Color Grading via several mask areas and tracking?

Hello,

I like to adjust colors in my videos on specific mask areas. Mostly on landscape footage I like e.g. to decrease the blue on hills or adjust green parts of e.g. forest.

I already know, how to use polygons/masks in the COLOR window and how to track them. But the results in e.g. decrease/change very deep blue on hills is in the COLOR windows with the provided color functions not as I wish on the results.
Another problem: If I add additional polygon masks, I'm not able to use different color adjustments for all different polygon masks. All color adjustments react in all polygon masks at the same time.

So I tried to make my color adjustments under the FUSION window. If I use their a polygon mask and add color adjustments notes I get better results than under the COLOR windows.
My problem here: If I add a planar tracker and track them I'm not able to adjust colors only on the tracked mask. I tried different ways in order to link the nodes, but I'm not successful on that.

Three questions:
1. In order to make different color adjustments on e.g. 2 different polygon masks on a landscape footage, would you use the COLOR or the FUSION window for that?

2. If I do that on the FUSION window: How I should assemble and link the nodes in order to only make color adjustments on a free pointed polygon mask?

3. In addition to 2.: how I could generate different tracked polygon masks and adjust colors for each mask individual. Do you have a node/linke example for that?

Thanks in advance

If it were me, I'd do it all on the Color page. It's fair to say that a lot of Resolve's power is that it gives you multiple methods to accomplish similar things.

I have to say, though, the windows/shapes in Fusion are easier to draw than the ones in Resolve Color. I hope some day the Color Windows will absorb a lot of the features and functionality as the Fusion Windows. But let's let them finalize Resolve 17 first.

Another problem: If I add additional polygon masks, I'm not able to use different color adjustments for all different polygon masks. All color adjustments react in all polygon masks at the same time.

Are you familiar with the technique of using multiple Color nodes and a Mixer so that each mask can have its own color adjustment?

You would have one node for foreground hills on the left, another for the hills on the right, another for the barn in the foreground, and another for the sky. Bring them all together in a Parallel mixer.

Each node can have multiple Power Windows and also a Qualifier. So your could use a Qualifier for your sky node to grab the part very near the trees, and then a Power Window to grab most of the sky where there are clouds, etc. For the mountain node, you could use a Polygon window with some softness, or you could use a Polygon window to grab most of the mountain plus a luma qualifier to grab the trees silhouetted against the sky, where the edge is ragged. Or you could use multiple Power Windows for the same object if camera movement changes the object's apparent shape. (For example if you have mountains on the left and mountains on the right and they move at different rates due to parallax but you want to color them the same.)

As you note, if you use multiple Power Windows (and maybe a Qualifier) in a single node, you only get a uniform adjustment, but you can use multiple nodes to handle that. The Color tool is your best option. Doing color work in Fusion is sub-optimal in my opinion. Fusion has the nodes, but the workflow and infrastructure just makes it painful. In my opinion.

You can also have nodes that have overlapping windows for other purposes. For example, you have a mountain node and Power Window for a couple of mountains, but then you have an overall node that is masked over the mountains and part of the foreground and part of the sky to add a "haze" effect. This could be a parallel node in a parallel mixer, or you could throw it as a serial node after your mixer. Also: the parallel mixer is generally recommended for this kind of application, since it blends overlapping mattes in a way that is softer and more organic. The layer mixer is more of a priority-based system where one matte will have priority over another when they overlap.

Another problem: If I add additional polygon masks, I'm not able to use different color adjustments for all different polygon masks. All color adjustments react in all polygon masks at the same time.

Are you familiar with the technique of using multiple Color nodes and a Mixer so that each mask can have its own color adjustment?

You would have one node for foreground hills on the left, another for the hills on the right, another for the barn in the foreground, and another for the sky. Bring them all together in a Parallel mixer.

Yes, this seems like it's exactly what the OP is looking to do. And although I'm just in the process of learning, it seems to me that if the polygon adjustments in the various nodes don't overlap significantly then you could also do this with a simple serial pipeline of nodes.

it seems to me that if the polygon adjustments in the various nodes don't overlap significantly then you could also do this with a simple serial pipeline of nodes.

True. The OP could certainly start with serial adjustments and then if overlap becomes a significant issue switch to mixers. I'm not a fancy Color guy and my default Color node tree is three serial nodes: Luma (using the curve), White Balance (Primaries), and Skin (Qualifier on skin plus various tools). A fancier setup could suggest that a mixer to mix skin back in makes more sense, but not needed in the simple case.

On the other hand, the parallel mixer isn't complicated (ordering of incoming nodes doesn't matter) and it's gentle in its effect, so it's probably good practice to use one when it might be applicable. Layers require more planning and have the backwards-from-everyone-else protocol of lower inputs override higher inputs, so maybe not best to start with unless you need more extreme things to happen.

Thank you very much to all.

This helped

I'm now able to use different masks (mostly polygons) as parallel masks and can now individual make my color adjustments.
This was what I'm looked for.

Thanks again!