Understanding Skin Tones

People come in a vast spectrum of skin tones, ranging from the fairest alabaster to the deepest ebony. However, beyond these apparent differences, underlying tones are another factor in understanding and accurately representing diverse subjects.

Underlying tones refer to the warm or cool hues that subtly permeate the skin’s surface. They can significantly impact a person’s overall appearance and influence how colors interact with their skin.

Step 1: Set your White Balance

Before diving into color grading, ensure your footage is correctly white-balanced. This step sets a neutral baseline, making subsequent color adjustments more accurate. Use in-camera white balance settings during shooting for the easiest color grading. Or, adjust the white balance in post-production using your editing software’s color wheels or temperature and tint sliders.

White balance specifies the color temperature at which white objects in your footage truly look white. With proper white balance, your footage looks natural. Proper white balance helps to ensure that the colors look correct on any screen or device where the footage may be viewed.

If you’ve worked with video for a long time, you understand the importance of proper white balance. If you’re new to video, here are a few resources to check out.

White Balance for Video Explained: How Cameras See Color & Light

Matt WhoisMatt Johnson explains white balance.

Use a Color Chart and Gray Card when Shooting

Tyler Bailey explains why he always shoots a gray card and a color chart to match colors on the shots, making color matching easy. This speeds up white balance and simplifies grading skin tones.

Step 2: Make Primary Corrections

After white balancing, start with primary corrections to balance the overall image. Adjust the lift, gamma, and gain to get the basic exposure and color balance right so colors are represented accurately. The aim is to establish a neutral baseline and ensure uniform color across your scenes, even if the footage was filmed with different cameras or lighting conditions.

This step also ensures skin tones are in the right ballpark before making finer adjustments.

Color Correction Basics – Primary Grades – Davinci Resolve Tutorial

MiesnerMedia walks you through primary grading in DaVinci Resolve. The tutorial is a few years old but the method is the same.

More about Primary Color Correction

Primary Color Correction. This article dives into primary color correction in DaVinci Resolve.

Step 3: Use Scopes to Adjust Colors

Scopes are a crucial tool for editors for consistent color correction. The vectorscope, featuring a skin line, is important for achieving natural-looking skin tones. The skin tone line represents the hue of natural skin tones, and you can adjust your footage to align with it.^[5]

Third-Party Scopes

DaVinci Resolve has built-in scopes. Premiere Pro has Lumetri Scopes. There are also third-party tools to upgrade your scopes in Resolve, Premiere, and other hosts.

timeinpixels Nobe OmniScope

Nobe Omniscope is the perfect companion to your video or photo color correction software. It bridges the gap between the scopes in your software and expensive hardware scopes, used by professional colorists.

In the video below, Jay Lippman shows you how to use in DaVinci Resolve.

Step 4: Fine-tune the skin tones.

Fine-tune skin tones using the curves tool, adding subtle reds to shadows if needed. Use color wheels to balance shadows, mid-tones, and highlights to maintain natural skin tones. Many of the tutorials shared on this page explain fine-tuning color.

Step 5: Check for consistency.

Look through your shots and ensure that skin tones and color look consistent throughout your project.

Step 6: Color grade to set the mood and add a cinematic aesthetic.

Now that your shots have balanced color and your skin tones look natural, artistically adjust your colors to add atmosphere and mood to your shots.

Secrets to Cinematic Color Grading

In this video from colorist Cullen Kelly, he talks about how to get a cinematic look.

Other things to consider

Common Mistakes to Avoid when Color Correcting Skin Tones

While working with digital footage, achieving perfect skin tones can be challenging and may lead to various issues. Avoiding some common mistakes can significantly improve the professionalism and overall appearance of your final product.

To achieve optimal color correction, it’s crucial to avoid these common pitfalls:

1. Skipping primary corrections: Before applying creative color grades, focus on essential adjustments to balance the image and establish a neutral starting point.
2. Unfamiliarity with color theory: Understanding how colors work together is vital for effective color correction.
   See How to Not Suck at Color – 5 color theory tips every designer should know
3. Using an improperly calibrated monitor: Inaccurate monitor settings can lead to incorrect color perception and adjustments that don’t translate well to other screens.
4. Grading in an unsuitable environment: The lighting and surroundings of your grading suite can influence your perception of colors. Be aware of reflections on your screen.
5. Neglecting shot balancing and matching: Ensure consistency across different shots and scenes before applying creative color grade.
6. Oversaturating or overcorrecting skin tones. Avoid pushing saturation too far, which can result in unnatural skin tones. Don’t try to make them lighter, darker, or tanner than they are. It will look unnatural.^[3]
   See Common Color Grading Mistakes among Beginners
7. Confusing color correction and color grading: Color correction should focus on balancing and matching shots, while grading involves applying creative looks.^[4]

Conclusion

Achieving flawless skin tones in post-production can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be overly complex. You will attain realistic and accurate skin tones by adhering to best practices, such as establishing the correct white balance and color balance, utilizing video scopes, and ensuring consistency among shots. This process requires a fundamental understanding of color theory and dedicated practice, regardless of the software you use.

Sources & Resources

1. What’s the difference between 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit color?, Computer Hope, 11/13/2018
2. Your Guide to Skin Undertones: Warm, Cool & Neutral, Look Fabulous Forever
3. Common Color Grading Mistakes Among Beginners, Qazi & Co. Color Grading Studio
4. Color correction vs. color grading: What’s the difference? Griffen Snow, Adobe
5. Color Grading Skin Tones – The Basics, Alex Bjorstorp, January 7, 2024
6. Perfect Colors, Perfect Shots: How to Use a Color Chart for Video, Justin Phillip, November 19, 2023

DaVinci Resolve Studio-only Features

Below are features included in the Studio version of DaVinci Resolve, but not in the free version.

Technical Specs

With Resolve Studio, users get higher than UHD or 60fps timelines and renders, IMF delivery, encoder plugins, and more.

Special Thanks + Training

I also want to thank Patrick Imhofer and the DaVinci Resolve training on LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com). The training was helpful to me when writing the original article for version 16.

• DaVinci Resolve Certified Training Program from Blackmagic Design. The training is FREE and hits upon topics such as editing, multicam editing, visual effects, color, and more. It includes project files and many lessons are available in Spanish, German, and Portuguese. They’re all available in English.
• LinkedIn Learning. My library provides access to LinkedIn Learning for free.
• 9 Best DaVinci Resolve Courses for 2024: Professional Post-Production – From The Report. I don’t know this website but they list training options.

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References

1. Learning DaVinci Resolve 16, by Patrick Imhofer. Lynda.com. December 2019.
2. New Features Guide: DaVinci Resolve 16, Blackmagic Design.
3. DaVinci Resolve Minimum System Requirements | A Reality Check, Richard Lackey.
4. Blackmagic Design Puts AI Into DaVinci Resolve 16, Jay Ankeny, The Broadcast Bridge, 19 August 2019.
5. Feature Comparison: DaVinci Resolve 15, Blackmagic Design.
6. Release of DaVinci Resolve Studio 19 Public Beta, Apr 12, 2024, Blackmagic Design.
7. DaVinci Resolve 19 Features Guide, Blackmagic Design.