Colourlab Ai + DaVinci Resolve

For our recommended starting workflow, assemble ungraded media before applying color management or looks. Colourlab will ask you to identify source colour spaces.

Keep media online. RAW and compound clips are not currently supported.

Set Resolve’s External scripting option to Local. Open your Resolve project and timeline.

In Colourlab, create or open a project, then choose Import Timeline → Fetch from DaVinci Resolve. Colourlab detects the Resolve version and selects the appropriate API. Identify the source colour spaces when prompted.

Balance, match and develop your shots. Use Fine-Tune to refine the result.

We recommend completing film emulation later in Resolve for this route. Use rendered OTIO if you want to carry Astra and skin processing into the return.

Choose Export → Push to DaVinci Resolve. Select Balance, Color and Fine-Tune as required. Film emulation is not recommended for the current Push workflow.

Choose a return colour space: a display space or a grading space such as DaVinci Wide Gamut or an appropriate ACES working space. Configure Resolve to interpret it correctly without repeating the input conversion.

By default, the first node combines input transformation with Colourlab adjustments. Continue with secondaries, windows, film emulation and finishing.

Import a DRX template if you prefer your own node structure, then choose where the Colourlab adjustments should be placed.

Pushing again overwrites the existing grade on affected clips. Review the selection if you have continued grading in Resolve.

To update one clip, right-click it in Colourlab and select Push. You do not need to push the full timeline.

In Resolve, select the timeline and export it as OpenTimelineIO. In Colourlab choose Import Timeline → Import OTIO. Identify your source colour spaces, then balance, match and grade.

Export a new OTIO and render your graded clips. Choose the output colour space appropriate for continued work; it need not be limited to the viewing display space.

Astra film emulation and skin processing can be baked into these renders. Import the new OTIO in Resolve and connect it to the rendered media. Interpret the files in the selected output colour space.

You can grade them further, but Colourlab operations inside the renders are not separate editable nodes.

The current MCP workflow supports automated Fetch → Balance → Push with Resolve Studio. Connect Claude, request the sequence and review the result. The same overwrite behaviour applies.

Explore Claude & MCP