Color Grading in DaVinci Resolve: Brand & Cinematic Looks
A self-paced DaVinci Resolve grading course for brand and short-film editors. Node-tree workflow, Lubbad LUT pack, real Brussels project files. Join the waitlist.
Overview
A node-tree workflow for grading brand and short-film work in DaVinci Resolve. Finishing discipline, not one-click film looks.
Most editors arrive at DaVinci Resolve looking for the magic button, the LUT that turns Sony or Canon log footage into a film. That button does not exist. What does exist is a disciplined node tree, an understanding of where contrast and saturation actually live in an image, and the patience to grade for the brief instead of for the trailer thumbnail. This course teaches the finishing layer Lubbad Production uses on its own brand films, short pieces, and selected wedding deliverables, the layer that quietly separates work that looks professionally finished from work that still looks like an edit. You will not learn forty looks. You will learn one repeatable workflow: a normalization-first node tree that handles primary correction, secondary corrections (skin, sky, brand colors), creative looks, and an output node, in that order, every time, on every shot. Once that tree is muscle memory, you can grade a thirty-shot brand film in a focused afternoon instead of dragging it out over a week. This is the same approach a finishing colorist uses on a commercial spot, scaled down for the in-house brand team or the freelance editor who finishes everything themselves. The course is built for editors already shipping work in Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro X. It assumes you know what a timeline is, what a J-cut is, and why you would render a ProRes master. It does not assume you have ever opened the Color page in Resolve. We walk through the round-trip from Premiere to Resolve and back, the XML and AAF gotchas that lose your speed ramps, and the export settings that get you a clean deliverable for client review and for broadcast spec. You receive downloadable assets, the Lubbad Brand Grade LUT pack (six LUTs covering Sony S-Log3, Canon C-Log, and a Rec.709-to-cinematic conversion), three full grading project files with original log footage from real Lubbad shoots so you can grade alongside the lessons, and a node-tree template you import once and use forever. The LUTs are starting points, not destinations, the course teaches you why and how to push past them. This is a self-paced course recorded in Brussels at the Lubbad studio on Rue Delaunoy. It launches as a waitlist while we record. Waitlist members are notified first, receive a launch discount, and get early access to the LUT pack as a thank-you for waiting. If you already took the Lubbad Premiere Pro course, this is the finishing layer it pointed toward, the grade that takes a strong edit and makes it look like a film. We do not promise that you will become a colorist in twelve hours. We do promise that by the end you will grade a real brand film with a node tree you can defend in a client review, and that you will stop looking for the magic button.
Curriculum
- Foundations, Seeing Color Before Touching It
- Round-Tripping, Getting Your Edit Into Resolve and Back Out
- The Five-Node Tree, The Lubbad Workflow
- Working with the Lubbad LUT Pack
- Delivery, Exporting Masters That Pass Review
Instructor
- Lubbad Production Team
- Studio, edit, and production support mentors
- Duration: 12 hours self-paced + downloadable LUT pack and project files
- Level: Intermediate
- Language: EN (FR/NL on request)
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FAQ
Do I need the paid Studio version of DaVinci Resolve?
No. The free version of Resolve 18 or later covers everything we teach. Studio adds noise reduction, some advanced features, and HDR delivery options, useful if you grow into more advanced work, but unnecessary for the course.
I already use Lumetri in Premiere Pro. Why move to Resolve?
Lumetri is a real tool and you can do real work in it. The reason editors move to Resolve is the node-based workflow, which scales to longer projects without becoming an unmanageable stack of corrections, and the precision of the Qualifier and Power Window tools, which are noticeably better than the Lumetri equivalents. You will not abandon Premiere, most of our students still edit in Premiere and only grade in Resolve.
My monitor is not calibrated. Is the course still useful?
Yes, that is exactly why we teach scope-based grading. The whole course is built on the idea that your monitor cannot be trusted and that the waveform, vectorscope, and parade are the instruments you actually grade with. You will still want a calibrated monitor eventually, but you can do honest work without one if your scope discipline is good.
When does the course actually launch?
The course is currently in production at the Lubbad studio in Brussels. We are aiming for a launch in the coming months, after our Wedding Filmmaking and Drone courses ship. Waitlist members receive a launch notice first, a launch-week discount, and early access to the LUT pack download as a thank-you for waiting.
What is included in the LUT pack?
Six .cube LUTs: three transform LUTs (Sony S-Log3, Canon C-Log 3, and a Rec.709-to-cinematic lift) and three creative LUTs (Warm Highlights, Cool Shadows, Desaturated Cinema). The pack is bundled with the course at no extra cost and is downloadable on the day of launch.
Will the course help me grade my wedding films?
Yes, the workflow is the same, only the brief changes. The Power Grade approach is especially useful for wedding work because you are typically grading thirty to a hundred shots from a single day with the same camera setups, so the time savings compound. We include a wedding-grading exercise in module three.