Hey guys, this is Serge,
and today we are going to take a look
at how to export your Final Cut Pro project
into Davinci Resolve for color grading,
and then import your project
back into Final Cut Pro.
A while ago, in the Final Cut Pro 10.4 update,
Apple added some great color grading tools
such as color wheels and curves to Final Cut Pro.
And while these tools allow you to achieve
almost any look you can think of,
they’re still a little behind Davinci Resolve’s
color grading tools.
Luckily for us,
you can download Davinci Resolve basic version,
with a full set of color grading tools for free,
and easily round trip your Final Cut Pro project
into Resolve for color grading,
and back into Final Cut Pro.
Down in my timeline,
I have a short one minute project
that is ready for color grading.
To grade it, we’ll export our timeline
as a simple XML file,
compatible with most Non Linear Editors,
including Davinci Resolve.
With an XML file,
Davinci will use the same source media as Final Cut Pro.
This keeps the file sizes nice and small,
but, if you’re moving your project between computers,
make sure to also copy the source media folder,
and re-link your media.
For this example,
and to keep things simple,
we’ll assume both applications are on the same machine.
First, lets export our project as an XML file.
With your project selected,
in the menu bar, select File,
and Export XML…
.
In the export window,
give your project a name,
and select the save destination.
You also have the option of exporting
the current XML version, XML 1.8 at the time,
or the previous version.
Using the current version
will have the most up to date features,
but depending on the NLE you import it in,
may be buggy or not even supported.
I suggest trying the current version first
on a test project,
and if you have any problems,
go back to the previous version.
So, select the current XML 1.8 version
and hit Save.
A tiny XML file is exported.
Next, open up Davinci Resolve
and create a new project.
To import your Final Cut Pro XML file,
select File,
Import Timeline,
and Import AAF, EDL, XML…
Select your XML file and click open.
In the import window,
make sure Automatically Set Project Settings
and Automatically Import Source Clips into Media Pool
are selected.
Also, if you applied any base color corrections
using the color board in final cut pro,
and want them transferred over to Resolve,
make sure the Use Color Information
checkbox is selected.
Keep in mind,
only adjustments made using the color board
will transfer over into resolve.
Any adjustments made using color wheels or curves,
or any secondary color corrections
will not transfer over.
Click OK.
Your XML file will be imported into Resolve as a very familiar looking timeline,
with all your video, audio
and effects as separate clips,
just like in Final Cut Pro.
And since we are referencing the same media,
you can even make adjustments to your timeline in here,
but I’m not going to get into that in this video.
For now, I’ll open the color grading window,
and color grade my project.
Once our project is color graded,
lets get it ready to go back into Final Cut Pro.
First thing we need to do
is render out our color graded project.
Click the Deliver button in Resolve,
and in Render settings,
choose the Final Cut Pro 10 preset.
Select the location you want your render file,
and the codec you want to render your clips in.
Add your project to render queue
and click the start render button to render out your project
and export your video files
along with an XML timeline file.
Now, to import this XML timeline back into Final Cut Pro,
select the library you want your project in,
and from the menu bar select File,
Import & XML.
Navigate to the folder you rendered your media into,
and select the XML file created by resolve.
Click the import button.
A new event will be created in your library
with Resolve in brackets at the end.
Your color graded project
will be inside this event ready for finishing touches,
and export.
If you want to learn more about
Color Grading in Davinci Resolve,
let me know in the comments below,
and I can make a video about
color correction basics in Resolve.
For a more in depth look,
check out Ripple Training’s new Resolve 15 course.
I’ll leave a link for it in the description.
Thanks for watching,
and I hope to see you back here next week
for another Final Cut Pro tutorial.