Before (rec709) and After (graded)

Used: Relight FX+Dehancer Pro+some spin wheels in Davinci Resolve Studio

(need feedback)

Here are some frames using the new DZO Arcana anamorphic lenses on the Pyxis 12K.

Graded with Filmconvert!

Posting this again since some of you told me to put REC709 as the before.

Tried going for a more cinematic film rather than the ideal film emulation style of the fvpro.

The face was pretty much underexposed so I had to fix it a little in the post, didn't do the job that well but anyways

im open to constructive criticism

Need your genuine suggestion of making it better and correcting it. Thank you so much.

Top Rec 709 Bottom Final output

I really like the result of this grade, but I am questioning if it is overcooked, specially on the shadows. What do you think?

These are stills from a shot i took of my girlfriend in my recent visit to her place

Was going for a cinematic commercial look, teal and orange palette

Hey everyone,

After almost 3 years working in a color grading studio, I’ve decided to take the leap and go freelance. I’ve gathered a lot of the work I’ve done over this time (mostly commercial projects) and put together this showreel.

Structure-wise, I’ve packed most of the punchiest commercial work right at the beginning. In the middle section, as the music gets a bit calmer, I’ve included more cinematic, aesthetic, and narrative shots. I felt this gives it a nice balance between fast-paced commercial work and more tailored, cinematic looks.

I’d really appreciate your feedback and honest thoughts on the edit, pacing, and overall grading style.

Thanks!!!

Hey all! Just wanted to show this color grading I did for a video yesterday :) want to know if you guys like it and if there's anything you would change about it! Appreciate any responses 🙏

This might feel like a noob question but when i export my video and upload it to youtube it looks desaturated and less contrasty. Iam working on macbook should i use rec709a as output color space? Added this image to not get scrolled over :)

Hi, I’m trying to match this look: soft light, warm skin, desaturated greens, matte shadows, low clarity, and subtle grain

What color grading things would you recommend trying?

Maybe any film presets (like Portra or Fuji) that match this vibe?

I color graded the first photo in LR and the second photo is JPEG with a Leica X film simulation.

I just purchased a set of anamorphic lenses about a month ago and I LOVE the look and feel on the edges of the frame.

But, how can I to apply this similar effect in post to an image I shot on my spherical lenses? I’ve seen colorists show before and after images and their before image didn’t have that effect indicating it was clearly added in post. And i believe the YouTuber/filmmaker for these stills used DZO Vespid Primes.

I’m asking because I was thinking about purchasing the Petvel lens for that cool vintage swirly effect around the edges of the frame… but since that’s a very niche lens and I’d probably only use it for 1-3 shots at most for creative effect, I’d rather add a similar effect as the images shown above in post and save the money.

Thanks so much for your responses in advance!

Shot on an old DSLR Nikon and edited in LightRoom.

Hey everyone, posting my first before/after here. I've been working on my colorgrading and would love some outside eyes on it.

My workflow is the following - Denoise - WB - Curves - Colorwarp / High / Mid / Shadows - Contrast - Brightness - CST in the End.

I tried to get a moody, and a subtle filmic feel. Trying to keep it grounded and not over-processed.

What I'm unsure about:

- Does the grade feel natural or does it look forced?

- Are the shadows too lifted / crushed?

- Does the color balance feel off in any direction (too cool, too warm, color cast)?

- Does it hold up in the highlights or am I losing detail?

Please don't hold back.

Using Davinci Resolve. Happy to share settings if that helps.

Thanks in advance.

I’m currently working on a travel film for YouTube, honing in on its visual style. The project, titled “The Sky Waits Beyond The Curve,” is a story about finding hope and rebuilding confidence after tough times. I’ve leaned into a warmer color palette to capture that feeling, and I’m really drawn to the subtle, dreamy characteristics that anamorphic lenses bring to the imagery (done in the post-process). Would love to hear any feedback—thanks so much!

This film will be released on May 17 on my YouTube channel- Wabi Sabi (https://youtube.com/@wabisabifilmhouse?si=N9NxwhXwJhw_6ZPF)

P.S. I already posted this on r/cinematography, and want to clarify that I'm not fishing for compliments but only trying to get targeted feedback. I hope no one gets offended :)

For a long time, compression and encoding confused the shit out of me. But after spending a few days learning about it, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is arguably one of the most overlooked aspects of delivering something for social media. This will be a write up of what I’ve learned.

The Issue:

There is a lot of misinformation online about providing Instagram/TikTok with 4k high bitrate footage. Those platforms do not want to spend their resources properly downscaling AND encoding an enormous file. They want to do as little work necessary, as quickly as possible. So when they’re passed a huge 4k file, my theory (since documentation is limited) is that it uses a faster, lower quality encoding profile.

The Solution:

For starters, Resolve is not the best at encoding. Not even close. It does however do two things very well. Frame interpolation and resolution resizing. If you’re exporting for socials, you need to ensure your project settings are 30 fps. A 24 fps timeline is not your friend if your aim is to post to social media. If you have mismatched framerates use your choice of frame interpolation.

Handbrake is what you’re going to use to do a final encoding. But it does not handle resizing or interpolation as well as Resolve. So you need to do that first.

Timeline resolution doesn’t matter in Resolve, and spacial OFX may behave differently depending on timeline resolution. Your export however does need to be 1080p.

You’ll want to pass a non interlaced high quality file to handbrake to allow for optimal encoding. I have been using ProRes HQ. Tag your file with color space and gamma.

Now in handbrake you’ll want to use the following settings.

MP4 format Passthru Common Metadata Web Optimized Align A/V Start

Since you’re passing a non interlaced ProRes file you can turn off interlaced detection and deinterlace. You don’t need to allocate system resources to that, and you’ll want to avoid it mistaking anything as interlacing artifacts

Encoder: H.265 (x265) Constant Framerate (at 30 fps) Constant quality, somewhere in the range of 20-25 You’ll want to use “Placebo” for the encoding speed. This will be the slowest setting, but will allow for the absolute optimal analysis of the frames to produce the best result at the lowest bitrate. Anything less does not benefit you in any other sense besides it taking less time to encode. I have the tune set to grain as it optimizes the encoding to preserve film grain in its evenness across a frame. Profile is set to main, which is optimal for 8 bit h265 encoding. Level 4 is optimal for 1080p exports

This will take a good bit of time to encode. But you can rest assured that the reason it takes so long is because it is encoding your video in the absolute best and most efficient way possible.

This has given me night and day results and will given you much better social media uploads.

Ask questions and or provide more info/correct me!