Color science
ACES vs DaVinci Wide Gamut: What Matters for Color Balancing?
Both pipelines bring every camera into one wide working space with a log encoding for grading. For balancing, the differences that matter are in the shadows, the output transform and the settings around them. Here is what the official documents say, and what that means at the controls.
In short
- ACES uses AP1 primaries and the ACEScct log encoding for grading; its look on screen comes from the ACES output transforms, redesigned in ACES 2.0.
- DaVinci Wide Gamut / Intermediate is Blackmagic's working gamut and log encoding inside Resolve Color Management, with Resolve's own tone mapping options.
- For balancing, consistency matters more than the choice: one pipeline per project, correct input transforms, a known output, and knowing how lift behaves in your encoding.
What each one is
ACES and ACEScct
ACES (Academy Color Encoding System) is an open color management system from the Academy. Its core transforms are published in the aces-core repository on GitHub. For grading, the working encoding is usually ACEScct. The ACES documentation describes it as a quasi-logarithmic encoding with AP1 primaries, intended for color grading. It is not intended for interchange or archiving. ACEScct is identical to the older ACEScc above a breakpoint. Below it ACEScct adds a toe. According to the specification this gives a more distinct "milking" or "fogging" of the shadows when lift is applied, which colorists asked for because it behaves more like traditional film-scan and camera log encodings.
The picture you see comes from an ACES output transform. ACES 2.0, released in April 2025 according to the aces-core changelog, brought what the ACES documentation calls a completely redesigned suite of rendering transforms. They have a gentler tone scale, reduced mid-tone contrast, a softer highlight roll-off, more robust gamut mapping and faster inverse transforms. The same grade can therefore look different under ACES 1.x and 2.0 output transforms.
DaVinci Wide Gamut and DaVinci Intermediate
Blackmagic's document on DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate describes two parts: DaVinci Wide Gamut, a color space defined by its primaries and a D65 white point, designed to hold the vast majority of colors modern cameras capture; and DaVinci Intermediate, a logarithmic encoding. In DaVinci Intermediate, 18% middle gray encodes to 0.336. It is used as the timeline color space inside Resolve Color Management (RCM).
The output is handled by Resolve's color management. Its tone and gamut mapping options are called DRTs. The Resolve 21 API reference lists the Input and Output DRT options as None, Simple, Luminance Mapping, DaVinci, Saturation Preserving and RED IPP2.
What matters for balancing
1. How lift behaves in the shadows
Balancing a black level means moving the shadows. In ACEScct the toe changes how lift and offset act near black compared with a pure log curve. DaVinci Intermediate has its own curve. A move that feels right in one encoding will feel slightly different in the other. That is not a problem, as long as a project stays in one encoding and corrections are not copied blindly between projects in different spaces.
2. The output transform shapes what you judge
You balance what you see. The highlight roll-off and mid-tone contrast of the output transform decide how a correction looks. Under ACES 2.0 the redesigned output transforms are gentler than 1.x. In RCM the output DRT choice changes tone mapping. Know which output your project uses, and do not compare stills graded under different outputs.
3. Input DRT and tone mapping on the way in
In RCM an input DRT can tone-map footage on its way into the working space. This changes the numbers a grade operates on. If you hand a project to another colorist or to a tool, the input and output DRT settings are part of the grade and must travel with it.
4. Gamut size and saturated colors
Both working gamuts are larger than the displays they feed, so saturated colors from cameras survive grading. What happens to them at the output depends on the gamut mapping of the output transform, an area ACES 2.0 specifically worked on.
5. Consistency across the team
Many balance problems that reach the grading room are pipeline problems: a VFX vendor working in a different version, a timeline set to the wrong ACES version, an editor's transcodes with a baked-in LUT. Agreeing one pipeline, one version and one output early saves days.
Which one to choose
| ACES (ACEScct) | DaVinci Wide Gamut / Intermediate | |
|---|---|---|
| Defined by | The Academy, open specifications | Blackmagic Design, published primaries and curve |
| Used across facilities and VFX | Common as an interchange framework (with ACES2065-1 for exchange) | Mostly inside Resolve |
| Rendering | ACES output transforms (1.x or 2.0) | Resolve output color space and DRT options |
| Main practical risk | Mixing ACES versions between departments | Input/output DRT settings not documented with the project |
If a project involves several vendors, ACES gives everyone a shared, published framework. If a project lives entirely in Resolve, DWG/Intermediate is a well-defined working space with Resolve's own rendering. For balancing, either works if it is applied consistently.
Common mistakes
- Mixing ACES 1.x and 2.0 output transforms between the grade and reviews or VFX.
- Applying camera LUTs inside a color-managed pipeline, giving a double conversion.
- Copying grades between an ACES project and a DWG project and expecting the same result.
- Changing the output DRT late and not re-checking the balance.
- Forgetting that a still exported for review shows the output transform, not the working space.
Where AutoBalance fits
AutoBalance reads the color management of the Resolve project instead of imposing one. Its private beta supports ACES with an ACEScct timeline (ACES 1.x and 2.0, Rec.709 output). DaVinci Wide Gamut / Intermediate is new and tested on one project, with the input DRT set to None. DWG with the input DRT set to DaVinci is not supported yet, and in DWG projects AutoBalance's first node softens the highlight roll-off a little. The compatibility list and known issues are kept current.
FAQ
Is DaVinci Wide Gamut bigger than ACES AP1?
Both are wide gamuts designed to contain the colors cameras capture. Blackmagic publishes DWG's primaries (red 0.8000, 0.3130; green 0.1682, 0.9877; blue 0.0790, −0.1155; D65 white). Compare them with the AP1 primaries in the ACES documentation for your purpose instead of relying on summaries.
Should I use ACEScc or ACEScct?
Most colorists prefer ACEScct for grading because its toe makes lift behave more like traditional log grading. Above the breakpoint the two are identical.
Will my ACES 1.x grade look the same in ACES 2.0?
Not exactly. The 2.0 output transforms were redesigned, with a different tone scale and highlight roll-off. Re-check a project if its output transform version changes.
Sources
- Blackmagic Design: DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate, version 1.1 (PDF)
- Academy Color Encoding System: ACEScct encoding specification
- Academy Color Encoding System: About ACES 2
- ACES core repository and changelog (GitHub, aces-aswf/aces-core)
- Blackmagic Design: DaVinci Resolve Scripting API reference, installed with Resolve 21.1.2 (lists the Input/Output DRT options)
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