Davinci Resolve Color Grading Not In Rendered Clip: A Workaround Solution

When working on a video production project in DaVinci Resolve, color grading can be a crucial step in bringing the final product to life. However, sometimes issues can arise when trying to apply color grades to specific clips within your timeline. Specifically, when attempting to grade a clip that has not been rendered in FCPX, you may encounter difficulties.

To resolve this problem, it's essential to understand how DaVinci Resolve and FCPX interact with each other during the video production process. Here's a step-by-step workaround solution to achieve your desired color grading results:

1. Open your project again in FCPX and render your video at a higher quality (the resolution is up to you). Overwrite the clips in the 'Edit Media' folder.

2. Once satisfied with your edits, go back into DaVinci Resolve and perform the final color grades on the clips you have actually used in your video.

3. Import those clips from the 'Edit Media' folder into FCPX and perform your edits. The format and codec you use are up to you, but for editing, I recommend using 422 proxies.

To ensure seamless integration between DaVinci Resolve and FCPX, make sure to export your clips using the source filename and save them to a folder titled 'Edit Media' or whatever you prefer.

4. Apply a Blackmagic film to rec709 LUT and perform some basic grades on each clip.

5. Export as individual clips.

Finally, add all the clips to your timeline in their desired order. Since I always shoot in RAW with my Blackmagic Cinema Camera, this is my preferred workflow. I find that using DaVinci Resolve is far superior to FCPX for color grading, and by following these steps, you can achieve stunning results.

Davinci resolve color grading not in rendered clip