Beyond Frustration with Resolve

I've been learning how to effectively use Davinci Resolve for color grading my video clips but, unfortunately, it has been a very steep uphill battle thus far.

In a previous blog entry I mentioned that this software reminds me of some RAW file conversion software that I've attempted to use in the past. What these programs share in common is that I could not find a way to effectively control my output so I abandoned them. Unfortunately, the powerful Davinci Resolve very much reminds me of those abandoned software programs.

Let's put aside some basic color correcting for now and talk about the interface itself...

Every single time I try to access something, for the life of me, I can't figure out how to do it the way I want to do it. I spent hours last night trying to access "curves"... well, I could access the curves, one channel at a time, but I still have no idea how to get Resolve to show me all the curves at once (each channel in its own curve) so I can get a better visual picture. It is not just the curves though, I find the controls for adjusting color to be extremely rudimentary, at best. I have far better control for adjusting color in other programs.

So... I find myself having problems getting around within this program... common sense told me that I should download the manual since I'm having such difficulty. I found the manual online... downloaded the immense pdf file... opened it up after it loaded... and loaded... and loaded... and I found that it is almost 1100 pages long!  Worse yet, after reading most of the manual last night I can tell you it isn't all that detailed. It tends to tell you more of what it is capable of doing rather than how to actually do these things.

I skimmed through most of the 1100 pages late last night (I'm a very fast reader) and I was not impressed to say the least. I even found quite a few grammatical errors and typos (which I find immensely unprofessional... which is causing me to lose even more confidence in this program). 

Another problem I have is that I must convert my Sony video files (I haven't tried my Panasonic files yet) before I can even load them into Davinci Resolve. Then, I consistently have trouble getting Resolve to even recognize the converted files in my conversion folder even though they are supposedly in an acceptable format. This is actually beyond frustrating and well into the infuriating realm of things. 

I get so frustrated with this interface that I am finding myself getting anxious. I honestly want to master this program but it is truly driving me crazy. 

This program is definitely a powerful tool for color grading (I've seen the output potential in many films) but it is extremely awkward to use to put it mildly. (Perhaps it would be much, much easier using their $30,000 control panel rather than the software interface... that is a bit out of my budget though.) As a result, I find myself longing to just go back to ColorDirector. Or, maybe I'll try out a few other software options. 

Davinci Resolve just isn't cutting it and is causing far too much grief. I'm not giving up just yet but I am close...


UPDATE - 29 May 2016:  An update to this program has been released which promised far better color controls. I downloaded and installed it yesterday and played around with it very briefly... It is better... or, I am just getting used to this odd interface. Yeah... I think this newer version is better. We'll see how it goes the next time I have the time and energy to do a little video coursework.