How to color grade S-Log3 in DaVinci Resolve: the simple method

S-Log3 footage looks grey and flat when you open it: that's normal, all the information is still there. Here's the node order that works every time.

1. Convert the color space (Color Space Transform)

Add a node and drop the Color Space Transform effect. Input: Sony S-Gamut3.Cine and Sony S-Log3 (or S-Gamut3, depending on your camera setting). Output: DaVinci Wide Gamut and DaVinci Intermediate. You now work in a wide space, and the next adjustments behave naturally.

2. Exposure

On the next node, set contrast and black level by watching the waveform, not just the picture. An underexposed shot is fixed here, before anything else.

3. White balance

Neutralize temperature and tint to start from a clean white. If you put a look on an image that is already too warm or too green, you'll be fixing it everywhere afterwards.

4. Protect skin tones

Create a node with a qualifier on skin tones. You can then push the look without damaging faces.

5. The look, then texture

Only now comes your look: colors, contrast, separation. Then add glow, halation and grain if you want to break the digital feel.

6. Back to Rec.709

Last node: a Color Space Transform from DaVinci Wide Gamut / Intermediate to Rec.709 / Gamma 2.4 for web and social exports.

Bonus: install a .cube LUT in DaVinci Resolve

1. Open the LUT folderProject Settings (the gear at the bottom right) › Color Management › Lookup Tables › Open LUT Folder.
2. Copy your .cube filesDrop your files into that folder, then click Update Lists.
3. Apply the LUTColor page: right-click a node › LUTs › your folder › your LUT.

Editing elsewhere? The steps for Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and CapCut.

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