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FilmSkool — a free film school

Create Your Film Grade in DaVinci Resolve – The Ultimate Cinematic Color Grading Tutorial

Walks through building a full color grade in DaVinci Resolve from a flat base image to a finished cinematic look, covering primary correction, contrast shaping and secondary refinements.

KC ian · 21 min · Intermediate · COL · Color · 2025

What you take away

Replicate a full primary-to-secondary node structure on your own footage.

Watch it

Filed under

Films to study for colour

Books on colour

Color Grading 101 — Charles Haine
Color Correction Handbook — Alexis Van Hurkman
Color and Mastering for Digital Cinema — Glenn Kennel
If It’s Purple, Someone’s Gonna Die — Patti Bellantoni
The Secret Lives of Colour — Kassia St Clair
Masters of Light — Dennis Schaefer, Larry Salvato

Kit for this lesson

Blackmagic UltraStudio Recorder 3G — SDI and HDMI into a laptop over Thunderbolt
Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor — A search dial, and Resolve Studio in the box
Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Studio — The paid Resolve, bought once, kept for ever
Calibrite Display Pro HL — Calibrates the monitor you are trusting
Tangent Ripple — The cheapest set of real trackballs
Dell UltraSharp U2723QE — The sensible 4K second monitor

More Color

Grade School: Watch a Senior Colorist Color Grade in Real Time — Cullen Kelly · 22m · Advanced
5 Levels of Look Development in Color Grading - Cullen Kelly [ResolveCon '24 - Day 3] (HQ) — Casey Faris · 41m · Advanced
How a Pro Colorist uses film grain — Cullen Kelly · 16m · Advanced
Color grading | Color science | Computer Animation | Khan Academy — Khan Academy Labs · 2m · Intermediate
My Perfect Node Tree for Color Grading - Darren Mostyn [ResolveCon '24 - Day 2] — Casey Faris · 36m · Advanced
Introduction to gamuts | Color science | Computer animation | Khan Academy — Khan Academy Labs · 2m · Intermediate
Masterclass in color grading with Mark Todd Osborne — Lowepost · 32m · Advanced
CIE chromaticity diagram | Color science | Computer Animation | Khan Academy — Khan Academy Labs · 2m · Intermediate
How Professional Colorists Read Scopes featuring Darren Mostyn — timeinpixels · 15m · Intermediate
Halation effect: What is it and why is it important for the film emulation? — Dehancer · 13m · Intermediate
I wish I knew this when I started color grading | DaVinci Resolve — Waqas Qazi · 14m · Beginner
Learn professional color grading and look development in DaVinci Resolve. — Lowepost · 27m · Intermediate

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