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Real Node Key palette

Key in DaVinci Resolve

The Key palette controls how a matte or key signal influences a node. It is the place to understand Key Input, Key Output, Gain, Offset and blur after the isolation itself has already been created.

This page does not duplicate the Qualifier or Power Windows guide. Those tools build the isolation; Key controls the signal and the final strength of the node.

Key InputKey OutputQualifierGain / Offset
Open the real panelQualifier and Windows

The main idea

Key is about influence, not about selecting the subject

A clean workflow separates two jobs: first create a mask or matte, then decide how strongly that signal should influence the node. The Key palette is the second part of that workflow.

1. Build the isolation

Qualifier, Window or Magic Mask decides where the grade can work.

2. Shape the key signal

Key Input and Qualifier controls refine the signal itself.

3. Mix the node result

Key Output Gain is the quick way to reduce the node as a whole.

Key palette structure

Three areas worth understanding first

The whole palette is compact, so learning it is more useful than memorising isolated parameter names.

Node Key in the real interface

The complete Key palette

Key is not another isolation tool. This palette works with an existing key signal: it lets you shape the input, control the strength of the node result and adjust the Qualifier contribution. That makes it especially useful after a Qualifier, Power Window, Magic Mask or an external alpha/key signal.

  • Key Input controls the incoming key signal
  • Key Output controls the strength of the node result
  • Qualifier lets you refine the qualifier-key contribution
What enters the node

Key Input

Key Input is useful when a node receives a limiting signal that needs to be strengthened, weakened or softened. It is especially handy in more complex trees with alpha connections, external mattes or combined secondary isolations.

  • Gain changes the strength of the incoming key
  • Offset shifts the key-signal level
  • Blur R. and Blur H/V help soften the incoming matte
How much of the correction remains

Key Output and Qualifier

Key Output is one of the most practical ways to reduce the entire node without undoing a dozen controls inside it. The Qualifier section below lets you adjust the key that specifically comes from a qualifier-based isolation.

  • Output Gain works well as an overall node mix
  • Output Offset shifts the output key level
  • Qualifier Gain / Offset affect the qualifier key separately

Controls

What Gain, Offset and Blur actually help you do

The controls become much easier once you connect them to real grading tasks instead of treating them as abstract numbers.

Key Input Gain

Controls the strength of the incoming key signal. It is useful when a matte or alpha connection already feeds the node and its influence needs to be changed before the correction is applied.

Key Input Offset

Shifts the incoming key level. In practice it can open or close more of the affected range, but strong values can quickly make the matte overly hard.

Blur R. / Blur H/V

Softens the incoming matte. Radius controls the overall blur amount, while H/V changes the horizontal-versus-vertical character of that blur. It is useful when the key edge is too sharp or visibly noisy.

Key Output Gain

The most common practical use is to treat Output Gain as the intensity of the whole node. If a look or local correction is too strong, you can reduce it with one control instead of rebuilding the node.

Key Output Offset

Changes the level of the output key signal. It is more specialised than Output Gain and is usually most useful when you already understand how the key travels through the node tree.

Qualifier Gain / Offset

A separate adjustment for the key generated by the Qualifier. This does not replace the Qualifier page: there you build the isolation, while here you modify the strength and level of the finished qualifier key.

Practical workflow

A simple order for using Key without breaking the isolation

Use the Key palette as a finishing control for a signal that already makes sense.

01

Start with the local task

A Qualifier, Window, Magic Mask or alpha connection defines where the correction works. The Key palette makes sense once that isolation already exists.

02

Check the matte in black and white

White means full influence, black means no influence and grey values produce partial influence. Make the matte readable first, then judge the picture.

03

Reduce the node with Key Output Gain

If the correction itself is good but too strong, there is no need to rebuild Wheels or Curves. Output Gain can make the result feel more natural very quickly.

04

Do not rescue a bad key with Gain and Blur alone

The Key palette is excellent for refining a reasonable signal, but it does not replace a proper Qualifier, Window or Magic Mask. If the isolation is fundamentally wrong, fix the source of the problem.

Do not confuse the tools

Qualifier, Magic Mask and Key solve different stages

This distinction keeps node trees cleaner and prevents duplicated work.

Qualifier / Power Windows

Create the isolation: colour range, luminance range or a geometric area.

Open section

Magic Mask

Creates AI-assisted subject isolation and follows it through motion.

Open section

Key

Controls how an existing key signal influences the node and how strong the node result is.

Open section

FAQ

Key in DaVinci Resolve: common questions

Short answers about node strength, mattes and the relationship between Key and secondary isolation tools.

What does Key Output Gain do in DaVinci Resolve?

It controls the strength of the node's output key and is commonly used as an overall intensity control for the whole correction inside that node.

Is Key the same as Qualifier?

No. Qualifier builds an isolation from colour and luminance ranges. The Key palette adjusts how an existing key signal influences the node and also provides separate controls for the qualifier-generated key.

Why would I reduce a node with Key Output instead of changing the grade itself?

Because sometimes the balance inside the node is already correct and only the total intensity is too high. Output Gain preserves the internal relationship between all controls while reducing the result as a whole.

What do black, white and grey mean in the key preview?

White represents full influence, black represents no influence and grey represents partial influence. This makes the matte preview a direct way to understand where the node is actually affecting the image.

Can Key replace Power Windows or Magic Mask?

No. Those tools define the spatial or AI-assisted isolation. Key is mainly for controlling and refining the signal after that isolation exists.

Next main page

After Key, the remaining core palette is Sizing

Once Sizing is documented, the core Color-page map is essentially complete and we can move into the Resolve FX catalogue without mixing native palettes with effects.

The matte as a signal inside the node graph

The Key Palette controls how a matte enters, is shaped and leaves a node — not which colour is selected

In a Corrector node, the Key Palette has three logical parts. Key Input modifies an external key arriving through the blue key connection. Qualifier controls refine the internal matte created by a Qualifier/Window. Key Output controls the matte sent downstream, while Output Gain also acts as a convenient overall control for the node's contribution to the final grade. This is why Output Gain is often used to reduce a LUT/look/secondary correction once the correction's internal balance is right and only its overall weight needs changing.

Key Input
external matte through the blue key connection
Qualifier
the node's internal matte
Key Output
the matte the node sends downstream
Output Gain
overall contribution of this node's correction
Technical reference

The key-signal path through a Corrector node

StageSourceControlsPractical meaning
Key Inputblue key connection from another node/matteGain, Offset, Blur, H/V Ratio, Invertaccept, soften, reduce or invert an external matte
Internal QualifierQualifier, Power Window and internal key logicGain / Offset plus matte finesse in the relevant palettesdefine where the correction in this node has influence
Key Outputthe node's resulting matteGain, Offset, Invertcontrol the matte sent through the key output connection
Output Gain as node mixthe node's entire correctionKey Output Gainreduce a look/LUT/secondary correction without rebuilding internal controls
Outside nodekey from the previous nodeautomatically inverted Key Input, controllable in the Key Palettework on everything outside the original selection
Layer MixerRGB layers + key opacityOutput Gain on the layer nodebehave like opacity for a keyed layer
Working sequence

1. Build the correct isolation first

Qualifier, Window or Magic Mask should produce a sensible matte before the Key Palette. Key controls are gain staging and refinement, not a way to rescue a fundamentally wrong selection.

2. Distinguish Key Input from the internal key

If the matte arrives through the blue connection, inspect Key Input. If a Qualifier/Window creates it inside the node, inspect the relevant palette and internal key preview first.

3. Use Output Gain as the node's final mix

After building a look or secondary correction, compare 1.0 with lower values. This preserves the internal shape of the correction and changes its overall contribution, which is especially useful for LUTs, skin nodes and Layer Mixer work.

4. Inspect the matte separately from the pretty image

Highlight/key preview reveals the actual grey levels of influence. Grey means partial contribution, and that often produces more natural edges than a perfectly binary white/black matte.

Diagnostics

Output Gain 0.5 changes the grade differently than expected

Likely cause

the node participates in a Layer/Parallel Mixer or its key/connection topology changes the compositing behaviour

What to check

node graph, mixer type, key connections and bypassing the whole branch

An Outside node affects the inside of the original mask

Likely cause

Key Input invert was changed or routing is not a standard Outside configuration

What to check

Key Input Invert and the blue key connection from the source node

Matte blur stretches only horizontally/vertically

Likely cause

Blur H/V Ratio is offset from its neutral value

What to check

Key Input Blur Radius and Blur H/V Ratio

Reducing Output Gain does not change an external key as expected

Likely cause

node contribution is being confused with the key signal sent to another branch

What to check

separate the tasks: Key Output for matte routing and node correction mix for visual contribution

Colour science behind the tool
YCbCr and Y′CbCr Bit depth and chroma subsampling How humans see colour Colour pipeline
Primary references
Blackmagic Design — The Colorist Guide to DaVinci Resolve 20Blackmagic Design — Color PageBlackmagic Design — official DaVinci Resolve training