How to Grade S-Log3 in DaVinci Resolve (Sony FX3 Tutorial)

This is the structure I return to for nearly every S-Log3 grade: exposure, white balance, power windows, skin tone, color space transform, creative LUT. Minor adjustments shift project to project, but this order rarely changes.

The CST sits second to last, right before the creative LUT. Everything before it happens while the image is still in log, which is the whole reason the order matters.

Use the lift wheel to deepen the shadows slightly for added contrast, and the gain wheel to pull down any highlights that are peeking on the histogram. Not clipping, just slightly hot. The goal is a balanced histogram before anything creative happens.

Eyedropper tool on a neutral part of the frame, and a white shirt is ideal. Resolve typically nails the auto white balance adjustment; fine-tune manually only if needed.

Circular mask over the face, feathered, midtones lifted slightly inside to brighten the subject. Track the window to movement, and disable zoom, rotate and perspective 3D tracking. They're unnecessary here and they slow your system down.

Add an outside node and darken the background slightly via curves to pull the viewer's attention toward the subject.

Qualify the skin tone, refine with hue, saturation and luminance, clean up with denoise and clean black, then drop midtone detail to around -10 for that polished, music-video-style skin texture. Anywhere between -10 and -12 works depending on the footage.

This is the node that brings the image out of log, so it goes second to last. For Sony FX3 footage shot in S-Log3:

• Input color space: S-Gamut3.Cine
• Input gamma: S-Log3
• Output color space: Rec 709
• Output gamma: Gamma 2.4

Gamma 2.4 is the broadcast standard and what I grade to. If you're delivering mainly to YouTube, Gamma 2.2 is the closer match.

Final node. Apply your chosen look, then dial the intensity back via the Key tab. Drop Key Output to 0% and slowly raise it while watching the monitor until the image feels right, not maxed out.

Exposure, white balance, power windows, skin, CST, creative LUT. The same six-step backbone, repeatable on virtually any S-Log3 project, with small adjustments made shot to shot.