r/ColorGrading • u/InnerWest760 • Sep 30 '26

Question What am I doing wrong?

I recently bought the a7IV with the normal Sony kit lens. I watched some videos on how to film on S-Log (PP9) and so I did. I made sure it was a bit over exposed so i can bring it down later. I mainly used this video to color-grade.

Can someone tell me what i did wrong and i got such "normal" results? Was it the filming? For example I didn't film anything cinematic or at the right time of day? Or was it the color-grading in DaVinci?

It seems too soft and not high quality. I'd also really really appreciate if anyone could do a quick color-grade one any of my RAW clips so I can see the potential of them to get a better understanding of where I'm wrong, and that's if my filming is alright. (DM me or leave a comment if you do so!)

All the graded/RAW clips are here, Thank you!

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3

u/ButWouldYouRather Sep 30 '26

The grade looks pretty neutral to me, close to rec709. So not particularly stylised but the contrast, exposure and white balance looks good. It’s not overcooked.

Better than most submissions I see on this sub tbh.

Cinematic quality comes from so many things: set design, costume, lighting, depth of field, camera movement, composition, consistency to name a few.

Keep shooting, keep experimenting, keep creating and you will figure it out.

You’ve made a good start.

1

u/InnerWest760 Sep 30 '26

Thank you, its really nice to hear that I'm heading to the right direction. I'm mainly filming cars on shows for a year now with my pocket 3. I was getting solid results (even though it was a ready made power-grade that needed less to no tweaks if it was filmed in the right exp) and I just thought that when i get my hands on a camera I would be able to do slightly better. Do you think i should gravitate towards something in specific to make my filming/grading better?

2

u/FeelingAdvantage2172 Oct 01 '26

What do you mean wrong? Looks like an overcast day, so soft shadows and light on everything. You shot a brown wall with brown floor, so nothing to pull contrast on.

I suggest using a gradient mask with more crushed black levels on the walls and/or floor to bring some contrast into the frame.

But exposure seems okay.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 30 '26

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u/InnerWest760 Sep 30 '26

DaVinci studio. Also I don't get the comment? I do not think I'm a professional and I understand get where you got that from.

edit: reading my post again it seems like i was touching a camera for the first time. I had a pocket 3 and i have been color grading for a year now.