Blackmagic Design is on a roll at this year's NAB! In addition to the major announcement of two new camera systems - the URSA and the Studio Camera - Blackmagic also unveiled version 11 of their world-renowned color correction software, DaVinci Resolve. The new version contains a plethora of exciting new features, but most notably, and somewhat unsurprisingly, Resolve 11 has over 70 new editing features and is now a full-fledged editing solution! Check out the details below.
For anyone who has been following the progress of DaVinci Resolve since last year's NAB, the fact that the software is now a fully functional NLE should come as no surprise. It's something that has been in the works for a while. However, I'm not sure anybody expected full editing functionality so soon.
With that said, let's take a look at some of the best new features in Resolve 11. In terms of editing, Blackmagic has incorporated just about all of the features that one would expect from a modern NLE in the year 2014. Here's a quick rundown of what Resolve 11 brings to the table as an online editor:
- A timeline capable of mixing formats, frame rates, resolutions
- A host of standard trimming tools with intuitive hovering for different types of trimming without changing tools (like Avid's Smart Tool)
- Tons of standard video and audio transitions
- The ability to mix audio
- Re-sizing and re-timing of video
- Apply OFX plugins
- Keyframe everything from the timeline
- Add creative titles
Unfortunately, I can't embed any of BM's new features videos here, so head on over to the DaVinci Resolve 11 page and check out their videos and photos.
In addition to the editing features, which are frankly pretty damn great, Blackmagic also added new features in both the media management and color correction categories. First and foremost, Resolve is now a fully capable cloning tool that can be used to create checksum verified backups of all of your media right on the set. Add to that the fact that Resolve now makes management of media simpler than ever directly within the media pool (with the ability to directly apply LUTs and change aspect ratios for large amounts of footage), and it's clear that Blackmagic wants Resolve to become an integral part of the on-set DIT workflow.
In terms of color correction, Blackmagic has added another feature which I absolutely love called "Automatic Color Match" that will be an absolute godsend for productions working with multiple cameras and multiple formats.
DaVinci Resolve’s new Color Match can automatically give you a primary base grade by analyzing shots containing standard color charts! Color Match lets you set the source gamma, target gamma and target color space for the chart used in your shot. Simply use the chip grid to identify the color chip chart and Resolve will automatically balance the images, even if they were shot on different cameras, under different lighting conditions and with different color temperatures!
There are a ton of new features in Resolve 11, so make sure you head on over to the main product page on the Blackmagic Design website to see them all, and be sure to check out the project videos while you're there. That will give you a much better idea of how powerful of an NLE Resolve 11 is.
What do you guys think of the new features in Resolve 11? Would you use Resolve as an NLE at this point? If not, what features would Blackmagic need to add in order to make it competitive with the other major NLE's? Let us know down in the comments!
Link: DaVinci Resolve 11 -- Blackmagic Design
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