches you to create a subtractive color balance tool for more pleasing color washes & looks in DaVinci Resolve.
Accurately Viewing Fusion Compositions in ACES Workflows
Images in Fusion can look different to the Edit and Color pages when color management systems clash. Here's how to fix that in ACES workflows
Office Hours LIVE! HDR White, Saturation Controls, New Displays
Mixing Light's professional colorists answer questions on graphic white points in HDR, crafting meaty saturation and the limitations of AI.
15 Minutes with Tattoo Artist Jhon Gutti - The Color Timer Podcast
What does an award-winning tattoo artist have to say about color? Special guest Jhon Gutti talks about shades of gray in his craft and art.
How To Manipulate Hue More Effectively In DaVinci Resolve
Learn how to dramatically improve your Hue vs. Hue adjustments in DaVinci Resolve by changing a node's color model - and why this works.
The Do’s And Don’ts of Color Correcting with Hue-vs-Sat Curves
Colorist Cullen Kelly explores his favorite uses of the Sat vs Lum curve in Resolve and best practices for consistently great results.
Fixing Oversaturated and Out-of-Gamut Colours in Baselight LOOK
Colourist Luke Ross is back with Part 18 of his 'Learning Baselight Look' series. Learn how to fix oversaturated and out-of-gamut colours.
Texture Management - BYO Advanced Unsharp Mask tool in RGB & LAB
In Part 4, Hector Berrebi shows how to add clipping and range controls to our basic Unsharp Mask node tree in DaVinci Resolve in LAB and RGB.
ResolveFX Surface Tracker Part 2 - Beauty Work Within Fusion
In Part 2, Igor Ridanovic leverages the stabilization work of the new Surface Tracker plugin to execute beauty work on the Fusion page.
Deconstructing Blur, Mist, and Unsharp Mask Operations
In Part 3 of Hector Berrebi's 'Texture Management' series, learn what blur is doing to your images and build an Unsharp Mask using nodes.
How Do You Avoid Adding Visual Artifacts When Sharpening Your Images?
Are you adding RGB artifacts into images when sharpening? How is Midtone Detail different (in DaVinci Resolve)? Plus, sharpening in LAB space.
An Introduction to Texture Management (using DaVinci Resolve)
In the start of a new series, colorist & educator Hector Berrebi defines the terms and tools of the important concept: Texture Management.
Building Custom 'Lum vs Sat' Curves In HSL Using Resolve's Node Tree
In Part 5 of our 'Visual Math' series, learn how 'vs. Curves' work from within Resolve's node graph by building your own in HSL space.
Extracting Only The Hue Or Saturation of a LUT using DaVinci Resolve
Learn how to extract the hue and/or saturation shifts of a 3D LUT, without getting stuck with the LUT's accompanying contrast adjustment.
Creating And Evaluating PowerGrade Tools - Tips and Tricks
Colorist Jason Bowdach teaches you his approach to developing and evaluating technical PowerGrades (and how it helps your creative grading).
Building A Subtractive Saturation Node Tree In DaVinci Resolve
'Subtractive saturation' is a hot topic with colorists. Learn how to manually build this tool in DaVinci Resolve for more natural results.
Elsewhere On The Web: Netflix Recommended Displays (and more)
This series returns with stories on Netflix recommended displays; being a better colorist; color harmonies; and note-taking.
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?
Binary Logic In The Node Tree: Creating Procedural Node Structures
What does binary logic have to do with color grading? Colorist Joey D'Anna shows you how to build switches and logic into your Resolve node structure.
Creative Coding With DCTL: Part 3
In part 3 of this ongoing series, with foundational knowledge in place, start coding your first DCTL a colorist Cullen Kelly guides you step by step.
Creative Coding With DCTL: Part 2
In Part 2 of his series on coding DCTLs, Cullen Kelly covers some additional setup and tools you'll need to successfully build DCTLs
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.
Good Grades: Color Grading at NFL Films with Chris Pepperman
In this installment of Good Grades we sit down with Sr. Managing Colorist at NFL Films, Chris Pepperman.
Good Grades: Documentary Masterclass with Evan Anthony
In this installment of Good Grades we sit down with renowned documentary colorist Evan Anthony and talk about his start, work and more!
HDR Palette 101 - Resolve Color Management 2.0 + Contrast Controls
In Part 3 of this series, learn how the color grading controls work differently with RCM 2 enabled. Plus, contrast control in the HDR Palette.
Help Matching These Shots, Please!
A member asked for some advice on matching two shots that had distinctly different looks. In this Mailbag, we discuss strategies for matching these shots.
What's Tone Mapping?
In this installment of From The Mailbag we sit down to talk about tone mapping and how's used in software and on consumer displays.
The 10-Minute Grade: Shot Balancing
In this installment of The 10-Minute Grade, Cullen Kelly walks you thru a few different techniques to quickly get shots balanced when time is of the essence
Three Strategies for Increasing Color Separation in DaVinci Resolve
Do your images need to look more colorful? In this Insight, learn 3 color separation tools for increasing perceptual colorfulness.
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).
Emulating Film Halation in DaVinci Resolve
Learn two different methods (with different levels of control) of emualting the beauty of film halation using DaVinci Resolve.
Broadcast Promo Finishing Workflows in DaVinci Resolve
Learn how to use DaVinci Resolve to finish and output coutless versions of broadcast promos, easy fast and without any mistakes.
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.
Exploring Saturation Controls in DaVinci Resolve - Color Boost Part 3
Learn how various Saturation controls in DaVinci Resolve are identical to each other. Plus, understanding saturation-related hue shifts.
Understanding Color Boost in DaVinci Resolve - Part 2
We continue deconstructing Resolve's Color Boost controls, offer an alternative definition, and demonstrate how it differs from Saturation.
Understanding How Color Boost Works in DaVinci Resolve - Part 1
It's not always clear how Resolve's 'Color Boost' tool works differently than its 'Saturation' tool. This video breaks down the differences.
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.
How To Avoid Two Gotchas In The Lumetri Workflow
Learn how to avoid two problems when color correcting using Premerie Pro's Lumetri workflow. It's all about recovering clipped detail.
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
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.
Making It Pop: Evaluating Methods of Adjusting Saturation
Do all saturation controls behave similarly? Or are there subtle differences that add new arrows in your quiver of saturation controls?
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.
Getting To Know Dolby Vision Part 3: Dolby Vision For Everyone!
In part 3 of our ongoing Dolby Vision series, learn about big changes to Dolby Vision & Resolve in 2018, plus new tools & workflows.
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.
Understanding The Future Of Post Production and Color Grading: Part 2
The 5 'pillars' of the digital video revolution evolve at a different paces - but are driven by the same force. We covers two more pillars.
Integrating Graphics & Text Into A Dobly Vision HDR Project
Team Mixing Light is once again joined by Joey D'Anna to discuss integrating graphics and text into Dobly Vision HDR projects.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A Career As A Colorist: The Best Advice We've Received
We discuss the best advice we've received for our color grading careers. From attitude to technical to creative, we share what's worked.
A Month Later: Team Mixing Light's Take On NAB 2018
It's been a little over a month since NAB 2018. We discuss what we saw including Resolve 15, new HDR monitoring, control surfaces and more.
Is Your LUT Damaging Your Image? How To Do A LUT Stress Test
Look-Up Tables (LUTs) are black boxes that make it difficult to know what precisely they're doing to your image. Colorist Jason Bowdach shows you how to stress test and evaluate your LUTs.
Getting Started As A Colorist & What's Changed In Grading?
We've got lots of questions from members asking how to get started as a professional colorist and how has grading changed over the years?
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 .
Color Correction Gear Head: May 2018 Edition
In this installment of the Color Correction Gear Head series, Robbie takes a look at the 2018 LG OLEDs (C8), the HD Fury Integral 4k, Aja 1616 12G Router, OWC Mercury HeliosFX and remote control application Splashtop.
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.
Resolve 15 New Color Page Features
In this Insight, colorist Joey D'Anna, fresh off demoing Resolve 15 at the Blackmagic booth at NAB 2018, shares his thoughts on the top new features that benefit the dedicated colorist the most in Resolve 15.
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.
Colorist Challenge: Moving From A Direct View Monitor To The Cinema
A member asks about grading on a direct view monitor vs. the cinema. We discuss the differences and why overcomplicating it is a bad idea!
Colorist Podcast EP 022: Dado Valentic
In this installment of the Colorist Podcast, Josh sits down with colorist, trainer and industry visionary Dado Valentic to discuss his much talked about presentation on color grading and AI, HDR workflow, on tools for colorists and more!
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.
How To Migrate PowerBins, PowerGrades, Configs Between Databases?
Team Mixing Light discusses strategies for moving Resolve PowerGrades, PowerBins & project configurations between databases.
Handling A Rejected Grade, As A Freelance Colorist
Dan Moran recently joined the freelance world. He's curious how Pat and Robbie handle a client who rejects a grade - fix it or charge more?
Grading The White Cyc Stand Up - When White Is Not White
In this video, you learn techniques for color correcting log encoded white cyc footage. Plus get several solutions for fixing common problems with these types of shoots and why, many times, your corrections are a compromise.
CalMAN Part 10: Using Calibration Test Patterns In Your NLE
If you want to calibrate your reference display through your main non-linear editing software then you want to use calibration test patterns playing through a timeline. Learn how to be sure you don't have Data- and Video- level mismatches.
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.
How To Back Up Your Resolve Databases And Your Computer
One of our members asks about backing up Resolve databases and computers. This is an essential skill for colorists, listen to how we do it.
Colorist Podcast EP 021:Shane Mario Ruggieri
In this episode, Josh talks to Shane Mario Ruggieri, C.S.I. from Dolby. Learn about HDR from the colorists perspective, Dolby Vision, HDR 10, grading HDR and SDR and more! If you're interested in HDR this episode is a must listen!
How Do You Choose A 4k Reference Monitor For Color Grading?
The Team discusses the pros/cons of 4k monitoring. We explore new offerings from Flanders Scientific including the XM650U and XM310K.
Demystifying Contrast and Brightness Calibration Test Images
In our reference display calibration series we've been using a specific set of calibration test images. But two test images (used to precalibrate our Contrast and Brightness settings) generate a lot of confusion. Get unconfused in this Insight.
How To Color Grade Full Range for Data Level Broadcast Delivery?
A member asks a question about working in Full Range but delivering a video rendered to legal/broadcast levels. We work through the thinking.
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.
Precalibrating A Reference Display (without using LUTs) Part 1
In this CalMAN Studio series you've learned how to calibrate a video reference display using Look Up Tables (LUTs). Not every display supports internal LUTs. If you don't have (or want) an external LUT box then what do you do then? Watch and learn.
Revisiting The Judd Modification When Calibrating OLED Displays
Team Mixing Light answers a member question about using the Judd Modification for an OLED reference monitor. What is it? When to use it?
Getting Sh*t Done: How To Do More And Have It All
Do you want to cram a ton of productivity into your life? Get insight into how to do that from a highly productive post professional.Get tips and strategies to maximize your down time or add something to your life you never had time for.
Telestream Switch: A Media Player For Pros?
QC and media inspection are an essential part of 'finishing' process. In this Insight, Robbie shares his experience with Telestream Switch which is a full featured media player, inspector and QC tool.
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.
Colorist Podcast EP 020: Ian Vertovec
In the first installment of the Colorist Podcast for 2018, Josh sits down with well-known colorist Ian Vertovec from Light Iron. They discuss Ian's work, ACES, HDR, VFX workflow and much more!
Talking About and Understanding Dolby Vision Color Grading
Building on Robbie's recent articles, Pat and Dan ask questions about workflow and Robbie's recent trip to Dolby in Burbank, CA.
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.
Getting To Know Dolby Vision Part 2: Delivering To non-HDR Televisions
In part 2 of our Dolby Vision series you learn more about suite setup. Then you dive into using the Dolby Vision trim controls (in DaVinci Resolve) for Standard Dynamic Range TVs. Plus, Dolby Vision 'mezzanine' file creation.
Learn How to Start Scripting El Gato's Stream Deck Using Autohotkey
The Elgato Stream Deck is a powerful control surface add-on for colorists, especially when paired with autohotkey. In this insight, learn to take that functionality to the next level with advanced scripts and workflow examples.
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
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
Colorist Inspiration – September 2017
Dan shares his inspiration for this month by checking out the nominations for Outstanding Color Grading at the HPA awards
Surviving (And Finishing) A 1000 Shot Project In 2 Days Or Less
Coloring long form projects with very quick turn arounds can be very challenging. In this article, learn techniques for surviving & finishing big projects
Colorist Podcast Episode 16: Alexis Van Hurkman Part 2
In this episode, Josh continues his conversation with director, author and colorist Alexis Van Hurkman. they talk HDR, ACES and more!
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
When To Sell Yourself Short?
When is it ok to "sell myself short"? Katie Hinsen suggests taking a more holistic approach to value when considering an opportunity, job or 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.
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 Podcast Episode 15: Alexis Van Hurkman
In this installment of the Colorist Podcast Josh talks to well known author, director, and colorist Alexis Van Hurkman about a wide variety of color topics
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
RED's IPP2 Pipeline In Resolve (Sort Of)
RED's new IPP2 processing pipeline has a lot to offer, in this Insight, we explore the new pipeline setup in RedCineX & DaVinci Resolve 14
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
Is Resolve 14's New Stabilizer An Upgrade (or is it dumbed down)?
In DaVinci Resolve 14, the Stabilizer got a new set of controls that seem overly simple. Has this tool been upgraded? Or should you work in Classic mode?
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?
Colorist Podcast Episode 014: Juan Ignacio Cabrera, CSI
in this installment of the Colorist Podcast, Josh talk to colorist Juan Ignacio Cabrera about his work on cutting edge projects & many other subjects.
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!
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
Our New DaVinci Resolve14 Traning & Revisiting Remote Rendering
The Team discusses our new Resolve 14 New Features title as well as DaVinci Resolve Remote Rendering with guest Joey D'Anna.
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
Colorist Podcast Episode 013: Vanessa Taylor
In this installment of the Colorist Podcast, Josh is joined by colorist Vanessa Taylor. From balancing tech & art, grading HDR this is a great listen!
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
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?
Getting To Know The EasyDCP Resolve Plugin: Streamlined DCP Creation
Want to make a DCP directly from Resolve? In this Insight, Robbie explores the essentials of using the EasyDCP Resolve plugin.
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
Colorist Podcast Episode 09
In this episode of the colorist podcast, Josh talks to Technicolor senior colorist Peter Doyle about his amazing career & many other subjects
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.
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
Colorist Podcast Episode 08
In this episode of the colorist podcast, Josh talks to industry veteran/legend Dale Grahn about his storied career & many other subjects
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
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
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.
An Interview with Professional Colorist Rob Bessette
In Episode 6 of the Colorist Podcast, Josh Petok talks to commercial colorist Rob Bessette about his career, grading commercials & more!
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.
Getting To Know ACES Part 4: The Latest In ACES Updates
Continuing our introductory series on ACES, you learn about the latest updates to ACES, including a working color space added to the ACES 1.03 specficiation: ACEScct. Plus, how it effects DaVinci Resolve colorists.
Syncing Resolve's LUT Folder & Viewing HDR & SDR Simultaneously
A member asks how they can easily sync Resolve's LUT folder between suites. Plus, the pros/cons of viewing HDR & SDR simultaneously.
How To White Balance Shots Using Common Color Correction Tools
Watch how to White Balance (or Color Balance) digital video images. You'll explore 4 different tools and learn their differences.
Colorist Podcast Episode 005
In Episode 5 of the Colorist Podcast, Josh talks to well-known online editor & colorist Terence Curren about his work & other sujbects
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
Getting To Know ACES Part 3: Visual Effects Workflows
Our Getting To Know ACES series continues, looking at the essentials of using ACES for VFX roundtrips with DaVinci Resolve. You learn how to move images between VFX and color grading within the ACES color science.
Getting To Know ACES Part 2: More Terms & Resolve Setup
Start digging deeper into ACES terms and acronyms that will have you sounding like a pro. And you learn how to set up ACES in DaVinci Resolve.
Revisiting Multi-Channel Audio Output In DaVinci Resolve
Resolve users are often tasked with making final outputs.In this Insight, learn how to easily route multi-channel audio for output.
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 Podcast Episode 004
In Episode 4 of the Colorist Podcast Josh talks to well-known freelance colorist Mark Todd Osborne about his work & many interesting subjects
Color Correction Math in DaVinci Resolve: Control Surface vs. Mouse
Does the color correction math in DaVinci Resolve change depending if you're using a mouse versus using a colorist control surface?
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 (mostly) Fix RGB Gamut Excursions in Software
If you're color correcting digital video for professional distribution, nothing is worse than having it rejected for RGB Gamut excursions!
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).
Delivering Project Files: Making The Choice About Your IP
You always deliver final video files but should you deliver project files to your clients too? Learn more in this Insight.
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.
Bad TV: Essential Steps For Creating The Bad TV Look
Every once and a while you'll need to create a stylized bad TV or surveillance camera look. In this Insight learn how.
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
5 Strategies For Managing A Supervised Session
Supervised color grading is hard! In this Insight, Robbie shares 5 strategies for managing a supervised session.
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
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.
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…
Getting Started with CalMAN's Colormatch Workflow
If you do video color correction, watch 'Getting Started with CalMAN ColorMatch' to learn how to test if your reference display is accurate.
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.
Getting Started with Lightspace DPS - Do You Need To Calibrate?
'Does my color correction display need recalibration?' Getting Started with Lightspace DPS (a free app) helps you answer that question.
Reference Display Profiling: Is Your Display Accurate?
If you do video color correction, do you know if your reference display is accurate? Learn how to find out. The first video in a series.
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 – 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 - Robbie's Top Features
Another April, another version of DaVinci Resolve! In this Insight, Robbie shares his top new features of this exciting release.
How To Sharpen Quick Focus Pulls? Plus, using the HP Z27x DreamColor.
The Team answers a member's question about sharpening quick focus pulls. Plus they discuss using the HP Z27x DreamColor display.
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
Mixing Light at NAB 2016 plus Film Style Grading plus sRGB Deliverables
It's a busy day for Team Mixing Light as we discuss our NAB 2016 plans, log style color grading and handling sRGB deliverables.
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!
4 Things To Know About Working With Look Up Tables
Using Luts in a color correction workflow is common, but everything doesn't always worked as planned. Learn 4 ways to work around look up table limitations
DaVinci Resolve - How to Use External Scopes with Video vs Data Levels
Learn how the 'data levels' and 'video levels' Project Setting effects your external scopes when color correcting in DaVinci Resolve.
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.
Working with LUTs in Premiere Pro - Part 1
Learn how to color correct with LUTs in Premiere Pro and the Lumetri Panel. Especially if your color correcting with RAW-, Log- or flat- recorded images.
HDR Essentials: Reading The Scopes In DaVinci Resolve
The Waveform & RGB Parade are essential tools for color correction. But when working with HDR footage in Resolve reading them can be slightly confusing.
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…
HDR Essentials - Getting Setup In Premire Pro
HDR video is coming, and coming fast. In this Insight, learn how to get setup and work with HDR video in Premiere Pro's Lumetri Color Panel.
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
How to use the Lumetri Color Panel: Part 1
The Lumetri Color Panel is a huge technical and workflow boost in Premiere Pro CC 2015. Learn why, and how to use the Lumetri Color Panel.
Fixing Cache & Gallery Warning Dialog Boxes
Pesky warning messages about inaccessible cache & still locations in Resolve can be a nusiance. Learn how to fix them in this Insight
Look Inspiration - Colorized Film Look
Dan shares his look and drx files for a Colorized Film Look
From The Mailbag EP 29: HDR Musing & Log Saturation
In this episode, Team MixingLight discusses HDR and best practices for setting saturation levels for log encoded footage
New Year's Resolutions To Strengthen Your Business
2016 is almost here! Check out this Insight to discover some New Year's resolutions to strengthen your color grading business.
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…
Color Correcting in Premiere Pro: Why So Hard?
Why is color correcting in Premiere Pro so hard? This article explores Premiere's 'legacy' color correction filters and finds the answers.
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
HDR Essentials: What's HDR?
HDR is the 'next big thing' for color grading.In this Insight, get up to speed with two discussions about HDR with industry experts Bram Desmet & Juan Salvo
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!
Anatomy Of A Grading Suite: Additional Technical Setup
In the last installment of the 3 part series learn about computer setup, control surfaces, GPU expanders & other key accessories for a suite
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.