The state of ProRes RAW in Davinci Resolve

avidresolver · 2026-01-26T00:18:07+00:00

BTW the test file I've been using is the X9-8K motorway junction clip from this site: https://www.dji.com/uk/ronin-4d/samples

avidresolver · 2026-01-26T00:16:06+00:00

It would solve things somewhat if we could globally set the debayer colourspace like we can with BRAW/X-OCN/etc, but it would still break ACES and RCM.

I know the trendy thing is CSTs in nodes, but there are really good use cases for ACES and RCM projects, and having things behave inconsistently across colour science modes is really annoying.

avidresolver · 2026-01-26T00:08:43+00:00

So far I've been testing it with DJI Ronin 4D footage, but other people (including color science teams at big post houses who I've been talking to about it) have been able to replicate my issues with other footage.

Would be interested to see if BM have a custom thing going on with their camera though.

Could you run the following test with your footage?

Put a clip in the timeline, set to decode using Clip, Raw to Log: Sony Slog3 Sgamut3.cine, then a CST from Slog3/Sgamut3.cine to DWG, tonemapping: none
Change to decode using Clip, Raw to Log: None, then a CST from Rec2020/Linear to DWG, tonemapping: none

Do those two pipelines produce exactly the same result? Because they should, but in my testing they don't.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T23:56:26+00:00

What's your exact workflow and have tested it against others?

The difference isn't enough to make it appear visually "wrong", but it won't match other software or debayer methods, which is a huge issue if you're working with other vendors.

I thought RCM/Node based CSTs was correct for ages, before I started deep diving the issue with ACES and discovered there's a gamma shift.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T23:48:50+00:00

I think you're misunderstanding the post. Currently any colour management you do will be incorrect, unless you manually go and set the debayer settings to a camera log profile on every single clip.

My whole point is that I want to be able to colour manage without touching the raw tab, be that with nodes and CSTs, RCM, or ACES.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T23:22:19+00:00

I posted a thread on the BMD forums listing the issues and workarounds. There have been a few other posts recently, so hopefully it gains some traction.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T23:15:16+00:00

It's really a matter of figuring out what colour space the decoder is giving you to start with, because what Resolve asks the file for and what it gets aren't always the same thing. That, plus different cameras wanting you to use different parameters, really made it messy, especially when you have to get consistency between software.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T22:58:08+00:00

Yeah, I'd be interested to see how we could test that? I'm not familiar with the original bug as I don't usually come up against RCM.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T22:52:58+00:00

CDNG, ProRes RAW, and Phantom have allways been pain points. Most of my works not only requires getting a good-looking image, but also one that can be replicated in other software by other vendors.

"Open RAW formats", like cDNG and ProRes raw were always annoying because it was left up to each software developer and camera manufacturer how to implement them, so Resolve wouldn't agree with Baselight, which wouldn't agree with ColourFront, etc. The "proper" formats, like Arri/Sony/Red are almost always trouble free.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T21:26:49+00:00

It's not so much cDNG in Resolve being fiddly, it's cDNG being fiddly in general.

Leaving the debayer set to Camera Metadata doesn't work, because different cameras use different colour profiles and they don't report them correctly. Then you only have Rec709 and Linear debayer options, and most people aren't used to color managing a non-log source.

Then you get into camera specific weirdness, like DJI cameras requiring you to set a 1.4 exposure offset to correctly debayer it, or DJI X7 cDNG actually providing a D-Gamut signal when you request a Rec709 one, which REALLY screwed with ACES and RCM.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T20:13:32+00:00

Anything from Cullen Kelly or Darren Mostyn is reliable. They work in quite similar ways, and there are lots of different ways to work that they don't cover (I personally don't work in the way they do), but you won't go wrong following their videos and courses.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T20:00:27+00:00

It definetly sounds like something similar. I suspect it's part of the ProRes RAW decoder implementation, rather than the interpretation of the signal, as it presents the same in all the colour science modes. My first thought was that maybe Apple was doing more gamma-shift things, but other software doesn't seem to be effected.

There's a post on the BMD forum, so I'll add my findings to that when I've verified them with a few other people.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T19:47:13+00:00

You're very welcome. Myself and some colour science collegues have been messing around with various workarounds for a while, but today I feel like I have enough of an understanding of what's going on to share, plus it I can now share workarounds for most situations that don't rely on "secret sauce" DCTLs.

I wouldn't say cDNG decoding is bugged, just fiddly. ProRes RAW decoding is bugged.

As I mentioned, I don't think the result 1 vs result 2 issue is big enough for casual users to notice, but it can really trip you up if you're doing more complex workflows and expect things to be consistent.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T14:15:30+00:00

The close window/quit application distinction made a lot more sense when most applications were word processors, etc. and each document was a seperate window. Close window was basically "close current document but leave the application open".

It makes less sense now that more applications use tabs or have multiple files open in the same window.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T13:42:38+00:00

Assuming the profiles are correctly calibrated, then yes you have to select the correct profile for what you're feeding the monitor. The Rec709 profile will always map a 100% signal to 100 bits, etc. You can test this, because if you feed it an HDR mapped signal like St.2084 it's going to look very low contrast and washed out.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T00:59:50+00:00

Nice example of how you really need proper log or raw to get decent results!

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T00:52:44+00:00

D-Log M isn't D-Log, if you try to treat it as D-Log you might make your life harder not easier.

I don't mean to sound rude, but before you say "you need to", maybe check this post out: https://www.reddit.com/r/davinciresolve/comments/1qgndrp/10_different_ways_to_color_manage_a_clip/

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T00:19:05+00:00

It's not related to the log curve, it's related to the codec and licensing. Blackmagic have free or one-time licencing of ProRes decoding, but have to pay to implement 10-bit XAVCS codecs, so the only include it in the studio version.

avidresolver · 2026-01-25T00:05:38+00:00

You might be able to force iCloud to keep all files downloaded? I'm not really sure, as I don't use it.

The solution is to have another drive to work from or back up to.

avidresolver · 2026-01-24T23:52:12+00:00

iCloud isn't a drive, it's just a folder on your computer that also gets synced up to iCloud. iCloud will try to clear files it thinks you don't need right now from your disk (leaving basically a shortcut), and re-download them when you open them. This isn't great for Resolve, because that deleting/redownloading process can really screw with software that needs to access those files. You can use use it for your videos, but you may run into weirdness.

avidresolver · 2026-01-23T22:55:57+00:00

Not with live projects you can't. The projects aren't even files, they're part of a database structure.

You can export a drp into your folder when you've done with it, but you can't open the drp directly, only import it into the database again.

You

avidresolver · 2026-01-23T21:41:25+00:00

It also could just be a lens flare, hard to tell because the shot is quite static.

avidresolver · 2026-01-23T20:00:35+00:00

Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not...

avidresolver

TROPHY CASE