An analysis-focused Resolve FX that extracts dominant colours from a frame and breaks them down by shadows, midtones and highlights. Four Display Modes, 8–24 isolated colours, two tonal thresholds and Global Blend make it far more useful than the small panel initially suggests.
What Color Palette actually outputs
In Color Palette mode, Resolve shows the most dominant colours of the full image and additional dominant-colour groups for shadows, midtones and highlights. The three Region modes let you see the actual tonal segmentation behind those groups, so the thresholds can be tuned visually instead of treated as abstract numbers.
Primary analysis mode. The most dominant colours of the entire image are shown along the bottom, with separate dominant-colour sets for the shadow, midtone and highlight zones above. At Number of Colors = 8 this gives a compact eight-colour set for each view.
Shows which parts of the frame fall into the shadow zone under the current Shadow Threshold. The selected tonal region remains coloured/saturated while the rest of the image is displayed as black.
Diagnoses the interval between Shadow Threshold and Highlight Threshold. It is useful when the midtone range becomes too broad or too narrow and the tonal palettes stop matching the visual structure of the shot.
Shows the area above Highlight Threshold. Use it to confirm that the highlight set contains genuine highlights rather than a large portion of ordinary midtones.
Every control in the Resolve 21 panel
The supplied Resolve 21 screenshots expose the complete panel: Display Mode, Number of Colors, Shadow Threshold, Highlight Threshold and Global Blend. The cards below explain not only what each control is called, but what changes in the analytical output and how to verify it.
Display Mode changes the type of analytical output. Color Palette shows the dominant colours of the frame plus separate sets for shadows, midtones and highlights. Shadow Region, Midtone Region and Highlight Region replace the palette with a diagnostic preview of the selected tonal zone: that region remains coloured/saturated while the rest of the image is shown as black.
Number of Colors defines how many dominant colours are isolated. Resolve documentation specifies a range of 8 to 24 patches; 8 is the default and a strong starting point for a readable palette. Higher values reveal finer colour variation, but the palette can quickly become a less useful set of near-duplicate shades.
Shadow Threshold defines the upper boundary of the shadow region. The supplied Resolve 21 panel shows 0.330. Image values classified below that boundary belong to the Shadow Region; switching Display Mode to Shadow Region lets you inspect that classification directly instead of guessing which areas feed the shadow sub-palette.
Highlight Threshold defines where the highlight region begins. The supplied panel shows 0.670. Values above that boundary belong to the Highlight Region, while the interval between Shadow Threshold and Highlight Threshold forms the Midtone Region. The two threshold controls therefore work as a pair: one caps shadows and the other starts highlights.
Global Blend is the final mix between the Resolve FX result and the node input. At 1.000 you see the full Color Palette analytical output; lowering Blend brings the input back. For palette analysis—and especially Region previews—1.000 is usually the clearest setting, because partial blending makes the diagnostic display less unambiguous.
Reading the thresholds
The 0.330 and 0.670 values are the settings shown in the supplied panel, not universal grading targets. Their purpose is to partition the current image into three useful analytical regions. Change them when the current shot requires a different split, and use the Region Display Modes to validate the result.
Everything classified below the Shadow Threshold belongs to the shadow analysis set. Raise the threshold and more of the image becomes part of the shadow region.
Midtones are not controlled by a third slider. They are whatever remains between the Shadow and Highlight thresholds, so every move of either boundary changes the midtone region as well.
Everything classified above the Highlight Threshold feeds the highlight region. Lower the threshold and more of the midtone range migrates into highlights.
Real Resolve 21 controls
Production workflow
Choose a representative frame and place Color Palette at the node-tree point whose signal state you actually want to analyse.
Leave Display Mode on Color Palette and start with Number of Colors = 8. Read the broad colour structure first instead of immediately jumping to 24 patches.
Switch to Shadow Region and adjust Shadow Threshold until the preview corresponds to the areas you genuinely perceive as shadows.
Inspect Highlight Region and set Highlight Threshold. Then check Midtone Region separately—the midtones are the interval left between the two boundaries.
Return to Color Palette and only then raise Number of Colors if eight patches are insufficient—for example for an art-direction reference or a finer comparison between two grade versions.
For clean analysis keep Global Blend at 1.000. Compare the same frame before/after a grade or equivalent shots without mixing different pipeline positions.
Common failures
Cause: Number of Colors is too high for a simple shot, or the image contains a lot of fine noise/colour variation.
Fix: Return to roughly 8–12 colours and read the broad structure. For analysis, the maximum 24 patches are not automatically the best choice.
Cause: The thresholds do not match the actual luminance distribution of the shot.
Fix: Cycle through Shadow Region, Midtone Region and Highlight Region, verify the boundaries visually, then return to Color Palette.
Cause: The effect is analysing different signal states—for example one instance is before a CST/LUT/look and another is after it, or the shots are being compared at different pipeline positions.
Fix: Compare Color Palette at the same node-tree position and under the same colour-management state.
Cause: Global Blend has been reduced, so the diagnostic output is mixing with the source image.
Fix: For region inspection, restore Global Blend to 1.000, set the thresholds first, and only then experiment with mixing if there is a reason to do so.
Color Palette is not a creative grading control but an analytical output. It reduces the current frame's colour structure to a limited set of dominant colours and also shows which colours dominate separately in shadows, midtones and highlights. The key to reading it correctly is to define the tonal regions with Shadow/Highlight Threshold first, then interpret the patches.
| Layer | What it means | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Display Mode | Switches between the final palette and the three region previews. | Use the Region modes to verify segmentation first, then return to Color Palette. |
| Color Palette | Shows dominant colours for the whole frame and the separate shadow/midtone/highlight zones. | Compare equivalent frames at the same node position; do not read patches as exact area percentages. |
| Number of Colors | Defines the isolated colour-patch count; documented range 8–24, default 8. | Start at 8 and raise it only when the extra shades genuinely add useful information. |
| Shadow Threshold | Upper boundary of the shadow region; the supplied panel shows 0.330. | Display Mode → Shadow Region; confirm that the expected areas are classified as shadows. |
| Highlight Threshold | Lower boundary of the highlight region; the supplied panel shows 0.670. Midtones occupy the interval between the two thresholds. | Inspect Highlight Region, then Midtone Region—moving either threshold changes the midtones too. |
| Global Blend | Final dry/wet mix between the analytical output and the current node input. | For unambiguous Region previews and a clean palette output, normally keep it at 1.000. |
Likely cause: Shadow/Highlight Threshold do not match the shot's actual luminance distribution.
Fix: Inspect Shadow, Midtone and Highlight Region in turn and retune the two boundaries.
Likely cause: Number of Colors is higher than the scene actually requires.
Fix: Return to roughly 8–12 patches and only increase the count for a specific need.
Likely cause: Color Palette is at different node-tree positions, or one version is analysed before a transform and the other after it.
Fix: Compare the same pipeline position and the same frame or equivalent shot type.
Likely cause: Global Blend is below 1.000, mixing the input into the diagnostic output.
Fix: Restore Blend to 1.000 while analysing the regions.
Color Palette works well as a temporary diagnostic node beside the stage you are analysing—before a creative look, after it, or near the output stage depending on the question. Do not move the node between those stages during a comparison, because the signal state changes and the dominant colours change with it.
Color Palette answers a qualitative question about dominant colours rather than every measurement question at once. A vectorscope is better for hue/saturation distribution, Waveform and RGB Parade for levels/channel balance, and a histogram for value distribution. Use Color Palette alongside scopes, not instead of them.
The effect analyses the image in its current signal state. Palette patches before versus after a CST/DRT/LUT can therefore differ substantially, which is expected. For meaningful comparisons, keep node placement and colour-management context fixed and evaluate the thresholds in that same signal state.
explicit conversion between colour-space/gamma descriptions, including tone/gamut mapping
node-level input/output through the standardised ACES transform set
conversion between white points / illuminants through a CAT model
compressing hue/saturation/luminance variation around a selected Target Color
temporal matching of unwanted brightness/white-balance drift around a chosen reference and analysis region
selective increase or reduction of local contrast at a chosen structure scale and within a controlled tonal range
programmable host for custom transform code whose maths, UI and signal contract are defined by the selected DCTL/DCTLE
depth-weighted reduction of smog/airlight/haze through a simulated depth matte and coupled colour/contrast correction
suppression of reflected red/green/blue screen spill after the subject has already been isolated by key/matte/roto
spatial display of exposure zones through camera-matched or creative false-colour mapping and a legend
final hard-clipping of chromaticities to a specified delivery/QC gamut boundary
tone/gamut remapping through luminance roll-off, saturation compression/clip and OOTF without a separate input/output colour-space conversion
simple independent inversion of Red/Green/Blue/Alpha channels for creative and technical channel/key operations
AI-assisted SDR→HDR mapping with an explicit input/output signal contract, Middle Gray, target peak luminance and creative shaping
procedural Pan/Tilt/Rotation/Zoom motion with waveform, randomness, pauses and blanking handling
creative optical-look effect combining spatial diffusion, coloured Tone Lights, tonal protection, a falloff mask and a LUT-compatible subset
procedural texture/look effect combining blur/colour drift, vignette, changing dirt and up to five scratches with motion/flicker
procedural film-style texture with gauge presets, grain geometry, composite modes, tonal/RGB weighting and final mix
integrated scene-referred film-emulation environment combining a baked-in Blackmagic film response, colour shaping, halation/bloom/grain/flicker/gate weave and a LUT-compatible subset
dedicated temporal exposure modulation with tonal flicker modes, RGB selection, smoothness, randomness, pauses and a deterministic seed
film-style highlight scatter using an isolation matte, chromatic dye-layer reflections, secondary glow and optional grain
creative shadow/highlight colour separation through Natural/Strong/Custom modes, Pivot, Hue Angle, neutral protection and colour-space overrides
edge framing and visual-attention control through Basic/Advanced geometry, position, colour and compositing
solid-colour generation for Layer Mixer, masks, fills and simple colour washes
procedural technical grid with line hierarchy and deep plane transforms
colour-sampled key/matte with chroma/luma refinement, matte finesse, garbage matte and diagnostic output
Vectorscope, Waveform, RGB Parade and Histogram for quantitative validation of what the palette shows qualitatively.
Compare dominant-colour analysis with spatial exposure-zone mapping.
When the next step after analysis is to actually compress colour variation toward a target colour.
Why the same palette changes when the diagnostic node moves across transforms, look and output stages.
Panel names are cross-checked against the Resolve 21 screenshots already shown on each page. Where Blackmagic does not publish proprietary implementation math, the article describes documented signal semantics and observable behaviour rather than inventing an algorithm.
FAQ
Not in the normal grading sense. It is primarily an analytical Resolve FX that displays dominant colours or a selected tonal-region preview. If the goal is to push the image toward a target palette, use grading tools such as Color Compressor, curves or Color/Chroma Warper and keep Color Palette as the analysis layer.
Start with 8 for most quick analyses. Raise Number of Colors gradually when you need a more detailed art-direction palette or a finer comparison of a complex shot. The documented range is 8–24.
It is the interval between Shadow Threshold and Highlight Threshold. That is why there is no separate Midtone Threshold—the existing two boundaries already define its lower and upper edges.
No. False Color maps exposure zones spatially, scopes give quantitative signal information, while Color Palette answers a different question: which dominant colours define the frame overall and across its three broad tonal zones.
Yes—this is one of the clearest practical uses. The palette can guide colours for titles, lower thirds, thumbnails or other graphics so they relate to the shot's visual language. Treat the patches as an analytical reference, not an automatic design rule.
The Resolve FX Reference Manual marks Color Palette as Studio Version Only. If it is unavailable in your installation, confirm that you are using DaVinci Resolve Studio.
Next steps
Previous FX
Return to solid-colour generation and Layer Mixer use.
Use spatial exposure-zone mapping when the question is luminance rather than dominant colour.
Waveform, RGB Parade, vectorscope and histogram for quantitative signal validation.
Next FX
Continue to procedural grid structure, major lines, line widths, plane transforms and Global Blend.
