Node grades not copying correctly

Hi All,

New DaVinci 11 Lite user here, so please accept my lack of general knowledge.

I seem to be having an issue applying a grade from one clip to another. I know you can use either the - or the = to copy nodes and grades from one or two clips prior, and I also know that you can select the clip you want to copy a grade to, mouse over another clip and click the middle mouse button to copy that node and grade.

The issue I seem to having is that the nodes are copying, but the grade from that node does not. For the life of me I can't figure out why. I'm sure I hit some command key sequence that screwed it up, but now I can't undo whatever it was I did.

Can someone point me in the right direction? I've looked through the forum and I couldn't find anything directly related to this. I'm not using groups or anything like that.

Thanks in advance!

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Update:

So I created a new timeline, put some clips on the video track, went into the Color panel, applied a three node grade to the first, and I was able to copy the grade using all of the methods above. I'm guessing then that I screwed something up in the original timeline. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks again.

It always works for me. You can also open up the node graph on the previous clip by right-clicking on it, then dragging the nodes (all or some) to the new clip.

Middle-click works for me, as does the - and = keys. You can also grab a still of the scene and middle click that, or double-click it to instantly replace the nodes with the color within the still.

Tracking information does not copy this way, but everything else (sizing, color, windows, & keys) should. It's possible you might have changed the Timeline Keyframe Mode and made it Sizing instead of Color, in which case it would behave as you described: no color being copied. You can test this by changing size on a previous clip, going to the new clip, and center-clicking. Always check the keyframe display to see if All, Color, or Sizing are highlighted.

I came across this old post and in case anyone else does as well I thought I'd give my solution. In the stills and PowerGrade pane, if "Copy Grade: Preserve number of nodes" is set to anything but zero, center clicking will not copy color info. Setting it back to zero solved the issue for me.

Thank you for this short cut. I was searching for an easier way to copy grades to multiple clips (when I did quick stutter cuts in the NLE). The middle mouse button saved me loads of time.

I came across this old post and in case anyone else does as well I thought I'd give my solution. In the stills and PowerGrade pane, if "Copy Grade: Preserve number of nodes" is set to anything but zero, center clicking will not copy color info. Setting it back to zero solved the issue for me.

That's interesting. It should copy and preserve the same number of nodes -- this could well be a bug. It's not a feature I use very often, but I know commercial colorists who do use it.

I came across this old post and in case anyone else does as well I thought I'd give my solution. In the stills and PowerGrade pane, if "Copy Grade: Preserve number of nodes" is set to anything but zero, center clicking will not copy color info. Setting it back to zero solved the issue for me.

That's interesting. It should copy and preserve the same number of nodes -- this could well be a bug. It's not a feature I use very often, but I know commercial colorists who do use it.

It does for me. ..

Thanks for the info. I was a having the same issues. I'm not sure why you would want the other settings though.

I seem to be having a variation of this problem with a current file. using 12.5, and I do not see the "copy grade ' preserve number of nodes" option anywhere so guessing that was changed in this version...
However, I have tried several methods of copying a grade but am having issues with the grade not copying properly:

- RAW clips, with custom per-clip debayering settings. "Save with Version" is toggled on
- two nodes on my "master" clip, doing simple primary corrections.
- Selecting another RAW clip, if copy the grade over I get the RAW setttings copied, and it creates the two nodes, but the nodes are default with no adjustments.
- if I select the master clip and CMD-C and the CMD-V it copies the nodes settings (but only one node's settings at a time) but does not copy the RAW debayering settings.

I have tried:
- creating a still from the master clip and using right-click/apply grade as well as middle clicking it
- the same two ways, but selecting the master clip in the mini-timeline area of the Color page

For some reason the grade just isn't copying over. If I add a new timeline and try it this fails as well, but if I add the clips to a new project I am able to copy grades without any problems.

Is there some other setting that might be affecting this, or is my project file showing a glitch?

[Peter Chamberlain]

I assume the keyframe timeline is set to "All" and not Color or Sizing.

Can you try this?
Grade a shot, move to shot 2, now center mouse click on shot 1.
The grade from shot one should now appear on shot 2.

Once you have established that works we can go from there.

Thanks Peter.

Keyframe was set to "All". However, I did go through the manual again and found where the "Preserve Number of Nodes" option was (context menu inside Gallery). That was set to 2. Setting that to 0 solves it as per the original thread.

Not sure how that got turned on - it would be difficult to do that by accident. Is there a way that can be turned on via a shortcut or something?

Also: it was set to 2, and my grade only had 2 nodes - so I'm not sure why it would copy the nodes but not their content? I don't understand what the function of that control might be...?

Thanks for the help in any case.

/b

Having same issue - can't even locate anything to do with "preserving nodes" - keyframe timeline set to all.
Issue is same whether using "Apply Grade," "=," or one of the memories via quick key or pull down menu.
Memory gallery shows thumbnails properly, and preview works if you hover over the memory thumbnail, however"Apply Grade" only adds the nodes and their labels, not the grade. Oddly, if you APPEND the grade, everything is there.

Have gone through every menu, preference, et al. that I can think of, but nothing seems to make a difference.

I've had this issue pop up for me in a project. One of a reels in a feature I'm grading has an issue where some clips at seemingly random won't copy grades from another clip. It took awhile to find it, but by right clicking within the gallery space (contextual menu) and not only making sure the "Copy Grade: Preserve Number Of Nodes" is set to "0", but additionally setting "Apply Grades Using" is set to "Keyframes Aligning Start Frames" is set. That last one seem to fix the issue, although seems like a bug to me because it shouldn't make a difference. I hope this helps!

I've had this issue pop up for me in a project. One of a reels in a feature I'm grading has an issue where some clips at seemingly random won't copy grades from another clip. It took awhile to find it, but by right clicking within the gallery space (contextual menu) and not only making sure the "Copy Grade: Preserve Number Of Nodes" is set to "0", but additionally setting "Apply Grades Using" is set to "Keyframes Aligning Start Frames" is set. That last one seem to fix the issue, although seems like a bug to me because it shouldn't make a difference. I hope this helps!

Yep, this is a bug for me as well. I think what happens is every time the program is launched, it "forgets" what the "Apply Grades Using" setting should be. My preference would be for it to always have these set to NONE, but that doesn't happen.

Copying nodes has been a little buggy in 15, but I think it's gotten better in 15.2.4. Copying clips on the edit page has also sometimes been buggy (with keyboard shortcuts), but it always seems to work with the pull-down Edit menu.

I don't think it is a bug: if you have material with original timecode and you swap a clip with another clip with the same timecode (like after a vfx), you want the keyframe to align to timecode.

If the clip came back to you with a wonky timecode (or a reset timecode to arbitrarily number), you want to align to the same frame usually the first.

You have a choice to align it to the current frame if you like.

IIRC, the "copy from one backwards/ two backwards" override that (always felt weird to me)

I don't think it is a bug: if you have material with original timecode and you swap a clip with another clip with the same timecode (like after a vfx), you want the keyframe to align to timecode.

It's a bug if I copy a grade from clip #41 onto clip #43, and unfortunately I also get the tracking applied even though "Apply Using" is set to NONE. If you flip it back and forth from "Using Timecode" to "None," then it works. I have also had situations where stabilization has copied over, which is never good on different clip. It's not a disaster since there are workarounds, but it is buggy and you have to keep a close eye on it.

I don't think it is a bug: if you have material with original timecode and you swap a clip with another clip with the same timecode (like after a vfx), you want the keyframe to align to timecode.

It's a bug if I copy a grade from clip #41 onto clip #43, and unfortunately I also get the tracking applied even though "Apply Using" is set to NONE. If you flip it back and forth from "Using Timecode" to "None," then it works. I have also had situations where stabilization has copied over, which is never good on different clip. It's not a disaster since there are workarounds, but it is buggy and you have to keep a close eye on it.

I see. Probably tracking is not a "keyframe" per se from the point of view of the software...

I see. Probably tracking is not a "keyframe" per se from the point of view of the software...

I have encountered cases where tracking AND keyframes AND stabilization carry over, just when you do a -2 preview (or the ":" shortcut key). Always annoying when that happens. But it's just an "every so often" bug, not a constant thing. I like to believe it's gotten better in 15, but I still run into it from time to time. I would bet there's just one Hex number that gets checked in a color event, and if it's set to "0", it only copies color, and if it's set to "1", it grabs everything. Only not always.