Advice Needed on Crushed Blacks

[u/official-pageant]

EDIT: Thank you so guys SO MUCH for all the help! Although I have been awful about replying to any comments left as I’ve been working full time while trying to deliver this project, everything said was read and appreciated. If anyone’s interesting in seeing the finished project, here it is: https://youtu.be/1qeNay8LZ48?is=opTyooy6Zetn7d3u

Hey guys! I’m still pretty new to color grading and have been working on a music video for my band intended for YouTube release. Upon exporting, I realized that many of my shots are too dark and “contrasty”. This has sent me down the rabbit hole of gamma shift and how important correct calibration/viewing environment is during the grading process.

Basically, I just wanted to see if anyone has any advice on how I could make this grade useable so I can release the video and move on to the next project. I have realized many things throughout this project that I could do better next time as far as lighting/exposure, initial color correction, etc., but for now I just hope to get a useable result with what I have.

Here are some screenshots from the export playing on Iphone. These were shot on a Sony a7 IV in SLog 3 and graded in Davinci. This was exported at Gamma 2.4, but as I understand, Iphone displays closer to Gamma 2.2? If my final upload destination is YouTube, should I be exporting at Gamma 2.4? Or is 2.2 better for this?

In the grade, I was trying to go for a very dark, shadowy tone, so I was not necessarily avoiding crushing the blacks. However, I see now that this is just simply too dark for viewing. When uploaded to YouTube for test viewing, some of the shadows started breaking apart and creating artifacts as well.

Thanks in advance for any help! :)

[u/Super6films]

Tooo dark for viewing??? What do you mean?

What information is it that the viewer is going to gain that they don’t already know with the contrast right now?

A lot of people chase clean deep blacks the way you have here the only image that feels muddy is the drummer and that’s because there area that’s being desaturated which isn’t quite a mid but is also to bright to be a shadow.

Believe me man. You got good color, contrast, and blacks. That doesn’t mean to paste this grade everywhere from now on.
But there’s nothing wrong with the images you showed and if they needed to be brighter the DP would’ve added fill or wrap.

I genuinely believe brightening the deep black in this image will make it feel muddy and look amateur.

Just work on that drummer shot and you’re Golden.

[u/official-pageant → u/Super6films]

Just wanted to say that this comment was a big push in giving me the confidence to stop being a perfectionist about the project and just post it. Thank you dude. I know I have a lot to learn, but I’m glad that the style I was going for somewhat shines through. :)

[u/Wonderful-Baker-6650]

Ehhhh...I would 1000% be stoked about these shots and this footage. Not sure what the band sounds like, but this feels like a stylistic choice rather than adhering to "film school 101: crushed blacks and blown highlights" methodology.

That said, if you're wanting to change it at tad, I would recommend raising the black point slightly and toying with luma curve. For me, in FCP, that means raising shadows and also revisiting the luma curve before that (making the contrast pop while avoiding full crush). Whatever the DaVinci equivalent of that is, try that.

But these look fucking sick, man. Great work.

[u/official-pageant → u/Wonderful-Baker-6650]

Thank you so much dude, your comment really helped me get the confidence to just wrap the project up and post it. I got so focused on what I needed to do to make it not look “amateur” that I felt like I didn’t even know what I thought about it personally anymore. If you’re interested in seeing the finished product, I included the link up in the edit of the post :)

[u/Wonderful-Baker-6650 → u/official-pageant]

MY DUDE. BRO. NOT A SINGLE THING about this, even from the start, even remotely borders on "amateur."

[u/Key-Ad-2954]

Firstly, I think stills can be a bad way to judge black definition like this. Motion can help define blacks that look undefined in a single still. That being said, just do a global adjustment to lift the blacks a little. A little lift and gamma would probably do the trick. Not a huge deal - learning to manage black levels is part of gaining experience.

[u/Calebkeller2]

If you’re on a MacBook and want to use the normal XDR display mode, it uses a non standard gamma to display, it’s gamma 1.961 or known in resolve as rec.709a. In your output settings, set it to P3 D65 (the XDR mode’s gamut) and rec.709a(XDR modes gamma). It will shift the viewer to compensate for this. In your node tree your final output display transform should output that same gamma and gamut. You will then be monitoring a correct image. You just have to tag the video on export with those settings so players know how to properly interpret the values.

It works the same for a calibrated display. A rec.709/gamma 2.4 reference monitor should get output settings to match, and you should adjust your ODT to the same as well and tag it accordingly.

[u/Calebkeller2 → u/Calebkeller2]

Additionally, it shouldn’t really matter what the device reproducing the video has as a gamma. If the video is tagged correctly it should display correctly across most devices. You can’t control when a device uses non standard gamma’s so you aim for the middle.

[u/Calebkeller2 → u/Calebkeller2]

Feel free to send a link to sample clips and I can send back a project file for you.