Hot on the heels of Adobe’s Premiere Pro Frame.io news, Blackmagic debuts its own cloud-based collaboration features
(Image credit: Blackmagic Design)
This DaVinci Resolve 18 update introduces Blackmagic’s cloud-based collaboration system which, to use Blackmagic’s own words, “allows multiple editors, colorists, VFX artists and audio engineers to work simultaneously on the same project, on the same timeline, anywhere in the world”.
Right now DaVinci Resolve 18 is a public beta available for download from the Blackmagic website. It uses the Blackmagic Cloud system to host project libaries online on the DaVinci Resolve Project Server. This will allow multiple users – editors, colorists, VFX artists, audio engineers – to work on the same project at the same time, anywhere in the world.
A new Blackmagic Proxy Generator app automatically creates local proxy files for editing, and ‘watch folders’ will automatically generate proxies to accelerate the editing process. You will be able to swap between proxies and original footage with one click, and proxy files can be saved locally too. It will even be possible to livestream the DaVinci Resolve Studio viewer with DeckLink for display on a remote monitor or reference grading monitor “anywhere in the world”.
A new object mask took is now available in the magic mask palette to recognize and track the movements of thousands of objects using the DaVinci Neural Engine to isolate animals, vehicles, people, food and many other scene elements.
A new depth map effect can separate foreground and background for individual grading and it will now be possible to apply graphics to objects that warp or change perspective via a ‘surface tracker’ feature. Resolve FX has a refined ultra beauty tool featuring skin smoothing and detail recover tools developed by professional colorists, and a new 5x5 multicam viewer mode can show up to 25 angles in a single multicam clip for large multicam projects.
GPU acceleration should provide faster, real-time brush strokes, text and shape templates now have improved speed and playback performance, and new memory management means that Fusion templates are up to twice as fast.
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There are many more additions and improvements in DaVinci Resolve 18. “This is a major release that totally revolutionizes remote project collaboration using cloud based workflows, “ said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO.
Rod is an independent photography journalist and editor, and a long-standing Digital Camera World contributor, having previously worked as DCW's Group Reviews editor. Before that he has been technique editor on N-Photo, Head of Testing for the photography division and Camera Channel editor on TechRadar, as well as contributing to many other publications. He has been writing about photography technique, photo editing and digital cameras since they first appeared, and before that began his career writing about film photography. He has used and reviewed practically every interchangeable lens camera launched in the past 20 years, from entry-level DSLRs to medium format cameras, together with lenses, tripods, gimbals, light meters, camera bags and more. Rod has his own camera gear blog at fotovolo.com but also writes about photo-editing applications and techniques at lifeafterphotoshop.com
