Supported setup: macOS on Apple Silicon with DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1. Download JuicyGrade Essential 🧃 v1.0 from your member account. Practice footage and the recorded walkthrough are being prepared. This written guide uses your own footage with known camera settings.
Where are you starting?
Choose the route that fits you. You can change it any time.
New users get help opening a project and finding the Color page. Both routes continue through the same grading workflow.
Open a project and bring in one clip.
Open DaVinci Resolve Studio. In the Project Manager, choose New Project and give it a name. On the Edit page, drag one video clip into the Media Pool, then drag it onto a timeline. If Resolve asks to match the project frame rate, use your clip’s frame rate for this practice project.
Find the Color page.
Click Color along the bottom of the window. Select your clip. The small connected boxes are called nodes: each box holds one step of your grade. You can leave the other tools alone for now.
Install your JuicyGrade Essential 🧃 download.
When available, download JuicyGrade Essential 🧃 from your member account and unzip it. Read the supplied installation guide for your release. In Resolve, open Project Settings → Color Management → Open LUT Folder. Create a folder for the tool and copy the supplied encrypted .dctle file into it. Return to Resolve, choose Update Lists, and save. Restart Resolve if the new file does not appear.
Prepare a clear working space.
For this guide, use an unmanaged DaVinci YRGB project and a single clip. This is the personal-footage route until the guided practice footage is available. Add a Color Space Transform effect to your first node. Set its input to match your source camera’s color space and gamma. Set its output to DaVinci Wide Gamut and DaVinci Intermediate. This prepares the signal for JuicyGrade 🧃.
Already using a color-managed project? Follow that project’s existing transform setup rather than adding these transforms a second time. Ask the community to check the setup if you are unsure.
I don’t know my camera settings ↓Add JuicyGrade Essential 🧃 between the transforms.
Add a serial node after the input transform. Apply ResolveFX DCTL from the Effects panel, then select the installed JuicyGrade Essential 🧃 version supplied in your download. Set its Working Space to DaVinci Wide Gamut / Intermediate. Add another serial node after JuicyGrade Essential 🧃 with a Color Space Transform from DaVinci Wide Gamut / DaVinci Intermediate to Rec.709 / Gamma 2.4 for this SDR practice workflow.
Your order is: camera preparation → JuicyGrade 🧃 → display preparation. The last step makes the working image suitable for the display.
Help: I’m not sure about my camera settings
“I’m not sure what my camera shot.”
Check the camera recording settings or ask the person who filmed the clip. Camera model alone does not tell you the recording profile.
My clip looks flat or gray.+
It may be log footage. Find the exact camera gamut and log curve used during recording, then select those in the input transform. Do not guess from appearance alone.
My clip already looks normal.+
It may already be display-ready. Confirm its color information before setting the input transform. Do not choose a log profile simply because the camera supports it.
I filmed it on a phone.+
Phone clips can be SDR or HDR. Check the recording settings and file metadata. Share that information in the community before choosing a transform.
Still unsure? Share your camera or phone model, recording profile if known, and a screenshot of your project color settings in the Skool support discussion. Never post footage you do not have permission to share.
Balance the shot, then choose a look.
Start with Neutral. Adjust Exposure so your subject is comfortably visible. Use Temperature and Tint if the shot feels unintentionally blue, orange, green, or magenta. Choose Everyday Film as a first creative starting point. Explore the other looks when you feel ready.
Make one change at a time.
Use Look Amount to blend the creative look. Try Look Character for a softer or bolder interpretation. Adjust Contrast for separation between light and dark, then Color Density for richer color. Compare often and stop when you like the image.
Check and export.
Watch the clip in motion. Turn off Before After, Show Curves, and Show Skin Selection before export: these previews can appear in your exported video. On the Deliver page, select a format and location, add the job to the render queue, and render. Open the exported file and check it before sharing.
Mark this only after checking your exported clip.
I’m stuck — ask the community ↗
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