21 Days of Coloring Challenge

Color correction in DaVinci Resolve is all about balance and intention. When you step into the Color page, the first thing to pay attention to is exposure and contrast. Before tweaking colors, make sure your highlights, shadows, and midtones are where they need to be. The waveform monitor is your best friend here—use it to avoid crushed blacks or clipped whites. A well-balanced image at this stage makes everything that follows easier and more natural.

Once exposure is dialed in, focus on white balance and skin tones. If your shot looks too warm or cool, adjust the temperature and tint before diving into creative looks. Skin tones should sit nicely on the skin tone line in the vectorscope, but don’t just trust scopes—trust your eye. A small shift in hue or saturation can make a face look lifeless or glowing. If your subject is under mixed lighting, selective color correction with qualifiers or power windows can save the shot.

Think about consistency across your edit. It’s easy to get lost fine-tuning a single shot, but films live in sequences. Toggle between clips to ensure cohesion in tone and mood. If a scene is meant to feel warm, cool, or moody, maintain that intention across all shots. Using a hero frame as a reference and leveraging shared nodes or groups can help speed up the process. At the end of the day, color correction is about guiding the audience’s eye and reinforcing the story—so keep it natural unless you have a reason to push it.