[Michael Gissing]

The question remains if RED have any intent on pressing Apple or Blackmagic for royalties on their compressed RAW variants. RED might not want to get on the wrong side of Apple with whom they have had a good relationship with so far.

The fact that Blackmagic don’t charge any fee to use BRAW might make them less likely to be a target. Also they have a degree of pre processing that might be a legal loophole if it came to litigation.

It might give Apple pause to continue to develop ProResRAW or push it out unless they also just give it away. Personally I hate it when patents are used to stifle innovation.

[Michael Gissing]

Fairlight has full mix automation which allows for all parameters to be automated at the track & bus level. That’s what I use. The keyframes for that automation are not obvious but you can display graphically the automation as an overlay. It is possible to show this as keyframes if you click on the automation edit icon.

It’s worth reading through chapter 150 (page 2761 of the latest manual for 16.1). Edit systems that don’t have full automation need to have a way to keyframe at the clip level. From years of mixing doco sountracks, I can assure you that track based and bus based full automation is so much more powerful and faster to mix with. Fairlight also allows specific automation related to a range and track specific to be copy and pasted so even if edit tweaks are done after a mix or a project is reversioned, the automation is editable too.

[Michael Gissing]

If the price is an issue, then you are in the wrong end of the market for that. Unless like me you are building your own PC and reusing the power supplies, rack mount cases, keyboard, mouse & monitors etc then the price difference is not a deal breaker.

As I don’t need to run Apple OS specific software and I do rebuild then this MacPro is not on my radar. My last MacPro cost an arm and a leg back in 2009 but it paid for itself well within the life span. If you need the grunt and longevity of a system that can be upgraded with better GPU and sundry during it’s lifespan, then the MacPro price difference should not be a factor. And if you must run Apple software then it’s just a matter of choosing your grunt. If I was in that boat I wouldn’t go iMacPro over a new cheese grater.

[Michael Gissing]

Good to hear the thoughts of Cioni. The idea of cameras without media storage, just a modem to the cloud within 4-5 years is a bit fanciful I think. The idea of a centralised storage of camera originals at full res and therefore the need to buy hard drives becoming obsolete – maybe but the short time frame is rather optimistic.

I found his argument about ProResRAW versus BRAW a bit weird. He’s saying Apple don’t make cameras (ignoring the idea of using iPhones) and that makes their version of RAW more appealing. The fact that Apple didn’t release ProResRAW into the market place for a year and BM did it day one for free makes that seem false logic to me. Really it should be about the best codec and I’m unconvinced PRRAW is. Plus the argument that it’s Apple and we can trust them because they don’t make cameras is pretty much the reverse of what I see. BM have been open, fully disclosing and giving away their SDK, indeed encouraging others to use it. And who knows if PRRAW will survive the impending patent case. BRAW may also fall foul but I didn’t agree with his argument at all.

So overall I got the impression from this long ramble that Cioni is pushing for where Frame.io should be if and when world wide 5G makes it feasible to transfer massive files straight from the camera to the cloud. Worthy goal but I think his time frame is unrealistic.

[Michael Gissing]

While you have been retired David, many of us have moved on to Win computers which have all the necessary connectors on the MOBO. My laptop that runs Linux has HDMI, USB-c, USB3.1 etc all built in so I have no idea what docks are in the marketplace and work best with MacBooks

[Michael Gissing]

I’d like to test if Fusion can import a .psd and work with the layers. I have a job coming up where I need to do this so it would be nice to find out. If I get time I will do a test.

[Michael Gissing]

Because it is baked in you need a dynamic keyframe across the dissolve between the grades for the two shots. Otherwise use scene detect to break it up into individual clips

[Michael Gissing]

I agree Oliver that attention in some areas has been slower than I would like. The Fairlight page got off to a flyer then has slowed with some much needed features only just making it in. I still use the stand alone version mostly but I’m now in a position to consider the Resolve version for my work. However the area that needed most work was the edit page and I’m undecided about the Cut page. When you look at performances and feature improvements to all pages in Resolve over the past three years and compare it to all other NLEs, Blackmagic is clearly out in front with the pace and scope of developments. Even in areas like color grading where they were not lagging.

But when I look at other NLEs they all seem pretty ordinary in areas that Resolve is clearly ahead like the Fusion, Fairlight integration and Color. To consider that all that has been achieved plus the developments in cameras and other hardware, I cannot agree that it is a matter of perception.

[Michael Gissing]

Thanks James.

[Michael Gissing]

Thanks for the responses, although the specific issue I raised of the pace of development and improvements wasn’t commented on. Interesting.

It falls on familiar lines. For some X is and always was perfect. For others not liking Resolve is OK but seriously the pace of X developments compared to Resolve should be of some concern. I’ve read previous posts with long dusty wish lists of things X could do to improve. Maybe the people who want more from X have moved on and no longer bother to comment here.

Beyond the obvious of preference for an NLE which can be based on familiarity or how it is a best fit for your workflow, I’m asking if people are happy with the pace of development. It seemed this update just became a commentary on other software and the Catalina OS. In other words almost no comment on the actual update. Made me wonder.