Channel Title: Cullen Kelly Channel Description: Professional colorist, image scientist, and educator obsessed with the power of a well-crafted image. I'm committed to helping my fellow filmmakers realize their creative vision in camera and in the grade. If you like the content and want to say thanks, you can Buy Me A Coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/cullenkelly <video> The easy mistake that will ruin your high saturations Description: Here's the easily-overlooked project setting (that accidentally got reset in my recent video) that will make it easy to use pro color balancing techniques and get better-looking images. 00:00 What you will learn to fix 00:33 When this problem happens 2:06 Example 1 3:03 Why this problem happens 3:15 The one setting that fixes it all 3:30 The fix in action 4:00 What this setting does, and why it fixes everything 6:44 How to make Resolve do this for you automatically 8:15 How to do this if you use Y-only adjustments -------- Grab my Voyager LUT Pack. 17 LUTs to provide beautiful looks for any type of project so you can grade faster, take every image further, and attract better and better jobs. http://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack Get my free Kodak 2383 film print LUT for DWG and ACES here: http://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my ebook, The Colorist's 10 Commandments: http://procolor.ist/ebook Start creating your own studio-quality show LUTs, camera LUTs, and LUT packs with my pro look design plugin Contour (free trial available): https://procolor.ist/contour-official/ </video> <video> The saturation tool you should never use again (and what to use instead) Description: Today I'm sharing with you one tool you should never use again for your saturation, and two tools you should use instead — *one of them you would never expect.* 00:29 The tool to never use again, and why 03:01 One tool you should use instead 04:04 Why this tool gives you "good" saturation 07:00 The unexpected second tool you should use 10:19 Why this works -------- Grab my Voyager LUT Pack. 17 LUTs to provide beautiful looks for any type of project so you can grade faster, take every image further, and attract better and better jobs. http://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack Get my free Kodak 2383 film print LUT for DWG and ACES here: http://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my ebook, The Colorist's 10 Commandments: http://procolor.ist/ebook Start creating your own studio-quality show LUTs, camera LUTs, and LUT packs with my pro look design plugin Contour (free trial available): https://procolor.ist/contour-official/ </video> <video> Step-by-step pro colorist setup, conform, & delivery Description: See how every professional color grading job gets set up (including live demos for different workflows), and how to make your setup faster so you can grade with more speed and confidence so your work is always at its best. *Plus* I'll be giving away my professional prep guide to help you set up your projects with what you've learned. You'll get to see everything: • Creating a template project • Naming format/job # • Bin structure • Creating a project setting preset • Stills and cache directories • Caching setup • Resolution setup • Color management setup • Timeline and display space tags • Tetrahedral interpolation • The two types of conform workflow and which to choose • Live demos of each type of workflow And a heck of a lot more. Get my pro color grading prep guide here: https://procolor.ist/pro-colorist-project-prep-guide Want to get more advanced with your color grading? Join the next round of Colorist Career Accelerator here: https://bit.ly/cca-round7-waitlist ••••••••• Improving you color grading requires the mindset of a colorist. Learn the mental models of pro colorists in my ebook "The Colorist's Ten Commandments": https://procolor.ist/ebook Ready to move from grading shots to creating looks? Get a free trial of Contour, my look design plugin for Resolve that uses battle-tested, Hollywood color science: https://procolor.ist/contour-official ••••••••• You can also grab my free Kodak 2383 film LUT for free: https://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my Voyager LUT pack here: https://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack ••••••••• 0:00 Introduction 2:46 The importance of setting your project correctly 4:21 Folder Structure 5:45 Master Settings 6:59 Color Management 9:54 General Options and Camera RAW 10:50 Conform Prep Guide 14:55 Source Media Workflow 20:38 Flat Quicktime Workflow 22:40 How to handle VFX deliveries? 24:17 Color Management of ProRes 4444 24:56 Do you need to use the MAC OS viewing LUT if you're using a Decklink? 25:53 Starting the conform process 30:01 Load XML settings 34:53 Using a reference clip 37:00 Dealing with sizing mismatches and letterboxing 47:08 Checking the timeline 57:25 How to deal with pathing problems from the XML? 58:56 How does Cullen prefer to receive a timeline? 1:00:18 How to deal with changes after picture lock? 1:02:38 Dealing with unknown color spaces 1:06:18 How to deal with different frame rates in a timeline 1:08:50 How do you receive and send files? 1:10:00 Handling a project with different aspect ratios 1:13:10 Dealing with compound clips 1:15:24 Conclusion and new round of CCA announcement </video> <video> Pro Colorist Answers Your Grading Questions Description: Get your grading questions answered, live. There's still a few seats left for the final Colorist Career Accelerator of the year: https://procolor.ist/cca-sales-page-winter-24/ ••••••••• Improving you color grading requires the mindset of a colorist. Learn the mental models of pro colorists in my ebook "The Colorist's Ten Commandments": https://procolor.ist/ebook Ready to move from grading shots to creating looks? Get a free trial of Contour, my look design plugin for Resolve that uses battle-tested, Hollywood color science: https://procolor.ist/contour-official ••••••••• You can also grab my free Kodak 2383 film LUT for free: https://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my Voyager LUT pack here: https://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack ••••••••• 0:00 Introduction and new round of CCA announcement 3:55 New Resolve 19.1 DCTL features 8:28 Parallel nodes explained 14:18 How to handle DJI drone footage? 19:57 Dealing with gamma shift renders in MacOS 31:23 Moving the contrast pivot point for creative purposes 36:25 Correct skintone saturation level? 43:00 Matching contrast in a long project with different cameras and different scenarios 48:02 Blackmagic Cloud workflow and grading proxys 50:47 Focusing on a shot vs swipping quickly through the timeline 55:51 Matching ARRI and RED cameras using RGB mixer 1:03:02 Conclusion </video> <video> The Pro Colorist Guide To Color Management in 2024 Description: Master color management in this full, every-detail-covered, pro-level training. Discover: • Pro gamma tips • The free tools most people don't know about used by working pro colorists all the time • Everything you ever need to know about CSTs and node-level color management And a heck of a lot more. Grab my color management cheat sheet for free here: https://procolor.ist/color-management-cheat-sheet/ ••••••••• Improving you color grading requires the mindset of a colorist. Learn the mental models of pro colorists in my ebook "The Colorist's Ten Commandments": https://procolor.ist/ebook Ready to move from grading shots to creating looks? Get a free trial of Contour, my look design plugin for Resolve that uses battle-tested, Hollywood color science: https://procolor.ist/contour-official ••••••••• You can also grab my free Kodak 2383 film LUT for free: https://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my Voyager LUT pack here: https://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack ••••••••• 0:00 Introduction 4:05 What is color management? 8:05 Setting up Resolve Color Management 22:00 Timeline color space explained 24:55 CST settings 32:10 What to do if you don't know the source color space of a shot 33:50 Can you use other intermediate color space besides DWG? Does it have any drawback? 36:45 CSTs for 709 footage vs ByPass Color Management 38:07 What CST settings does project level color management use? 39:33 Is a difference in the OOTF math what makes ACES more contrasty than RCM? 42:30 Where do you place plug-ins such as Dehancer in the node tree? 45:00 What is a DRT? 53:50 Why use color management? 1:04:50 Plugins and LUTs in a color managed environment 1:07:15 Workflow for Youtube's uploads 1:08:45 How to use Cullen's MacOS transform LUT 1:12:00 Why would you use OpenDRT instead of ACES or RCM if they all use the same matrix + transfer function? 1:14:41 Can you use OpenDRT at the project level, instead of at a node level? 1:15:55 How to fix the gamma issue when uploading to social media? 1:19:09 Why does the hue shift when using DaVinci tone mapping vs Luminance Mapping? 1:22:40 Is using Dolby Vision a good tone mapping for SDR? 1:25:29 How to replicate project level color management when using nodes? 1:27:10 Color Space Aware tools explained 1:37:40 How to correctly color manage the gamma of REC709 footage if it's not known? 1:39:04 What video player do you use to QC your renders? 1:39:56 Is it safe to simply switch your output color space if you want to deliver HDR from an SDR color pass? 1:45:16 Should the MacOS view transform LUT affect the scopes? 1:46:03 If you want to combine LUTs, is it better to use them in a serial node chain or parallel stack? 1:47:07 Can you use SDR LUTs in DWG? 1:49:45 Is ''highlight rolloff'' a trait built in camera or something you sculpt in color grading? 1:51:50 Conclusion </video> <video> How to use ColorSlice like a pro (& when to NEVER use it) Description: ColorSlice has become a daily tool in every type of project I grade. Here's how I'm using it, and how you should NEVER use ColorSlice. I'll also share where I think Resolve went wrong with the tool (and how to deal with the problems it causes). 00:00 What you'll learn 00:29 How ColorSlice is setup/What it's designed for 02:00 The first thing I love using this tool for (+ comparison to other tools) 03:10 Why this works better in ColorSlice 05:12 Finessing saturation 08:13 The real definition of density 09:49 ColorSlice density vs. other tools 12:10 NEVER use ColorSlice for this 15:28 Where Resolve went wrong with ColorSlice 19:07 What to do if ColorSlice gives your noisy reds or yellows -------- Grab my Voyager LUT Pack. 17 LUTs to provide beautiful looks for any type of project so you can grade faster, take every image further, and attract better and better jobs. http://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack Get my free Kodak 2383 film print LUT for DWG and ACES here: http://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my ebook, The Colorist's 10 Commandments: http://procolor.ist/ebook Start creating your own studio-quality show LUTs, camera LUTs, and LUT packs with my pro look design plugin Contour (free trial available): https://procolor.ist/contour-official/ </video> <video> The fastest ways to improve your color grading for 2025 Description: Get your grading questions answered, live. ••••••••• Improving you color grading requires the mindset of a colorist. Learn the mental models of pro colorists in my ebook "The Colorist's Ten Commandments": https://procolor.ist/ebook Ready to move from grading shots to creating looks? Get a free trial of Contour, my look design plugin for Resolve that uses battle-tested, Hollywood color science: https://procolor.ist/contour-official ••••••••• You can also grab my free Kodak 2383 film LUT for free: https://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my Voyager LUT pack here: https://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack ••••••••• 0:00 Introduction 5:00 Practicing color grading 27:00 Granular workflows shown on social media 30:40 Native color spaces vs intermediates (ACEScct/DWG, multi-camera setups) 35:00 Middle grey cheat sheet: Per-shot exposure or timeline adjustments? 41:20 Grading using an iPad or Macbook screen as reference monitor. What do you need to get a correct signal? 47:49 How often do you deliver HDR? Thoughts on HDR Vivid 54:20 Final thoughts and career reflections </video> <video> Joker Colorist — In-depth interview Description: Note: this is a higher-quality re-upload of the original interview posted here on the channel. Cullen talks to renown colorist, Jill Bogdanowicz about her work on movies like Joker, John Wick, Umbrella Academy and more. She gives us insight on how best to collaborate with DPs and directors and how she builds a well rounded color practice. This episode is brought to you by Portrait Displays, http://www.portrait.com If you like this chat, you can find our past interview with Jill here: https://www.youtube.com/live/WiQB_zX5HNU?si=strlQp1scsEYitST -------- Grab my Voyager LUT Pack. 17 LUTs to provide beautiful looks for any type of project so you can grade faster, take every image further, and attract better and better jobs. http://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack Get my free Kodak 2383 film print LUT for DWG and ACES here: http://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my ebook, The Colorist's 10 Commandments: http://procolor.ist/ebook Start creating your own studio-quality show LUTs, camera LUTs, and LUT packs with my pro look design plugin Contour (free trial available): https://procolor.ist/contour-official/ Need RED footage? Grab $100 off the Raw Film Library: https://raw.film/lifetime?code=cullenkelly </video> <video> 36 Project Settings for Pro Color Grading in Resolve Description: Part of creating a beautiful grade is knowing your tools, and part of knowing your tools is knowing your software. So today I'm going to show you settings in Resolve that pros and Hollywood colorists use that you might not be using, and along the way I'll show you everything in Resolve's project settings that colorists specifically need to know. You can get the Gray Scale Ramp DCTL I used and mentioned in the video for free here: https://procolor.ist/gray-scale-ramp-dctl 00:24: Configuring your project settings. 00:50: How the timeline format impacts your project, and what factors to consider when setting it up. 01:32: Why it's crucial to choose the correct resolution with the same aspect ratio, and what to watch for if you drop your resolution temporarily. 01:48: How to calculate aspect ratios for your project, and why this matters for different resolutions. 03:35: What the video monitoring setting controls, and who benefits most from adjusting it correctly. 05:05: How using optimized media and render cache affects your workflow. 07:47: What you should know about working folders to ensure optimal render quality and a smoother workflow. 09:12: How your image is scaled in project settings, and how it will improve your timeline workflow. 09:49: When deinterlace quality affects your timeline, and when it comes into play in Resolve. 10:26: Why input scaling is important, and how it influences how your image appears in the canvas. 11:05: The relationship between input scaling resolution and timeline resolution, and why it's vital to distinguish between them. 12:21: How to calculate timeline and scaling resolutions to meet the specific needs of your project and monitoring format. 16:02: The differences between timeline colorspace and output colorspace, and how these settings integrate into your pipeline. 16:38: How the timeline colorspace setting affects your toolset in Resolve. 18:10: What to consider when setting up your LUT before starting a grade. 20:00: Why 3D LUT interpolation matters, and the consequences of improper setup. 23:13: What general option settings influence your color pipeline, and why they're important. 24:10: How configuring your luminance mixer affects your tools. 28:10: Why your contrast settings are important for creating a reliable pipeline, and what options colorists have when setting up their contrast settings. 30:00: How remote and local versions work, and how they can improve your workflow in Resolve. 31:56: What node stack layers are, and how they enhance your grading workflow. 33:30: What versions are in Resolve, and how a colorist can effectively use them during grading. 35:03: What happens to your image when adjusting your camera raw controls. -------- Grab my Voyager LUT Pack. 17 LUTs to provide beautiful looks for any type of project so you can grade faster, take every image further, and attract better and better jobs. http://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack Get my free Kodak 2383 film print LUT for DWG and ACES here: http://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my ebook, The Colorist's 10 Commandments: http://procolor.ist/ebook Grab my Voyager LUT Pack. 17 LUTs to provide beautiful looks for any type of project so you can grade faster, take every image further, and attract better and better jobs. http://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack Start creating your own studio-quality show LUTs, camera LUTs, and LUT packs with my pro look design plugin Contour (free trial available): https://procolor.ist/contour-official/ </video> <video> The 4 things even pro colorists get wrong Description: There are four mistakes I see pro colorists still make all the time — and even though there's actually good reasons for making them (I'll tell you what they are), these are not habits you want to end up having, therefore slowing down your own color grading. 00:30 Mistake #1 01:30 What to do instead 01:50 Comparison between the two solutions 02:05 Why this works this way 02:29 Why you can't just pick whatever tool you want 04:19 One of the best ways to level-up your color grading 04:47 The type of grading adjustment you want to look out for (and remove) 05:50 Another example of this mistake 07:49 The problem with offset 08:09 What mistake #1 means for color balance 10:17 Why this solution works best 10:52 Why some pro colorists still make this "mistake" 12:06 Mistake #2 13:24 Why some pro colorists still do this (and what you need to change to fix it) 16:07 Mistake #3 17:12 Tip for getting better results w/ the qualifier 18:42 Why continuing to do mistake #3 will limit your grading 19:23 How you can get the benefits mistake 3 has without getting the problems 21:04 Mistake #4 21:33 Why this mistake gets made 22:04 This question fixes everything 23:40 How to turn a shortage of time into a valuable learning lesson -------- Grab my Voyager LUT Pack. 17 LUTs to provide beautiful looks for any type of project so you can grade faster, take every image further, and attract better and better jobs. http://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack Get my free Kodak 2383 film print LUT for DWG and ACES here: http://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my ebook, The Colorist's 10 Commandments: http://procolor.ist/ebook Start creating your own studio-quality show LUTs, camera LUTs, and LUT packs with my pro look design plugin Contour (free trial available): https://procolor.ist/contour-official/ Need RED footage? Grab $100 off the Raw Film Library: https://raw.film/lifetime?code=cullenkelly </video> <video> Pro Colorist Explains: All 7 Curve Tools in Resolve Description: Using the curves tools in Resolve is one of the easiest way to get way better grades and better understand color grading on a deep level. This is going to be the first in a series of videos going deep on the topic of using curves to grade your images. 00:15 curves overview 01:03 the first thing to remember so you always pick the right curve (and remember what they do) 02:51 The X vs Y rule so you get better manipulations 04:10 Hue vs Hue Curves 06:49 How to avoid breaking your image when making "narrow" adjustments 08:19 Two more features to know about 10:15 Editable splines & "Big Curves Mode" 11:07 Hue vs Sat Curves 13:15 Hue vs Lum Curves 14:07 How to use the histogram in the curves (and it's actually measuring) 14:57 An easy way to know if you'll break your image before you even make a change 15:28 Lum vs Sat (Also: no more color; now what?) 17:22 Sat vs Sat Curves 18:15 Sat vs Lum Curves 18:38 Getting filmic saturation 19:14 More ways to use the histogram 20:35 The custom curves (one of my favorite tools in all of Resolve) -------- Grab my Voyager LUT Pack. 17 LUTs to provide beautiful looks for any type of project so you can grade faster, take every image further, and attract better and better jobs. http://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack Get my free Kodak 2383 film print LUT for DWG and ACES here: http://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my ebook, The Colorist's 10 Commandments: http://procolor.ist/ebook Start creating your own studio-quality show LUTs, camera LUTs, and LUT packs with my pro look design plugin Contour (free trial available): https://procolor.ist/contour-official/ </video> <video> Pro Colorist Explains: Hue vs Hue Curves in Resolve Description: The Hue vs Hue curves are the best way to make the colors in your images pop, so I'm showing you every little thing about the hue vs hue curves + how to apply that knowledge like pro colorists do... so you can get better color + feel like you actually know what you're doing inside of DaVinci Resolve. 00:29 Understanding this will make the Hue vs Hue panel less confusing 03:29 How the hue tool makes you grade better 04:12 Pro use-case #1 05:58 2 things to know when using hue vs hue 07:57 Remember "big curves" to fine-tune 08:35 A second way to select the right colors 10:36 Pro use-case #2 14:12 Making this adjustment even cleaner 15:28 Pro use-case #3 (and tying everything together) 17:15 How to read the Hue vs Hue histogram 21:40 The tool that gives you more control (but should rarely use) 22:25 Reviewing the other tools in the hue vs hue panel -------- Grab my Voyager LUT Pack. 17 LUTs to provide beautiful looks for any type of project so you can grade faster, take every image further, and attract better and better jobs. http://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack Get my free Kodak 2383 film print LUT for DWG and ACES here: http://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my ebook, The Colorist's 10 Commandments: http://procolor.ist/ebook Start creating your own studio-quality show LUTs, camera LUTs, and LUT packs with my pro look design plugin Contour (free trial available): https://procolor.ist/contour-official/ Need RED footage? Grab $100 off the Raw Film Library: https://raw.film/lifetime?code=cullenkelly </video> <video> An Interview w/ Billy Hobson Description: Billy Hobson has graded everything from animated movies like Disney's Lady and the Tramp to franchise movies like Venom: Let There Be Carnage and independent hits like Peanut Butter Falcon. In this interview he discusses his approach to all of these different kinds of films as well as secrets he learned from one of our industry's greatest colorists while he was still an apprentice. -------- Grab my Voyager LUT Pack. 17 LUTs to provide beautiful looks for any type of project so you can grade faster, take every image further, and attract better and better jobs. http://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack Get my free Kodak 2383 film print LUT for DWG and ACES here: http://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my ebook, The Colorist's 10 Commandments: http://procolor.ist/ebook Start creating your own studio-quality show LUTs, camera LUTs, and LUT packs with my pro look design plugin Contour (free trial available): https://procolor.ist/contour-official/ </video> <video> Why using temp & tint is terrible (even in HDR & Camera RAW) Description: Resolve gives you 3 different sets of temp & tint controls: in your Primaries, HDR, and Camera RAW tabs. So which one is going to be best? None of 'em. Let me show you why and what you want to use instead if you want more accuracy, speed, and control over your images. 00:00 Should you use temp and tint for white balance? 00:40 The sneaky problem with temp and tint in the RAW tab 01:24 The mentality you should have during grading 03:32 The tool I used to be addicted to (but you shouldn't use) 06:20 "Can't you just use temp and tint in the HDR tools?" 08:10 Why the HDR tools aren't accurate 08:19 A model for thinking about your color balance adjustments 09:07 The "best tool" for white balance... that you'll rarely use 12:15 Another way the HDR temp and tint fall short 14:00 What to the 90% of the time you can't use "the best" tool 15:29 More ways to "think" to get better balance -------- Grab my Voyager LUT Pack. 17 LUTs to provide beautiful looks for any type of project so you can grade faster, take every image further, and attract better and better jobs. http://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack Get my free Kodak 2383 film print LUT for DWG and ACES here: http://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my ebook, The Colorist's 10 Commandments: http://procolor.ist/ebook Start creating your own studio-quality show LUTs, camera LUTs, and LUT packs with my pro look design plugin Contour (free trial available): https://procolor.ist/contour-official/ </video> <video> The "master painter" technique for better color grades Description: In this video I'm showing you a powerful technique used by my favorite master painters to add greater dimension and separation to their images. Colorists use this as well, but most use it with the most basic understanding possible. This 45 minute deep dive will cover the basics, more advanced understanding and techniques, and show you some of the tools you can use to put this to work in your own grades (and we're still just scratching the surface). You can get the Gray Scale Ramp DCTL I used and mentioned in the video for free here: https://procolor.ist/gray-scale-ramp-dctl/ And here's the exposure chart DCTL: https://procolor.ist/exposure-dctl 00:00 - The technique 01:02 - Definition, and how it relates to color grading 03:00 - Basic understanding of the technique 05:25 - Pointing out key things this does for your image 06:08 - The filmic characteristics this creates 07:47 - The problems you have to watch out for when using this technique 10:10 - Why you need to be careful if you're grading a commercial 11:47 - Different ways to do this in Resolve: Method no. 1 13:50 - What you should you consider when using LUTs for this 15:46 - The oldest and easiest way to use this technique 16:30 - Limitations to using primaries for this method 16:42 - A little talked about but critical piece to using this masterfully 21:48 - Method no. 2 23:21 - Don't skip this 25:42 - Method no. 3 28:59 - Refining the technique and taking things to the next level 30:00 - The problem with using primaries when you need to change something 32:15 - Refining with custom curves 33:43 - Refining the more advanced details 34:43 - How you can manipulate this technique to get greater contrast control 39:22 - Other ways you might want to fine-tune this technique -------- Get free access to my 8-hour look design training and start creating your own studio-quality show LUTs, camera LUTs, and LUT packs when you get my pro look design plugin Contour (free trial available) : https://procolor.ist/contour-official/ Grab my Voyager LUT Pack. 17 LUTs to provide beautiful looks for any type of project so you can grade faster, take every image further, and attract better and better jobs. http://procolor.ist/voyager-lut-pack Get my free Kodak 2383 film print LUT for DWG and ACES here: http://procolor.ist/freelut Check out my ebook, The Colorist's 10 Commandments: http://procolor.ist/ebook </video>

Contacts and Links

Description

Professional colorist, image scientist, and educator obsessed with the power of a well-crafted image. I'm committed to helping my fellow filmmakers realize their creative vision in camera and in the grade.

If you like the content and want to say thanks, you can Buy Me A Coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/cullenkelly

Videos from channel