[Michael Gissing]

[Sebastian Leitner] “in both cases though you need a transfer tool to format a drive to EXT2, hash check and clone.”

One of the reasons I prefer to subcontract this to a DCP pro is the experiences I had with cinemas in Australia. Firstly almost none of them could read ext2 or 3 formatted drives. They all wanted NTFS so they could ingest though their Windows based theatre management system. I found constant issues with an inability to read anything but Interop @ 24fps. Tech support in cinemas was weak too. Very often they had difficulty describing why they were having problems and in many cases refused to install simple free software to read ext2/3 formatted drives on their Win machines.

So for me the authoring was the easy part. Managing the vagaries of non compliant cinemas is a full time job I didn’t want or need. So I am not going to buy a license for Resolve.

[Michael Gissing]

[Bob Cole] “Do you think Blackmagic has the staying power to take Resolve to the point where it is a standard?”

Yes. Blackmagic have been around for a while and they are totally focused on their products – no distractions. they are making money and are run by someone who cut his teeth in broadcast and post production in Australia.

Importantly they seem to have managed the move from small to global without crashing and burning, a problem that other innovative companies have failed to master.

[Michael Gissing]

I presume this is the same as the easyDCP package inside Resolve in that it requires a license to export. Although this seems to be a license per project.

I have made the decision to outsource DCP authoring. Managing the non compliant cinemas is the problem, not the software to make a compliant DCP which I have been doing using the free OpenDCP. I use resolve to create the jpeg2000 xyz files.

[Michael Gissing]

The fact that it crashed converting the database indicates it might be that process that is the problem. In the past beta versions have had this issue. If you have backed up your projects & database you can opt to not update the database. Start with a new database and if required, import your backed up projects into the new database.

The Blackmagic forum is probably a better place to find posts on such issues.

[Michael Gissing]

I sincerely hope you backed up the database and the individual project files in case you have to go back. This is the first beta so expect to need to go back to a release version.

[Michael Gissing]

[Bill Davis] “Note the similarity between the processing grunt when I moved from my MacPro to my MacBook pro.”

In that time frame I’ve moved from SD to 4k and have real time playback whilst grading. Standing still in terms of processor and going backwards in terms of GPU is unacceptable to me over the past ten years. If it works for you then fine. But your needs are not mine and so I stand by my remarks.

[Michael Gissing]

[Scott Witthaus]”Then there is that “track thing”. So limiting. ????”

It is so unlikely to ever have Apple like magnetic (I’m sure Apple will never allow it under patent protection) but who knows if they might give editors some better collision avoidance tools but at least with layers per track you don’t destructively overwrite. I’ve enjoyed non destructive layer based editing for many years and it has some serious advantages in dialog editing and ADR recording

[Michael Gissing]

[Andrew Kimery] “I don’t suppose you have links to any articles/blogs…”

I don’t Andrew. I just don’t read or subscribe to any bloggers. I am talking mostly about direct contact with the pool of post people who feed work through to me. I’ve not heard of any Fairlight users switching from their stand alones but I have had some good feedback from editors who are enjoying using the page in Resolve. V15 might make more difference as it was mentioned that Resolve will be able to open older Fairlight project files, plus things like controllers and SFX libraries and built in pitch & FX tools are getting Resolve/ Fairlight closer to the amenity of the stand alone.

However I can state my own circumstance. I’ve just edited and graded an 84 minute 4k video wall that played behind the music production “A Tasmanian Requiem”. I’m about to edit the concert performance which I covered with ten angles and 14 iso channels of audio which I intend to mix in Resolve to 5.1 . Then my feature doco about the story behind creating the music performance will all be cut, graded and mixed in Resolve in 4k (UHD) and 5.1 surround. So the improvements in 15 have come just at the right time and I’ll happily do a write up about it.

[Michael Gissing]

[Oliver Peters] “And don’t kid yourself. If you start the mix or color and then take it to an outside specialist, the first thing they will do is remove all of the grades and mixes that you have done and start from scratch.”

Oh I understand that well as that’s what I normally do, although I am more reluctant to blow away grades than audio work. But I am also talking about a new generation of editors that might be a bit better than us old Luddites. I am also talking about me starting remote grading by collaborating. For fast turnaround this pre fine cut grade work is a big time saver.

I have one job coming eventually that is being cut on Resolve and I will be taking over the grade from the DP who is also the editor. So he will cut and grade as he goes, then hand over to a fine cut editor and start collaboration with me on the grades. Also a fair bit of his audio work will carry through because he knows what he is doing and I will give him a track/ mix template to work with so a lot of work will carry through.

[Michael Gissing]

It’s always important to bear in mind the USA centric nature of much of the debate in this forum (and Mac centric too). I’m not surprised that the market there is slower to move. Being an Aussie and knowing the people at Blackmagic, I think they are way ahead of the game here. Resolve is not aimed at the good enough. It’s surely priced there but that is not acknowledging the quality of the tools in 15.

It’s aimed at both the skilled single user who wants best tools when it comes to grade and finish and the facility that will be finishing the job if required. Interchange is hugely important here and getting rid of interchange headaches is not to be underestimated. The edit tools and previous RT performance might be holding back the NLE part from some users but more and more they will get that right and then the obviousness of having a single project file that can be opened by all the collaborators or directly shared in bigger facilities will make this a no brainer.

No one has commented on them adding both tabbed timelines and pancaking plus support for .srt files or Fusion comps for titling. In one move they have covered both Adobe and Apples newer features and added so much more.

I’m seeing encouraging signs with the Fairlight improvements and the new control hardware. Again this is not aiming at good enough. I know most of my editing friends are playing with it and some have abandoned CC and X already. Interestingly the 7 holdouts (and they are still significant in my area) are saying Resolve is the likely replacement and some have switched already. I even have long time Avid devotees who now have Resolve and are probably going to switch, depending on what the post houses want. I remember when post houses that were Avid only started to have to have an FCP room. Even post houses that don’t yet have Resolve will and gradually that may push Baselight rooms to Resolve just to be able to keep going with the grade work without exporting and translating. Blackmagic is probably more interesting in taking on Baselight and Pro Tools as that is where they will sell hardware. I suspect they aren’t interested in taking on FCPX editors who are now wedded to the way X works but CC & Avid are hot targets. Apple are likely to be the greater threat to X with their glacial pace of development.

So while those editors in the US are wondering how this is translating from NAB to real world, the rest of the world is getting ahead of the game with Blackmagic. And with the comfort of knowing Blackmagic is listening, committed to this market and getting so much better with each release, I can be confident that the winds of change will reach your conservative shores, probably sooner than you think. Blackmagic might be developing at high speed but they are playing a long game.