Blackmagic Design - Da Vinci on Mac Demonstration: MacVideo Expo 2010
Blackmagic Design EMEA Resolve Specialist, Dan Moran demonstrates the world's most advanced colour correction software. Using raw video files, Dan takes everyday clips through the colour correction process and demonstrate key features such as primary and secondary correction, tracking and keying. Prior to Blackmagic Design takeover of DaVinci, you could only buy bespoke systems which started at $100,000.00 for your most basic system with systems costing $200 - $250k. Now you can step into this technology for less than $1000 USD.
The new DaVinci Resolve 7.0 for Mac now reads and writes all the common Apple ProRes file formats including 4444, 422, 422(HQ), 422 (Proxy) and 422 (LT) directly on the timeline with no conversion required. Colorists can just select the clips in their media storage and DaVinci Resolve will play and grade them in real time, even if there are mixed resolutions and formats on the timeline.
Prior to the Blackmagic acquisition, DaVinci Resolve systems were pre built and priced from $200,000 for a 1 GPU based system, to over $800,000 for a 16 GPU top of the line system. Even though this was in line with industry standard practice, it meant professional color correction was way too expensive for most people to afford.
Blackmagic Design has now introduced 3 models of DaVinci Resolve. These models include a new Mac based software only version, a Mac based version that includes the incredible DaVinci Resolve control surface, and a high end Linux version that lets you build multiple GPU supercomputer based systems for unlimited power. Blackmagic Design has also worked hard to give colorists affordable and easy upgrade options as needed.
When running on a Mac, DaVinci Resolve is limited to a single GPU based solution because of slot availability and lack of InfiniBand for Mac, however this does not mean it's limited on power! In the company's performance testing, the single GPU performance on Mac is similar to the single GPU Linux systems that cost $200,000 only 2 years ago.
This means DaVinci Resolve on Mac is a fantastic solution for SD and HD, and even 2K. Colorists can rotate images, re-frame, add corrections, blurs and trackers, and then just hit play, and it's all real time. Plus, because no features are disabled on this software only version, when faster GPU cards are released in the future, customers can simply plug them in for more power. This really is a true high end color correction system.
DaVinci Resolve requires customers to add a third party control panel such as the Tangent Wave™, and a single CUDA capable GPU card. If video I/O is required, then DaVinci Resolve currently requires a DeckLink HD Extreme 3D card. Blackmagic Design will also be working hard to open DaVinci Resolve up to other brands of control panel, capture cards and GPUs as fast as possible.
The midrange DaVinci Resolve model includes both the Mac DaVinci Resolve software as well as the DaVinci Resolve Control Surface. This control surface lets colorists adjust settings in DaVinci Resolve with over 60 knobs and buttons. Colorists can work incredibly fast while keeping their head up and looking at the grading monitor while working. Customers get the power of a single GPU system with the simplicity of the Mac for a fast and easy to use grading solution. DaVinci Resolve with control surface is US$29,995.
When customers are working with heavy color corrections in HD, 2K, 4K or even 3D, then the top model thats sold as a software upgrade for the DaVinci Control Surface lets customers move to a Linux based system that allows multiple GPUs and CPUs for faster processing. This Linux license is US$19,995.
When customers need faster processing, then the Linux version lets them upgrade simply by adding GPUs as they need. All GPUs work together to increase the resolution that can run in real time, as well as the number of corrections that can be done in real time. DaVinci Resolve is a real time system, so being able to add extra GPUs and CPUs gives customers virtually unlimited power while fitting tight budgets.
Customers can keep adding hardware such as GPUs and CPUs which are pre-certified by Blackmagic Design and available from DaVinci Specialist Resellers. Because it's a full Linux license, customers don't need to pay anything more for the software. In price checking done by the company, we have found that the most powerful system that's possible to build would still be less than $150,000 including all hardware and software. A system with this large amount of processing power would give colorists dozens of real time corrections even in stereoscopic 3D at 2K, or even 4K.
