DaVinci Resolve 16.2 is available for download and its refresh improves color correction, editing, and Fairlight–it's audio editing module. Blackmagic Design also updated the Fairlight Sound Library with version 1.0, which gives access to over 500 royalty-free foley sounds inside DaVinci Resolve, which was first announced in version 16.
With 16.2, Fairlight editing sees a dramatic bump in overall speed. Different edit selection modes are now unlocked that were previously available only on the full Fairlight console. Users can add cuts, fades, and the ability to move clips with a mouse click. New scaleable waveforms can be zoomed in without adjusting the volume, and clips can be rendered with custom sound effects directly from the Fairlight timeline.
Fairlight timeline
Additionally, multiple clips can be added vertically, multichannel tracks can be converted into groups, there's support for modifier keys, and you can now copy clips over multiple timelines. Frame boundary editing is more precise with trimming frame as well as better export compatibility for film and broadcast deliveries.
DaVinci Resolve 16.2 now provides metadata-based searches for its Fairlight Sound Library, eliminating the need to know the filename. Search results will display both the filename and description. Audio effects are now sorted first by category, then by native or third party plugins. Any sound effect can also be marked as a favorite and moved to the top of the list.
Check out the laundry list of updates Blackmagic released to improve workflow.
DaVinci Resolve 16.2
Fairlight Timeline Editing Toolset
- New mouse and keyboard based editing toolset
- User adjustable per track scalable waveform display
- Keyboard shortcut editing actions now include fade, cut, select and move
- Support for alt/option dragging clips to create a clip copy
- Support for pasting clips across timelines
- Support for bouncing individual audio clips to files
- Support for dragging audio clips to separate tracks using modifiers
- Support for dragging audio clips to specific positions using modifiers
- Support for converting multichannel tracks into linked groups
- Support for a user preference to align audio edits to frame boundaries
- Support for an action to trim all audio edits to frame boundaries
Fairlight Sound Library
- Release of the Fairlight sound library installer for foley effects
- Support for searching and displaying sound library description metadata
Effects and Plugin Management
- Automatic sorting of AU and VST audio effects into types and categories
- Favorite audio plugins are now displayed at the top of the mixer plugin list
- Additional immersive audio support
- Support for MPEG-H bussing and monitoring in DaVinci Resolve Studio
- Improved pan and balance including the ability to constrain panning
Track Index
- Support for the edit index in the Fairlight page
- Drag selection of tracks, mute, solo and record controls in the track index
- Drag and drop reordering of audio tracks in the track index
AAF Import/Export
- Support for importing AAF sequences as new tracks in an existing timeline
- Support for importing AAF sequences with an offset to an existing timeline
- Support for importing multichannel tracks from an AAF as linked groups
- Support for broadcast wave files when exporting an embedded AAF
- Support for exporting audio cross fades and fade handles in AAF files
Audio Mixing
- Support for additional notch filters in clip EQ
- Support for new FairlightFX Meters
- Support for new FairlightFX LFE Filter
Fairlight Audio Editor
- Support for dedicated controls for panning up and down
- Support for editing clip EQ
- Support for copying and pasting clip EQ
- Support for creating and applying presets for clip EQ
- Support for adding, managing and custom mapping of plugin parameters
- Support for changing relative clip levels
- Support for resetting clip levels to unity
- Support for editing fade shapes and deleting fades
- Support for saving and recalling user defined track view presets
- Support for enabling layered audio editing from the desktop audio editor
- Support for choosing automation curves from the editor panel or console
- Improved behavior when moving track selection with no tracks selected
- Support for improved timecode entry and high frame rate timecode
- Support for entering relative timecode values
- Support for inserting 00 in timecode entry by using the colon key
- Support for master spill on console faders
- Support for finer adjustment of controls using the mouse or audio editor
- Support for media left and media right selection keys
- Support for a text-only labels mode
- Support for a traditional Fairlight keyboard layout
- Improved support for legacy Fairlight project import
- Improved import of EQ, automation and fade from legacy Fairlight projects
- Improved speed when importing large legacy Fairlight projects
Editing
- Improved performance when switching to large timelines with many tracks
- Support for creating a compound clip from an in-out range in the timeline
- Support for previewing timeline audio during live overwrites of video edits
- Support for editing individual angles to the timeline from a multi-cam viewer
- Support for updating clip duration display while editing in the cut page
- Support for a change transition duration dialog
- Support for viewing duration in frames or timecode format in the viewers
- Support for Fusion transition templates in the edit page
- Support for Fusion generator templates in the edit page
- Support for timeline view options per system in collaborative projects
Media Pool
- Improved audio track metadata support with support for up to 24 tracks
- Support for duplicated clips and timelines being placed in the source bin
- Support for sorting media pool clips by date added
- Support for showing synced audio filenames in the media pool list view
- Support for revealing the media pool location of a clip from a smart bin
- Support for a media pool context menu to duplicate clips and timelines
- Support for only additional files when repeating media management copies
Color Grading
- Multiple stability and usability improvements for collaborative projects
- Support for smart filters based on keywords and people metadata tags
- Support for modifying primary grade values using numerical values
- Support for retaining out of range data when monitoring at video levels
- Support for Fusion MediaOut name tooltips on the node graph inputs
- Support for feet and frames data burn-in options
- Support for disabling output sizing and blanking for individual clip renders
Scopes
- Support option for showing scopes at video level and data level
- Support for HLG gamma when using HDR scopes
- Support for highlighting the color viewer qualifier position in the scopes
Codec
- Support for Blackmagic RAW SDK 1.7
- Support for rendering audio only timelines
- Support for decoding 32 bit floating point audio
- Improved support for color space and gamma when decoding H.265 clips
- Support for displaying EXR codec name based on compression method
- Support for overriding the color space and gamma tags in render settings
- Support for RED SDK 7.2.1 and decoding clips from the Komodo camera
- Support for two new parameters in the RED camera raw settings
- Support for REDWideGamut Log3G10 IDT for ACES projects
- Support for the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III camera
- Support for decoding u-Law Audio in QuickTime clips
- Support for alpha channel clips with the bypass re-encode option
Scripting, API, General
- Support for running the primary screen as a window in dual screen mode
- Improved scripting API with the ability to close an open project
- Improved scripting API to set frame rate for media pool clips
- Support for new scripting functions to return ordered lists
- Support for video monitoring advance and delay on the Fairlight page
- Support for GPI/GPO control on the Fairlight Audio Interface
- Multiple performance and stability improvements
Did we mention DaVinci Resolve is free? And DaVinci Resolve Studio is currently $299. That's it. No subscriptions.
Do you use DaVinci Resolve? Are there improvements or updates you'd like to see in the future? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Blackmagic Design
