okay so this has been bugging me for a while and i finally need to ask. i shoot in D-Log on my Mini 4 Pro and i genuinely do not have a consistent workflow. sometimes i apply a LUT, sometimes i try to color grade manually, sometimes i just give up and desaturate everything and call it moody. the results are all over the place and i spend like 3 hours on a 2 minute video that looks worse than if id just shot in normal color mode.

i know the technical answer is probably just learn color grading properly but im using Resolve and every time i open the color tab my brain kind of shuts off. is there like a sensible starting point that isnt a full film school course? or should i just shoot in auto color until i actually understand what im doing with flat profiles because right now im just making extra work for myself and then hating the result

shoot in normal color mode. i know thats probably not what you want to hear but honestly for 90% of hobbyist footage the D-Log advantage only really shows up if you have a specific look in mind AND know how to pull it out. if youre not there yet youre just making yourself miserable for like a 10% headroom benefit that you wont even use correctly. get your eye trained first, then revisit flat profiles when you actually know what your grading decisions are supposed to accomplish

and resolve is great but premiere or even capcut if were being honest gets you to a decent result faster when youre still figuring out the creative side. dont let the tool fight you while youre trying to learn composition and pacing at the same time

I went through exactly this about six months ago and what actually helped was finding ONE LUT I liked and just using it every single time for like two months straight. not because its the best approach forever but because it removes one decision and lets you focus on everything else. once you start noticing the LUT isnt quite doing what you want in certain lighting conditions, thats when you actually start learning to grade because now you have a reference point to push against. also the Darren Mostyn channel on youtube has a really practical Resolve color workflow for drone footage specifically, not sponsoring him or anything just genuinely helped me a lot