Resolve 16 vs FCPX

[Ronny Courtens]

As an NLE, Resolve is now getting on par with the three other major editing platforms. Just like with the others, this has required BM pushing out a whole boatload of fast updates in the first years. And just like with the others, this update cadence will slow down once the software gets more complete. Although it looks promising, I’m not really sure if Resolve as an NLE will cause a huge shift in the market. For three reasons:

1. This is not a one-solution-fits-all market anymore. Today, people tend to use multiple tools at the same time or multiple NLEs within the same company. And this seems to work out well for everyone.

2. Hardcore professionals and enterprises seem to stick with their choice(s) for a long time unless the company that creates their tools screws up. This has happened with Avid who got much too greedy during the transition to HD, causing them to lose a fair amount of users to Final Cut. Then it happened to Apple who got much too cocky with the launch of FCP X, causing them to lose a fair amount of users to Premiere Pro. And now it also seems to be happening to Adobe (just visit the Premiere Pro forums) and here’s where I see Resolve taking its share of the market in the short term.

But, eventually, every developer recovers from its mistakes. Avid has evolved and still holds strong in film and television. FCP X has evolved and has become the most widely used NLE in our market. And I am expecting a major overhaul of Premiere Pro in the not-so-distant future. So I don’t doubt that Resolve will eventually get its fair share of the market, just like the others. But I don’t see any major landslides or worldwide ship-jumping happening. People who constantly jump ships tend to fall into the water anyway (-:

– Ronny

[Neil Goodman]

had a dig at it this morning. Super snappy performance in all the modes with some Alexa footage.

My favorite new thing is that button on the record monitor that basically turns a bin of clips into a string-out w/o having to do anything. Its just playing your clips in a bin in a row but i thought was pretty slick.

Not sure how much id use the cut page as opposed to the edit one but cool option for people who want X inside of Davinci.

At the end of the day great piece of software – not going to drop Avid and Premiere for it just though personally.

[Michael Gissing]

[Ronny Courtens]”This is not a one-solution-fits-all market anymore. Today, people tend to use multiple tools at the same time or multiple NLEs within the same company. And this seems to work out well for everyone.”

It never has been a one solutions market. There never has been a real all in one tool before so there is good reason why most facilities and power users need more than one software approach. In the past all NLEs have had serious weak spots in audio finishing, VFX, grading & collaboration etc. Resolve is the first fully integrated software to combine world class tools for all those things in a single package. We all know the edit functions and general performance were playing catchup. And this seems to be being addressed to the point where it is now harder to say Resolve is inferior or just different.

It’s not finished because the task is massive but the pace of development is amazing. I’m not sure why you might assume development at Blackmagic will slow down soon and updates get less in the future. I think it won’t for the simple reason that their dev team is not going to be transferred to other products like Apple does and unlike Adobe they have a hardware division that needs software tools like Resolve to be up to date with their products.

I’ve said it before that Resolve has not had the advantage that Adobe had with the EOL of FCP Legend. But another stumble by Apple or Adobe and the foot will be in the door for Blackmagic. History has shown that when Avid and then Apple stumbled an alternative had an advantage, even when it was not fully developed. Resolve is so much better prepared than either FCP Legend or Adobe to take advantage of such stumbles. The increasingly slow pace of FCPX & Apple hardware dev looks like an opportunity to me. Adobe’s needing to update their performance looks like a smaller stumble but both may create the perfect opportunity for Blackmagic to overcome the inertia of editors to jump ship. And jumping ship make perfect sense when your boat is taking on water and may sink your business.

[Eric Santiago]

I’ve always been the lucky (or unlucky) one to experience these options since part of my life consists of inheriting projects and another part teaching at a local college.
I always wonder how the other half lives.
I mean, if you have a 3 to 5 person shop and stick with I can see why you would try other options since the overhead isn’t much.
But larger post houses, I don’t (on a whim) foresee them moving too easily on something completely different.
A soloist maybe if you have the patience to keep trying new things.
I went through the same thing years ago with 3D apps.
We had so many options and one kept popping up.

I live in Resolve but mostly in the Color/Delivery pages.
I still love using the big (not so anymore) three 🙂

[Ronny Courtens]

[Michael Gissing] “And jumping ship make perfect sense when your boat is taking on water and may sink your business.”

You see, Michael, there is where the caveat lies. I honestly don’t see anyone right now who feel that their boat is taking water or that their business is at risk just because of the software they are using. Today, I think most people are quite happy with the tools they use. And these tools are not limited to just one NLE. I can see a good future for Resolve, but just not one that is causing the kind of landslides we have witnessed before.

– Ronny

[Oliver Peters]

[Ronny Courtens] “I can see a good future for Resolve, but just not one that is causing the kind of landslides we have witnessed before.”

I would agree. All of the tools today are good. Much of the decisions related to NLEs involve workflow and ecosystem. A fancy new feature or even somewhat better performance usually isn’t enough to make a big change. I think most people and most facilities today are reasonably happy with the choices they’ve made. With the low cost of Resolve, together with its cross-platform compatibility, there’s no reason not to have it as an additional tool, no matter what you are using – without completely jumping ship.

OTOH, the reason I asked the question in the first place, is precisely because I see a number of very positive comments towards Resolve 16 both here and at FCPco. Not to mention also among RED users. Maybe not enough to switch, but certainly in the vein of “the grass is greener…” This strikes my as intriguing from a standpoint of human nature. Many folks who like X swear by the magnetic timeline and trackless UI. Somehow when they look longingly at Resolve 16, those issues are suddenly less important. Kind of funny to me. ☺

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Michael Gissing]

[Ronny Courtens]”I honestly don’t see anyone right now who feel that their boat is taking water or that their business is at risk just because of the software they are using.”

You are quite right. I felt exactly that way the day before FCP Legend was EOL’d. I’m simply saying that it can happen again. Meanwhile as Oliver has said why not have Resolve as well as your favourite. That way the change over process is gradual. It’s what I’m seeing happening in my market place which is not big facilities with their inertia.

[Neil Sadwelkar]

One of the issues with the popularity (or not) of Resolve (free) is that, since its not a sold software, and needs registration before download, only Blackmagic knows how many (or how few) times it has been downloaded.
Further, since it doesn’t need registration to be installed on multiple machines once downloaded, maybe even Blackmagic doesn’t have a precise idea of just how many machines its installed on.

Compared to Adobe with Premiere Pro and Avid with MC, which can’t be installed or launched without registration/activation.

So, the exact size of the Resolve active user base is likely to be conjecture, whereas Avid/Adobe have a more precise idea of usage of their software.

Resolve is now evolving into one application with multiple capabilities extending into compositing, sound design, colour correction,

In my opinion, this versatility of Resolve will make it grow and be used in multiple roles, but only when multiple humans are used for different tasks. Maybe in a collaborative environment where 3 or more humans on separate systems work on the same media and timelines but doing different tasks. Collaborative editing, needs Resolve Studio and a network.

Or, in a situation where there’s one system and multiple specialists take turns working on the same project on the same system.
Either way, editing, colour correction, compositing/cleanups, sound design and delivery are all done within one application without needing to round-trip in and out of the NLE.

Another aspect is that other NLEs are editing systems, with capabilities for colour correction, compositing, sound design as added features.
Resolve is the other way around. It is a very accomplished and established colour correction system, which integrates two separate but established softwares within the NLE. Fusion and Fairlight. Within this, editing features have been added over time.
For this to succeed as a package, humans proficient in colour correction, compositing, or sound design, exclusively work within the respective pages (only) within Resolve, and the editor holds it all together by working in the Edit page and media pool. Expecting these 4 to be the same human is unrealistic, and certainly not commonplace.

FCP X, on the other hand, is a different editor with an appeal to first-timers, and with many added features for graphics, compositing, sound, offered as dumbed down features that anyone (even one human) can understand and use, and a huge collection of features that users can add at will, using plug-ins as needed.

FCP X and Resolve are in my opinion, mutually exclusive and ‘either/or’. So, one can like and use one or the other, but not both. But time will tell. And the market is big enough, that both can be big winners without replacing one another.

———————————–
Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.com
twitter: fcpguru
FCP Editor, Edit systems consultant
Mumbai India

[Mark Raudonis]

Anybody who knows me knows I’m not afraid of jumping ship… even in the middle of stormy seas!

What keeps large post facilities from jumping is NOT so much inertia, but what I call the “10 X Rule”. In order to overcome
inertia, the proposed change has to be at least ten times better than the status quo. You’ll NEVER achieve 10 X in real life for a variety of reasons, but at least on paper there has to be a compelling enough case to make the leap. All of the options discussed here: FCP- X, Adobe, Resolve do NOT have 10 X better than AVID for large, work group environments. That factor and that factor alone is what keeps large facilities from making the leap. When that issue is successfully addressed (without compromise or workarounds), then many large installations can make a decision based on a level playing field.

If I had to place bets on who will get there first, I’d say Resolve. Meanwhile, I’m happy to watch the horse race.

Mark “AVID-FCP-AVID… all three now!” Raudonis

[Mark Raudonis]

[Neil Sadwelkar] “FCP X, on the other hand, is a different editor with an appeal to first-timers, “

Did you see the new “cut” page in Resolve? That’s Resolve’s entry point for first timers.

This feature opens up some very interesting large shared storage workgroup opportunities. Having a “dumbed down” version of the timeline that is instantly transferable to “regular editors” is a brilliant feature.

I look forward to figuring out how to make this work for our creative teams.