How Midtone Detail Actually Works - DaVinci Resolve 17 Tutorial
Today we explore the Midtone Detail slider and showcase what it's actually doing to your image and how it works in DaVinci Resolve 17.
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Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
0:40 - MD Slider Overview
1:50 - Testing Set Up
2:45 - Testing Sharpening Hypothesis
3:54 - Tonal Range Impacted
5:37 - Attempting to Recreate the Effect
6:57 - Testing the Recreation on a Real Clip
8:07 - Getting More Control (Free Method)
8:34 - Getting More Control (Studio Method)
Notes:
I add all the notes to this section as some folks have found the on screen notes distracting, though I want to be sure all the information is readily available.
I've really been enjoying these deep dives lately. It lets me work my science background a little bit. What I love about it is that's it's not just my opinion. I'm able to show you my methods so you can recreate the tests for yourself and if you also get the same results then we may really be on to some thing here, and if you get different results (I try to do my research as best I can, but I'm far from perfect) then we have a learning opportunity on our hands
Also my bad for the music jump at the end. I literally just noticed this as the very last thing on the midnight before the release. Somehow I missed adding a fade, my bad y'all. I figure since it's in the last few seconds it shouldn't catch too many folks, plus I really should get some sleep.
Here’s the answers to a couple questions I anticipate I may get.
Q: Why did you use a Color Space Transform and not a color managed workflow?
A: Using a color managed workflow makes generators act funny unless you set their specific input color space. I also wanted to eliminate the chance for error on the testing portions, so DaVinci YRBG seemed like a safe testing grounds
Q: Why did you use the Mist Mode in the blur controls?
A: In my testing I find that all the modes are very similar and in trying to replicate the softening effect in testing before hand I found making some adjustments with the mix (which is only available in the mist mode) helped more than the other parameters, like coring softness etc.
Q: Why can't you recreate the effect with the blur controls? You said that the midtone detail slider is a sharpening effect, so what's the deal?
A: This is a great question and I have some theories. So I described Midtone detail as being sharpening for a specific tonal range, and while this is true, there's more going on here.
As stated in the manual "When this parameter is raised, the contrast of regions of the image with high edge detail is raised to increase the perception of image sharpness, sometimes referred to as definition. When this parameter is lowered to a negative value, regions of the image with low amounts of detail are softened while areas of high detail are left alone."
Showcasing this high edge detail vs low edge detail proved to be challenging and I couldn't devise a test that showed this clearly in a repeatable method. I'm not saying it can't be done, I just wasn't clever enough to come up with one this time. As far as I know, this level of specificity is very difficult to qualify without resorting to OFX, and it would take a bit of head scratching to really sort out, for me at least. If you have any idea on how to replicate it without using OFX, or even a reasonable testing methodology, I'm all ears.
Q: How’s this gonna help me make sick color grades?
A: I like to believe understanding how tools work will inform you on how to better implement them in your workflow. For example there’s a bunch of ways you can sink a nail with a hammer, but it’s most effective when you swing it. When it comes to color, it’s not quite as obvious as a hammer, so hopefully these videos will help inform folks so they better understand how the tools actually work.
References:
Check out the DaVinci Resolve 16 reference manual to learn more you can find it in the help tab of Resolve.
Sharpening Video: • How Sharpening Actually Works - DaVinci Re...
Gear I use:
Camera - Black Magic Pocket 4k
Microphone - Rode NTK
Main Lens - Meike 12mm f2.8
Other lenses - Meike 35 mm f1.7, Rokinon 50mm T1.5, Rokinon 24mm T1.5
Tripod - Velbon Videomate 638
Computer Specs:
CPU - Ryzen 1700x
GPU - GTX 1070
Monitor - Eizo CG2420