The Secret to Cleaner, Quicker Grades
Pros swear by this philosophy—here’s why you should too
Hey Everyone!
What do the Magic Mask (Magnetic Mask), DaVinci Resolve’s “Relight”, and (in most cases) qualifiers have in common?
They are utterly unnecessary—and here’s why.
(Chill, hear me out…)
First and foremost, I’m not saying these tools don’t have their uses. Especially when it comes to AI rotoscoping, like the Magic Mask (or Magnetic Mask), they can save a ton of time.
However, for colour grading, I’d argue you’re better off avoiding tools like these for three key reasons:
Time: These tools need time to process. Depending on the complexity, this might take a while.
Processing Power: There’s nothing worse than a resource-hog in your workflow, especially when you rely on one of these features for your color grading. Grading is an iterative process—you go through your entire project multiple times. Therefore, maintaining smooth timeline and machine performance is crucial.
Babysitting: Here’s a rule of thumb: The more targeted an adjustment is, the more likely it is to break.
Point three is the one I want to focus on.
Let’s say you want to create depth by making your subject brighter. The obvious choice might be the Magic/Magnetic Mask because you want to isolate your subject, and only your subject.
So far, so good. You pull the key and adjust it. Then you increase the brightness, and everything seems fine. But later, when you watch it back, you notice something: the edges of your subject look slippery and jittery, breaking the adjustment and making it look artificial.
You jump back in to salvage the key. You refine it over and over, going back and forth. Maybe you get a decent result—but at what cost?
Here’s what pros do instead: They avoid tools like these because they’re too surgical. And I’ll gladly repeat myself: “The more targeted an adjustment is, the more likely it is to break.” The risk of pulling an imperfect key isn’t worth the time commitment when another tool can get the job done just fine.
What’s the alternative, you ask? Good old shape masks/power windows.
You’d be amazed at how far these can take you.
If you have a look at this comparison, you see that I’m able to drastically increase the clarity of the subject using the magnetic mask as it allows for a spatially very targeted adjustment. However, compared to the shape mask, I’d pick the shape mask almost all the time just for the workflow benefits alone. You set it and it’s done. And it draws the viewers’ eyes equally well.
My challenge for you: go through one of your recent projects and create an alternative version. Replace all Magic/Magnetic Masks with simple shape masks.
Want to take it one step further? Try removing qualifiers as much as possible. Here’s the thing: qualifiers often compensate for an imperfect adjustment made earlier.
Think of it this way: imagine shitting in your living room. Sure, you could have a highly sophisticated robot vacuum clean it up, but wouldn’t the better solution be to stop shitting in your living room in the first place?
If you take two things from this newsletter, let them be these:
The more targeted an adjustment is, the more likely it is to break.
Stop shitting in your living room.
If you want to elevate your color grading, consider booking a one-on-one session with me! Slots are limited.
👉 Book your 1-2-1 Session: https://ericlenz.photography/colour-for-creators
See you next week!
Eric
Ps Quick Life Update.
We just adopted a second dog. She is still very young and well within puberty. It’s absolute madness. I try my best to get some videos and newsletters out but I can’t promise anything as of yet. 🥲
