Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 12.5.1 Released

Blackmagic adds a ton of new features to DaVinci Resolve 12.5

August 11, 2016

Blackmagic adds over fifty new improvements to DaVinci Resolve helping the Color Grading tool and editor become the post-production tool they want to be in everyone’s edit bay. One cannot deny Blackmagic has heaped and heaped improvements into DaVinci Resolve. All of this to turn a fantastic coloring/finishing tool into an in-demand editor. I’ve edited in Resolve for a number of spots. Most of my work is pretty simple yet I enjoy not needing to round trip my projects. Plus, I have a few professional friends who praise DaVinci Resolve as an editor. It helps that one can pick up a version of DaVinci Resolve for free.

DaVinci If you are a PC user then you might find the new support for QuickTime ProRes as a feature needing to be added to DaVinci Resolve. I know in my Avid-centric world at work we typically use DNxHD, but I like having choices and ProRes is the preferred choice. For Sony F5 and F55 shooters who are also taking advantage of Sony’s new X-OCN format… well DaVinci Resolve now has your support. I cannot wait to try out this new format from Sony with its 16-bit color files.

These 50+ improvements is another update in a long line of updates we can expect Blackmagic to make to DaVinci Resolve. Personally, I hope they release a DaVinci Resolve 13. 13 being my lucky number. The full list of improvements can be found below.

Edit Improvements

Improved 2-up and 4-up, multicam and playback performance when using QuickTime ProRes on Windows
Added menu items to allow selection of clips based on Flag, Marker and Clip colors on the edit timeline
Added ability to import and export duration markers using EDL
Added the ability for clips to snap to their own markers when adjusting In and Out points
Improved consistency of edit functions when Timeline is in full screen mode
Added support for box wipe mode for offline reference wipe
Added ability to extract AAF import log information as timeline markers

Color Improvements

Improved performance for Spatial Noise reduction in Better mode
Improved listing of attached and timeline mattes in the node graph with support for alphabetical listing
Added ability to apply grades from a reference wipe using the viewer context menu
Added ability to align keyframe timelines of color grades using playhead position and wiped still frame
Next node and previous node operations now loop around the node graph
The ‘displayed’ node graph now automatically updates when the current still is changed
Swapping nodes now also swaps the node labels
Rippling grades now also copies node labels, Power Window labels and node cache settings
Shift Up + Next Still will now append grade from the current still on the advanced control panel (Studio version)
Added support for left eye and right eye grades for the timeline node graph (Studio version)
Added ability to convert a mono timeline into stereoscopic 3D (Studio version)
Added ability to convert a mono clip into stereoscopic 3D (Studio version)
Added support for sequence and node render caching for stereoscopic clips and timelines (Studio version)
Added compensation for stereoscopic slip when exporting timecodes in ALE (Studio version)
Added support copying DolbyVision grades using stills and middle click (Studio version)
Improved 3D and Qualifier panel layout in dual screen mode
Improved behavior to stay on the same frame when joining two clips

Resolve FX Improvements

Added ResolveFX Generate Color (GPU accelerated)
Added ResolveFX Tilt-shift Blur
Added support for anamorphism in ResolveFX Lens Blur (Studio version)
GPU acceleration support for ResolveFX Lens Flare (Studio version)
Ability to adjust Shadows/Midtones/Highlights in ResolveFX Film Grain in all compositing modes (Studio version)
GPU acceleration support for ResolveFX Emboss, Waviness, Vortex, Ripples, Dent, Mirror
Improved ResolveFX Scanlines and added various composite modes
Ability to view the ResolveFX Scanline layer without the background
Improved border behavior for ResolveFX Gaussian Blur, Directional Blur, Mosaic Blur, Radial Blur and Zoom Blur
Added support for horizontal/vertical ratio in ResolveFX Glow
Added support for pan and tilt on ResolveFX Prism Blur
Improved performance for ResolveFX Light Rays
Improved performance for ResolveFX JPEG Damage

Media Improvements

Added new Import Media options to File menu and Media Pool context menu
Added support for stereoscopic 3D clips in Media Management (Studio version)
Added support for display drive names in Media Storage on Windows
Addressed issues with open file location from Media Pool on Linux
Added Source Name tag support for filename without extension
Added support for automatically setting pixel aspect ratio for anamorphic ARRIRAW MXF clips

Codec & Format Improvements

Added support for ProRes decode on Windows
Improved QuickTime decode and encode performance on Windows
Support for UHD H.264 renders on Windows
Improved QuickTime decode and encode performance on Linux
Added support for HEVC (H.265) decode on Linux
Added support for alpha channel in DNxHR 444
Added support for the Sony X-OCN format
Added support for various AAC encode parameters on macOS
Added support for QuickTime AAC audio encoding on Windows
Added support for encoding QuickTime Photo JPEG files
Added support for decoding AVCHD files from the Sony NEX-FS700 camera
Added support for V-Gamut in RCM for improved Panasonic camera image handling
Added ARRI LogC to Linear and Linear to ARRI LogC LUTs in VFX I/O
Addressed decoding of last frame in some Panasonic AVCHD clips
Improved handling of AVCHD .MTS clips
Added support for RED SDK v6.2.1

General Improvements

Alpha-numerical listing of codecs and format in the Deliver and Media Management pulldowns
When running DaVinci Resolve in window mode, the macOS dock is now visible
Improved latency for remote grading (Studio version)
Improved handling of dissolves and overlapping clips in DolbyVision metadata export (Studio version)
Improved behavior when creating render jobs on locations without write permissions
General performance and stability improvements