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These parameters let you choose the decode quality, white balance, color space, and gamma that raw CinemaDNG clips will be transformed to use when debayered.
— Decode Quality: Lets you debayer CinemaDNG raw files at Full, Half, or Quarter resolution to improve performance on slower systems. Lower resolution media is lower quality but faster to work with and process. If necessary, you can choose a lower resolution setting that provides better real time playback on systems with limited performance while you work, and then switch to a higher quality when rendering the final output. A “Force debayer res to highest quality” checkbox in the Render Settings list of the Deliver page makes it easy to follow this workflow.
— Decode Using: The option you select determines whether all CinemaDNG media throughout the project is decoded using the original Camera Metadata settings (the default selection), using Project settings in which you choose custom settings to be applied to all clips, or using the CinemaDNG default settings.
— Apply Pre Tone Curve: When this checkbox is turned off (the default for new projects created in DaVinci Resolve 11.2.1 or later), DaVinci Resolve debayers CinemaDNG raw media using an improved method that delivers better-looking results, specifically for media acquired using any of the Blackmagic Design cameras. When this checkbox is turned on (the default for projects created in earlier versions of DaVinci Resolve), the older debayering method is reenabled for backward compatibility. However, turning Pre Tone Curve on may also provide better results for CinemaDNG raw files coming from other sources. If you’re importing .dng media from cameras other than those from Blackmagic Design, you should try both settings to see which type of debayering you prefer.
— Apply Soft Clip: This checkbox is only available when Apply Pre Tone Curve is turned off. When turned on, high dynamic range parts of the signal (super-white highlights) are brought back into the picture as visible image detail you can adjust, similar to using the Highlights control to retrieve these otherwise clipped parts of the signal.
Project Settings
CinemaDNG has a variety of settings that can be adjusted to alter the image quality of the debayered result. The Color Temp and Tint parameters are only available if the White Balance drop-down menu is set to Custom.
— Color Science: Lets you choose what version of camera color science you want to use to decode CinemaDNG media.
— Camera Metadata: Chooses whichever version of color science was selected by the camera at the time of shooting.
— Gen 4: The original version of color science available for recording and decoding CinemaDNG media.
— White Balance: The first seven options offer White Balance presets, which automatically adjust the Color Temp and Tint parameters. These options include: Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Flash. An eighth option, Custom, makes the Color Temp and Tint parameters user-adjustable.
— Color Space: Multiple color spaces are adjustable, depending on your intended workflow:
— Rec. 709: Decodes into the standard color space specified by the Rec. 709 standard for high definition video.
— P3 D60: Decodes into the standard P3 color space specified by the DCI standard for digital cinema projection.
— Blackmagic Design: Decodes into a log-encoded color space that remaps the raw data into an approximation of the Log-C standard. Choosing Blackmagic Design Film also forces the Gamma setting to Blackmagic Design Film. This setting produces flat-contrast image data that preserves image detail with a wide latitude for adjustment, which is suitable as a starting point for detailed grading and is also compatible with log workflows intended for film output.
— Gamma: Five gamma settings are available, depending on what starting point you want to use for further grading.
— 2.4: A simple power-function gamma setting commonly used for broadcast.
— 2.6: A simple power-function gamma setting commonly used for digital cinema projection.
— Rec. 709: A gamma of 2.35, with a linear segment near black, approximating the EBU recommended gamma for broadcast.
— sRGB: A gamma of 2.2, with a linear segment near black, intended for reproduction on computer displays alongside the sRGB color space.
— Linear: A simple linear gamma setting.
— Blackmagic Design Film: A log-encoded gamma setting that approximates Cineon encoding, the main difference being that more data is encoded in the darkest portion of the Blackmagic Design Film signal. When you choose this setting, the appropriate variation of gamma will be applied based on your particular sensor, be it 4K or 4.6K.
— Blackmagic Design Video: A normalized gamma setting that provides a fast starting point for grading if you don’t want to begin with a log-encoded image.
— Highlight Recovery: A checkbox that lets you include additional highlight sensor data that’s usually clipped by the standard decoding matrix. In cases where you have extremely clipped highlights, you may obtain additional image detail this way, although it may contain unusual color artifacts.
— Sharpness: A debayer-specific sharpness filter applied to provide the appearance of enhanced image detail. 20 is unity. The range is 0 to 100.
— Highlights: Makes it easy to selectively retrieve blown-out highlight detail in high-dynamic-range media by lowering this parameter and achieves a smooth blend between the retrieved highlights and the unadjusted midtones for a naturalistic result. 0 is unity. The range is –100 (minimum) through +100 (maximum).
— Shadows: Lets you selectively lighten or darken shadow detail. Raising this value retrieves shadow detail recorded below 0 percent, while leaving the midtones alone. 0 is unity. The range is –100 (minimum) through +100 (very high).
— Color Boost: Lets you naturalistically raise the saturation of regions of low saturation, sometimes referred to as a vibrance operation. Can be used also to lower the saturation of regions of low saturation. 0 is unity. The range is –100 (minimum) through +100 (very high).
— Saturation: Adjusts the color intensity of the image. 0 is unity. The range is –100 (minimum) through +100 (very high).