Building Your First DaVinci Resolve Node Tree For Color Grading

On my recent Creator Office Hours, I shared my understanding and workflow when it comes to coloring video footage in Davinci Resolve. Yes, I’m a proud Adobe Creative Cloud user and still use Premiere Pro* for video editing, but I also use DaVinci Resolve. Not to mention, I wanted to share this because not everyone can get Adobe Premiere Pro, but DaVinci Resolve is free with plenty of useable tools in its free version. So here’s a Creator Office Hours session with an overview of building out your node tree for color correction and color grading. Hope it helps you. Thank you for watching and thank you for being in my Patreon community.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

DaVinci Resolve Version 19 Launched From Blackmagic Design

The video editing software used by many in big or personal productions has been updated to version 19. Resolve is available to all with a free version as well as a “studio” version available for a flat fee of $295. No subscription. I use it in addition to my other video editor and I do enjoy it. Here’s the press release detailing the update:

DaVinci Resolve 19 is a major new update which adds new DaVinci Neural Engine AI tools, over 100 feature upgrades such as IntelliTrack AI, Ultra NR noise reduction, ColorSlice six vector grading, film look creator FX and multi source editing on the cut page. For Fusion there are new USD tools and multipoly rotoscoping tools, plus Fairlight has new Fairlight AI audio panning to video, ducker track FX and ambisonic surround sound. Blackmagic Cloud has new features that make it easy to use for large companies with multiple users collaborating on the same project at the same time. There’s also support for DaVinci Resolve Replay so you can create live action replays straight to air during live events and convert those replays into promos, highlight packages and instant social media updates:

• With this update, editors can work directly with transcribed audio to find speakers and edit timeline clips. Colorists can produce rich film like tones with the ColorSlice six vector palette and produce cinematic images using the new film look creator effect which emulates photometric film processes. In Fairlight, the IntelliTrack AI can be used to track motion and automatically pan audio. VFX artists in Fusion have an expanded set of USD tools plus a new multipoly rotoscoping tool which displays all of your masks in a single list. The cut page has new broadcast replay tools for live multi camera broadcast editing, playout and replay with speed control. There’s also support for live sync with Blackmagic Cloud which uploads media into a DaVinci Resolve bin while the camera is recording so editors and colorists can start working even while the camera is rolling.

• DaVinci Resolve 19 update is available now as a free download from Blackmagic Design’s website.

Adobe Video Fall Updates 2023: Premiere Pro, After Effects, FrameIO

During IBC, Adobe has announced more updates to its professional video creation products in Creative Cloud*. Adobe has been on a tear with updates around its video editing software Premiere Pro as well as its compositing package, After Effects. Some previous updates include changes to the interface, new features and of course the growing AI integration.

Premiere Pro Updates

A few months back, Adobe allowed editors to speed up the rough cut workflow with its text-based editing tool. I can speak first hand that this tool has been a bit of a game changer for creating social media/promotional content at the speed of typing on a keyboard. But Adobe isn’t stopping here.

Improved Text-based editing

Adobe has allowed even more speed when removing pauses in dialogue. Instead of going line by line to find the pauses, now an editor can select all the text and Premiere Pro will highlight the pauses for removal.

Image: Adobe - Premiere Pro text-based editing interface

Enhanced dialogue

Previously, enhanced audio tools were only available in the Adobe Podcast service as a beta online. This has now been implemented into Premiere Pro with additional controls to really fine tune how much better crappy audio is cleaned up.

Color grading enhancements

The Lumetri color panel has included some bug fixes for the QuickTime gamma issue as well as better LUT management, metadata and timecode burn-in, Blackmagic RAW installer guidance and performance boost. I admit that I still enjoy Davinci Resolve more for creative color grading, but Lumetri is getting closer and closer to Resolve on that front.

After Effects Updates

Adobe continues to make After Effects a true 3D workspace for video compositing. Substance 3D has also provided some free 3D assets that can help get a creator started with beautiful, 3D motion graphics. No Substance subscription required.

Roto Brush AI improvement

The new Roto Brush is in public beta and it has continued to get better with not only the selection process, but the motion tracking has improved because of AI Sensei. This is the tool used to separate a subject in a video file for compositing.

3D Workflow

Now the tools are all available within an After Effects composition as Adobe has optimized the 3D rendering engine. One can only assume this includes the Apple Silicon architecture. No more round-tripping from After Effects to other 3D applications. Lighting and texture assets are all in one place.

Image: Adobe - After Effects 3D tools

FrameIO Updates

FrameIO is a great tool for sharing assets of a creative project with your team members or clients. Now there’s more flexibility in how files can be shared as a comparison view for your team or client reviews. This is going to be key considering how often generative AI images are created with different iterations. Adobe has also updated workflow with its Camera-to-Cloud (C2C) interface by adding more compatible devices:

• Atomos Ninja

• Atomos Ninja Ultra

• Accsoon Seemo

• Accsoon Seemo Pro

• Fujifilm GFX 100ii

The Accsoon annoucement is huge considering the entry price of Accsoon gear.

More information on the Fall 2023 Adobe Video updates can be found here on the Adobe blog. These updates are now available in public beta for you to try out, but the official updates will hit the apps later this fall. . .usually around October and Adobe Max. Get your hands on the Creative Cloud suite if you’ve not gotten into the Adobe products just yet by going here* for a free trial .

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

First Look at KRK GoAux Studio Monitors

I was sent some KRK GoAux speakers* to try out, recently. These are studio monitors designed to be ultra-portable allowing content creators the option to work on video and music projects wherever they go. The speakers feel nice and sound. . .well, just watch the video below to learn more about the GoAux 3* speakers.

Image: Ant Pruitt all rights reserved

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

Holiday Deals From Lensrentals

Lensrentals* has shared its holiday deal with me. This is just a general discount on orders arriving by February 24, 2023. Have your order delivered by then, you’ll save 20%. Just use code LRBF2022. In addition to this discount, Lensrentals* is also offering a 15% discount on all used gear sales. Just use code KPRBF22.

I’m pretty sure a Cyber Monday deal is on the way, but I don’t have details on that just yet.

Image: Lensrentals

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

Black Friday Photography and Creator Deals from Datacolor

It’s that time of the year. Holiday shopping and holiday deals are rolling into everyone’s inbox. Over the coming days and weeks, I’ll be sure to share some of the deals I’ve seen just in case you’re interested in some new gear or software for your content creation endeavors. First up, Datacolor.

Color Checker and Color Matching Tools

Datacolor’s Spyder Checkr Photo is marked down from $99 to $79*. Use this tool to make sure your colors in your photos and videos are accurate. You can snap a photo of it and apply the profile most photo or video editors used today.

Image: Datacolor

Datacolor has also discounted its ColorReader EZ tool. Use this tool to scan flat surfaces and identify the closest color match for Savage Universal backgrounds as well as well as match up color schemes when working on design projects. It’s discounted from $59 to $39*.

Image: Datacolor

Noteworthy Mention

The SpyderX Pro is a must have for creatives. At the time of this post, it’s not discounted, but I HIGHLY recommend getting your hands on a screen calibration tool. I currently own the older Spyder5* model, but the latest SpyderX Pro is available for $169*.

If you see any other deals out there, feel free to share with me so I can share with others. Thanks, everyone.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

Boris FX Updates FREE Particle Illusion App With Vers. 2022.5

If you’re a video creator, you know that creating particle effects can be quite a challenge when using VFX apps such as After Effects* , Motion or Fusion. The team at Boris FX has plugins for these apps to help speed up the process, but it also has a stand alone app that works really well. Better yet, it’s FREE to use. It’s Particle Illusion and it has just received an update to enhance the user experience.

In the video below, you’ll see that Boris FX didn’t touch the user interface that much, but gave some additional controls to help make creating 3D visual effects more efficient for the content creator. You can also import 3D models from via C4D (Cinema 4D) or OBJ files. Get the app for free here.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

Vegas Pro 20 Launched

Vegas Pro is a great alternative to the likes of Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro and Davinci Resolve. I’ve mentioned it a few times on my show because it offers quite a few tools aimed at making video editing a much simpler task for consumers and prosumers. Today Vegas Pro 20 has launched.

Image: Vegas Creative Software

What’s new?

The update focuses on color correction and color grading tools, VFX features as well as advanced audio production as mentioned in the press release snippet below.

• Hue Adjustment curves in the Color Grading Panel

• White Balance controls in the Color Grading Panel

• Enhanced Audio Workflow support, currently in beta, including:

  • VST3 Support for audio editing (Beta, general availability TBA)

  • VST 32-bit bridge that enables support for older, 32-bit VST audio plug-ins (Beta, general availability TBA)

• New Effects features, including:

  • Optical Flow mode for Warp Flow and Smart Split

  • Real-time Optical Flow for the Slow Motion FX

  • Automatic region creation in Scene Detection

  • Honeycomb and Color Planes presets for GL transitions

• Workflow efficiency features such as:

  • Normalize button for events

  • Fade In/Out included in Paste Event Attributes

Vegas Pro 20 will cost you $19.99 per month via a subscription or you can get a perpetual license for $399. More info on the update can be found on the Vegas Creative website here.

I Got a Free V-Mount Battery

I recently purchased a replacement v-mount battery for my video camera because my old one was just too big and bulky. I wanted something smaller, but yet powerful enough to allow for a decent amount of time recording footage. So I bought this V99* from ZGCINE. Turns out, it’s a pretty great option. The folks a ZGCINE apparently got wind of my purchase and sent me some other stuff for free.

First, I received this NPF battery charger* that’s ridiculously fast. I spoke about this as my pick of the week on #TWiG recently. It’s affordable and totally worth it if you’re a creator using Sony NPF batteries for your lights, camera or monitors.

Next, ZGCINE sent me their newest v-mount battery option. The V50*. It’s an even smaller form-factor packed with i/o you need as a creator. Click the image below to watch my YouTube video about it.

Image: Ant Pruitt

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

New ATEM Mini Switchers Announced By Blackmagic Design

The team at Blackmagic announced a new line of ATEM Mini products today. These models are the ATEM Mini SDI, SDI Pro and the SDI Extreme ISO.

Image: Blackmagic Design

ATEM Mini devices are pretty popular with popular live streamers, youtubers and content creators in general. Including my friend, PhotoJoseph.. The devices are quite useful in allowing a creator to run their own broadcast network as long as enough planning and effort is put in. I’ve previously spoken about the Extreme ISO on my channel, actually.

The main change with the new ATEM model is the input types. Previous models were packed with HDMI inputs. The new models use SDI input. This is an interface more popular in the broadcast camera space. Just like the previous ATEM family, it seems that the better value is to go with the Pro version or higher. Blackmagic mentions the features for the new SDI models below:

ATEM SDI Switchers Features

• Features miniaturized control panel based design.

• Supports connecting up to 8 cameras or computers.

• Live stream via Ethernet on ATEM SDI Pro and Extreme models.

• Phone tethering for remote streaming via mobile data on ATEM SDI Pro and Extreme models.

• Records to USB disks in H.264 on ATEM SDI Pro and Extreme models.

• Automatically standards converts and re-syncs all SDI inputs.

• Includes free ATEM Software Control for Mac and Windows.

• 4 upstream ATEM Advanced Chroma keyers on ATEM SDI Extreme model.

• Up to 6 independent DVEs on ATEM SDI Extreme model.

• Customizable 16 way multiview on ATEM SDI Extreme model.

The new ATEM Mini SDI models start at $395. Granted, I don’t advise going with the base model. The Pro is $795 and the Extreme ISO is available for $1495. More information can be found on the Blackmagic website. You can order an ATEM Mini SDI from the folks at Adorama.*

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.