RESOLVE FX · TRACKED PORTRAIT REFINEMENT
AI Face
Refinement.
Track the face.
Retouch the evidence.
AI Face Refinement is a tracked portrait system, not a one-click beauty filter. Resolve first has to identify and follow the correct face, then build a trustworthy skin matte; only after that do texture, grading, relighting and feature-specific controls become meaningful. The best result is the smallest set of corrections that survives motion and a 100% bypass.
Face · Landmarks
Skin · Matte
Texture · Features
Try the Hat / mask leak scene: compare Internal Skin Model with Use Input Alpha before changing Skin Texture. It makes the main dependency obvious — a clean mask is worth more than another beauty slider.
Independent deterministic teaching proxy. It does not reproduce Blackmagic neural face detection, tracking, skin segmentation, or the exact control scales. Use it to learn causality: mask source controls where skin operations act, Skin Texture changes frequency content, feature controls remain local, grain restores integration, and the final mix should never hide a bad mask.
Ten native Resolve 21 Inspector captures plus an independent face-retouch teaching proxy.
TRACK · MASK · SKIN · FEATURES · QC01THE FACE-AWARE MODEL
Tracking and isolation are upstream dependencies, not setup chores.
The effect becomes predictable when you read it as a chain: track → skin matte → texture/tone → local features → grain/integration. Every downstream stage inherits the errors of the previous one.
Face Refinement starts with tracking, not retouching
Blackmagic describes the effect as a face-aware pipeline: Resolve first finds the face, then tracks it and constructs a traveling matte. Only after that do Skin Isolation and local facial controls have a stable spatial reference. If the bounding box or facial landmarks drift during a head turn, smoothing and relighting will move incorrectly regardless of how tasteful the slider values are.
Skin Isolation is the contract for the entire skin branch
Check Show Mask before touching Skin Texture or Skin Grading. Internal Skin Model is the normal starting point, Use Input Alpha supplies a stricter external region, and None deliberately removes the skin-mask source. Shadow/Tint/Temp Range, Limit To Face Region, Region Size/Softness, Flat Skin Areas Only, Exclude Mouth, Denoise Mask and Refine Mask are not beauty-look controls — they define where the effect is allowed to operate.
Local facial controls should solve a specific problem
Side Lighting, Eyeshadow, Eyes, Lips, Teeth, Blush, Forehead, Cheeks and Chin operate on the recognized facial structure. Their strength is locality; their risk is accumulation. A small Eye Light or Teeth Gamma adjustment may look harmless in isolation, but several strong local changes quickly make the face synthetic. In production, enable only the block that solves a visible problem and keep checking a 100% bypass.
Grain restores integration after smoothing
Starting with Resolve 20.1, Face Refinement gained a Grain toolset specifically for cases where skin smoothing removes the natural grain of the clip. Blackmagic notes that this grain is already pre-qualified to the smoothed skin areas. The safe order is therefore simple: balance Skin Texture first, then match Strength/Size/Softness/Saturation to the source. Grain should not disguise plastic retouching; it should restore statistical continuity with the shot.
Official Blackmagic workflow reference: Colorist Guide ↗
02REAL RESOLVE 21 CONTROLS
Ten captures reveal a six-stage Inspector, not one giant beauty panel.
Use the screenshots as evidence of current control names and menu options. The explanations to the right describe what each stage is for and what failure to watch for.
Stage 01 · Detect & Track
The face and its temporal anchor
- Detect Faces In Frame · Track controls · Show Overlay
Detect Faces In Frame finds faces in the current frame; the transport-like tracking controls build the track forward/backward, while Show Overlay reveals the recognized facial geometry. For multiple people, a dedicated Face Refinement node per subject is usually the cleanest approach.
CHECKCheck head turns, motion blur, occlusions and cut points.
- Effect Strength · Face Location · Manual Adjustments · Interpolate (Keyframed)
Effect Strength is the top-level amount of the entire Face Refinement effect. Face Location defines the tracked face region; Manual Adjustments and Interpolate (Keyframed) allow local corrections to the analyzed region without rebuilding the whole clip.
CHECKDo not use Effect Strength as a substitute for fixing a bad track.
Stage 02 · Skin Isolation
Define the skin before changing it
- Show Mask · Skin Mask Source · None · Internal Skin Model · Use Input Alpha
Show Mask displays the working matte. Skin Mask Source selects its origin: Internal Skin Model uses Resolve’s AI skin classifier, Use Input Alpha uses an external alpha input, and None removes the automatic skin source.
CHECKIf the matte catches hair, a hat or the background, fix the source/boundary before touching smoothing.
- Shadow Range · Tint Range · Temp Range · Limit To Face Region · Region Size · Region Softness
The range controls expand or tighten the skin criteria, while Limit To Face Region and Region Size/Softness constrain the matte spatially and shape its edge.
CHECKAn oversized Region Size can touch hair/neck; insufficient softness can reveal the retouch boundary.
- Flat Skin Areas Only · Exclude Mouth · Denoise Mask · Refine Mask
These controls protect complex facial detail and stabilize the matte. Flat Skin Areas Only restricts processing to flatter regions, Exclude Mouth protects the mouth, and Denoise/Refine clean the matte.
CHECKAggressive cleanup can remove thin areas of the skin matte; always inspect Show Mask in motion.
Stage 03 · Skin Texture & Grading
Texture and tone are different jobs
- Operating Mode · Beauty Automatic · Smoothing · Beauty Advanced · Amount · Scale
Operating Mode defines the Skin Texture model. Amount sets the processing strength and Scale defines the structure size. Beauty Automatic is the quick baseline, Smoothing focuses on softening, and Beauty Advanced exposes deeper manual control.
CHECKRaise Amount only until distracting roughness is controlled; preserving pores matters more than maximum smoothness.
- Contrast · Midtone · Color Boost · Tint · Desaturate Shadow · Shine Removal
Skin Grading changes tone and color inside the selected skin: Contrast/Midtone shape tonality, Color Boost/Tint shape color, Desaturate Shadow cleans dirty shadows, and Shine Removal reduces unwanted shine.
CHECKHeavy Shine Removal or Midtone adjustment quickly flattens facial volume.
Stage 04 · Side Lighting
Feature-aware relighting on left and right
- Lift Left · Lift Right · Gamma Left · Gamma Right · Gain Left · Gain Right · Area Size · Bias Left / Right · Area Softness
Left/Right Lift, Gamma and Gain correct the two sides of the face independently; Area Size, Bias Left/Right and Area Softness position and feather the relighting zone.
CHECKUse it to compensate lighting, not to redraw the scene’s lighting direction against the shot.
Stage 05 · Eyeshadow, Eyes, Lips
Eyes and mouth need minimal dosing
- Temp Upper / Lower · Tint Upper / Lower · Hue Upper / Lower · Saturation Upper / Lower · Gamma Upper / Lower · Size Upper / Lower · Softness Upper / Lower · Left Strength · Right Strength
Eyeshadow provides independent color/tone shaping of upper and lower regions, with separate strength for the left and right eye.
CHECKJudge blinking and head turns: excessive Size/Strength reveals the mask.
- Sharpening · Brightening · Eye Light · Eyebag Removal
Eyes controls locally adjust detail and brightness, add an eye-light lift, and reduce under-eye shadows.
CHECKSharpening and Eye Light can create glassy eyes quickly; inspect at 100%.
- Hue Shift · Saturation · Gamma · Upper Lip Smooth · Mouth Corners Inner / Outer · Top Outer / Inner · Bottom Inner / Outer · Softness
Lips controls change color/tone and let you tune the recognized lip-region geometry and softness for the specific face.
CHECKIf the geometry needs large corrections throughout the clip, return to the face track.
Stage 06 · Teeth, local grading & Grain
Finishing local corrections and integration
- Teeth · Blue Gain · Gamma · Mask Softness · Blush · Forehead · Cheeks · Chin
Teeth controls tooth neutralization/brightness and mask softness; Blush, Forehead, Cheeks and Chin provide local hue/saturation/gamma/smoothing-style correction of their respective facial regions.
CHECKDo not enable every block by habit: each local correction should have a specific reason.
- Add Grain To Skin Areas · Strength · Size · Softness · Saturation
Grain is added only to smoothed skin areas to restore texture continuity with the rest of the frame. Match Strength/Size/Softness/Saturation to the original noise/grain.
CHECKIf heavy grain is required, reduce smoothing first — grain does not cure plastic skin.
03THE REFINEMENT PATH
Fix spatial truth before aesthetic truth.
This order keeps diagnosis cheap. If an effect swims, fix the track. If hair is softened, fix the matte. If the face is waxy, fix Skin Texture. Feature polish belongs last.
Lock the correct face
Detect Faces In Frame, select the subject, then build and inspect the track before any retouching.
Teaching workflow, not a literal Resolve node graph. The key production idea is dependency: feature-specific beauty controls are downstream of tracking and skin isolation, so spatial problems must be fixed before aesthetic ones.
04PRODUCTION PRACTICE
Four production patterns cover most Face Refinement work.
Treat them as decision frameworks, not numeric presets. Face size, lighting, codec, makeup and source grain change what “natural” means.
Interview: natural cosmetic cleanup
Finish the face track and Show Mask first. Use the minimum useful Skin Texture Amount, then gently balance Midtone/Shine Removal. Touch Eyes or Teeth only when there is a visible need. Match Grain to the rest of the shot at the end and compare a full bypass.
Harsh side light: Side Lighting instead of a global lift
If one side of the face is too dark, do not lift the whole frame. Use Left/Right Gamma/Gain plus Area/Bias/Softness to recover readability while preserving the original lighting direction and background.
Makeup polish: Eyeshadow/Lips as a local grade
First confirm stable landmarks. Then use small Hue/Saturation/Gamma changes to align makeup with the overall palette. Use Size/Softness to fit the region, not to intensify the look.
Difficult skin/hat: Use Input Alpha
If Internal Skin Model consistently catches a hat, hair or clothing, build a tracked external alpha and feed it through Use Input Alpha. This is safer than compensating for a bad matte with excessive Refine Mask or a lower Effect Strength.
05CHOOSE THE RIGHT REFINE TOOL
Face Refinement is for tracked, feature-aware portrait work.
| Tool | Best at | Main boundary |
|---|---|---|
| AI Face Refinement | Tracked skin isolation, local facial grading, relighting and feature-specific polish. | Needs stable face tracking and disciplined restraint. |
| Beauty | General smoothing with explicit detail/texture recovery. | Not feature-aware in the same way. |
| AI Blemish Removal | Fast removal of superficial blemishes. | Narrow task: not a full portrait refinement system. |
| AI Face Age Transformer / Reshaper | Age structure or facial geometry changes. | Different intent: years/shape rather than retouching. |
06TROUBLESHOOTING
Most failures belong to tracking, masking, over-processing or integration.
Identify the layer first. Do not solve a tracking failure with Skin Texture, a bad matte with Global Strength, or plastic skin with more grain.
01Hair or a hat softens with the skin+
Likely cause: Skin Isolation includes a non-skin region.
Fix: Inspect Show Mask, tighten Region Size/ranges, use Flat Skin Areas Only or Use Input Alpha.
02Skin looks waxy or plastic+
Likely cause: Skin Texture Amount/Scale are too strong for the face scale and grain/detail are mismatched.
Fix: Reduce Amount/Scale first, then restore grain only if needed.
03Side Lighting swims or slides across the face+
Likely cause: The problem is face tracking/landmarks, not Lift/Gamma/Gain.
Fix: Repair the track with Find/Manual Adjustments/Interpolate before returning to lighting.
04Eyes or lips look painted on+
Likely cause: Feature controls are too strong or the region is too large/hard.
Fix: Reduce Strength/Hue/Saturation/Sharpening and retune Size/Softness.
05One node is trying to retouch two people+
Likely cause: Face Refinement is built around one selected tracked face.
Fix: Use a dedicated Face Refinement node for each person.
06Retouched skin is cleaner than the rest of the frame+
Likely cause: Smoothing removed the original noise/grain inside skin areas.
Fix: After balancing Skin Texture, enable Add Grain To Skin Areas and match Strength/Size/Softness/Saturation to the source.
07PRE-FLIGHT
The shot is finished when the refinement survives motion and bypass.
08FAQ
Practical AI Face Refinement questions.
How is AI Face Refinement different from Beauty?+
Beauty is a broader skin-retouch effect. AI Face Refinement first analyzes and tracks the face, then adds Skin Isolation, local relighting and feature-specific sections for eyes, lips, teeth, forehead, cheeks and chin.
When should I use Use Input Alpha?+
Use it when Internal Skin Model consistently catches hair, a hat, clothing or background and a stricter external tracked matte is easier to control.
Why add Grain after smoothing?+
Because smoothing can remove the source grain only inside skin areas, making the face statistically different from the rest of the shot. The Grain toolset restores grain specifically to those areas.
Can one effect retouch multiple faces?+
In practice, use a separate Face Refinement node for each person so tracking, masks and local controls remain independent.
What should I check first when the retouch breaks?+
Check the face track and Show Mask first. If the spatial foundation is wrong, tuning Skin Texture, Eyes, Lips or Side Lighting only hides the root cause.
Sources and boundaries
The page separates evidence from demonstration: control names and UI states come from native Resolve 21 captures; workflow behavior is cross-checked against Blackmagic documentation; the interactive portrait model is an independent deterministic teaching proxy.