11 ms·

DaVinci Resolve 18

234 points by capableweb 5y ago

capableweb 5y ago
TLDR major changes: - Blackmagic Cloud - Blackmagic Proxy Generator - Simplified Proxy Workflow - Intelligent Media Management - Shared Project Libraries - Remote Monitoring Streaming - Intuitive Object Mask - Automatic Depth Map - Track Moving Warped Surfaces - Updated Resolve FX Beauty - Enhanced Subtitles - Reverse Shape, Iris and Wipe Transitions - View 25 Simultaneous Multicam Angles - YouTube and QuickTime Chapter Markers - GPU Accelerated Paint - Text and Shape Acceleration - Convert Legacy Projects to FlexBus - Automatic Binaural Rendering - Decomposition of Nested Timelines - Innovative Space View 3D Display - DaVinci Neural Engine Acceleration - Laptop HDR Monitoring - Atmospheric Simulation - Edge Detection - DaVinci Wide Gamut Color Space - 8K Real Time Color Correction - M1 Ultra Performance - Person Mask - SuperScale - Smart Reframe for Social Media - Stylize with Open FX Library - Face Refinement - Dead Pixel Fixer - Object Removal - Patch Replacer - Upload Directly to YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter - Import ATEM Mini Projects - Advanced Noise Reduction - Optical Flow Speed Change - Mix 2,000 Tracks in Realtime! - Track and Follow Objects - Color Warper for Refined Grading - Hardware and Software Integration
- once_inc 5y ago
  That's a pretty impressive list of new features and changes. Kudos to the team at Black Magic Design.
  - jcelerier 5y ago
    One can often read that Qt/C++ aren't productive yet such hyper-featureful apps are proof that it's a combo that works and works well
  - capableweb 5y ago
    Yeah, BMD together with the teams of Blender and Unreal Engine manage to get out really big changes in a fast fashion. It's really impressive to see, time and time again.
noname120 5y ago
Is there significant advances in this version for treating VHS footages? Current gold standard is using manual filters and plugins on Virtualdub.
- capableweb 5y ago
  DaVinci doesn't care about the source of the footage. If you meant things like treating digital footage extracted from analog sources, then yes, probably a few additions/modifications would be interesting for you. I'd urge you to look through the changes yourself on the linked page, but here are some highlights that might be relevant for you: - Resolve FX Beauty - Edge Detection - SuperScale - Face Refinement - Dead Pixel Fixer - Advanced Noise Reduction Hard to know exactly what kind of filters/plugins you're using that could also be replicated in DaVinci as you didn't detail your workflow.
  - chrisseaton 5y ago
    > DaVinci doesn't care about the source of the footage. Why not? VHS has properties such as interlacing that means that it doesn’t have complete individual frames like modern digital or analog film sources. Don't you need a completely different workflow for that?
    - capableweb 5y ago
      Because DaVinci Resolve is a color grading and video editing tool, not a "media importer" / "conversion" tool. That's the job for some other software and hardware combo.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
  - noname120 5y ago
    Historically their deep learning models have not been properly trained on VHS-like videos so they performed very poorly.
elaus 5y ago
As a hobby videographer using Ubuntu I find myself switching between Kdenlive and Davinci Resolve, depending on the size and complexity of the project. For a small 30-second clip I like the more approachable, simple workflow of Kdenlive but holiday videos with a hundred or more cuts work much better with Davinci for me. Both are free which is really great, but from an ideological standpoint I much prefer Kdenlive (OSS). Also it's a bit annoying that Davinci doesn't support MP4 with the free version on linux. It's always a lot of re-encoding with ffmpeg to "prepare" clips for use in Davinci (as almost-lossless MOV containers).
- dannyw 5y ago
  Resolve is built by a fairly small team in s/Australia/Singapore. If you want the features in the Studio version, you just need to buy once, you get a lifetime of updates, no subscription. Ideologically I love to use FOSS products too, but I also want to support commercial businesses that make software under customer-friendly and non-subscription licensing terms.
  - rglullis 5y ago
    If we look at Blender's history, one could make the argument that they would get more support if they fully opened their product. I for one would contribute to get a Libre Resolve, even if I am not a videographer.
    - capableweb 5y ago
      > If we look at Blender's history, one could make the argument that they would get more support if they fully opened their product. I think it's important to know that Blender probably became big because they went open source with a nice tool, not that they were big before and then released the source as open source. If Blender didn't go open source, I'm unsure if Blender would even be around today, they were in big trouble before buying the source code back and open sourcing it, if I remember the history correct. DaVinci is not in trouble in any meaning of the word, the opposite. The editor is taking the media sector by storm and gaining popularity like crazy, so they don't have the same need of doing something drastic to save themselves. Don't get me wrong, I'd love for DaVinci to end up open source, but I don't think Blenders history is relevant in this particular case.
Kelteseth 5y ago
How does DaVinci Resolve Studio update policy work? Do I get all future updates for free, or only the 18.x patch releases?
- can16358p 5y ago
  I've bought the license years ago and have got every major update for free since then. While it's not guaranteed to be this way forever, it's the way it is for now.
- Cadwhisker 5y ago
  It's been a free upgrade for as long as I can remember and there's no indication that the policy will change.
frzen 5y ago
At work I regularly transcode a Resolve editor's video to AVC-Intra 100 50i using Avid Media Composer or Adobe Media Encoder because Resolve can't export interlaced video properly. Looks like they still haven't improved interlaced video support which is a shame because the rest of the software is great but it just isn't fit for purpose for me
- Youden 5y ago
  Is it common to use the editing tool to output a delivery format? I find that their encoders are universally pretty terrible so I always output an intermediate format then transcode it with something more capable. I'm just a hobbyist when it comes to editing though.
  - frzen 5y ago
    I work in news and that's common. I don't mind what anyone uses to edit or transcode but for our equipment to broadcast it, at some stage it has to become 1080i50 and its quicker for someone to submit that directly. It's a small feature that Resolve would benefit by having imo. If they send in xdcamHD 50 or avc intra 100 it'll be ready for us to check and send to playback as soon as the file transfer is done. If they are transcoding it themselves, or expecting us to do it that can cost another 2-3 minutes minimum. Thsg time makes a big difference sometimes. We accept basically anything though, the current thorn in my side is HDR video from phones. I have an ffmpeg command to make them rec709 but they still look awful and we are really only using phone footage when time is an issue.
Existenceblinks 5y ago
Always appreciate their free version. It is like the best oasis in desert. With efforts put in this sophisticated software that benefits students, new creators, and others, I love this company. Also Blackmagic pocket's color space doesn't really have direct competitor, there should have more company like this.
can16358p 5y ago
DaVinci Resolve Studio has been one of my purchases that I think is worth every penny spent. They keep improving it with dramatic updates every time. If anyone from the BMD team is reading this, thank you for the beautiful work!
- dannyw 5y ago
  I got my Resolve Studio for free from my BMPCC 4K (for those who don't know, it's an incredibly affordable cinema camera designed for hobbyists/amateurs/semi-pros)that easily competes with cameras 3-4 times the price range). Over the past couple years, Resovle has continuously been updated with incredible features. NO subscription. NO upgrade fees (buy once, lifetime updates). BMD, thank you for making professional video editing available to the masses.
- Youden 5y ago
  In that vein, I think one major bit of news is that you can finally buy a license online! For the longest time you could only buy it printed on a physical card that had to be shipped to you.
  - can16358p 5y ago
    Yeah that was weird, I actually shipped it to my friend I trust and he sent me the photo of the license code as it was much more practical for many purposes. Good that they finally sell it online!
sph 5y ago
I don't do any video editing but I appreciate a top shelf commercial editor that's officially available for Linux. We need more commercial closed source software on Linux, I don't understand the "free software only" orthodoxy that many users push.
drenvuk 5y ago
- samwillis 5y ago
  I think you are missing the reason people on HN find DaVinci Resolve interesting. It’s not anything particular about the features or capabilities. It’s the business model and what that’s doing to the industry. Resolve is free but has become the market leader for the majority of the video industry. It’s completely shaking the industry up and pushing competitors to compete. (And as an aside if your not interested in something on HN, and don’t have anything to add then just don’t comment. But by all means do ask why people find it interesting and engage in that conversation)
  - pt_PT_guy 5y ago
    and linux support! :D
  - protomyth 5y ago
    While introducing the The Cloud part at https://youtu.be/BVjP6RVFjPg?t=2196 https://youtu.be/BVjP6RVFjPg?t=2196 he talks about what other tech companies do and how that violates BlackMagic Designs culture is pretty important. Software subscriptions and tracking users are big no-nos for their culture.
rvieira 5y ago
I don't work in the professional media field, but isn't this ridiculously inexpensive for something that seems to be aimed at content studios, TV stations, etc (judging by the hardware compatibility focus and dedicated keyboards)? I was expecting these pro products to be on the order of the tens of thousands USD. I've paid this much for a hobby DAW.
- capableweb 5y ago
  Yes, DaVinci is ridiculously cheap, because the software is not how they earn their money, it's via their hardware. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the submission page, you'll notice a bunch of hardware for controlling DaVinci and its modules. It ranges from $400 to $50,00 and they have even more expensive hardware as well. This is where they get most of their profits from, and where the larger companies really spend the money on when it comes to buying from BMD.
  - NikolaNovak 5y ago
    Which feels like such a rare business model in this year 2022. Everybody wants to lock you into lucrative recurring software subscription, even for software that should be one and done.
    - AussieWog93 5y ago
      >Everybody wants to lock you into lucrative recurring software subscription Everybody except Grant Petty. I've definitely heard stories about an expletive-filled rant when Adobe discontinued their "buy once, own forever" products. Both him and Doug (the other main co-founder) genuinely care more about making good-quality, affordable products than being worth an extra few hundred million.
    - roguas 5y ago
      Well, they took somehwat adobe route minus piracy. Pre davinci situation means: FCPX or Adobe Premiere. How do you get your product in? Easy, release product for free so small time creators, experimenters get familiar. Those people go to work for professional studio, they request davinci since they know it better. Then company further optimizes by buying expensive intergrated hardware to better streamline production... Its brilliant to see this nonobvious market oppportunity. Further you get extra street creds, as yt people will love your product just for the fact its so accessible (free).
lukego 5y ago
My favourite piece of software these days. Have been using it on NixOS. Seems rock solid even with all the GPU features (but switched from Radeon to Nvidia to make that easy.) Got a "free" Studio license with the Speed Editor https://youtu.be/26OfvGXGezw https://youtu.be/26OfvGXGezw.
- orangebeet 5y ago
  You switched from Radeon to the hell that is Nvidia to make something easier? This is very interesting to me, since all my experiences have been exactly the opposite (i.e. moving from Nvidia to Radeon solved all my problems).
2ctJoke 5y ago
bla3 5y ago
Does anyone know if their installer still requires Rosetta?
- sudhirj 5y ago
  Think 18 is M1 optimised, there were a few claims and videos saying it way 30x faster or something, but that turns out to be over the top. Does seem to be an appreciable performance improvement in many places though.
borjamoya 5y ago
I've been using Davinci Resolve for almost three years and I can't emphasize enough how great this product is. IMO, it's miles away from Adobe Premiere. Not only because of its color grading capabilities, but I just find it way more intuitive than Premiere. And let's not forget that you also get Fusion, which is incredibly more powerful than Adobe After Effects. You can basically do all the post-production work in one single tool. Even though Fairlight (the built-in DAW) isn't as powerful as Pro Tools, you can get most of the audio work done within Davinci Resolve. It's just crazy to think that you can get this much for $300. Or in my case, for free when buying a Blackmagic camera.
- mynameismon 5y ago
  I'm pretty sure Davinci Resolve has a free edition as well, which is rather complete in itself for nearly 99% of the people wanting to edit their videos (unless you are an aspiring film maker)
  - borjamoya 5y ago
    Yes, absolutely. It's more than enough for most people. The paid version is to unlock features that you'd want to use in higher productions.
- lrem 5y ago
  I've been using it for free. Afar as I understood, the only thing I'm missing out on is faster export times.
  - borjamoya 5y ago
    There are so many things like the noise reduction tool in the color page.
jokoon 5y ago
I tried it once, it crashed the first time I tried it. I write my own ffmpeg commands with python, and use AVIdemux when possible. Microsoft movie editor can also do a lot of things. I just don't want to use heavy, bloated software, even if it's free.
- M4v3R 5y ago
  The tools you’ve mentioned are sufficient to only basic video editing tasks (which for some might be enough). If you want to do anything slightly more advanced (nice looking titles, transitions, video effects, tracking, etc) you basically have to use either Resolve, Premiere, Final Cut Pro or similar software packages.
- interactinghash 5y ago
  relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/378/ https://xkcd.com/378/
  - jokoon 5y ago
    not really relevant, no I still use avidemux and microsoft video editor
emptysongglass 5y ago
Does it still require discrete graphics on Linux? It's been a very weird requirement from day one.
- capableweb 5y ago
  Most of the heavy tools in the suite depend on GPU functionality, this release seems to introduce even more tools that are GPU-based. It's not that weird that it would require a discrete GPU, your entire computer would probably grind to a halt if both the compositor of your OS + Resolve has to share a non-discrete GPU.
  - emptysongglass 5y ago
    All of the other editors manage to be available for integrated GPU chipsets: Premiere, Lightworks, Kdenlive, Final Cut, shall I go on? So yes, it's very weird.
    - capableweb 5y ago
      Yes, and none of them perform as well as Resolve just because they are much worse at offload heavy work to the GPU. Resolve is really revolutionizing the amount of video editing work at the GPU level. Premiere can barely handle 4K footage (without having to resolve to using proxies) without stutter, even on powerful hardware. By the way, DaVinci has always been focused on integrating well with powerful hardware, and they have been relatively unique with this position. Going all the way back to when it used to use InfiniBand for doing parallel processing.
FpUser 5y ago
We use their free version and are totally happy (well except the part that does final encoding to consumer format but we use different software for that).
pyjarrett 5y ago
I used DaVinci Resolve 17 (the free version) to put together my video for FOSDEM. I had no previous video editing experience, but I tried a few programs and this one was by far the easiest for me to use.
nickjj 5y ago
I edited over 100 podcast episodes with DaVinci Resolve 17. It's a really great tool not just for video editing but audio editing too. Unfortunately Resolve 17 was never able to export mp4s for me without introducing both video and audio artifacts into the final video that didn't exist in the timeline when editing so I can't use it for editing video even though I want to. The issue might be hardware related but I'm not interesting in buying an entirely new computer for a chance that 1 application might work. I will give 18 a shot tho, I have a reproduceable video (a few minute 1080p screencast clip) that always produces the artifacts but it happens in every video I export with varying degrees of severeness (in all cases it makes the final video unusable). Their support didn't acknowledge the bug report I submit since I was using the free version of Resolve. Everything else about the product was great tho, I would buy the pro version in a second if I knew it would export mp4s without artifacts on my machine but there's no way to trial the "pro" version as far as I know.
Tepix 5y ago
If i hadn't bought Final Cut Pro and Motion back in 2011 - with a nice discount thanks to iTunes prepaid cards - DaVinci Resolve would be my first choice. I particular i've heard great things about their colour grading tools.
magnio 5y ago
During my high school, I had a bunch of (amateur) projects involving video editing. As a broke student in a poor country who didn't want to just torrent Premiere and call it a day, I started exploring several FOSS video editors: - OpenShot: simple interface, but crashes quite a lot - Kdenlive: clunky and crashes way too much - Shotcut: good for quick edit and the most stable out of the three The biggest problem I had as a novice is the lack of tutorials/documentation. I then tried some freeware options (including HitFilm Express which I also found to be good) before finally settled with Resolve. When it comes to features and stability, especially in SFX and color grading, Resolve is far more superior and also has more resources to learn from. Of course, that means it is heavier and more complex, but it satisfies my needs so well that I don't mind roasting my CPU. It remains one my favorite piece of software and has only improved since then.
- throw_m239339 5y ago
  There is also Blender Video Sequencer, which has a terrible UI but also a good compositor.
- KronisLV 5y ago
  On Windows, OpenShot kept crashing for me whenever i dragged video clips around, snapping also didn't really work and it was pretty much unusable. Shotcut's UI was a little bit confusing and the performance wasn't great. Personally, i largely stuck with Kdenlive for basic video editing, it's a capable alternative to something like Sony Vegas (considering the fact that it's free). I don't have anything against Resolve either, it's definitely an interesting project and definitely more polished than Kdenlive!
  - teekert 5y ago
    I like kdenlive, I have the feeling it crashes a lot with certain codecs as input materials and does fine with others.
  - atentaten 5y ago
    I'ved used Resolve, Premier and Final Cut, but I haven't found anything as intuitive as Sony Vegas. I'm just faster with Vegas, it could be because it's the first video editor that I got serious about.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Jackson__ 5y ago
I really want to like DaVinci Resolve. However, as a beginner level video editor, the amount of issues I keep encountering on what I consider to be the tiniest of projects (>10-30 second videos, using 2-4 PNG images), I can't fathom anyone using it professionally. From things rendering completely different from the preview, to straight up not rendering parts at all, random crashing during encoding, and so on, I am honestly surprised to see any positive feedback on this product at all.
- capableweb 5y ago
  What OS and hardware are you using it on? Regularly use it (Resolve 17) on both Windows and Linux with larger projects than that (100s of 4K clips, multiple audio tracks, added effects, color grading and more) and haven't encountered the issues you've mentioned at all. When I try the beta versions (including the beta of 18), I've run into many problems, including seemingly random crashes, but never for the stable versions. Using AMD CPU and Nvidia GPU, multiple 4K monitors with a desktop PC. > I am honestly surprised to see any positive feedback on this product at all If I see software that many people are raving about but I can't even run properly, my first guess is always that it's my fault, or my hardware, or my Linux setup somehow. I think the same applies here. If most people can run it without hiccups, then probably something is a bit weird with your setup. If everyone had the same issues that you have, then they surely wouldn't have gotten the attention they are getting from everyone. Have you tried reaching out to their support team or sharing your issues on the public forum?
  - Jackson__ 5y ago
    I'd like to believe it is my hardware, but other video editing software, as well as software in general, runs perfectly fine on my GTX1080/i7-4790/32GB Ram system. I've tried it after every single clean re-install of windows 10 over the past few years, with every major stable and beta version they offered at the time, while never managing to not run into issues. In the end I've come to accept that there simply must be some combination of effects and other things that I will habitually end up with that are not working properly together.
mmaunder 5y ago
Our entire production pipeline is Resolve. I’ve been pushing Adobe users to move to Resolve for years, because of the pricing and pace of innovation. We’ve been using a device from SNS for remote collaboration and this release just removed the need for that. Every release is packed with fundamental new value, and doesn’t sacrifice stability or performance - it usually improves both. Great software engineering! Combined with the hardware innovation - like the first raw format that managed to bypass RED’s patent stranglehold - this company is setting up to dominate the entire film production pipeline. We use Resolve, Ursa G2, Ursa 12K, pocket cine 4K and 6k. We also use their ATEM switcher and mini color grading console. They’re all great gear. If you’re looking to set up a small production house with end to end workflow in a single application and want to actually own the gear instead of renting, look no further than BMD.
- 35mm 5y ago
  What do you use as an After Effects equivalent?
  - eole666 5y ago
    The Fusion part of Davinci Resolve is a sort of node based after effects. I might try it someday, apparently it can even import 3D scenes from blender.
  - emllnd 5y ago
    Like sibling comment mentioned, Fusion. Was using it to deliver advertising video VFX work on the daily for a couple of years, it's great. We were a mixed group of After Effects and Fusion (and many more apps) users and I would say generally you can accomplish the same things with both and some tasks are easier in one or the other. I would recommend downloading the standalone Fusion Studio though, it's included with a Resolve Studio license (~$300 one-time). Managing anything but the simplest project within Resolve's Fusion page seems like a nightmare. Being able to use a separate app that saves its own files is a much more straightforward workflow. Then check out VFX Connect if looking for more sync between the apps.
  - mmaunder 5y ago
la_fayette 5y ago
I have to edit smaller videos, e.g. tech tutorials etc. I tried davinci, it seems highly professional, but requires a long learning path, the features more or less overwhelmed me and I didn't know how to start. Video editing is just a small side project for me though. I am using OpenShot now, it has all the basic functionality one needs and with a 20 minute yt tutorial one knows enough to do most of the things...
cebert 5y ago
After reading the list of features, this sounded like an application that would be fun for a hobbyist like me to tinker with. Then, I saw the prices and realized it’s untenable.
- capableweb 5y ago
  Did you happen to miss the part where it says there is a free version available? It doesn't get much cheaper than that.
  - cebert 5y ago
    I did miss that initially. Being new to DaVinci, it’s still a little unclear to me what all the packages listed at the bottom of the page offer vs the free offering.
    - capableweb 5y ago
      Packages at the bottom is hardware for professionals (or at least semi-pros/serious hobbyists) who want a really streamlined hardware interface to the Resolve software. It's in no way needed to use or get good with the software, just helps when you want to move faster. The free offering is really generous compared to other video editing software, and you only need to upgrade if you want the software to really be able to take advantage of your hardware, or you have more specific needs.
vijucat 5y ago
I tried it once and remember that the community was unfriendly. New users are ridiculed. "This is an app for Pros. Never in my 17 years of experience have I"...is the general tone. Just off-putting.
- Joeboy 5y ago
  You're not wrong. It's kind of like the FLOSS community was 20 years ago.
finchisko 5y ago
The only problem with DaVinci on Linux was no builin mp4 codec. So you had the convert mp4 videos to some format and only then you could use it in DaVinci. Windows nor macOS version doesn't had this limitation. It was DaVinci 15 or 16. Not sure if this changed already.
cronix 5y ago
Here's a pretty good video on the history of DaVinci Resolve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WvP5_HFQSk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WvP5_HFQSk
psyc 5y ago
Oh, hey, I have this gem open right now on my taskbar. I do a lot of creative work in video, 2D and 3D animation, illustration, photo editing, music composition, and sound editing. I've almost never encountered a UI for a creative tool that was so intuitive to me and such a joy right out of the box. Bravo. Seems like 90%+ of software designers can't figure out how to achieve this. The last time I had such a great time out-of-the gate, which didn't make me want to take revenge on anybody, was probably Maya circa 2002.

234 points by capableweb 5y ago

TLDR major changes: - Blackmagic Cloud - Blackmagic Proxy Generator - Simplified Proxy Workflow - Intelligent Media Management - Shared Project Libraries - Remote Monitoring Streaming - Intuitive Object Mask - Automatic Depth Map - Track Moving Warped Surfaces - Updated Resolve FX Beauty - Enhanced Subtitles - Reverse Shape, Iris and Wipe Transitions - View 25 Simultaneous Multicam Angles - YouTube and QuickTime Chapter Markers - GPU Accelerated Paint - Text and Shape Acceleration - Convert Legacy Projects to FlexBus - Automatic Binaural Rendering - Decomposition of Nested Timelines - Innovative Space View 3D Display - DaVinci Neural Engine Acceleration - Laptop HDR Monitoring - Atmospheric Simulation - Edge Detection - DaVinci Wide Gamut Color Space - 8K Real Time Color Correction - M1 Ultra Performance - Person Mask - SuperScale - Smart Reframe for Social Media - Stylize with Open FX Library - Face Refinement - Dead Pixel Fixer - Object Removal - Patch Replacer - Upload Directly to YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter - Import ATEM Mini Projects - Advanced Noise Reduction - Optical Flow Speed Change - Mix 2,000 Tracks in Realtime! - Track and Follow Objects - Color Warper for Refined Grading - Hardware and Software Integration

once_inc 5y ago
That's a pretty impressive list of new features and changes. Kudos to the team at Black Magic Design.
- jcelerier 5y ago
  One can often read that Qt/C++ aren't productive yet such hyper-featureful apps are proof that it's a combo that works and works well
- capableweb 5y ago
  Yeah, BMD together with the teams of Blender and Unreal Engine manage to get out really big changes in a fast fashion. It's really impressive to see, time and time again.

noname120 5y ago

Is there significant advances in this version for treating VHS footages? Current gold standard is using manual filters and plugins on Virtualdub.

capableweb 5y ago
DaVinci doesn't care about the source of the footage. If you meant things like treating digital footage extracted from analog sources, then yes, probably a few additions/modifications would be interesting for you. I'd urge you to look through the changes yourself on the linked page, but here are some highlights that might be relevant for you: - Resolve FX Beauty - Edge Detection - SuperScale - Face Refinement - Dead Pixel Fixer - Advanced Noise Reduction Hard to know exactly what kind of filters/plugins you're using that could also be replicated in DaVinci as you didn't detail your workflow.
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  > DaVinci doesn't care about the source of the footage. Why not? VHS has properties such as interlacing that means that it doesn’t have complete individual frames like modern digital or analog film sources. Don't you need a completely different workflow for that?
  - capableweb 5y ago
    Because DaVinci Resolve is a color grading and video editing tool, not a "media importer" / "conversion" tool. That's the job for some other software and hardware combo.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- noname120 5y ago
  Historically their deep learning models have not been properly trained on VHS-like videos so they performed very poorly.

elaus 5y ago

As a hobby videographer using Ubuntu I find myself switching between Kdenlive and Davinci Resolve, depending on the size and complexity of the project. For a small 30-second clip I like the more approachable, simple workflow of Kdenlive but holiday videos with a hundred or more cuts work much better with Davinci for me. Both are free which is really great, but from an ideological standpoint I much prefer Kdenlive (OSS). Also it's a bit annoying that Davinci doesn't support MP4 with the free version on linux. It's always a lot of re-encoding with ffmpeg to "prepare" clips for use in Davinci (as almost-lossless MOV containers).

dannyw 5y ago
Resolve is built by a fairly small team in s/Australia/Singapore. If you want the features in the Studio version, you just need to buy once, you get a lifetime of updates, no subscription. Ideologically I love to use FOSS products too, but I also want to support commercial businesses that make software under customer-friendly and non-subscription licensing terms.
- rglullis 5y ago
  If we look at Blender's history, one could make the argument that they would get more support if they fully opened their product. I for one would contribute to get a Libre Resolve, even if I am not a videographer.
  - capableweb 5y ago
    > If we look at Blender's history, one could make the argument that they would get more support if they fully opened their product. I think it's important to know that Blender probably became big because they went open source with a nice tool, not that they were big before and then released the source as open source. If Blender didn't go open source, I'm unsure if Blender would even be around today, they were in big trouble before buying the source code back and open sourcing it, if I remember the history correct. DaVinci is not in trouble in any meaning of the word, the opposite. The editor is taking the media sector by storm and gaining popularity like crazy, so they don't have the same need of doing something drastic to save themselves. Don't get me wrong, I'd love for DaVinci to end up open source, but I don't think Blenders history is relevant in this particular case.

Kelteseth 5y ago

How does DaVinci Resolve Studio update policy work? Do I get all future updates for free, or only the 18.x patch releases?

can16358p 5y ago
I've bought the license years ago and have got every major update for free since then. While it's not guaranteed to be this way forever, it's the way it is for now.
Cadwhisker 5y ago
It's been a free upgrade for as long as I can remember and there's no indication that the policy will change.

frzen 5y ago

At work I regularly transcode a Resolve editor's video to AVC-Intra 100 50i using Avid Media Composer or Adobe Media Encoder because Resolve can't export interlaced video properly. Looks like they still haven't improved interlaced video support which is a shame because the rest of the software is great but it just isn't fit for purpose for me

Youden 5y ago
Is it common to use the editing tool to output a delivery format? I find that their encoders are universally pretty terrible so I always output an intermediate format then transcode it with something more capable. I'm just a hobbyist when it comes to editing though.
- frzen 5y ago
  I work in news and that's common. I don't mind what anyone uses to edit or transcode but for our equipment to broadcast it, at some stage it has to become 1080i50 and its quicker for someone to submit that directly. It's a small feature that Resolve would benefit by having imo. If they send in xdcamHD 50 or avc intra 100 it'll be ready for us to check and send to playback as soon as the file transfer is done. If they are transcoding it themselves, or expecting us to do it that can cost another 2-3 minutes minimum. Thsg time makes a big difference sometimes. We accept basically anything though, the current thorn in my side is HDR video from phones. I have an ffmpeg command to make them rec709 but they still look awful and we are really only using phone footage when time is an issue.

Existenceblinks 5y ago

Always appreciate their free version. It is like the best oasis in desert. With efforts put in this sophisticated software that benefits students, new creators, and others, I love this company. Also Blackmagic pocket's color space doesn't really have direct competitor, there should have more company like this.

can16358p 5y ago

DaVinci Resolve Studio has been one of my purchases that I think is worth every penny spent. They keep improving it with dramatic updates every time. If anyone from the BMD team is reading this, thank you for the beautiful work!

dannyw 5y ago
I got my Resolve Studio for free from my BMPCC 4K (for those who don't know, it's an incredibly affordable cinema camera designed for hobbyists/amateurs/semi-pros)that easily competes with cameras 3-4 times the price range). Over the past couple years, Resovle has continuously been updated with incredible features. NO subscription. NO upgrade fees (buy once, lifetime updates). BMD, thank you for making professional video editing available to the masses.
Youden 5y ago
In that vein, I think one major bit of news is that you can finally buy a license online! For the longest time you could only buy it printed on a physical card that had to be shipped to you.
- can16358p 5y ago
  Yeah that was weird, I actually shipped it to my friend I trust and he sent me the photo of the license code as it was much more practical for many purposes. Good that they finally sell it online!

sph 5y ago

I don't do any video editing but I appreciate a top shelf commercial editor that's officially available for Linux. We need more commercial closed source software on Linux, I don't understand the "free software only" orthodoxy that many users push.

drenvuk 5y ago

samwillis 5y ago
I think you are missing the reason people on HN find DaVinci Resolve interesting. It’s not anything particular about the features or capabilities. It’s the business model and what that’s doing to the industry. Resolve is free but has become the market leader for the majority of the video industry. It’s completely shaking the industry up and pushing competitors to compete. (And as an aside if your not interested in something on HN, and don’t have anything to add then just don’t comment. But by all means do ask why people find it interesting and engage in that conversation)
- pt_PT_guy 5y ago
  and linux support! :D
- protomyth 5y ago
  While introducing the The Cloud part at https://youtu.be/BVjP6RVFjPg?t=2196 https://youtu.be/BVjP6RVFjPg?t=2196 he talks about what other tech companies do and how that violates BlackMagic Designs culture is pretty important. Software subscriptions and tracking users are big no-nos for their culture.

rvieira 5y ago

I don't work in the professional media field, but isn't this ridiculously inexpensive for something that seems to be aimed at content studios, TV stations, etc (judging by the hardware compatibility focus and dedicated keyboards)? I was expecting these pro products to be on the order of the tens of thousands USD. I've paid this much for a hobby DAW.

capableweb 5y ago
Yes, DaVinci is ridiculously cheap, because the software is not how they earn their money, it's via their hardware. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the submission page, you'll notice a bunch of hardware for controlling DaVinci and its modules. It ranges from $400 to $50,00 and they have even more expensive hardware as well. This is where they get most of their profits from, and where the larger companies really spend the money on when it comes to buying from BMD.
- NikolaNovak 5y ago
  Which feels like such a rare business model in this year 2022. Everybody wants to lock you into lucrative recurring software subscription, even for software that should be one and done.
  - AussieWog93 5y ago
    >Everybody wants to lock you into lucrative recurring software subscription Everybody except Grant Petty. I've definitely heard stories about an expletive-filled rant when Adobe discontinued their "buy once, own forever" products. Both him and Doug (the other main co-founder) genuinely care more about making good-quality, affordable products than being worth an extra few hundred million.
  - roguas 5y ago
    Well, they took somehwat adobe route minus piracy. Pre davinci situation means: FCPX or Adobe Premiere. How do you get your product in? Easy, release product for free so small time creators, experimenters get familiar. Those people go to work for professional studio, they request davinci since they know it better. Then company further optimizes by buying expensive intergrated hardware to better streamline production... Its brilliant to see this nonobvious market oppportunity. Further you get extra street creds, as yt people will love your product just for the fact its so accessible (free).

lukego 5y ago

My favourite piece of software these days. Have been using it on NixOS. Seems rock solid even with all the GPU features (but switched from Radeon to Nvidia to make that easy.) Got a "free" Studio license with the Speed Editor https://youtu.be/26OfvGXGezw https://youtu.be/26OfvGXGezw.

orangebeet 5y ago
You switched from Radeon to the hell that is Nvidia to make something easier? This is very interesting to me, since all my experiences have been exactly the opposite (i.e. moving from Nvidia to Radeon solved all my problems).

2ctJoke 5y ago

bla3 5y ago

Does anyone know if their installer still requires Rosetta?

sudhirj 5y ago
Think 18 is M1 optimised, there were a few claims and videos saying it way 30x faster or something, but that turns out to be over the top. Does seem to be an appreciable performance improvement in many places though.

borjamoya 5y ago

I've been using Davinci Resolve for almost three years and I can't emphasize enough how great this product is. IMO, it's miles away from Adobe Premiere. Not only because of its color grading capabilities, but I just find it way more intuitive than Premiere. And let's not forget that you also get Fusion, which is incredibly more powerful than Adobe After Effects. You can basically do all the post-production work in one single tool. Even though Fairlight (the built-in DAW) isn't as powerful as Pro Tools, you can get most of the audio work done within Davinci Resolve. It's just crazy to think that you can get this much for $300. Or in my case, for free when buying a Blackmagic camera.

mynameismon 5y ago
I'm pretty sure Davinci Resolve has a free edition as well, which is rather complete in itself for nearly 99% of the people wanting to edit their videos (unless you are an aspiring film maker)
- borjamoya 5y ago
  Yes, absolutely. It's more than enough for most people. The paid version is to unlock features that you'd want to use in higher productions.
lrem 5y ago
I've been using it for free. Afar as I understood, the only thing I'm missing out on is faster export times.
- borjamoya 5y ago
  There are so many things like the noise reduction tool in the color page.

jokoon 5y ago

I tried it once, it crashed the first time I tried it. I write my own ffmpeg commands with python, and use AVIdemux when possible. Microsoft movie editor can also do a lot of things. I just don't want to use heavy, bloated software, even if it's free.

M4v3R 5y ago
The tools you’ve mentioned are sufficient to only basic video editing tasks (which for some might be enough). If you want to do anything slightly more advanced (nice looking titles, transitions, video effects, tracking, etc) you basically have to use either Resolve, Premiere, Final Cut Pro or similar software packages.
interactinghash 5y ago
relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/378/ https://xkcd.com/378/
- jokoon 5y ago
  not really relevant, no I still use avidemux and microsoft video editor

emptysongglass 5y ago

Does it still require discrete graphics on Linux? It's been a very weird requirement from day one.

capableweb 5y ago
Most of the heavy tools in the suite depend on GPU functionality, this release seems to introduce even more tools that are GPU-based. It's not that weird that it would require a discrete GPU, your entire computer would probably grind to a halt if both the compositor of your OS + Resolve has to share a non-discrete GPU.
- emptysongglass 5y ago
  All of the other editors manage to be available for integrated GPU chipsets: Premiere, Lightworks, Kdenlive, Final Cut, shall I go on? So yes, it's very weird.
  - capableweb 5y ago
    Yes, and none of them perform as well as Resolve just because they are much worse at offload heavy work to the GPU. Resolve is really revolutionizing the amount of video editing work at the GPU level. Premiere can barely handle 4K footage (without having to resolve to using proxies) without stutter, even on powerful hardware. By the way, DaVinci has always been focused on integrating well with powerful hardware, and they have been relatively unique with this position. Going all the way back to when it used to use InfiniBand for doing parallel processing.

FpUser 5y ago

We use their free version and are totally happy (well except the part that does final encoding to consumer format but we use different software for that).

pyjarrett 5y ago

I used DaVinci Resolve 17 (the free version) to put together my video for FOSDEM. I had no previous video editing experience, but I tried a few programs and this one was by far the easiest for me to use.

nickjj 5y ago

I edited over 100 podcast episodes with DaVinci Resolve 17. It's a really great tool not just for video editing but audio editing too. Unfortunately Resolve 17 was never able to export mp4s for me without introducing both video and audio artifacts into the final video that didn't exist in the timeline when editing so I can't use it for editing video even though I want to. The issue might be hardware related but I'm not interesting in buying an entirely new computer for a chance that 1 application might work. I will give 18 a shot tho, I have a reproduceable video (a few minute 1080p screencast clip) that always produces the artifacts but it happens in every video I export with varying degrees of severeness (in all cases it makes the final video unusable). Their support didn't acknowledge the bug report I submit since I was using the free version of Resolve. Everything else about the product was great tho, I would buy the pro version in a second if I knew it would export mp4s without artifacts on my machine but there's no way to trial the "pro" version as far as I know.

Tepix 5y ago

If i hadn't bought Final Cut Pro and Motion back in 2011 - with a nice discount thanks to iTunes prepaid cards - DaVinci Resolve would be my first choice. I particular i've heard great things about their colour grading tools.

magnio 5y ago

During my high school, I had a bunch of (amateur) projects involving video editing. As a broke student in a poor country who didn't want to just torrent Premiere and call it a day, I started exploring several FOSS video editors: - OpenShot: simple interface, but crashes quite a lot - Kdenlive: clunky and crashes way too much - Shotcut: good for quick edit and the most stable out of the three The biggest problem I had as a novice is the lack of tutorials/documentation. I then tried some freeware options (including HitFilm Express which I also found to be good) before finally settled with Resolve. When it comes to features and stability, especially in SFX and color grading, Resolve is far more superior and also has more resources to learn from. Of course, that means it is heavier and more complex, but it satisfies my needs so well that I don't mind roasting my CPU. It remains one my favorite piece of software and has only improved since then.

throw_m239339 5y ago
There is also Blender Video Sequencer, which has a terrible UI but also a good compositor.
KronisLV 5y ago
On Windows, OpenShot kept crashing for me whenever i dragged video clips around, snapping also didn't really work and it was pretty much unusable. Shotcut's UI was a little bit confusing and the performance wasn't great. Personally, i largely stuck with Kdenlive for basic video editing, it's a capable alternative to something like Sony Vegas (considering the fact that it's free). I don't have anything against Resolve either, it's definitely an interesting project and definitely more polished than Kdenlive!
- teekert 5y ago
  I like kdenlive, I have the feeling it crashes a lot with certain codecs as input materials and does fine with others.
- atentaten 5y ago
  I'ved used Resolve, Premier and Final Cut, but I haven't found anything as intuitive as Sony Vegas. I'm just faster with Vegas, it could be because it's the first video editor that I got serious about.

deleted 5y ago

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Jackson__ 5y ago

I really want to like DaVinci Resolve. However, as a beginner level video editor, the amount of issues I keep encountering on what I consider to be the tiniest of projects (>10-30 second videos, using 2-4 PNG images), I can't fathom anyone using it professionally. From things rendering completely different from the preview, to straight up not rendering parts at all, random crashing during encoding, and so on, I am honestly surprised to see any positive feedback on this product at all.

capableweb 5y ago
What OS and hardware are you using it on? Regularly use it (Resolve 17) on both Windows and Linux with larger projects than that (100s of 4K clips, multiple audio tracks, added effects, color grading and more) and haven't encountered the issues you've mentioned at all. When I try the beta versions (including the beta of 18), I've run into many problems, including seemingly random crashes, but never for the stable versions. Using AMD CPU and Nvidia GPU, multiple 4K monitors with a desktop PC. > I am honestly surprised to see any positive feedback on this product at all If I see software that many people are raving about but I can't even run properly, my first guess is always that it's my fault, or my hardware, or my Linux setup somehow. I think the same applies here. If most people can run it without hiccups, then probably something is a bit weird with your setup. If everyone had the same issues that you have, then they surely wouldn't have gotten the attention they are getting from everyone. Have you tried reaching out to their support team or sharing your issues on the public forum?
- Jackson__ 5y ago
  I'd like to believe it is my hardware, but other video editing software, as well as software in general, runs perfectly fine on my GTX1080/i7-4790/32GB Ram system. I've tried it after every single clean re-install of windows 10 over the past few years, with every major stable and beta version they offered at the time, while never managing to not run into issues. In the end I've come to accept that there simply must be some combination of effects and other things that I will habitually end up with that are not working properly together.

mmaunder 5y ago

Our entire production pipeline is Resolve. I’ve been pushing Adobe users to move to Resolve for years, because of the pricing and pace of innovation. We’ve been using a device from SNS for remote collaboration and this release just removed the need for that. Every release is packed with fundamental new value, and doesn’t sacrifice stability or performance - it usually improves both. Great software engineering! Combined with the hardware innovation - like the first raw format that managed to bypass RED’s patent stranglehold - this company is setting up to dominate the entire film production pipeline. We use Resolve, Ursa G2, Ursa 12K, pocket cine 4K and 6k. We also use their ATEM switcher and mini color grading console. They’re all great gear. If you’re looking to set up a small production house with end to end workflow in a single application and want to actually own the gear instead of renting, look no further than BMD.

35mm 5y ago
What do you use as an After Effects equivalent?
- eole666 5y ago
  The Fusion part of Davinci Resolve is a sort of node based after effects. I might try it someday, apparently it can even import 3D scenes from blender.
- emllnd 5y ago
  Like sibling comment mentioned, Fusion. Was using it to deliver advertising video VFX work on the daily for a couple of years, it's great. We were a mixed group of After Effects and Fusion (and many more apps) users and I would say generally you can accomplish the same things with both and some tasks are easier in one or the other. I would recommend downloading the standalone Fusion Studio though, it's included with a Resolve Studio license (~$300 one-time). Managing anything but the simplest project within Resolve's Fusion page seems like a nightmare. Being able to use a separate app that saves its own files is a much more straightforward workflow. Then check out VFX Connect if looking for more sync between the apps.
- mmaunder 5y ago

la_fayette 5y ago

I have to edit smaller videos, e.g. tech tutorials etc. I tried davinci, it seems highly professional, but requires a long learning path, the features more or less overwhelmed me and I didn't know how to start. Video editing is just a small side project for me though. I am using OpenShot now, it has all the basic functionality one needs and with a 20 minute yt tutorial one knows enough to do most of the things...

cebert 5y ago

After reading the list of features, this sounded like an application that would be fun for a hobbyist like me to tinker with. Then, I saw the prices and realized it’s untenable.

capableweb 5y ago
Did you happen to miss the part where it says there is a free version available? It doesn't get much cheaper than that.
- cebert 5y ago
  I did miss that initially. Being new to DaVinci, it’s still a little unclear to me what all the packages listed at the bottom of the page offer vs the free offering.
  - capableweb 5y ago
    Packages at the bottom is hardware for professionals (or at least semi-pros/serious hobbyists) who want a really streamlined hardware interface to the Resolve software. It's in no way needed to use or get good with the software, just helps when you want to move faster. The free offering is really generous compared to other video editing software, and you only need to upgrade if you want the software to really be able to take advantage of your hardware, or you have more specific needs.

vijucat 5y ago

I tried it once and remember that the community was unfriendly. New users are ridiculed. "This is an app for Pros. Never in my 17 years of experience have I"...is the general tone. Just off-putting.

Joeboy 5y ago
You're not wrong. It's kind of like the FLOSS community was 20 years ago.

finchisko 5y ago

The only problem with DaVinci on Linux was no builin mp4 codec. So you had the convert mp4 videos to some format and only then you could use it in DaVinci. Windows nor macOS version doesn't had this limitation. It was DaVinci 15 or 16. Not sure if this changed already.

cronix 5y ago

Here's a pretty good video on the history of DaVinci Resolve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WvP5_HFQSk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WvP5_HFQSk

psyc 5y ago

Oh, hey, I have this gem open right now on my taskbar. I do a lot of creative work in video, 2D and 3D animation, illustration, photo editing, music composition, and sound editing. I've almost never encountered a UI for a creative tool that was so intuitive to me and such a joy right out of the box. Bravo. Seems like 90%+ of software designers can't figure out how to achieve this. The last time I had such a great time out-of-the gate, which didn't make me want to take revenge on anybody, was probably Maya circa 2002.