HDR Global Color Balancing in Resolve
The Camera Native Approach
Learning how to color balance doesn't need to be difficult. It is actually quite easy to do inside of DaVinci Resolve thanks to 32-bit float processing and color space aware tools like the HDR Global control.
While many tutorials tell you to rely on DaVinci Wide Gamut (DWG) with davinci intermediate, doing so can sometimes introduce more problems than it solves, especially with certain sdr footage. Converting your footage into DWG applies an extra color conversion matrix and tonemapping that can sometimes damage the image, making it difficult to balance highlights and shadows simultaneously.
The secret to getting the best results with the least amount of nodes is working camera native. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to objectively evaluate and balance your footage using the HDR Global tool. Footage to follow along with is provided as part of the cutting club to download here. Joining “Cutting Club” makes this channel and website possible.
Project Settings
The foundation of this workflow is telling DaVinci Resolve exactly what you shot so the tools behave intuitively.
Color Management: Open your project settings (the little cog on the right or Shift+9) and set your color management to DaVinci YRGB. This ensures Resolve isn't doing anything behind the scenes and leaves you in full control.
Timeline Color Space: Set this to match your primary camera's native format. For example, if you shoot on a Sony FX3, use S-Gamut3.Cine / S-Log3. If you shot with something that looks "normal" out of the camera, it was likely Rec.709 Scene. Set the timeline space to the camera space.
Output Color Space: Change this to Rec.709 Scene (not 2.4) so it looks correct when you export.
Configure Scopes for Balancing
To evaluate your image objectively, you need to set up your scopes properly. Expand your scopes window (Command/Shift/W) so you can view four different tools:
1 Waveform: Set this to "Y only" and turn off colorize to evaluate exposure objectively.
3 Vectorscopes: Break these out to view different tonalities. Set one to "Low" (shadows), one to "Mid," and one to "High" (highlights).
Pro Tip: Hover your cursor over the vectorscopes, hold Alt/Option, and scroll to zoom in. This gives you a microscopic view of your trace for maximum visualization.
Build Your Node Tree (Log to Rec.709)
If you are working with log footage, you must convert it to view it on your display before making adjustments.
Add a node at the very end of your node tree for your conversion.
Hit Shift+Space, type "Color Space Transform" (CST), and add it to the node.
Set your Input Color Space and Input Gamma to your camera's native format (e.g., Sony S-Gamut3 and S-Log3). If you have set this in project settings you can leave the input set to use timeline.
Set your Output Color Space and Output Gamma to Rec.709. Leave the tone mapping and OOTF settings alone.
Balance with HDR Global
Now, move to a node prior to your CST to do the actual balancing.
Open the HDR palette. Keep in mind that this palette is for perceptually uniform adjustments and works great with any footage, not just HDR.
Because we already set our timeline color space (e.g., S-Log3), the HDR tool is "color space aware" and already knows how to handle the footage.
Use the Global control to adjust your exposure, temperature, and tint. If you are using a micro color panel, press the "Offset" key to use your right trackball for this.
Look at your vectorscopes. Your goal is to move the trace (the white blob) toward the center crosshair. If the trace is perfectly centered, the image is balanced and has no color cast, creating a perfect foundation for grading.
Handling Mixed Footage on the Same Timeline
What happens if you have an S-Log3 timeline, but you drop in a Rec.709 clip from a GoPro or an Apple Log clip from an iPhone?
You don't need to change your project settings. Instead, go to the node where you are using the HDR tool, click the three-dot options menu, and go to Color Space. Change the Color Space and Gamma to match that specific clip.
For example, an iPhone 16 Pro Max shoots in Rec.2020 color and Apple Log gamma. Once you tell the HDR tool what it's looking at, you can easily shift even the most horribly tinted clips back to a beautiful, neutral balance using just the Global wheel.
