[Help] Workflow for regrading UHD?

[Serums]

Hi everyone,

I have a UHD film that might benefit from a quick regrade.
I normally use Resolve for corrections or regrades, but the free version seems to have issues with .265 video which might make it hard to use proxies. I have a LUT that I'd start off with.

Has anyone had experience regrading .265 video?

Thanks!

[alexpeden2000]

Are you looking to regrade in HDR? Pretty sure you need that paid version of Resolve for that.

[Serums]

I wasn't necessarily, but that's good to know! Thanks!

Edit: The website states that the free version supports HDR but only in 8-bit video. So I'd likely need the Studio version.

[PDB]

I would say you shouldn't edit or grade in 264 or 265. Pretty much every NLE has some issues with both formats. That's not to say you can't do it but there is always a chance of a dropped, improperly decoded frame, etc.

Best practice would be converting whatever you have to Prores, DNx or a similar format designed to be edited and then generate proxies for 4K if needed. But that's just me.

[LucasGodzilla]

You don't need Resolve Studio to work with HDR per–say so much as it limits access to certain tools.

HDR in comparison to SDR is essentially a lower–saturated color space that operates on a LOG–like curve.

Depending on what you want to do with it, you could do a color managed workflow of some sort and convert it to a medium color format—like Da Vinci Wide or ACES—and then output again to SDR / HDR. In theory, HDR would be left intact (where if you did nothing grading–wise, it should look the same) and SDR would be a loose portview of how it'd look in HDR (as I assume you'd have no way of truly telling how it looks otherwise).

If you just want to apply a LUT to it though, always supposing the LUT is actually formatted for an HDR input, you could probably apply it using something like AviSynth.

[Serums]

Thanks PDB, Lucas.
I was thinking to convert it to ProRes but do just want to apply a LUT.