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Using DaVinci Resolve with Calman

DaVinci Resolve color correction software interfaces directly with Calman Display Calibration Software

DaVinci Resolve color correction software interfaces directly with Calman Display Calibration Software to create a display calibration 3D LUT file for a secondary display driven through a Blackmagic Design video output device (e.g. DeckLink). DaVinci Resolve automatically produces the required test patterns (patches) as Calman measures the display and creates an optimized 3D LUT .cube file (in BMD format).

The 3D LUT display calibration file is then manually loaded into DaVinci Resolve to apply calibration correction to the video display. DaVinci Resolve’s output signal is altered, according to the LUT data, to correct the video display performance to very accurately comply with the selected video standard (e.g. BT.709, sRGB, etc.).

Calman Required Software Version:

  • Version 5.3.0 or later

Calman Required Workflow:

  • (3D LUT) workflow

DaVinci Resolve Required Software Version:

  • Version 10.1 or later

 


Calman/Resolve Connectivity:

  • Uses IP connection from Calman to DaVinci Resolve, on port 20002.
  • The IP address is the network IP address of the Calman Windows computer.

To confirm the IP address of the Calman Windows computer, in a Windows command window (cmd), enter ipconfig then look for the IPv4 address for the Ethernet adapter or the Wireless LAN adapter.

Any firewall on either the Calman or the Resolve end of the link needs to either be disabled, or outbound port 20002 needs to be open on the Calman end, and inbound port 20002 needs to be open on the Resolve end.

To open a Windows Firewall port in Windows 7:
  1. Open Windows Control Panel / Windows Firewall / Advanced Settings
  2. Chose Inbound Rules, or Outbound Rules
  3. Choose New Rule / Port / TCP / Specific remote ports:  20002 / Allow the connection
To allow incoming connections through an active Mac firewall:
  1. Open System Preferences
  2. Choose Security & Privacy
  3. Choose Firewall / Advanced
  4. Enable Automatically allow signed software to receive incoming connections

Calman/Resolve Computer Configurations

Calman for Resolve can control the test pattern output from DaVinci Resolve in a number of different computer configurations. These configurations are described below, starting with whether DaVinci Resolve is running on a Mac or Windows computer.

When DaVinci Resolve is running on a Mac computer, under OS X:
  1. Calman can be installed on a separate Windows computer or on a separate Mac computer, running in a VMware Fusion virtual Windows machine or under Boot Camp with Windows*. Calman will connect to Resolve over TCP/IP.
  2. Calman can be installed on and running in a VMware Fusion virtual Windows machine on the same Mac that Resolve is running on. Calman will connect to Resolve over TCP/IP.

Note: Calman can also run on a Mac in a Parallels virtual Windows machine, but due to occasional USB device driver issues with Parallels, it is not currently recommended.

When DaVinci Resolve is running on a Windows computer:
  1. Calman can be installed on a separate Windows computer or on a separate Mac computer, running in a VMware Fusion virtual Windows machine or under Boot Camp with Windows. Calman will connect to Resolve over TCP/IP.
  2. Calman can be installed on and running on the same Windows computer that Resolve is running on. Calman will connect to Resolve over TCP/IP.

Calman/Resolve Luminance Levels

Calman needs to be configured to control the output from DaVinci Resolve at video levels.

  • To configure Calman, under Settings/Workflow Basic Options/Luminance Levels, select Video (16-235) (10-bit displays will receive 10-bit signals).
  • On the DaVinci Resolve Master Project Settings page, under Video Monitoring, the Colorspace (levels) setting should be at Video Levels.

Note: When Video Levels is selected in DaVinci Resolve, the SDI and HDMI outputs from Blackmagic video output devices produce signals limited to SMPTE legal (studio) levels (bit levels 64-940). Signal levels between black and reference white are always accurate.

 


3D LUT Display Calibration

Follow this procedure to:
  • Create a display calibration 3D LUT file for a display driven from DaVinci Resolve through a Blackmagic Design video output device.
  • Load the 3D LUT file into DaVinci Resolve color correction software.

Create Display Calibration 3D LUT

The Color Cube workflow in Calman is used to create display calibration 3D cube LUTs. In the Calman main menu, select Open Workflow Template / Color Cube (3D LUT). Proceed through each step of the Color Cube workflow in the normal fashion, using the following notes for DaVinci Resolve specifics.

Initial Setup

In the Initial Setup section of the Color Cube workflow, step through the following pages:

Session Setup – Meter Connect
  1. Connect your color meter to the Calman computer.
  2. On the Session Setup page, click the Find Meter button.
  3. On the Find Meters dialog, select your meter if it is listed, then click Search. If your meter is not listed on the dialog, just click Search
Session Setup – Source Connect

Note: To produce automated test pattern output, Resolve requires an open project with at least one image loaded into a timeline. This project can be one of your regular video production projects.

  1. On the Calman Session Setup page, click the Find Source button.
  2. On the Source dialog, under Manufacturer, select DaVinci. Under Model, select DaVinci – Resolve pattern generator. Click Connect.
  3. On the Calman “Waiting for connection” screen, note the IP address
  4. On the Resolve Color page, click Color in the bottom toolbar
  5. In the top toolbar, open the Workplace
  6. From the Workplace open Monitor Calibration then select SpectraCal Calman
  7. Enter the Calman computer IP address
  8. Click Connect

Note: If Calman doesn’t connect with the displayed IP address, confirm that the displayed IP address is the Calman computer’s network adapter IP address. See the Calman/Resolve Connectivity section, above.

Session Setup – LUT Device Setup

On the Session Setup page in the Color Cube workflow, click the Find 3D LUT Device button. Because you want to generate a standalone LUT file, you will use the Cube Generator device.

  1. On the Find Display dialog, under Manufacturer, select SpectraCal
  2. Under Model, select SpectraCal – Cube Generator (3D LUT)

Note: If you have the Calman Resolve license, the selection will be “SpectraCal – Cube Generator (Resolve).”

Display Pre-Test section

In the Display Pre-Test section of the Color Cube workflow, on the Gamma & ColorChecker page and on the Advanced Linearity pages, you can measure the performance of a display before you calibrate it.

Note: Be sure that in Calman you have selected Video (16-235), under Settings/Workflow Basic Options/Luminance Levels.

On the Performance Analysis page, the previous display measurements are evaluated in a series of pass/fail performance parameters. If the display fails in any of these parameters, you should consider using the following Display Optimization workflow section to optimize adjustments on the display itself.

If the display passes all of these parameters, you can skip the Display Optimization section and go immediately to the Display Calibration section of the workflow.

Display Optimization section

In the Display Optimization section of the Color Cube workflow, you are guided to optimize any controls the display may have for picture mode, color gamut, color temp, gamma, dynamic range, white point balance, or white point luminance.

On the Dynamic Range page, if the display has a Brightness control, set black to signal level 16/64.

On the RGB Adjust page, if the display has RGB Gain controls, under the Two Point Levels selection, select “2 Point 30, 100%.” Click the Read Continuous button and adjust the monitor’s RGB Gain controls for RGB balance at 100%.

Display Calibration section

In the Display Calibration section of the Color Cube workflow, there are provisions for calibrating both a 1D LUT (1D Ramp LUT page) and a 3D LUT (3D Cube LUT page). When we are creating a 3D LUT file for DaVinci Resolve, we will skip the 1D LUT page and use only the 3D Cube LUT page.

1D Ramp LUT page

Skip over this page when creating a 3D LUT file for DaVinci Resolve.

3D Cube LUT page
  1. On the 3D Cube LUT page, click the AutoCal button (rotating arrows) at the right end of the meter action buttons. The AutoCal Setup dialog then appears
  2. For File Format, select Blackmagic Design – DaVinci Resolve (.cube)
  3. For File Path, select a convenient LUT file name and computer drive location.
  4. Under Calibration Type, select the desired type of 3D LUT calibration process.
    • IR Profile (time-based): Creates the best quality display calibration 3D LUT possible in the selected period of time. You select how much display quality you have time for, from 30 minutes to maximum display quality (6,000 points max). Uses Intelligent Resolution Profiling to search out the most nonlinear color space areas and correct those first.
    • IR Profile (point based): Creates the best quality display calibration 3D LUT possible with the selected number of measurement points (1,000 – 10,000 points). Uses Intelligent Resolution Profiling to search out the most nonlinear color space areas and correct those first.
    • Lightning LUT: Creates a display calibration 3D LUT in five minutes or less. Produces a very high-quality result on professional displays with moderate linearity. Displays with significant nonlinearity may produce marginal results.
  5. Under Video Range, select SMPTE (16-235) if you are calibrating a video display that clips or compresses signals above reference white, as tested on the Calman Dynamic Range page.
  6. Click the OK button to initiate the 3D cube LUT calibration process.

When the AutoCal process completes, you are ready to load the Calman 3D LUT File into DaVinci Resolve.

Note: The .cube format LUT file produced by Calman is compatible with DaVinci Resolve and it is also compatible with BMD HDLink Pro. However, other devices that use a .cube format LUT file have a different internal file data structure. LUT file format conversion would be required to use this .cube file with other devices.

 


Load Calman 3D LUT File into DaVinci Resolve

Follow this procedure to load the 3D LUT you just created into DaVinci Resolve as a Display Calibration LUT.

  1. When the Calman AutoCube calibration process is complete, copy the .cube LUT file to your DaVinci Resolve LUT folder.
    1. For DaVinci Resolve on Mac, copy the LUT file to /Library/Application Support/Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve/LUT
    2. For DaVinci Resolve on Windows, copy the LUT file to C:\ProgramData\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Support\LUT
  2. Start or Restart DaVinci Resolve
  3. On any DaVinci Resolve page, click the gear button, at the bottom left corner of the page. The Project Settings window opens in the middle of the screen.
  4. On the left sidebar, click on Lookup Tables to open the LUTs panel
  5. In the Timeline Lookup Tables top section, under the 3D Video Monitor Lookup Table dropdown menu, select the .cube LUT file that you copied to the DaVinci Resolve LUT folder
  6. Under the 3D Color Viewer Lookup Table dropdown menu, select No LUT selected
  7. Under the 3D Scopes Lookup Table dropdown menu, select No LUT selected
  8. Click the Apply button, then close the Project Settings window.

Note: The last two ‘No LUT’ selections prevent the 3D display calibration LUT from improperly affecting the DaVinci Resolve GUI display.

Note: Do not apply the video display 3D calibration LUT directly to the media or to the output node, as this will improperly also apply the 3D LUT to the DaVinci Resolve GUI display.

 


Validate Display Calibration

After you have loaded a 3D display calibration LUT into Resolve, to validate the display calibration through the Resolve output, you need to enable the Virtual LUT in Calman, as Resolve does not currently apply a loaded 3D LUT to its internally generated test patterns.

To validate a Resolve 3D calibration LUT:
  1. In DaVinci Resolve, close the Calman Calibration connection.
  2. On the Display tab, click the DDC button.
  3. Scroll to the 3D LUT Controls screen.
  4. At the bottom of the screen, check the box for Enable Virtual LUT
  5. Click the Read Series button to begin the calibration validation.

Tags:  3D LUT, DaVinci Resolve, Pattern Generator