Blackmagic Forum

Hello,
I'm new to Davinci Resolve. I'm using version 16.

I have some clips I'm working with that were filmed outdoors on a trail that goes from being very tree branch covered (low light) and then break into scenes where the trail opens up into wide open fields with no trees (bright light).

The camera did it's best to apply auto exposure but it didn't do a very good job.

I know I can scrub along through my clips raising and lowering exposure in each spot, trying to make it all the same exposure level but the change in light is constant. Every few seconds or so the light changes a lot.
I feel like editing it this way will take forever.

Is there a way I could collect a few of the bright and dark scenes and take note of what my under and over exposure adjustments are and then tell Resolve 16 to use those numbers to then scrub all the tracks on the timeline, taking an average for me?

Any advice on how to apply averages to the whole timeline to get close to the same exposure and then fine adjusting maybe a few spots afterwards would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

TerrenceQ135 wrote:Any advice on how to apply averages to the whole timeline to get close to the same exposure and then fine adjusting maybe a few spots afterwards would be most appreciated.\

You can't use "averages" per se. You have to keyframe the whole scene.

Basically, you do a series of exposure dissolves, starting at the darkest exposure and ending at the brightest exposure. If the change in brightness is irregular, you have to improvise and figure out a way to compensate for it. Sometimes I'll actually do a dynamic keyframe followed by another dynamic keyframe followed by yet another, depending on how the scene goes. Sometimes I can actually end the dynamic, but then start another one a few seconds (or more) after that. Long shots are tough.

Keyframing is so important in color that it gets its own chapter in the 16.2 manual: Chapter 128
"Keyframing in the Color Page," starting on p. 2893. In the old days, we called these "color dissolves," since it literally dissolves from one color correction to a different one, but a dynamic keyframe is a more accurate term. The trick is doing the keyframe in such a way that the viewer can't see it happen. I've had cinematographers come in the room to approve a project (or a scene), and I'll tell them, "this was a rough scene," and they watch it and say, "gee, it looked fine to me." Then I show them what it looked like with the exposure corrections turned off and they fall out of their chairs. Keyframe exposure adjustments can literally save a shot depending on the circumstances.

Thank you Marc.
I'll go over that in the manual and give it a go.