Master DaVinci Resolve Studio 19: Curves Color Tab

In this article, I will talk all about curves. You can find curves in DaVinci Resolve Studio 19 on the Color Tab.

Above, we have curves that work similarly to our Primaries Color Tab. I already covered these Primaries Color Tab, so check that out. Our Primaries Color Wheels are split into three sections: Lift, Gamma, and Gain. These controls can be adjusted to change shadows (gamma), mid-tones(lift) and highlights(gain). We can also see Offset. The Offset works excellently for overall adjustments, as described earlier. If we need specific adjustments, we can do it on log wheels—more controlled manipulation of shadows, mid-tones and highlights.

Primaries Color Wheels and Log Wheels are great because of all the additional adjustments in this section, like Temp, Tint, Cont, Hue, etc. However, when I compare Curves to the Primaries Color Tab, Curves stand out to me. Curves allow us to make more precise adjustments to any specific luminance or even the hue and saturation of our image in an accurate way that doesn’t affect other parts of the image. This also gives a great view of our image when we change things in our image. I like the visuals of the Curves more than the Primaries Color Tab.

So, I use Curves more than the Primaires Color Tab. However, I use those Color Wheels when changing primaries like Temp, Tint, or other things. But when adjusting the image’s contrast, I jump directly to the Curves. I also enjoy playing around with the colours (Red, Green, Blue) in Curves. There are lots of other things in the Curves section. I’ll cover everything in this article.

Alright, without further ado, let’s jump into the world of Curves in DaVinci Resolve Studio 19.

Curves- Custom

The Custom Curves in DaVinci Resolve are the most frequently used section of the curves. This is where color correction happens to all of our videos. We can adjust limited tonal ranges such as shadows, mid-tones, and highlights. First, we should grasp the fundamentals of Curves. Now, how can we change the shadows, mid-tones, and highlights?

Curves Basic

There are some fundamental rules we need to remember when changing our image. The left of the Curves represents the darkest part of our images, but on the other hand, the right side represents the brightest part. The Curves have a centre, which serves as the mid-tones of our image.

The image shows a line on the coordinate plane from the bottom left to the top right. The bottom left is the black point, our image in its entirety. The top right is the white point, our entire image at its brightest.

These two points are all you have to play with when altering the contrast over your image; you can move this curve around and effectively change how where each of its darkest or lightest parts sits against your smelly, trashy chair.

Now, look at how I drag the bottom point of the curves up. What’s happening? Looking at the luminance histogram, we can see it is raising the part of the image with less light. Increasing the luminance of our shadows. But the blacks who were black, now they are gone. Now, we can see a washed-out effect in our image.

If I turn it all up, you can easily see that we are losing a lot of contrast because we no longer allow black values in our image. This is hideous; I just did it to make you understand this point.

Now, if I slide the point to the right, which should make things darker, this is what you see. This leads to the question, what happens when it becomes darker when this point is moved left? This is because we are increasing this line at an angle here. The amount of slant in our line controls the contrast of this image.

Let’s say we make the line go up and then down. What can we see here? Our image looks as contrasted as it can possibly be. This is when we see ourselves converting into black and white. So, what is the opposite of this? It becomes all grey if we draw a straight line or flat line. I see this as the lowest contrast possible to render our images. Since we lack contrast, everything should be a black-except image. Now, we can understand that the slope of this line represents how high our image will be in contrast. Apply these fundamentals when you go to work on the Curves.

This line is opposite the bottom left point of lines on the top right point. I will not go into much detail about this again. I put a picture here. I hope you get the picture.

Adding Points On The Line

Points can be inserted at any point on the line, and we may move them. For example, we can add a point on the brighter half of our line. Dragging it up makes the brighter part even brighter, and dragging it down, as you can see, will change the dark vibe to the bright side.

It’s equivalent to putting a point on the line more toward the darker side and then dragging it up. If we drag it up, the dark part will be reduced; if we drag it down, it will make our dark part even darker.

Let’s make an “S” curve. The brightest aspect will become brighter, and the darker section will become even more gloomy. Most editors will make This type of change to get that contrast right. So yeah, you can influence it according to how your work best fits.

Pro tip: If we have generated any previous point that we desire to remove, We can remove those points using just a “Mouse Right Click”

Red, Green And Blue

This section is for setting Red, Green, and Blue values separately. If you click on “Y,” it will change the adjustment for all that particular selection, but if you choose some colors independently, that only impacts the color you select, not the overall image.

This is super full to give the perfect balance to your image.

Color Theory

Color theory: what you (should) always remember…

When we choose the “R,” it indicates that it is Red, and dragging it up will brighten your image’s red value. Dressing it down will add Cyan because Red is cyan inverted according to the color theory.

All “G” and “B” values are handled similarly. Increasing the Green values will increase the Green, and dragging it down increases Meganta. Finally, it is Yellow on Blue. It will pull Bule up if it even mentions that. It will go & bring you down to Yellow.

This is useful for some color manipulation. Remember this color theory always. This will help you a lot.

Histogram

This is a super template for making a histogram of the tonal distribution from your image without using in-OS Python. It indicates the shadow, mid-tone, and highlight levels and is fundamental when using Curves.

Using the Histogram:

• Understanding the Graph: The left side represents the shadows, the middle the mid-tones, and the right side the highlights.
• Exposure balancing: The histogram ensures you don’t crush the blacks and blow out too many highlights in your image, leaving a well-exposed shot.
• Visual Feedback: As you adjust your Curves, watch the Histogram. Your changes will be reflected here, giving you real-time feedback on how your image’s tonal range is affected.

By default, when you work on the curves, we do not see that the histogram changes. To make this possible, you have to click on three dots. Open Histogram and change it from Input → Output. So you will be able to identify where your changes go on the lines.

Hue Vs Hue

The Hue Vs. Hue Curve This is one of the most important tools for any colorist. If you would like to convert the blue sky a bit more turquoise or strengthen the green of foliage, this curve is really convenient. You can click a point on the curve and then drag that hue to any other colour in the spectrum without changing the images.

Suggested use: Color grading (when this curve does wonders!) The Hue Vs. The saturation section is handy when adjusting skin tones or colour-matching between different shots. The Hue curve for detailed control. You can tweak the colours in your image to be very subtle or completely change everything.

Hue Vs Sat

Hue vs. Sat—This curve allows you to change the saturation of individual colors in your image. It is used to correct any over- or under-saturated colors that may exist within the image by adjusting the saturation of each color individually.

For instance, if you think a red looks too intense color-wise, you can use this curve to desaturate the red and keep everything else intact. This tool is the perfect balance in color capabilities or a creative vision. You can brush up or down while pausing to make certain colors pop and dull others.

Hue Vs Lum

The Hue Vs. The lum curve (right) enables you to change the luminance of a particular colour independently without altering its hue or saturation. Helpful to make reds darker other colours, like blues

This curve is vital for achieving more targeted adjustments to contrast and exposure in different portions of your image. Adjusting the brightness of individual hues also helps you achieve a polished and professional look.

Lum Vs Sat

Lum vs Sat curve—The Lum vs Sat curve allows you to independently change the saturation of colors depending on their brightness levels. This implies that you will manage the saturation within the shadows, mid-tones, and highlights based on their luminance values.

You can desaturate the shadows if you think they are too rich. Alternatively, if we want or need to get even more saturation in the Highlights while they stand out, this curve precisely provides that. This makes it perfect for balancing saturation across various levels of luminosity for a better-looking, evenly processed image.

Sat Vs Sat

The Sat Vs. Sat curves can limit saturation between a specified range of colors. You can reduce or boost the saturation of more saturated colors while leaving desaturated ones untouched.

For instance, if the high saturation throughout your image seems appropriate, but very highly saturated areas are way too strong, You can use this curve to turn down the saturation in these areas if you want (or presume some other processing. Color times is a super specific saturation management that does not disrupt the color you have.

Sat Vs Lum

The Sat vs. Lum curve allows you to brighten areas according to the saturation levels in your image. This is useful when you want to brighten less saturated areas or darken them if they’re more saturated.

If you are unsure what to choose, a luminance will help bring highly charged but dark areas in the image up to where they can be brighter and, therefore, more visible. You can only darken areas too bright and saturated to make the image more balanced.

FAQs

I tried to cover everything on Curves here. However, you can not master them by reading this article. Ensure you give some time to try this properly outlined article. Curves are a very powerful tool. Therefore, mastering them makes a significant difference in your journey. So, take some time to master it.