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Adjusting White Balance in Drone Footage Using DaVinci Resolve

You may have captured some stunning aerial shots with your drone, but the colors in your footage might not look quite right due to the white balance being off. In this guide, we will show you how to adjust white balance in your drone footage using DaVinci Resolve, a powerful video editing software.

What is White Balance and Why is it Important in Drone Footage?

White balance refers to the color temperature of the light in your footage, which affects how colors appear. Setting the correct white balance ensures that colors look natural and true to life in your videos. In drone footage, white balance is crucial as different lighting conditions can make your footage look too warm (yellow/orange) or too cool (blue).

How to Set White Balance in Your Drone Camera

Before we dive into adjusting white balance in DaVinci Resolve, it’s essential to understand how you can set white balance in your drone camera. Most drone cameras offer preset white balance modes such as Sunny, Cloudy, Shade, or Auto. Experiment with these presets to see which one gives you the most accurate colors based on the lighting conditions when shooting.

Importing Your Footage and Choosing the Clip for White Balance Adjustment

Once you have captured your drone footage, the first step is to import your clips into DaVinci Resolve. Create a new project and navigate to the Media page to import your footage. Select the clip you want to adjust the white balance for by clicking on it.

Tip: It’s a good idea to choose a clip with a neutral color reference, such as a white object or a gray card, to help you accurately adjust the white balance.

Understanding the Color Wheels in DaVinci Resolve

DaVinci Resolve offers powerful color correction tools, including the Primary Color Correction panel with three color wheels: Lift (Shadows), Gamma (Midtones), and Gain (Highlights). These color wheels allow you to adjust the color temperature of your footage.

Pro Tip: When adjusting white balance, focus on the Midtones (Gamma) color wheel as it affects the overall color balance in the image.

Adjusting White Balance with the Temperature and Tint Sliders

In addition to the color wheels, DaVinci Resolve provides Temperature and Tint sliders in the Primary Color Correction panel. These sliders offer a more straightforward way to adjust the white balance of your footage quickly.

Here’s how you can use the Temperature and Tint sliders to adjust your white balance:

Temperature Slider: The Temperature slider adjusts the warmth or coolness of your footage. Moving the slider to the right makes the image warmer (more yellow/orange), while moving it to the left makes the image cooler (more blue).
Tint Slider: The Tint slider adjusts the green and magenta tint in your footage. Moving the slider to the left adds more green, while moving it to the right adds more magenta.

Pro Tip: Make subtle adjustments to the Temperature and Tint sliders to avoid pushing the colors too far and making your footage look unnatural.

Using the White Balance Picker Tool

DaVinci Resolve also offers a White Balance Picker tool, which allows you to set the white balance based on a neutral reference point in your footage. This tool can be handy when you have a white or gray object in your shot.

Here’s how to use the White Balance Picker tool:

Click on the White Balance Picker tool icon in the Primary Color Correction panel.
Click on a neutral-colored (white or gray) object in your footage to set the white balance based on that reference point.

Pro Tip: Remember to choose a neutral reference point in your footage that should be white (if lit by white light) or gray (if lit by neutral gray light).

Fine-Tuning White Balance with Curves and Offset Controls

In addition to the color wheels and sliders, DaVinci Resolve offers more advanced tools for white balance adjustments, such as Curves and Offset controls. These tools allow you to make precise adjustments to the highlights, shadows, and midtones in your footage.

Here’s how you can fine-tune your white balance using Curves and Offset controls:

Curves: Use the Curves control to adjust the individual color channels (Red, Green, Blue) in your footage. This allows you to make targeted adjustments to specific colors for a more customized white balance correction.
Offset Controls: The Offset controls allow you to adjust the overall brightness and contrast of your image. By tweaking the Offset controls, you can further refine the white balance and overall color balance in your footage.

Pro Tip: Experiment with the Curves and Offset controls to achieve the desired white balance in your drone footage while maintaining natural-looking colors.

Comparing Before and After White Balance Adjustments

After making adjustments to the white balance in your footage, it’s essential to compare the before and after results to ensure that the colors look accurate and natural. DaVinci Resolve provides an easy way to compare the original clip with the color-corrected version using the Split Screen view.

Here’s how to compare the before and after white balance adjustments:

Click on the Split Screen view icon in the Viewer window.
Use the slider to compare the original clip with the color-corrected version side by side.

Pro Tip: By comparing the before and after results, you can make additional adjustments if needed to fine-tune the white balance in your drone footage.

Saving and Exporting Your Color-Corrected Footage

Once you are satisfied with the white balance adjustments in your drone footage, it’s time to save and export your color-corrected clips. DaVinci Resolve offers various export options, including different video formats, resolutions, and codecs.

Here’s how to save and export your color-corrected footage in DaVinci Resolve:

Click on the Deliver page to access the export settings.
Select the desired export format, resolution, codec, and destination folder for your color-corrected footage.
Click on the Add to Render Queue button to add your project to the render queue.
Click on the Start Render button to export your color-corrected footage.

Pro Tip: Consider saving your project as a DaVinci Resolve project file (.drp) to preserve all your color corrections and adjustments for future editing or revisions.

Final Thoughts

Adjusting white balance in your drone footage using DaVinci Resolve is essential to ensure that your colors look natural and accurate. By understanding the different tools and techniques for white balance adjustments in DaVinci Resolve, you can enhance the quality of your aerial videos and create stunning visuals that captivate your audience. Experiment with the tips and tricks mentioned in this guide to master the art of white balance adjustments in your drone footage. Happy editing!