DaVinci color page can be a very complex beast to master. Fortunately, you don't need to master it in order to use it... to know your way around a few basic tools will be sufficient.

Interface

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A: The Viewer. Click the rainbow icon in the top right corner of this for a before/after view of your color edits.

B: Nodes. Like every node-based system, this functions to apply adjustments one node after another. Top tip - use node or set of nodes for correction, and another for look/feel etc. More node wisdom here.

C: Effects. Some cool stuff here, like trackers, blurs, camera shake etc.

D: The Gallery. This is where color adjustments can be stored. To do so, right-click on the viewer and select Grab Still. The still can dropped onto other clips via the viewer. Great for applying batches of adjustments to clips.

E: Clips. The clips. Duh.

F: The Timeline. This will show your clips on the timeline.

G: Wheels. The most important things found here are: Camera Raw, Color Wheels and HDR Grade wheels (described below).

H: Curves. The most important curves are Custom Curve, Hue Vs Sat, Window and Qualifier.

I: Scopes. here can be found various ways in which a clip can be visualized. This includes the ever-common Histogram and the massively useful Waveform. Also in this section can be found the Keyframe editor, using which color adjustments can be animated.

Camera Raw

camera Raw (Figure 2) is useful only if you are working with RAW files (e.g. Blackmagic movie files, DNG image sequences). This is primarily used for primary color grading (i.e. correction). The settings are pretty much identical to those found in Adobe Lightroom.

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Figure 2. The Camera Raw settings

The Color Wheels.

These (Figure 3) apply global adjustments using the ever-familiar lift, gain, gamma and offset. These are primarily used for primary color grading (i.e. correction). The temp value can be used for quick white balance adjustment. Please don't go crazy with saturation. Only children do this. You are not a child. Also avoid contrast. Instead separately adjust darks and lights using the HDR grade wheels.

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Figure 3. The Color Wheels

The HDR Grade wheels

These wheels (Figure 4) apply exposure adjustments to tone bands (dark, shadow, light etc). These may help to establish an effective 'look and feel' to the clip. Use the navigation widget in the center top to view the full range of wheels (there are seven altogether). These should only be used for exposure adjustment.

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Figure 4. The HDR Grade Wheels

The Custom Curve

This (Figure 5) functions identically to Photoshop's curves.

Figure 5. The Custom Curve

Hue Vs Sat

Using these (Figure 6) clever curves, a selected hue may be saturated/desaturated. Other hue-related curves are Hue Vs Hue (change the hue of your selected hue!) and Huie Vs Luma (change the lightness of your selected hue!).

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Figure 6. Hue Vs Sat

Window

Masks (Figure 7) which can be applied to your correction. Great for making vignettes.

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Figure 7. Windows

Qualifier

Using this (Figure 8), an adjustment can be made to a color-based selection.

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Figure 7. Qualifier