> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://davinciresolveclub.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Sony S-Log3 in DaVinci Resolve: Input, Exposure and Color
- URL: https://davinciresolveclub.com/sony-slog3-davinci-resolve/
- Published: 2026-09-28T09:13:23.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-04T23:42:27.000Z
- Description: Match Sony S-Gamut3.Cine or S-Gamut3 to S-Log3, normalize once with RCM or CST, then balance exposure and color before adding a look.
- Author: Jason Miller
- Tags: Color Grading, Tutorials, Workflow, #color-grading-cluster

**To grade Sony S-Log3 in DaVinci Resolve, first match the clip’s recorded gamut and gamma, then convert it once into a grading space.** S-Log3 is the gamma curve; the gamut that goes with it can be S-Gamut3.Cine or S-Gamut3\. Pick one normalization route, either Resolve Color Management or a manual Color Space Transform node chain, and balance exposure before you add a look.

For a timeline with several cameras, I'd use Resolve Color Management. A manual CST chain earns its place when you want the input, balance and output stages in plain view in the node graph. Both routes below grade in DaVinci Wide Gamut / DaVinci Intermediate and use Rec.709 / Gamma 2.4 as the SDR output example. Treat them as starting configurations. They won't hand you a finished grade, and they aren't an export recipe for every platform.

## Check which Sony profile was actually recorded

“Sony log” doesn't tell you enough to choose the input. [Sony’s explanation of S-Log3 gamuts](https://helpguide.sony.net/di/pp/v1/en/contents/TP1000756714.html?ref=davinciresolveclub.com) separates S-Gamut3.Cine from the wider S-Gamut3\. Resolve lists them as separate inputs, and picking the wrong one shifts the colors even when S-Log3 is set correctly.

- **S-Gamut3.Cine / S-Log3:** select Sony S-Gamut3.Cine for the color space and Sony S-Log3 for gamma.
- **S-Gamut3 / S-Log3:** select Sony S-Gamut3 for the color space and Sony S-Log3 for gamma.
- **S-Log2, S-Cinetone, HLG or an already converted file:** stop and identify what that file actually is. The S-Log3 settings below don't cover every kind of Sony footage.

In [Sony’s Picture Profile defaults](https://helpguide.sony.net/di/pp/v1/en/contents/TP0000909106.html?ref=davinciresolveclub.com), PP8 pairs S-Log3 with S-Gamut3.Cine and PP9 pairs S-Log3 with S-Gamut3\. Profiles can be edited, though, and the available settings vary by camera; some models also have a Log Shooting Setting menu. Confirm what was used for that recording from camera notes, the metadata you have or the person who shot it. A preset number on its own proves nothing.

Also check if you're holding the original recording or a transcode with a conversion baked in. Put a Sony-log input transform on a file that's already Rec.709 and you've converted it twice. If nobody knows the recording settings, don't treat whichever transform looks nicest as a confirmed identification.

## Route 1: normalize S-Log3 with Resolve Color Management

In this route the project handles the input and output transforms, and your grading nodes sit between them. Blackmagic documents the custom controls and per-clip input assignments in the Resolve manual on its [DaVinci Resolve support page](https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/family/davinci-resolve-and-fusion?ref=davinciresolveclub.com). The control names below follow the Resolve 21 manual. I rechecked them on October 5, 2026 against its 21.1 edition; 21.1.1 build 10, posted October 2, was the current update.

1. Open **Project Settings → Color Management** and set **Color science** to **DaVinci YRGB Color Managed**.
2. Turn off **Automatic color management**, then choose **Custom** for the color-processing preset so the individual settings are available.
3. Enable **Use Separate Color Space and Gamma**. Set the timeline color space to **DaVinci Wide Gamut** and timeline gamma to **DaVinci Intermediate**.
4. For this SDR example, set the output color space to **Rec.709** and output gamma to **Gamma 2.4**. If your delivery calls for a different target, use that one.
5. Start with **Input DRT: None** and **Output DRT: DaVinci**. The first keeps tone mapping off the input; the second gives the output a highlight roll-off. Look at the image before you build a look on top of it.
6. Save the settings. In the **Media Pool**, select clips that share one recorded profile, right-click and assign their **Input Color Space** and **Input Gamma**. For S-Gamut3.Cine footage, that's **Sony S-Gamut3.Cine** and **Sony S-Log3**. If the camera recorded S-Gamut3, pick Sony S-Gamut3 for the color space.

Tag each camera's clips with that camera's own input. The project's default input only covers clips nobody has identified; it won't turn every file on a mixed-camera timeline into Sony S-Log3\. RAW files and files with recognized color-space metadata can be handled differently, so this manual tagging applies to recorded video files whose input you have to specify yourself.

At this point the viewer shows the footage through the project's SDR output transform, and the shot still needs balancing. **Don't add a Sony-log-to-Rec.709 technical LUT or another Sony input CST on ordinary grading nodes in this managed route.** Resolve already handles that conversion.

If you're deciding where transforms belong across a bigger project, our [guide to RCM, CST and LUT order](https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-color-management-rcm-cst/) covers the wider architecture. Once grading starts, keep the timeline grading space fixed, because changing it changes how your existing corrections behave.

## Route 2: use an input CST, a balance node and an output CST

For this manual route, set the project's **Color science** to **DaVinci YRGB**. On the Color page, build three serial nodes and label them **Input CST**, **Balance** and **Output CST**. Open **Effects**, find **Color Space Transform** and drop it on the first and last nodes. You don't need RCM switched on to use the CST effect.

The signal path is **Sony recording → input CST → working-space balance → output CST → SDR image**. Any node placed before the input CST still sees the camera's recorded encoding; the Balance node here sees DaVinci Wide Gamut / DaVinci Intermediate.

### Set the input CST

For footage recorded in S-Gamut3.Cine / S-Log3, set all four fields:

- **Input Color Space:** Sony S-Gamut3.Cine
- **Input Gamma:** Sony S-Log3
- **Output Color Space:** DaVinci Wide Gamut
- **Output Gamma:** DaVinci Intermediate

Set **Tone Mapping Method: None** and **Gamut Mapping Method: None** on this input transform, because the squeeze into SDR happens at the output stage. If the recording uses S-Gamut3, change only the input color space to Sony S-Gamut3\. The gamma stays Sony S-Log3.

![Sony S-Log3 CST chain: Input CST from S-Gamut3.Cine / S-Log3 to DaVinci Wide Gamut / Intermediate with no tone or gamut mapping, a Balance node in DaVinci Wide Gamut, and an Output CST to Rec.709 / Gamma 2.4 with DaVinci tone mapping and Saturation Mapping](https://storage.ghost.io/c/a9/29/a929429b-cfab-4467-b902-a0cd9c90feac/content/images/2026/10/sony-slog3-cst-chain-input-balance-output-20261005.webp)

The input CST lands the footage in DaVinci Wide Gamut / Intermediate, you balance there, and only the output CST turns it into Rec.709 / Gamma 2.4.

In the figure above, the **input** transform's output fields name the grading space. The display target only arrives at the separate Output CST, which you set up like this.

### Set the output CST

- **Input Color Space:** DaVinci Wide Gamut
- **Input Gamma:** DaVinci Intermediate
- **Output Color Space:** Rec.709
- **Output Gamma:** Gamma 2.4

For this SDR starting point, choose **Tone Mapping Method: DaVinci** and **Gamut Mapping Method: Saturation Mapping**. Blackmagic's [CST documentation in the Resolve manual](https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/family/davinci-resolve-and-fusion?ref=davinciresolveclub.com) describes DaVinci tone mapping as a smooth highlight roll-off with controlled desaturation, and Saturation Mapping as a way to fit colors into the destination gamut. Both help with the smaller output space. The creative contrast and saturation are still your call.

Leave the advanced transform controls at their defaults unless you have a clear reason to change them. OOTF settings handle scene-to-display conversions, and a toggle copied from someone else's workflow can change your result. A plain three-node chain is far easier to diagnose than one stacked with unexplained overrides.

### Tell the HDR palette which space the Balance node uses

**A manual CST doesn't set up the HDR palette for you.** In an unmanaged DaVinci YRGB project, the palette normally follows the project timeline settings. On the Balance node, open the HDR palette options and set **Color Space: DaVinci Wide Gamut** and **Gamma: DaVinci Intermediate** for this chain, or make sure the project timeline settings already match those values.

Blackmagic explains the difference in its [manual guidance on HDR palette color-space awareness](https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/family/davinci-resolve-and-fusion?ref=davinciresolveclub.com). A managed project makes the palette color aware; in a manual CST workflow you have to tell it the space yourself. Despite the name, the palette works for SDR grading too.

## Balance exposure and white balance before the look

With input and output in place, work on the Balance node in the manual chain, or on a normal grading node in the managed route. Keep the output transform active while you judge the SDR image.

1. **Set overall exposure.** With the HDR palette set to the working space, start with **Global Exposure**. Move it until the subject's brightness suits the scene, then look at the highlights and shadows. Don't assume every S-Log3 clip needs the same negative exposure correction.
2. **Correct a color cast.** Use a neutral object or a recorded gray card if you have one, and keep the RGB parade open next to the image. Channels lining up on a colored object tell you nothing about white balance.
3. **Shape contrast.** Once brightness and balance look sensible, set the black level and decide how the highlights should roll. Check the waveform for clipped areas, and let bright specular highlights stay bright. Flattening every peak tends to make the shot look dull.
4. **Add the look and match neighboring shots.** Give creative contrast, saturation or a compatible look its own node so you can separate it from basic balance.

HDR Global Exposure and primary Master Offset are different operations, so their numbers don't translate one to one. No exposure slider can rebuild gradations that were never recorded, either. [Sony warns that lost dark or bright gradations cannot be restored in post](https://helpguide.sony.net/di/pp/v1/en/contents/TP0000909106.html?ref=davinciresolveclub.com), and grading can make compression defects from the recording easier to see.

I'd check the transform first, then the shot's exposure, before reaching for a stronger LUT. Heavy contrast makes a normalization mistake harder to spot. For a sequence, our [shot-matching workflow](https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-shot-matching/) shows how to compare a reference shot with the clips around it.

## Do you need a Sony S-Log3 LUT?

Neither normalization route above needs a LUT. A LUT earns its spot when a particular look or deliverable calls for one, but first pin down **the gamut and gamma it expects at its input, and what it produces at its output**. A name like “Cinematic Sony LUT” won't tell you where it belongs.

A technical LUT that turns S-Gamut3.Cine / S-Log3 straight into Rec.709 expects camera-log input. Put it between the two CSTs and it gets DaVinci Wide Gamut / DaVinci Intermediate. Put it after the output CST and it gets an image that's already Rec.709\. Either way, the LUT receives something it wasn't built for.

If you deliberately choose a camera-log-to-Rec.709 LUT as your normalization route, it takes the place of the matching technical conversion. Don't stack it on top of the full RCM or two-CST recipe above. A creative LUT belongs only at a stage whose encoding matches its documented input and output, and some look LUTs won't keep you in the working space.

Our [LUT installation and troubleshooting guide](https://davinciresolveclub.com/how-to-use-luts-in-davinci-resolve/) covers adding LUT files and checking their order. Sony's own [LUT grading walkthrough](https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/support/ilc/movie/en/grading/03.html?ref=davinciresolveclub.com) was made in Resolve 12.5\. It's still a useful historical example, but the menu locations have moved since then.

## If the S-Log3 image still looks wrong

### The image is still flat

Check the full path. In RCM, verify the clip's input tag and the project's output target. In the manual chain, make sure both CST nodes are enabled and that the last one outputs Rec.709 / Gamma 2.4 for this example. An input CST that ends in DaVinci Intermediate is only half the path, and it hasn't converted anything for an SDR display yet.

### Contrast is harsh, shadows are crushed or colors are excessive

Look for two technical conversions: a camera LUT plus RCM, an input CST inside the managed route, or a technical LUT added to the full CST chain. Bypass the extra technical stage for a moment and reassess before you touch exposure or saturation. Other things can cause this symptom too, so check the configured path. Appearance alone won't prove a double transform.

### Colors look odd even though contrast is reasonable

Check S-Gamut3.Cine versus S-Gamut3 first, then confirm the clip really is S-Log3 and some other Sony profile isn't hiding there. If a look LUT is involved, verify the encoding it expects. Once those are right, look at white balance and the individual corrections. Putting the same tint fix on every shot won't cure a gamut mismatch.

### Highlights or saturated colors clip at the output

Check the Output CST's tone and gamut mapping, or the output DRT in RCM. Blackmagic documents that an output with no tone mapping has no highlight roll-off, so out-of-range values can clip at the destination. Then pull down or reshape the affected values in the grading space. If the highlight gradations are already gone from the original file, no output mapping setting can bring them back.

### Noise, blocks or banding become obvious after grading

Go back to a simple balanced image and ease off the aggressive corrections while you assess the recording. Check the file's codec and bit depth, since Sony S-Log3 files don't all have the same latitude. Sony's warning about compressed images applies here too. Changing transforms or adding a LUT can't recover information the file never held.

## Keep the working space consistent across the project

Before moving to the next shot, confirm the recorded Sony gamut, the S-Log3 gamma, one input conversion, the grading space and one output conversion. Check that any LUT sees the encoding it expects. In the manual route, include the HDR palette’s color-space setting in that check.

If the project needs an ACES pipeline, read the [ACES versus RCM comparison](https://davinciresolveclub.com/aces-vs-davinci-resolve-color-management/) before you change the project architecture. Export gamma differences and HDR delivery need their own output decisions, and this guide's Rec.709 / Gamma 2.4 example won't settle those for every platform.