Layering effects in DaVinci Resolve 12

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Ellory Yu

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Layering effects in DaVinci Resolve 12

PostFri Apr 15, 2016 6:20 am

Adding muzzle flash to a weapon firing in post is easily done when we were editing in Premier Pro and After Effects. Now that we are transitioning to DaVinci Resolve 12 as our NLE and shooting BMD raw, what is the workflow for adding effects like the above mentioned without resorting to leaving DR and doing the effects layering on PP and/or AE? For those of you who worked entirely on DR 12 and have been doing this can you please suggest when we should be looking for tutorials and examples.
Last edited by Ellory Yu on Fri Apr 15, 2016 6:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Uli Plank

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Re: Layering effects in DaVinci Resolve 12

PostFri Apr 15, 2016 9:20 am

If those effects have an alpha channel, it's doable.

But keep in mind that Resolve is barely there as an NLE, not speaking of compositing at all. One day BM might work on integration with Fusion, their own compositing program.

But for any complex compositing you should still turn to AE, Nuke or Fusion.
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Steve Strickler

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Re: Layering effects in DaVinci Resolve 12

PostFri Apr 15, 2016 10:15 am

Totally doable with layer effects, mattes, etc.

*TOTALLY* disagree about Resolve being "barely there" as an NLE. V12.x is very capable... very long time user of NLE's (since Final Cut 1.0) and made the migration to Resolve from Premiere last year and never looked back. FAR better experience for me than PR, since they seem to break or ruin something with each rev.

However, agree that any serious compositing should be left to a dedicated app.

Blaine Russom

Re: Layering effects in DaVinci Resolve 12

PostFri Apr 15, 2016 5:41 pm

Using alpha output in the color page.. very simple.
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Ellory Yu

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Re: Layering effects in DaVinci Resolve 12

PostSat Apr 16, 2016 6:05 am

Blaine, thanks for the links. They were helpful just that it was utilizing a chroma key. I did found this link that uses Fusion to composite and add the effects to the clip and it is an good beginners tutorial which I think I can follow and then bring the rendered output into DR.

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Blaine Russom

Re: Layering effects in DaVinci Resolve 12

PostSat Apr 16, 2016 2:12 pm

Glad they were helpful, you can use DR to chroma key as well though I think you would have an easier time keyframing with Fusion (if you need to) but I'm not all to familiar with Fusion.
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Marc Wielage

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Re: Layering effects in DaVinci Resolve 12

PostSun Apr 17, 2016 2:17 am

If the gunshot muzzle flash effect is surrounded by black, then just composite it with Add and it should drop in fine. I had this a couple of times on a feature a few months ago, and it looks pretty good. Ideally, a VFX artist should do this in order to handle shadows and reflections on the shooter, but if you can get by with just the flash alone, this can work. You will need to rotate the flash and manually track it if necessary, but 1-2 frames is not that hard.

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I have great respect for talented VFX artists who do this every day for TV and film and make it look absolutely flawless. In truth, I think this kind of thing would be better done in Fusion or After Effects or something like that, but Resolve can suffice in a pinch.
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Ellory Yu

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Re: Layering effects in DaVinci Resolve 12

PostSun Apr 17, 2016 5:19 pm

Thanks Marc. I agree that this kind of work should be relegated to Fusion or AE. The one question I still have is if I am using BMD Raw footage, do I grade the clip first in DR, export to another codec like DNxHD, and bring it to Fusion to add the effects, and then bring back the rendered clip into the DR for editing and re-grading again? I guess what I'm asking is - using DR and something like Fusion or AE (which I am assuming does not take CinemaDNG files), what is the workflow for adding effects, color grading, and editing? Not sure if I am asking this correctly... but hope that it is enough to understand.
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Re: Layering effects in DaVinci Resolve 12

PostSun Apr 17, 2016 9:09 pm

Ellory Yu wrote:Thanks Marc. I agree that this kind of work should be relegated to Fusion or AE. The one question I still have is if I am using BMD Raw footage, do I grade the clip first in DR, export to another codec like DNxHD, and bring it to Fusion to add the effects, and then bring back the rendered clip into the DR for editing and re-grading again? I guess what I'm asking is - using DR and something like Fusion or AE (which I am assuming does not take CinemaDNG files), what is the workflow for adding effects, color grading, and editing? Not sure if I am asking this correctly... but hope that it is enough to understand.


i suggest to decode in a log like without colour and give to vfx.

if you have a colour lut,or you can make one for the vfx artist to have an idea of the final result is better.

hundreds of thousands of vfx shots are done in this way every year.
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