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Poll: How much would you pay for Resolve panels?
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[Robert Houllahan] “So the $30K is short money for the Panels from BMD and I really do not see any way they could even make them for $5-6K considering the build quality and volume of sales. “
Yeah, but if they dropped the price a lot and made them more compatible (so one could use the panel even if porting to some other color correction software in the future), the build and sale volume would skyrocket compared to what they sell now. At least that would be my guess.
Thinking “Big boasting dedicated panels” is so yesterdays technology. Color, Davinci Resolve, and now probably Iridas in a near future… this is the way things are moving. Away from skyhigh premiumpriced… towards massproduction and “make many small dollars instead of a few big”. This is the way I see panels going too, with the Element being the first of its kind (well, the first really good looking high quality versatile panel that is pretty cheap compared to other similar panels).
As far as clients go, the good looks of the element panels should be enough to make them feel good about paying for the service. I mean they don´t look all plastic and cheap (if someone has a issue with plastic).
IMHO, anyway.
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I think that is sort of right…;-)
Obviously with BMD and Resolve following up Color from Apple and now Iridas non linear color grading is getting easier to attain from a hardware/software cost perspective. However I just don’t know how many people will really want to get into doing color grading I think it will remain somewhat niche compared to editing or shooting or even VFX or CGI.
Also it cost me more than the wave and the Resolve dongle to buy a X-Rite Hubble probe and Lightspace to calibrate my display(s) so to do the job of Colorist “right” there will be an amount of hardware/software needed.
I am doing a grade on a feature film right now (3-perf 35mm scanned to 2K on an Arriscan) and we just had a supervised session at my loft in a old mill which was pretty cool I have to say nobody minded the Wave and I think the new Element is going to be great.
As with many many things which have been “changed” by the computer revolution in the end it is still going to be the skill and eye of the operator.
-Rob-
Robert Houllahan
Director / Colorist
Cinelab Inc.
http://www.cinelab.comMAHC-PRO 6-Core 3X GTX285 20Tb SAS Wave Panel Panny 11UK SDI Plasma.
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[Robert Houllahan] “As with many many things which have been “changed” by the computer revolution in the end it is still going to be the skill and eye of the operator.”
That is so true. As are all the other things you wrote in the last reply.
I still believe thigs will go more towards massproduction and lower cost per editing/colorcorrection seat, and in the end that means lower hourly rates for the colorist… true. But if the investment is also dropped to a very low pricetag compared to just a few years ago. Does it matter?
Well, of course it does. And to survive we need to adapt. And one way of adapting is not to throw out big dollars on a dedicated panel if you can get the same functionality (well, basically the same) for 1/10 of the price for the boasting-panel.
That is the way I see things anyway. And if Resolve won´t support the Tangent panels I will eagerly wait to see what Iridas has to offer, and perhaps make the move to Iridas if they can offer a good workflow and Element support. Guess how useful a big Resolve panel will be by then…
And then another big question pops up. How big is the demand for used dedicated Resolve panels? I´m guessing a panel that is supported by several different softwares has a better reselling value.
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I sure wouldn’t mind a Resolve panel. New or used. Gimme the current version and I’ll give it a long and happy life in my own suite and in the theatre.
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It would be interesting to see what happens with the Element panels once they are released.
Blackmagic forced pretty much everybody to lower their prices, I wonder if Tangent will do the same now to Blackmagic…
Karma?
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Baselight works with JL Cooper. As a matter of fact, Baselight was originally used with it, before they had developed Blackboard.I’m sure you had seen Blackboard 2 in action and you have to admit, it’s different level of sophistication from a DaVinci panel. It’s completely future- proof.
The same goes for Lustre. The first panel they had supported was Tangent CP-100. It still works just fine. It is feature equal operationally to it’s own panel. FilmMaster version 2011 now works with MC Color. And so is Smoke. I’m sure upcoming Smoke’s grading software will work with it as well. I’m sure I’m forgetting some too… -
The Blackboard 2 is really over the top nice but I really don’t know about future proof. Baselight is a great machine and I think they support JL-Cooper and Avid Artist panels now in addition to the BB 1&2. Resolve supports the JL and Avid and Wave… most grading apps support third party panels out of necessity or for assist seats, etc.
The point is that all of the “real” grading solutions offer proprietary hardware panels that are specifically built around the grading app, and those panels are expensive and single purpose.
None of the custom panels are going to work with third party apps I guess it’s just a choice to buy a badd ass chunk of hardware which impresses and lays out the whole user interface in easy and fast to grab controls.
-Rob-
Robert Houllahan
Director / Colorist
Cinelab Inc.
http://www.cinelab.comMAHC-PRO 6-Core 3X GTX285 20Tb SAS Wave Panel Panny 11UK SDI Plasma.
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How much? I would pay 30000 USD happy and smiling (if I had 30000…). Unfortunately in Brazil with 60%+ customs fees it would cost about double that price, and, you see, our currency is not USD… Anyway, 30K seems a good deal, if you’re making this kind of money. If you’re not yet making that kind of money work hard and train harder.
And yes, while I don’t have 30K (or 60) so I can decide what to do with it I am waiting anxiously for the Tangent Elements to be supported.
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The whole point of Blackboard 2 is being future-proof. You can program it to do pretty much anything. There are no hard coded buttons and displays.
Yes, it would be silly to expect something like Blackboard to work with Lustre. But I would expect Tangent Element to work with majority of existing and upcoming apps, just like Tangent CP-100, 200 and 300 do now. Tangent Element is great device, that’s addressing today’s market need for better quality, user programmable and less expensive hardware. -
The Blackboard 2 is future proof like a McClaren F1 street car is future proof because it runs on gas. In my opinion Baselight is just enough more sophisticated than most other grading systems to justify it’s cost in a facility environment that works on jobs that can support it and clients that will pay for it. The machine is great and has an air of “bespoke” exotic and expensive, plus the toolset is sophisticated and it’s fast and comes with great 24/7 service.
That said there are big facilities that do very high end work on Resolve and have not switched because the toolset is there and it works. The BMD panels have soft knobs and displays which can evolve as the software is further developed. I think the development of Resolve was a bit stagnant until BMD bought the company but the developments from V7 to now have been leaps and bounds. Furthermore I don’t see where the current BMD Resolve panels cannot fully support further development of the Resolve app for the foreseeable future, maybe ten years.
As for third party panels I can see why the CP 200 series would not be high priority for BMD to support, they are very nice but expensive and still generic. I feel that it is a legitimate business choice to present the BMD panels as the alternative to a customer who is in the market for panels in the $20K price range.
Lastly BMD has been really good at supporting all of the available panels in the low cost range. Mapping a UI onto a new panel/interface has to take software engineer resources and time. I am pretty sure that BMD will support the Element panels like they support the JL-Copper which is in the same Class/Price range.
A fully maxed out Resolve with a ton of GPU and Panels with an assist station with a Wave or JL and a ton of fast storage is like a souped bitchin’ Camaro with a blower. A big chunk of Muscle Car like iron that in many ways might take the McClaren and that can be implemented around a different economic model.
Go BMD it’s a pretty awesome ride.
-Rob-
Robert Houllahan
Director / Colorist
Cinelab Inc.
http://www.cinelab.comMAHC-PRO 6-Core 3X GTX285 20Tb SAS Wave Panel Panny 11UK SDI Plasma.
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