I'm wondering if someone can give some suggestions as to how to make Resolve (12.5 as of now) output a ProRes 422 file that actually looks like what's in the Resolve viewer. No matter what, every time I export out of Resolve, my files are always colour (or possibly gamma) shifted to a "lighter" appearance. They never look correct.
It's gotten to the point where I try to re-solve this problem every month or so but always re-abandon Resolve again and just go back to finishing all of my projects directly in Final Cut Pro X or Premiere (depending on who I'm working with). X and Premiere are always consistent from edit to output.
I know this is a question that gets asked often but no matter how many answers I read I can't find a solution that ever resolves (no pun intended) it for me.
Reproducing the problem:
a) Pull any file into Resolve. For this example I'll use non-RAW (just an MOV file with AVC in it). The file looks like what I expect it to when it comes into Resolve in it's original state.
b) Apply a colour correction and grade with some nodes.
c) Output to ProRes 422 HQ in Resolve.
d) Open the resulting file and A/B between Resolve and the MOV file it rendered.
Without fail, Resolve's viewer window shows what I want and the MOV file Resolve has exported is lighter and washed out looking.
Now, I know: "QuickTime has a gamma bug" is usually the standard reply here and I shouldn't be comparing between the QuickTime player and Resolve.
Two problems with this suggestion though: if I use ANY other software to adjust colours and export and then A/B between it and the resulting QuickTime movie, it's accurate. Case in point, if I do all my colour grading and correcting directly in Final Cut Pro X and output to ProRes 422 HQ, the QuickTime window and the Final Cut window are identical. Exactly what I made in Final Cut is exactly what appears in the output.
Additionally, if I import what Resolve creates back in Final Cut Pro for additional editing it's still wrong there too - no matter what I view Resolve generated video with, it's wrong. But no matter what I view Final Cut Pro X generated video with, it's correct.
Also, according to Apple, the QuickTime Player Gamma bug was solved in 10.7...
Also, this is also not a calibration issue per se - I'm A/B'ing on the same monitor by Alt-Tabbing between Resolve and the QuickTime window (positioned in the exact size over the Resolve window and at the same frame for easy comparison). On the same monitor, Resolve is what I wanted and what Resolve writes to ProRes is wrong.
Lastly, if I pull the file that Resolve exported BACK into Resolve, it's actually DARKER than what I wanted. That's where I just throw my hands up and go back to editing colour in Final Cut Pro usually. So, if what's in the Resolve viewer window is what I want then what Resolve export to QuickTime is LIGHTER than the viewer window and what Resolve re-imports (from it's own export) is now DARKER than the viewer window.
Stuff I've tried:
- Enabling RCM and changing the Input, Timeline, Output colour space and gamma settings. No matter what I set, what comes out in the QuickTime output is ALWAYS lighter. I can shift the viewer hard to dark but what comes out is still lighter.
- Enabling / displaying "use Mac colour" option. Same, output is always lighter.
- Video vs Full output data levels. This HELPS but it's not actually solving the problem - the output video gets its blackness levels back as everything is shifted down but the lights are now too bright as well. It's not actually rendering out what I want it's just covering up the problem by adding a lot more black back in.
- Enable Flat Pass is off. This isn't that.
Can anyone, on macOS with a calibrated display, suggest any basic setup procedure of any kind where what is showing in the Resolve viewer window is what renders out in a ProRes 422 HQ file? I'm assuming there is something major I'm missing completely here because Resolve is effectively useless for me (which is a real shame given how powerful a tool it is).
It's to the point where I don't even shoot in CinemaDNG any more and just shoot in ProRes to avoid involving Resolve in any way; if Resolve touches my footage, it's going to break the colours. That's how bad this export issue is for me.
It's gotten to the point where I try to re-solve this problem every month or so but always re-abandon Resolve again and just go back to finishing all of my projects directly in Final Cut Pro X or Premiere (depending on who I'm working with). X and Premiere are always consistent from edit to output.
I know this is a question that gets asked often but no matter how many answers I read I can't find a solution that ever resolves (no pun intended) it for me.
Reproducing the problem:
a) Pull any file into Resolve. For this example I'll use non-RAW (just an MOV file with AVC in it). The file looks like what I expect it to when it comes into Resolve in it's original state.
b) Apply a colour correction and grade with some nodes.
c) Output to ProRes 422 HQ in Resolve.
d) Open the resulting file and A/B between Resolve and the MOV file it rendered.
Without fail, Resolve's viewer window shows what I want and the MOV file Resolve has exported is lighter and washed out looking.
Now, I know: "QuickTime has a gamma bug" is usually the standard reply here and I shouldn't be comparing between the QuickTime player and Resolve.
Two problems with this suggestion though: if I use ANY other software to adjust colours and export and then A/B between it and the resulting QuickTime movie, it's accurate. Case in point, if I do all my colour grading and correcting directly in Final Cut Pro X and output to ProRes 422 HQ, the QuickTime window and the Final Cut window are identical. Exactly what I made in Final Cut is exactly what appears in the output.
Additionally, if I import what Resolve creates back in Final Cut Pro for additional editing it's still wrong there too - no matter what I view Resolve generated video with, it's wrong. But no matter what I view Final Cut Pro X generated video with, it's correct.
Also, according to Apple, the QuickTime Player Gamma bug was solved in 10.7...
Also, this is also not a calibration issue per se - I'm A/B'ing on the same monitor by Alt-Tabbing between Resolve and the QuickTime window (positioned in the exact size over the Resolve window and at the same frame for easy comparison). On the same monitor, Resolve is what I wanted and what Resolve writes to ProRes is wrong.
Lastly, if I pull the file that Resolve exported BACK into Resolve, it's actually DARKER than what I wanted. That's where I just throw my hands up and go back to editing colour in Final Cut Pro usually. So, if what's in the Resolve viewer window is what I want then what Resolve export to QuickTime is LIGHTER than the viewer window and what Resolve re-imports (from it's own export) is now DARKER than the viewer window.
Stuff I've tried:
- Enabling RCM and changing the Input, Timeline, Output colour space and gamma settings. No matter what I set, what comes out in the QuickTime output is ALWAYS lighter. I can shift the viewer hard to dark but what comes out is still lighter.
- Enabling / displaying "use Mac colour" option. Same, output is always lighter.
- Video vs Full output data levels. This HELPS but it's not actually solving the problem - the output video gets its blackness levels back as everything is shifted down but the lights are now too bright as well. It's not actually rendering out what I want it's just covering up the problem by adding a lot more black back in.
- Enable Flat Pass is off. This isn't that.
Can anyone, on macOS with a calibrated display, suggest any basic setup procedure of any kind where what is showing in the Resolve viewer window is what renders out in a ProRes 422 HQ file? I'm assuming there is something major I'm missing completely here because Resolve is effectively useless for me (which is a real shame given how powerful a tool it is).
It's to the point where I don't even shoot in CinemaDNG any more and just shoot in ProRes to avoid involving Resolve in any way; if Resolve touches my footage, it's going to break the colours. That's how bad this export issue is for me.