DaVinci Resolve

Posted on by Thor Leave a comment

A previous post was about LUTs, the little files needed to color grade your photo’s and video’s. One of the best systems for color grading video in use by professionals today is DaVinci Resolve. The system originally was all hardware based, but in the 2004 as computers were able to process higher quality video, da Vinci Systems released new digital systems.

Like most professional multimedia editing software, projects are used to manage work and DaVinci Resolve is no different. Projects are generally where all the settings for the project are stored, but don’t generally store the actual media used in the project. Project files are often XML with unique schema’s, but other pack a little more into the project file. 

hexdump -C project.drp | head
00000000  50 4b 03 04 14 00 08 00  08 00 f2 54 90 5a ef 18  |PK.........T.Z..|
00000010  b0 25 47 0c 00 00 db 1b  00 00 0b 00 00 00 70 72  |.%G...........pr|
00000020  6f 6a 65 63 74 2e 78 6d  6c 9d 58 d9 72 5b 37 12  |oject.xml.X.r[7.|
00000030  7d cf 57 68 f4 7e 4d ec  4b 8a 51 ca b1 92 89 aa  |}.Wh.~M.K.Q.....|
00000040  2c db 65 29 79 9d 6a 00  0d 85 09 45 aa 48 4a 71  |,.e)y.j....E.HJq|
00000050  fe 7e 0e ee 42 51 94 9c  68 c6 29 85 17 0d a0 d1  |.~..BQ..h.).....|
00000060  e8 3e bd 61 fe fd 97 db  e5 c9 03 6f b6 8b f5 ea  |.>.a.......o....|
00000070  bb 53 f9 46 9c 9e f0 2a  af cb 62 75 f3 dd e9 2f  |.S.F...*..bu.../|
00000080  d7 3f 75 e1 f4 fb b3 6f  e6 ff ea ba f3 f4 f6 ee  |.?u....o........|
00000090  ee 57 de 60 55 7c 23 df  98 37 42 48 79 7a 72 9e  |.W.`U|#..7BHyzr.|

DaVinci Resolve keeps all projects in a database, but you can export them to a project file. A DaVinci Resolve Project file uses a ZIP container to store all the project settings in one file. Let’s see what also might be inside.

Path = project.drp
Type = zip
Physical Size = 543860

   Date      Time    Attr         Size   Compressed  Name
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------  ------------------------
2018-02-27 20:25:08 .....      1010030       287793  project.xml
2018-02-27 20:25:08 .....        21173         6856  MediaPool/Master/000_Timelines/MpFolder.xml
2018-02-27 20:25:08 .....       492690        28067  MediaPool/Master/001_Audio/MpFolder.xml
2018-02-27 20:25:08 .....        20177         3588  MediaPool/Master/002_gfx/MpFolder.xml
2018-02-27 20:25:08 .....        11025         2611  MediaPool/Master/003_VO/MpFolder.xml
2018-02-27 20:25:08 .....        98309         7042  MediaPool/Master/004_ScreenCaptures Consolidated/MpFolder.xml
2018-02-27 20:25:08 .....      1278493        66424  MediaPool/Master/005_Video H264/MpFolder.xml
2018-02-27 20:25:08 .....         1995          748  MediaPool/Master/MpFolder.xml
2018-02-27 20:25:08 .....      1638204       137086  SeqContainer/909a0a2c-4183-4310-9f78-6e15c3c59cb4.xml
2018-02-27 20:25:08 .....         8806         1169  Gallery.xml
2018-02-27 20:25:08 .....        12697          696  media.dat
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------  ------------------------
2018-02-27 20:25:08            4593599       542080  11 files

Looks like a lot of XML! The consistent XML in all the DRP files is the apply named “project.xml” along with “Gallery.xml”.

cat project.xml | head
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--DbAppVer="19.1.4.0011" DbPrjVer="14"-->
<SM_Project DbId="db65f2ee-2bff-41cd-b478-f96c26e9609f">
 <FieldsBlob>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</FieldsBlob>
 <LockId/>
 <User>86f03abc-9354-47d9-9006-a55b6b1d49cf</User>
 <Folder/>
 <UserId>-1</UserId>
 <SysId>6CB133A11B81</SysId>
 <ProjectId>0</ProjectId>

It appears the version of DaVinci Resolve is pretty important. If you try and open a DRP file without using the most up-to-date software you might run into problems. From what I can see, every time a new major version is released, the updates to the XML cause the project error when imported. So knowing the version of the DRP file can be a critical piece of metadata needed in understanding the format. There are some helpful apps created by DaVinci Resolve users you can try, or you can try a little python script to report back the version used in a DRP or whole folder of DRP files.

There is one other file used by the DaVinci Resolve software. It uses the DRT extension and is for exporting and importing single timelines to the software. Like a DRP it is a simple project file that only points to the media used in the project and only stores the settings needed. 

Path = timeline.drt
Type = zip
Physical Size = 215159

   Date      Time    Attr         Size   Compressed  Name
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------  ------------------------
2021-04-21 21:16:42 .....        45726         8888  project.xml
2021-04-21 21:16:42 .....       670306       198698  MediaPool/Master/MpFolder.xml
2021-04-21 21:16:42 .....        98268         7089  SeqContainer/7eb849f3-41cb-4e3f-baa8-d5b134b57aa7.xml
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------  ------------------------
2021-04-21 21:16:42             814300       214675  3 files

This DRT file also has a project.xml file, but doesn’t have the Gallery.xml file we normally find in a DRP file. We can use this to distinguish the difference. The project.xml is the same as the DRP, so this distinction is important. 

cat project.xml |head
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--DbAppVer="17.1.1.0009" DbPrjVer="10"-->
<SM_Project DbId="ec6cb2e2-0b3c-43b8-8f90-a5fcb973af3b">
 <FieldsBlob>00000001000000040000002e00500072006f006a00650063007400440062004d006900670072006100740069006f006e00530074006100740065000000040000000000000000020000002e0049007300500072006f006a0065006300740041006700650049006e004d006900630072006f00530065006300730000000100010000001400470061006c006c0065007200790052006500660000000a000000004800660030003800380038003300390038002d0066006400620037002d0034006300320036002d0061003700310032002d003300360038006200300036003300300065003400330031000000260046007500730069006f006e00530069007a0069006e006700560065007200730069006f006e000000020000000002</FieldsBlob>
 <LockId/>
 <User>04d71873-a504-40c6-bde5-41709691a2c9</User>
 <Folder/>
 <UserId>-1</UserId>
 <SysId>94F6D6F3F60F</SysId>
 <ProjectId>0</ProjectId>

In both formats they use the XML root tag of “SM_Project”, this can also be used to define a signature for the two formats as “project.xml” could be used with a different format and we don’t want there to be a false identification.

I was able to trace back the use of the DRP format back to DaVinci Resolve version 9. In version 8, it appears projects are exported using the name and extension, “Default Project.resolve.zip”. From what I could find, DaVinci Resolve version 9 was a big re-write and so it makes sense to settle on more useful extension. The project.xml file in a version 8 format is slightly different.

cat project.xml | head
<SM_Project DbId="9ba0c4dc-d99c-4b7f-b0da-d254d91e34e2" DbAppVer="8.2 (#153)">
 <LockId></LockId>
 <User>159415b8-7515-43bf-b5f5-00d98949434b</User>
 <UserId>-1</UserId>
 <SysId>7cd1c388ea29</SysId>
 <ProjectId>0</ProjectId>
 <RevivalTaskSetID>-1</RevivalTaskSetID>
 <PlayHeadsSplitDisplay>false</PlayHeadsSplitDisplay>
 <pGallery>
  <Gallery::GyGallery DbId="9884d8ff-096e-4df0-b833-0e75e6e07e15">

Still uses the “SM_Project” root tag, but displays the DbAppVer information differently. It would be good to find more examples of the version 8 and earlier to see how this format has evolved over time. For now, I have created a signature you can test if you happen to have any DRP files in your archive.

LUTS

Posted on by Thor 1 Comment

If you are looking for LUTs, you’re in luck. There is a website for sharing your FreshLUTs. Even though they are fresh, they are probably not as exciting as one might think.

LUTs are short for Look-Up Tables, which doesn’t sound as exciting as you were probably hoping. They are a pretty interesting process for dealing with color in high end Image and Video processing applications. Often called 3D Look-up Tables, they are used for color grading, an essential step in film production and restoration to map from one color space to another. LUTs are not to be confused with ICC profiles which aim for color accuracy, while LUTs are looking for more color quality and aesthetics.

There are a lot of LUT formats out there, it seems. In looking into this format, I have found dozens of others to investigate, but today lets look at the four available as an export from Photoshop.

Above you can see a simple screenshot for the export of different formats from Adobe Photoshop. Adobe is one of the biggest developer and supporter of the formats used in LUTs, but there are many other graphics tools which create and support LUTs. In this Photoshop export we can see four formats included in the export. Lets take a look at each of these.

ICC Profiles are well documented and available for identification in PRONOM.

filename : 'LUTs-Export-s01.icc'
filesize : 197024
modified : 2025-02-25T09:37:24-07:00
errors   : 
matches  :
  - ns      : 'pronom'
    id      : 'fmt/1975'
    format  : 'ICC Profile'
    version : '2'
    mime    : 'application/vnd.iccprofile'
    class   : 'Dataset'
    basis   : 'extension match icc; byte match at 8, 32'

But the other three are plain text files and still identify as such. Let us start with the CUBE format.

filename : 'LUTs-Export-s01.cube'
filesize : 884963
modified : 2025-02-25T09:37:24-07:00
errors   : 
matches  :
  - ns      : 'pronom'
    id      : 'x-fmt/111'
    format  : 'Plain Text File'
    version : 
    mime    : 'text/plain'
    class   : 
    basis   : 'text match ASCII'
    warning : 'match on text only; extension mismatch'

cat LUTs-Export-s01.cube 
#Created by: Adobe Photoshop Export Color Lookup Plugin
#Copyright: (C) Copyright 2025 ObsoleteThor
TITLE "LUT-export-s01"

#LUT size
LUT_3D_SIZE 32

#data domain
DOMAIN_MIN 0.0 0.0 0.0
DOMAIN_MAX 1.0 1.0 1.0

#LUT data points
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000

The CUBE format was first developed by IRIDAS in 2003 as a answer to ensure interoperability with other software. Adobe acquired IRIDAS in 2011 in a effort to be a leader in the color grading and enhancement market. They have published the CUBE specifications for version 1.0 in 2013.

A Cube file is a text file that defines a look-up table in the Cube format.
The Cube look-up tables store RGB values.
Advantages of the Cube format include:
  • The Cube format can describe look-up tables for a wide range of purposes, from simple gamma adjustments for display output to complex HDR image processing.
  • The format is well suited for professional digital cinema applications and for both normal range and High-Dynamic Range image processing.
  • As Cube files are text files, they are easily edited or reviewed using a text editor.
  • A Cube file can include three 1-dimensional tables or one 3-dimensional table.
  • The tables can be in a wide range of sizes.
  • Cube files are trivial to write and read.
  • All values are human-readable as they are in decimal form, and can be of high precision.
  • The input domain and output range are not limited to the range 0.0 to 1.0.

According to the specifications, a CUBE file can be a One-Dimensional Cube file or a Three-Dimensional Cube file. From the example above you can see the file is a Three-Dimensional file with the required line “LUT_3D_SIZE“. But in a One-Dimensional file, the required line is “LUT_1D_SIZE“.

cat Demo.cube
TITLE "Demo"
LUT_1D_SIZE 3
DOMAIN_MIN 0 0 0
DOMAIN_MAX 1 2 3
0 0 0
# Comments can go anywhere
0.5 1 1.5
1 1 1

Each CUBE file has one or the other and should be an easy string to look for. It is in a variable position as there can be comments before the required line and also may have a TITLE line. The TITLE and DOMAIN lines are common to every file but not required.

Now, the CUBE format is a bit different depending on the source. They all seem to have the same header, but different elements. It seems the IRIDAS Cube format is the most interoperable. The Truelight Cube format generally has the CUB extension, and the Cinespace Cube has the CSP extension, which will look at next/ You can read more about the differences on this format comparison table. This LUTCalc web site has many different types of Cube’s it can output, so there are some differences.

The other file format available in the export is a CSP. The CSP is also a plain text file, often called a cineSpace LUT file. This format come from the cineSpace software, a color management software for the film and television industry. 

cat LUTS-s01.csp 
CSPLUTV100
3D

BEGIN METADATA
#Created by: Adobe Photoshop Export Color Lookup Plugin
TITLE "LUTS"
END METADATA

2
0.0 1.0
0.0 1.0
2
0.0 1.0
0.0 1.0
2
0.0 1.0
0.0 1.0

32 32 32
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000

The CSP File Format specifications outlines header and the other two sections.:

The cineSpace LUT format contains three main sections.
Header
This section contains the LUT identifier and the LUT type, 3D or 1D.
It is made up of the first two (2) valid lines in the file. See Notes below for the definition of a valid line.

Examples
• (3D LUT) header:
CSPLUTV100
3D
• (1D LUT) header:
CSPLUTV100
1D

So there is a pretty obvious header to work with in identification. “CSPLUTV100” can be used to identify both 1D and 3D CSP files.

The other format available to export from Photoshop is 3DL. They seem to be connected to the Assimilate Inc. company and software. A specification has been posted, and it looks like there is only ASCII and not much in the way of a header.

cat LUTS-s01.3dl 
#Created by: Adobe Photoshop Export Color Lookup Plugin
#Description: LUTS
0 33 66 99 132 165 198 231 264 297 330 363 396 429 462 495 528 561 594 627 660 693 726 759 792 825 858 891 924 957 990 1023

It does not appear there is any headers or static strings to use for identification. The specification calls the format, 3DL ASCII format and that “All lines starting with ‘#’ are treated as comments.” Because of this, I don’t think positive identification can happen at this time.

For now I am just proposing 2 new file formats to PRONOM, The CUBE format And the CSP Format. Click on my GitHub submission page to see the signatures and enjoy some samples!