bittersweet…

[Peterson Mark]

I believe that
make the tools ordinary, will help the industry find people who are really extraordinary.

So, keep hard working…

[Jay Moffat]

I have to agree with you Arthur, despite the good intentions of free software, professionals who have invested, in let’s say a base-price professionally speced DaVinci suite, at £20,000-£25,000 for a machine, I/O, auxiliary software and hardware (scopes, Cubix, RedRocket, studio setup etc), 3rd Party Control Surface, Monitor, RAID, LUT management, on going storage costs, now the cost looks less free, add another £20,000 for the DaVinci control surface if you wanted to go that way…However, despite this type of investment, it won’t necessarily be the perception of prospective clients, “Oh you grade with DaVinci, isn’t that a free application now?”. On the up side, talent counts for a lot, so if you network enough and forge relationships with filmmakers then this nonsense will hopefully be less of an issue, but for newcomers, it’s going to be a problem…

Don’t get me wrong, it has opened the doors of a profession previously closed to so many people, but it has also produced some serious problems within the industry… I have had 3 projects this year come from an audio post house which now offers very low rate grading on an unspecified system with terrible results. The problem here is, the filmmaker’s budget is now drained, so by the time they have come to me asking for a favour in the way of a reduced rate, got the grade they want, I’ve not made what could be called a fair rate, as its been eaten up by what can only be called as chancers…

If you’re thinking I’m being melodramatic, in London, brand counts for a lot in Post Production, the term Baselight or DaVinci grade gets handed around as if it makes a difference on the final result…The worrying thing is, already in the last week I have encountered a skewed perception of DaVinci.. I was in a meeting for a film which is estimated at around £4million, which is a decent budget over here for an independent film by all accounts, and I was demoing the system for them and they asked me, “is DaVinci still used for films, I thought Baselight was the way to go”..my jaw kind of dropped, but there you go.

I hope DaVinci do not erode the brand I have invested a whole lot of cash in, I’m fully behind them, and they have done amazing things, and their support is outstanding, so keep on keeping on, but don’t stuff us at the last hurdle, as unfortunately the Post Production world is a fickle beast run a mock by ignorance…

[Toby Risk]

I thought I should weigh in here as this is a topic very close to my heart. Although I understand the motives behind pushing a free version of a software product. Increasing the talent pool, increasing market penetration, establishing a larger user base etc etc.. In the real rough and tumble competitive world of post-production it can be a self defeating exercise.

Those of us who have invested considerable sums of money in a grading infrastructure will now find ourselves competing against college kids who have been given a MBP for Christmas. Whilst some of these folks may rise to be among the hottest grading talent in the industry, and good luck to them, most will not.

I have seen this time and again with ‘Editors’ and I believe that the availability of low cost prosumer tools and software has created this situation. There are many media graduates out there who are willing to take the odd editing project for what is little more than pocket money and perform at best an average job on the product.

Eventually, working in an environment without peers, mentors or clients who push the boundaries of the craft, they will are not able to improve their equipment or increase their skill or income significantly from the first cash job they did. They usually become disenchanted, and leave the industry to persue other careers.

Meanwhile, the perception of value of the Editing and Grading craft is being reduced further and we are all constantly chasing ever decreasing budgets.

In a perfect world, clients would only care about who the Editor and Colourist is and couldn’t give a gnats ***** for the tools they use. In a perfect world we wouldn’t be competing against guys who have no real long term commitment to the craft. In reality I know this is not going to happen. But by making these tools so accessible, our craft is moving steadily down the value chain.

No I don’t wish for the bygone days of million dollar installations, but pricing software at a level so vastly disparate from the hardware required to run it at it’s optimum, I believe is damaging the industry.

I would have quite happily paid 5K to 10K USD for Resolve, which I believe would have priced it at a level beyond casual users, and enabled me to justify investing more in the auxillary equipment, as I would be able achieve a ‘reasonable rate’ for what I am doing.

Saying all that, the DaVinci team at BMD are doing a great job with the product, I just feel that the positioning of the product is to akin to FCP. Whilst that may not be a bad thing on the surface, it has far reaching consequences on our industry.

Just my two penneth.

Toby

Colourist | Editor | Post-Production Consultant — 23 years at the post-production coalface, and still loving it.

[Simon Astbury]

Two months ago my company was looking at systems to replace Color as our primary system, it basically came down to Baselight or Resolve (Film master wasn’t considered due to the company’s precarious position), we went quite far down the road with Resolve (I even have a license for it). All I can say is, I am very pleased we decided to get Baselight. As Jay states, here in the UK there is a great deal of platform snobbery, and with 8 out of the top 10 facilities using Baselight, some clients feel like they’re getting short changed if they don’t grade on it. That said it is a really fantastic system, complex but with so much redundancy of process that it has given me a real shot in the arm creatively.

[Vladimir Kucherov]

When the industrial revolution happened various tradesmen and women revolted and tried to burn down new machines that threatened their livelihoods. But in the end, more people were employed by their industries with each individual earning more and having a higher standard of living.

It’s not a perfect analogy but I guess what I’m trying to say is, sure there’s a ton more people there who can afford to do this stuff (hey I’m one of them), but at the same time there are a lot more projects to work on and will be increasing. I don’t know what the scene will look like 10 years from now but I don’t think this is the death of high end (and high paying) grading.

[Arthur Puig]

This was my first trip to NAB, and I realized I should have done it ealier. But being there it gives you a better perspective, although nothing is certain, of where everything is going, you get a perfect snapshot of the current situation in today’s post world. I wouldn’t get this by reading the news.

And like I said before, I’m fighting internally two opposing feelings, one is extreme admiration and happiness over the amazing job the Blackmagic’s DaVinci folks have done with Resolve, and the other one is sadness to see such a professional tool destined to be misunderstood as a prosumer tool.

But isn’t Blackmagic a company that targets prosumers, making prosumer products in the end? And if you have doubts about it, just compare the control panel on a AJA Kona and a Blackmagic Decklink 3D.

I understand now why Autodesk will never support Blackmagic on Smoke.

And thinking about where the industry is flowing, I think is clear to me that color correction alone won’t be enough on a pro level anymore if you need to compete with prosumer Display Port-mouse grading, we have to embrace finishing as a whole, with VFX, compositing, color timing, and repairs, I would choose Smoke being the central hub. And I wouldn’t hesitate including Avid MC, Scratch and Nuke, and of course I’ll include DaVinci out of pure love, but not as my main tool anymore.

[Peter Berg]

I have to agree with some of the thoughts here. I am excited that Blackmagic is developing the software and adding new features and fixes… that is great.

But I just don’t understand making DaVinci software free. Although I guess I didn’t understand the $1000 price point either. As a high school or college student, getting the full Resolve for free would be a dream come true. But trying to be the best grading system in the world and not charging for the software seems to be at odds. If a post production company can just download the software for free and stick an assistant editor on it to do the ‘grade’ (I can absolutely see this happening) they might think twice about going out to a colorist (one who has trained and worked on the craft of color grading).

One of my concerns is about tech support. I feel Blackmagic has some great guys in the support dept. but it seems to me that they might be a bit understaffed. If the user manual is a bit vague, and it’s tough to get direct tech support, how does that help the Resolve name? And now if we have hundreds or thousands of new users asking for support, I imagine it will be even more difficult to get support in the future. And will Blackmagic put more into the manuals, training and support department?

I am still a huge Resolve fan.. but I just don’t see what good comes to Blackmagic from giving away Resolve for free. I absolutely think a trial or training version has great value. Introduce the program to new people, let them kick the tires and try it out. But to pretty much give away a full version of the software… I just don’t get it. I didn’t think I was ‘old’.. but I guess I just don’t get the new thinking.

-Peter

[Margus Voll]

Maybe there is some conditions one could use free software.

Lets say output is limited to SD and user knows that support takes 10 days etc.

I do not see why free app should have the same level of support as full suite user.

—

Margus

https://iconstudios.eu

[Kim Krause]

it’s all about evolution. in the days before davinci and the like you had to do all your grading in the film lab. colorists didnt exist and good film timers were an important part of the production. now that almost anyone can do color correction, it would foolish and arrogant to think that as colorists we are the only ones with the power and ability to do a professional job. i hate that my livelihood is under attack and that after 30 years in the industry i am probably gonna get replaced by fancy algorithms. already i have to compete with people half my age with 1/10th of the experience who will work for next to nothing, but i just see it as a challenge.maybe we have all become to used of being the choir masters and forgotten how to actually sing ourselves. if it wasnt for this evolution i would still be working for some horrible boss in a heartless post house doing thankless film and telecine rushes in the wee hours of the night. it is very empowering to be able to sit at home in my very own space and just do what i do best. sure i miss the big salary and the prestige of being part of a world class facility, but in the end i have never been happier just doing a job that i love so much! i feel i am blessed to be still doing what i do 30 years later but on my own terms. it has forced me to rethink my path in life and maybe even possibly my career goals. i wouldn’t trade the freedom for a paycheque and i have also discovered that sharing my knowledge through teaching has its own rewards. give it up and let it go. we all have to evolve and thats what makes life interesting…..

[Sascha Haber]

Amen

A slice of color…

DaVinci 7.1 OSX 10.6.6
Dual Xeon 2,4 RAM 24 GB
RAID0 8TB eSata 6TB
GTX 285 / GT 120
Extreme 3D+ WAVE