Underwater color correction in DaVinci Resolve
Resolve can make dive footage look spectacular, and it can eat an evening per dive. Here is a compact recipe that works, and an honest note on when to let software do the first 90 %.
A Resolve recipe for blue footage
- Node 1 – white balance. Use the picker on something you know is neutral (sand, a tank, a slate). If nothing is neutral, pull Temperature warm and Tint toward magenta until skin stops looking grey.
- Node 2 – red channel. In Primaries → RGB mixer, raise the red output's red slightly and, in Curves, lift the red curve's midtones. Watch the parade: the red trace should sit under green and blue, not above.
- Node 3 – contrast. Lower the black point a touch, raise contrast, keep pivot low so highlights (sunbeams, sand) do not clip.
- Node 4 – saturation. Add global saturation sparingly; use Color Boost for the muted corals instead.
- Optional – Magic Mask. Isolate the diver or the animal to warm the subject without turning the open water purple.
- Keyframe the white-balance node if the clip changes depth.
Save it as a PowerGrade, but expect to adjust it per clip: every depth and distance has a different balance, which is the whole problem with underwater footage.
The one-click alternative
Everything in nodes 1–3 is a measurement a program can make per frame: how much red is missing, how flat the contrast is, which scene it is. The free browser tool does exactly that on the GPU, with temporal smoothing so there is no flicker. A common workflow is to run the whole dive through it first and only open Resolve for the hero clips – the corrected MP4s import like any other media.
Frequently asked
Does Resolve have an automatic underwater correction?
Not as such. Auto color balance and Color Match help, but they do not know how much red the water removed. Third-party LUTs exist; they have the same fixed-guess problem as a red filter.
Can I use the tool's output as a base for grading in Resolve?
Yes. The output is a high-bitrate H.264 (HEVC above 4K) MP4 with the audio copied. Keep the original if you want to grade from scratch.
Is the free Resolve enough?
For underwater colour, yes. Studio adds noise reduction and some GPU effects, which help with deep, dark footage.