DaVinci Resolve is Blackmagic Design’s professional video editor. It’s designed to edit Blackmagic RAW files from the company’s own cinema cameras, but can edit a wide range of regular video formats too.
The usual suspects in the pro video editor market are Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple Final Cut Pro, but Davinci Resolve is right up alongside them in our list of the best video editing software.
Blackmagic also makes some of the best cinema cameras, and some of the best cameras for filmmaking, like the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K model.
The key thing is that as well as the paid DaVinci Resolve Studio version, there’s a free DaVinci Resolve 18 version that anyone can download and use, and which offers amazing capabilities at no cost.
DaVinci Resolve 18 adds support for real-time remote collaboration via the Blackmagic Cloud service, with multiple users anywhere in the world. It means editors, colorists, effects artists and audio engineers can work on the same project at the same time.
Also new is the Blackmagic Proxy Generator app, which automatically creates and manages proxy files from your original clips, lessening hardware overheads for high resolution projects. DaVinci Resolve will retain links to the original files.
Another new feature is ‘Intelligent Media Management’ to make it easier to stay linked to assets when you’re working remotely or collaborating with others. The new collaborative features are rounded off with Shared Project Libraries and Remote Monitored Streaming, which is a way to display the DaVinci Studio Resolve viewer on a remote monitor, via DeckLink, anywhere in the world. Blackmagic claims low latency and high-quality 10-bit images ideal for remote editing, grading and instant feedback.
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Other new features in DaVinci Resolve 18
A new Object Mask can recognise and track the movement of “thousands”” of objects and the DaVinci Neural Engine can isolate animals, vehicles, people, food and more. A new Depth Map effect can generate a 3D map of a scene to grade foreground and background separately, and it’s now possible to attach graphics to surfaces that warp or change perspective.
Resolve FX Beauty now has an “Ultra Beauty” tool for skin smoothing and detail recovery, subtitle support has been improved and it’s now possible to reverse Shape, Iris and Wipe transitions.
There is more – a lot more – that’s new, including upgrades to the Fusion and Fairlight modules and a host of behind-the-scenes enhancements. You can check out the full list at blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/whatsnew
DaVinci Resolve 18 Studio costs $294/£294 (inc VAT)/AU$479 (inc tax), but this is a lifetime license and all future upgrades are free. If you already have a Studio licence, the v18 update will be provided free. DaVinci Resolve Studio is also free with Blackmagic cameras and desktop controllers (at the time of going to press). Find out more at the Blackmagic Design website.
