One click from a multi-layer EXR to a fully gradable comp in DaVinci Resolve — free version included.
You rendered in 3D. Now you're staring at the Fusion page wondering how 30 EXR layers become a picture you can grade. BeautyBuild does it for you: it splits your render into its light passes, rebuilds the final image with a color control on every component, and plugs it into your timeline. Change the sunlight, the surface colors, the metal, the glass — after rendering, with zero re-renders and zero node knowledge.
Works in free DaVinci Resolve and Studio. Pure Lua — nothing else to install.
Renderers bake the surface colors into the lighting passes. That's why dragging a
ColorCorrector onto your albedo pass does nothing — it isn't connected to anything real.
BeautyBuild rebuilds the image from first principles:
final = surfaceColor × (direct + bounce) + reflection + refraction + ...
▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲
CC CC CC CC (tint+energy) CC (tint+energy)
Every × and + is wired for you. Every CC is a normal ColorCorrector you already know
how to use. Grade nothing and the output is pixel-identical to your render — there's a
built-in QC node that proves it.
- Download and unzip.
- Double-click
install.bat. - Restart DaVinci Resolve.
macOS / Linux: run install.sh (or copy BeautyBuild.lua into
Fusion/Scripts/Comp/ and Fusion/Scripts/Tool/ yourself).
- Drop your rendered EXR (or EXR sequence) into a timeline and open it on the Fusion page.
- Click the Loader/MediaIn node once.
- Workspace → Scripts → BeautyBuild.
- Pick your renderer (or leave it on Auto-detect), OK.
Done. Grade the green nodes. That's the whole manual.
| Node color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 🟩 Green | ColorCorrectors — grade these |
| ⬛ Gray | Rebuild math — never touch |
| 🟦 Blue | Finishing (alpha, background, glare) |
| 🟧 Orange | QC check — view it: near-black = perfect rebuild |
| 🟪 Purple | Object mattes — wire into any green node's Effect Mask |
Every node also explains itself in the Inspector's Comments field.
| Renderer | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| V-Ray (3ds Max/Maya) | ✅ Full | Raw + filter decomposition; MultiMatte object mattes |
| Blender Cycles | ✅ Full | Standard passes (DiffCol/DiffDir/DiffInd, Gloss*, Trans*, Emit, Env) |
| Redshift | ✅ Full | Raw/Filter AOVs |
| Arnold | 🧪 Beta | Additive rebuild + albedo un-bake |
| Corona | 🧪 Beta | Essential passes |
| Anything else | 🔍 Generic | Fuzzy pass-name matching |
Renderer not detected right? Re-run and pick the preset manually — or open an issue with your EXR's layer list and it'll get a preset.
Does it work in the free version of Resolve? Yes — that's the point. No Studio, no Cryptomatte, no OFX plugins needed. Object isolation uses ID mattes instead.
New render revision came in — do I redo my grades? No. Re-run BeautyBuild and check Preserve my existing grades (on by default). It rebuilds the tree and puts your CC settings back.
I use ACES. Perfect — the rebuild is plain linear math, correct in any linear working space. Keep display transforms out of the comp; use the viewer LUT to look at it.
The output looks identical to my render. Is it working? Yes — that's the guarantee.
View the orange BB_QC_Diff node: near-black means the rebuild is exact. Now grade the
green nodes and watch the final image follow.
Multi-part EXR? Fusion's Loader only reads part one. Render single-part multi-layer (one file, many layers) — every renderer has this option.
My grades vanished / graph looks wrong. Re-run BeautyBuild — it rebuilds cleanly and
only ever deletes nodes it created (BB_ prefix). Your own nodes are never touched.
tests/run_tests.lua — 28 unit tests over the pass-classification and renderer-detection
logic. Runs on any Lua 5.1+, including the interpreter that ships with Resolve:
"C:\Program Files\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\fuscript.exe" tests\run_tests.lua
MIT — free for any use. If BeautyBuild saved your shot, a star helps other people find it.