S16mm 4K B&W Footage - Grade in Premiere or DaVinci?

[Brian Rose]

Hello all!

 

I'm in post on a documentary I've been working on for quite some time. It's a feature, shot entirely on S16mm black and white (Orwo 400 ASA pushed 2 stops), and scanned in 4K to dpx files.

 

I'm debating just how I want to grade this footage for the final edit. Now if it was HD or color footage, I'd go DaVinci all the way, but since I'm dealing with black and white film, which I've intentionally shot to be grainy and contrasty, does DaVinci really offer any advantages over Premiere? I come from a photographic background as well and really favor doing luma curves within the lumetri filter, and have been very satisfied with the results. But of course, if DaVinci offers some distinct advantages qualitatively over premiere, I want to take that into consideration.

 

What say you all? Should I grade my BW in DaVinci, or am I good to stick with Premiere?

Thanks!

BR

[Adrian Sierkowski]

I'd say the ability to motion track power windows alone in resolve is a good reason. Plus you can very easily deliver into pretty much anything you need including DCP (though i've never done that myself). Honestly I would go resolve all the way, even if only for the ease to bring that project into a proper post house if you ever need to laid it out to tape etc, or see it on a proper monitor.

[Tyler Purcell]

Umm, there is no comparison between the power of DaVinci and Premiere/Final Cut X. DaVinci works in a broader color space, so you have far more control then the alternatives. I've given up coloring in Premiere, it sucks.

[Robert Houllahan]

I would say that the curves tool in Resolve would be worth it alone and there are many other reasons too.

 

Also we ran the latest batch of Orwo and I will put it on the Xena 5K scanner tomorrow.

[Perry Paolantonio]

Since you're working with Black and White, either tool will work fine, but Resolve is going to be much more suited to the task, because that's what it's built for.