Blackmagic Forum

Hello,

I am new to Resolve, currently working of Resolve Light on a Mac computer. What are the best settings to avoid gamma shifts when exporting?

Finding that my prores export can either be brighter or darker than what it looks like in colored timeline.

Thanks

TLDR: You can't. Industry issue.

Read up:
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=101253

Of course you can! But you need proper monitoring with an I/O device by BM and a calibrated monitor.
(It's a business model, somebody got two pay the wages)

tonygw wrote:What are the best settings to avoid gamma shifts when exporting?

1. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/decklink

2. Don't use QuickTime.

mpetech wrote:TLDR: You can't. Industry issue.

Read up:
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=101253

Having read 350 of the 511 posts on that thread, my understanding is:

1) Resolve 16 began adding metadata tags for gamma to its exports.
2) Each video player (VLC, Vimeo, YT, QTX, QT7, and OS versions) responds differently to metadata tags and has different gamma defaults. This is why you see the same file with different gamma on the same screen.
3) DCP and broadcast also have gamma standards.
4) The best is an I/O device, calibrated display, and color management. Make an accurate grade on the calibrated display, then export the correct color-managed gamma for each deliverable.
5) A calibrated display reduces half of the possible variations between grade and delivery. Beyond that you will never solve infinite screens and infinite players. Give up and stay sane. No one will ever see your grade as it is in the color suite.
6) If you don't have a calibrated display and use a "close enough" computer monitor, you have exponentially more variables. Since YT, Vimeo, QTX all treat tags differently and your OS has gamma settings too, the Resolve GUI will not match all players and you don't really know what is happening. You can change the timeline gamma settings to match your delivery color space, or put a conversion LUT on a timeline node to get the Resolve GUI to look closer to your delivery player, but all of this is wonky and breaks things in other places. YMMV.
7) Use color bars. Use scopes.

This is a good article: https://blog.frame.io/2019/10/14/gradin ... -delivery/

Please correct my errors. I have not yet seen a summary like this. Perhaps this thread can be shorter than the first and useful for linking.

That article sums it up really well!

– The only safe way to have your audience see what you saw when grading is a proper DCI suite and a cinema.

- For the internet, just don't care.
Everybody will see something different. OK, maybe an iPad is an exception (if flags are read properly).

– And TV? If the owner of a recent TV ever looks into the manual and finds out how to switch from shop demo mode to proper Rec. 709 (whatever it's called in the menu), there is a chance he/she sees what you've seen on a calibrated display.

Uli Plank wrote:- For the internet, just don't care.

I'm not at the level of some of the people here so I hesitate to speak with any surety but I think there is something to be said for good mechanics in grading. If you annihilate your shadows it's going to look bad everywhere, and good color contrast is going to help with clarity even on very badly calibrated monitors. Meaning achieving a one to one match in delivery is less important than having a properly structured grade (which is the point of scopes and calibrated monitors).

I will grade to the best of my ability no matter what's the delivery platform. That said I won't be making any OS/browser/platform specific tweaks because that is an endless swamp.

If I do a proper grade it will look the same amount of "wrong" in any situation.

I have not recommended bad grading!
Just don’t expect that those 95% (or more) who are watching your YT content on their mobile device are seeing what you see. And probably more than 50% of those looking at a TV neither, even if graded to standard.

Uli Plank wrote:I have not recommended bad grading!

hahaha sorry! I was actually agreeing with you but we skipped a few steps of the conversation. We are thinking the same about all of this. hahaha

Tero Ahlfors wrote:If I do a proper grade it will look the same amount of "wrong" in any situation.

Yes I think this is the wisdom that people more experienced than me have imparted, and it's the same in audio mixing and mastering. The skill is in knowing where that proper grade should sit (and what is feasible) no matter the shot and context... and of course how to achieve it haha.

Uli Plank wrote:That article sums it up really well!

That is an excellent summation.

BTW, the audio professionals I know always have a crappy 'ghetto blaster' next to their high-end monitoring to check how it sounds on that one…

Uli Plank wrote:BTW, the audio professionals I know always have a crappy 'ghetto blaster' next to their high-end monitoring to check how it sounds on that one…

Yes, our "shi* boxes". And as a final mix check I always listen on the pin-hole mono speaker on my phone. The worst speakers can be the most revealing (But only as a test, use the good ones to mix).

I'd never thought about applying that to grading but it's a good analogy