A way of building an image from red, green, and blue values.
01Color spaces + management
A color value needs a context.
A camera can capture more brightness and color than a standard display can show. Color management defines how the image moves from its source, through the grade, to a predictable display result.
DWG / INTERMEDIATE → REC.709DAVINCI YRGB • MANUAL CST
TODAY'S BOUNDARY
01SOURCEWhat did the camera record?
02WORKINGWhere does the grade operate?
03OUTPUTWhat display must receive it?
THE IDEA “Neutral” is a look—not the absence of one.
02Simple language
RGB is the language. Rec.709 is one set of rules.
RGB values describe mixtures of red, green, and blue. A color space tells a system what those values are supposed to mean.
RGB
A shared definition for the colors, white point, and tonal behavior represented by those values.
A standard SDR video context used by Resolve, displays, and delivery systems.
THE NUMBERS ARE NOT THE WHOLE COLOR. The same RGB values can represent different visible colors when interpreted in different color spaces.
Source: Resolve 20.3 Reference Manual, Color Management introduction03Chromaticity map
The CIE diagram maps color possibilities.
The CIE 1931 xy diagram gives us a shared map of chromaticity. The horseshoe represents the standard observer; the triangle shows the smaller region a Rec.709 display can reproduce.
The outer boundary is the spectral locus: pure wavelengths around the visible range, closed by the line of purples.
Rec.709 mixes its red, green, and blue primaries to reproduce colors inside this gamut.
D65 defines the neutral reference used by Rec.709. It anchors what the display treats as white.
THIS MAP LEAVES OUT BRIGHTNESS. The x and y coordinates describe chromaticity—hue and saturation relationships—not luminance.
The Rec.709 triangle is our destination—not the limit of what a camera may capture. Because this diagram is itself shown on a display, colors outside that display's gamut can only be represented symbolically.
Source: CIE 1931 chromaticity coordinates, 2° standard observer Source: ITU-R BT.709 colorimetry04Display standard
Rec.709 is the agreement we are using—for now.
For this class, the destination stays simple: a standard-dynamic-range Rec.709 image viewed in a consistent Rec.709 environment.
01IMAGE VALUESRGB picture data
→02REC.709 RULESShared color context
→03DISPLAYExpected SDR appearance
IN THIS CLASSSDRStandard dynamic range
COLOR TARGETREC.709One agreed display context
NOT YETHDR / P3 / ACESUseful later—not today
A standard does not make the image beautiful. It makes the image's intended context less ambiguous.
05Workflow choice
Manual and managed workflows answer the same question differently.
Both workflows must connect source media to a viewing and delivery context. The difference is who performs the transforms and where they happen.
01INPUT / SOURCEIdentify the camera encoding
→02WORKING SPACEChoose where grading happens
→03OUTPUT / DISPLAYTranslate for the destination
THE JOBPreserve the image's useful information while translating it into the limits of the intended display.
TODAY
DaVinci YRGB
Manual CST workflow
CAMERA LOGCST IN + OUTREC.709
- Resolve does not automatically transform each camera source.
- An input CST maps the source into DaVinci Wide Gamut/Intermediate.
- An output CST maps the finished grade to Rec.709 Gamma 2.4.
COMING LATER
DaVinci YRGB Color Managed
Automatic / scene-referred pipeline
INPUTRCMOUTPUT
- Resolve uses source, timeline, and output color-space definitions.
- Transforms are handled systematically across the project.
- Useful for mixed cameras and multiple deliverables.
06Project settings
Set the working space before building the grade.
Automatic Resolve Color Management stays off. The project remains DaVinci YRGB, while the timeline tells grading tools to operate in DaVinci Wide Gamut/Intermediate.
COLOR SCIENCEDaVinci YRGB
TIMELINE COLOR SPACEDaVinci WG/Intermediate
OUTPUT COLOR SPACERec.709 Gamma 2.4
LEAVE OFFUse separate color space and gamma
CREATE A NEW PROJECT
Use a clear class-project name before importing media.
OPEN PROJECT SETTINGS
Click the gear at the lower right, then choose Color Management.
COLOR SCIENCE: DAVINCI YRGB
This keeps automatic Resolve Color Management off.
TIMELINE: DAVINCI WG/INTERMEDIATE
Choose the wide-gamut working space where the grading tools will operate.
OUTPUT: REC.709 GAMMA 2.4
Keep the project output aligned with the classroom display target.
INPUT CST
Transform each camera color space and gamma into DaVinci Wide Gamut/Intermediate.
GRADE BETWEEN THE CSTs
Place exposure, white balance, contrast, and creative nodes in the working space.
OUTPUT CST
Transform DaVinci Wide Gamut/Intermediate to Rec.709 Gamma 2.4 at the end of the node tree.
07Node setup
Build the transforms around the grade.
The first CST translates the camera encoding into the working space. Build the grade after it. The final CST translates the completed result to Rec.709 Gamma 2.4.
Add a serial node first and apply Color Space Transform from the Effects panel.
Create separate serial nodes for exposure, white balance, and contrast after the input CST.
Add the display transform as the last serial node so every grading operation happens before it.
01INPUT CSTCamera gamut + gamma → DWG / Intermediate
→02GRADEExposure • WB • Contrast • Look
→03OUTPUT CSTDWG / Intermediate → Rec.709 Gamma 2.4
INPUT COLOR SPACEREDWideGamutRGB
INPUT GAMMARED Log3G10
OUTPUT COLOR SPACEDaVinci Wide Gamut
OUTPUT GAMMADaVinci Intermediate
INPUTDaVinci Wide Gamut / Intermediate
OUTPUTRec.709 / Gamma 2.4
TONE MAPPINGDaVinci
GAMUT MAPPINGNone
THE INPUT CST IS CAMERA-SPECIFIC. REDWideGamutRGB / RED Log3G10 is the example shown here. Always match the input color space and gamma to the actual source media.
Source: The Colorist Guide to DaVinci Resolve 20, manual CST workflow08Visual intent
“Neutral” is a look.
Calling an image neutral does not remove taste. It describes a set of choices that feel believable, restrained, and contextually appropriate.
01What counts as white?
02How much warmth feels believable?
03How much contrast feels natural?
04Whose perception defines “correct”?
THE POINTNeutral is not what remains after creativity is removed. Neutral is a creative decision made inside a display context.
09
END OF CLASS
Define the pipeline. Then grade.
01RGB values need a color-space context.
02Our current target is SDR Rec.709.
03DaVinci YRGB keeps the color transforms manual.
04The input CST must match the camera source.
05Grade in DaVinci Wide Gamut/Intermediate.
06The output CST maps the grade to Rec.709 Gamma 2.4.
07“Neutral” remains a creative and perceptual choice.
HANDS-ON OUTCOMEA DaVinci YRGB project with a DaVinci Wide Gamut/Intermediate working space and manual CSTs for the camera input and Rec.709 output.
NEXT CLASS • CLASS 5→COURSE HOMEReturn to class guides→Sources + image credits
Interface images are educational excerpts from official Blackmagic Design training and reference materials.
The Beginner's Guide to DaVinci Resolve 20 ↗The Colorist Guide to DaVinci Resolve 20 ↗DaVinci Resolve 20.3 Reference Manual ↗MonoNodes: Color Management in DaVinci Resolve ↗CIE 1931 / Rec.709 diagram by GrandDrake, after Sakurambo ↗Diagram license: CC BY-SA 3.0 ↗DaVinci Resolve is a trademark of Blackmagic Design. This course reference is not an official Blackmagic Design publication.