Tone-correction tool in color grading — precise adjustment of blacks, midtones, and highlights via Bezier curve. Essential in DaVinci and all professional color pipelines.
In color grading, it is used to control the tonal distribution of an image via an interactive curve. You click on the line, drag points up or down—and thus determine which input values (Input) are mapped to which output values (Output). This sounds technical, but it is the most intuitive tool for lifting black points, adjusting midtones, or breaking highlights without destroying the rest of the image architecture.
The strength lies in selective control. Unlike the classic three-way color corrector (Blacks–Midtones–Whites), with curves, you can essentially set as many control points as you want and isolate any tonal zone. You want to lift the shadows, but only up to a certain point? Click in the dark area of the curve, drag upwards. The highlights should not be touched? The curve is already flat there. This saves you corrections in other layers later and keeps the color pass clean. In DaVinci Resolve, the RGB curve—the master curve across all channels—is the first thing you work with before moving on to individual color channels.
Practical Workflow: You look at your histogram, identify where the problems lie—crushed blacks, flat midtones, blown highlights—and then make targeted corrections using curve points. One point at about 25% input for lifting black values, one at 50% for general tonal adjustment, one at 75–90% for highlight management. The curve then does not run linearly but follows the drama of the image. For flat DI Cinelogging material—where everything is crushed in the middle—you need an S-curve: blacks down, highlights up, creating more extreme contrast.
A common mistake: setting too many points, making the curve too turbulent. The best curve is the economical curve—three to four well-defined points, smooth transitions. Also important: the difference between logarithmic and linear curves—some grading systems use log spaces, where curve manipulation corresponds to the material it was shot on. This makes color grading faster and more natural. In practice, the Curve Editor window is your compass—those who master it will save themselves hours of trial-and-error adjustments later.