Wed Dec 07, 2022 2:24 am
Even 10 bit would help as long as it's not clipped.
But 8 bit sources are definitely just enough for very mild grading. And then, you don't give any details about your sources. Some cameras offer log in an 8 bit source, which is something to avoid wherever you can.
I can see what I think to understand from 'cluster' in the highlights of your third picture. You can try to add minimal grain to the highlights only to cover up that banding, but you need to balance that with the final compression, it can lead to ugly blockiness instead.
Now that the cat #19 is out of the bag, test it as much as you can and use the subforum.
Studio 18.6.6, MacOS 13.6.6, 2017 iMac, 32 GB, Radeon Pro 580
MacBook M1 Pro, 16 GPU cores, 32 GB RAM and iPhone 15 Pro
Speed Editor, UltraStudio Monitor 3G