Color Grading 101 - Everything You Need to Know

Summary by Krater

This video provides a foundational guide to color grading in video editing, covering color correction, color spaces, raw, log, ACES, LUTs, and scopes using DaVinci Resolve.

From the video

Answers: How do I color grade video and use color spaces, log, RAW, LUTs, and scopes?

• color correction vs color grading
• color spaces (Rec.709, Rec.2020, HDR)
• acquisition color spaces
• RAW and LOG video recording
• ACES (Academy Color Encoding System)
• LUTs (Look-Up Tables)
• video scopes (waveform, RGB parade, vectorscope)
• hue-saturation and hue-hue curves

What it concludes

• Rec.709 is the most common default color profile for screens, but is being replaced by Rec.2020 and Rec.2100 for cinematic HDR color space.
• RAW recording saves as much sensor data as possible and offers immense color-grading flexibility, but results in massive file sizes and requires debayering.
• LOG recording uses an optimized gamma curve to capture maximum highlight and shadow detail while maintaining manageable file sizes compared to RAW.
• ACES standardizes color space management across different camera formats and destinations, making multi-platform distribution much easier.
• LUTs act as color filters to quickly transform image color spaces or apply creative looks, but they cannot adjust grain, vignetting, or noise reduction.
• DaVinci Resolve is the premier post-production software for color grading due to its node-based workflow and powerful built-in tools.