tool to isolate & control skin tones?

I'm wondering if there is a really good tool around specifically for isolating and correcting the hue, saturation and luminosity of flesh tones only . I use the qualifier, but its simply a dangerous tool and you have to be super careful to not end up having it flickering during a shot . I've use used the Color Warper to mixed results, but to be honest maybe I just haven't read enough about its various tools to get maximum control. Likewise the Hue vs Hue etc curves don't seem to isolate enough . I'd love something like some of the DCTL's that target specific colors but haven't seen one especially for skin tones. Maybe its because they vary and are desaturated to begin with.
A number of people have told me that Darren Mostyn's tutorial about the mononodes skin tone tool was just that, but all that does is show you when your skin tone is right - it doesn't help you get there. I'm doing a grading job right now that requires a lot of changes to the background colors and i have to isolate the skin tones so they don't get affected. Its further complicated because its a dance piece set in the redwoods and the costumes are all orange so between tree trunks, costumes and dirt, there's a lot that is very close to flesh tone all the time.

Suggestions welcome. Thanks - Lenny

Doesn’t the new Color Slice have a skin-tone parameter?


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Damn , your right , I thought I had seen something somewhere. That's only in 19 BETA right?
Unfortunately , I've been reluctant to switch into a BETA version in the middle of a project with a deadline in a few days. It would be fabulous for this project though on a number of levels, including the filmlook emulation .

Have there been many reports about Res 19 stability ?

Leonardo, that is really an art, there is no "magic button", but usually a combination of techniques.

I like combining 3d mask with shapes with light warp bending, but I do mostly Movies and TV where you color for skin tone first and let the rest go where it falls...

if you have a look where you have to roto/change the skin tone of half of your people, you might want to reconsider the approach...

Thanks Walter - "combining 3d mask with shapes with light warp bending"

I'm not sure what 3D masks are - Is that Fusion which I still have yet to learn .

Because the piece I'm grading wants to change the background in some cases its hard to keep it from also affecting the faces. I ve also tried starting with the skin tones & then changing the environment but sometimes its better the other way. Also multiple different cameras with different spectral responses so matching has been tricky .
I've been able to do it but its been a little painful sometimes. Wondered if there was a faster more precise tool. I'm downloading 19 BETA just to check it out but I'm pretty nervous about switching horses midstream. This show has been a PITA already and I don't need anymore trouble!
Color Slice sounds promising in theory at least.

Do youi guys know if I can download Res 19 to experiment without getting rid of 18 which I'd be using for my project ?

If so I'm wondering if I could finish the project in 18 , copy the project , then bring it into 19 to try the film look options like grain etc.

- Lenny

It’s quite easy on a Mac: use some reasonably fast storage you can erase, put a fresh Ventura on it, boot from there and add only 19. A ‘sandbox’ to avoid being bitten.

Leonardo, that is really an art, there is no "magic button", but usually a combination of techniques.

I was formulating a way to say just this, but Walter (of course) beat me to it. And he is absolutely right. There is no magic "fix skin tones" button -- it basically boils down to skill and time, plus the circumstances of the shoot.

God help you if there's mixed lighting or exposure problems, and the client expects perfect skin tones...

I'd love something like some of the DCTL's that target specific colors but haven't seen one especially for skin tones.

You can use this one. Works quite well. Just apply it as DCTL, in gray mode and use vectorscope skin tone line to adjust skin tone with another color correction node of your choice, and when you are done, deactivate the DCTL one.

https://github.com/ra100/dctl-utils

Screenshot 2024-05-02 at 20-02-05 GitHub - ra100_dctl-utils Some small DCTL for DaVinci Resolve.png (493 KiB) Viewed 432 times

Skin Tone Util

inspired by "Skin Tone Indicator" from MONONODES (https://mononodes.com/utility-dctl/)

highlights skin tone
use sliders to modify tolerances

Indicator

Gray Mask
How does it work?

Picks a hue of 18°, which should be a skin tone line. And anything that is inside saturation and luminance boundaries and Hue +/- tolerance is marked as yellow, anything below is green and above is magenta.

Installation
Copy .dctl files to your LUT folder set up in DaVinci Resolve

Thanks, I'm a little dumb about code though. How do you install a DCTL just from code like this one?
Usually I get a file that is labeled as a DCTL and I drop that in.

Never Mind it dropped right in . Thanks

Thanks, I'm a little dumb about code though. How do you install a DCTL just from code like this one? Usually I get a file that is labeled as a DCTL and I drop that in. Never Mind it dropped right in . Thanks

Oh, ok, Cool. I usually just put DCTL's in a LUT folder for Resolve in a DCTL folder inside the main LUT folder. If someone has a better way, please let me know, since I have tones of DCTL's the list can be a mile long and not easy to navigate.

Anyway. The basic workflow I use for now is this...

skin-tone-sshot-3942.jpg (699.35 KiB) Viewed 335 times

If I feel the results are not to my liking I can always adjust it further. Although in most cases when you get skin tones correct, most of the white balance and everything falls in place.

Additionally there is a cool little DCTL I use for some skin work adjustment. You can find that one as well on github.

TetraInterp-DCTL-master

For skin tones I usually use: TetraInterpHSV.dctl

Tetra DCTLs with inversion and black point controls. Also a very mediocre pseudo-HSV version.

https://github.com/hotgluebanjo/TetraInterp-DCTL

Thanks Kruno, I'm playing with that stuff and its helpful.

Thanks Kruno, I'm playing with that stuff and its helpful.

Only trouble is I start experimenting with all these new ways of doing things and I haven't done a damn thing on the actual grade!

Thanks Kruno, I'm playing with that stuff and its helpful.

Only trouble is I start experimenting with all these new ways of doing things and I haven't done a damn thing on the actual grade!

Hehe. No problem. New toys can always be exciting. All in moderation, right? Including moderation.

Cheers!