When entering the Color panel, you will be met with all the traditional Lumetri effects, as well as more traditional tools like color wheels. Originally a drag-on effect, Premiere Pro CC 2017 has a full-on color grading tab. The Lumetri panel has grown tremendously in the past few iterations of Premiere Pro. If you’re like me and don’t have $30,000 for the Advanced Panel, check out these more affordable color grading tools.ĭaVinci Resolve 12.5 is available for free in the lite version of the software. Quick note - DaVinci Resolve was designed to be used with a color grading surface. (You can reset the tool by double clicking on the circle.) To control each wheel, just drag the circle toward the color you want. Offset is used to raise or lower everything in each channel. DaVinci Resolve uses Lift (shadows), Gamma (midtones), Gain (highlights), and Offset. The Primaries Wheels are the Color Wheels you will see in nearly every color grading program.

There you will see three workspace options - Primaries Wheels, Primaries Bars, and Log. Next to the Color Match icon, you will see the traditional Color Wheels tab. It will give you true color results at the click of a button. The Color Match tool works great with color charts to instantly match the environment the footage was shot in. This includes Color Match, Color Wheels, RGB Mixer, Curves, Windows, and more. In the Color tab, you will be presented with a variety of tools. Diving into all the specific tools requires an article much more in-depth than this, but here are a few tools for basic color grading. Blackmagic wants to become the go-to place for all things post-production, and they are well on their way to making DaVinci Resolve a major program outside of color circles.ĭaVinci Resolve can be intimidating, as the color work is node-based - but there are a ton of tutorials online, and the amount is growing. The reason it makes the list for video editors - the latest version (12.5) includes a built-in NLE. DaVinci Resolveīlackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve is one of the industry standards for color work. Here are some of the best programs and plugins for video editors to make a quick color grade. You’re probably just looking for a quick way to get results that make your client happy. If you aren’t a full-time colorist, odds are you won’t be diving into the likes of FilmLight’s Baselight, AutoDesk Flame’s Lustre, or specific programs like REDCINE-X. These programs and plugins make the process faster and easier than ever.

Color grading doesn’t have to be a mystery.

Magic bullet colorista