A mouse and keyboard is all you need to have low cost audio post production, says Blackmagic on the announcement of new Fairlight audio features in the new DaVinci Resolve 16.2.

Blackmagic Design today announced DaVinci Resolve 16.2, a new update to the company’s popular edit, color, visual effects and audio post production software that includes major Fairlight updates for audio post production. This new update also includes many improvements for color correction, editing and more so is recommended for all users.

This new update has major new updates for editing in the Fairlight audio timeline when using a mouse and keyboard. This is because the new edit selection mode unlocks functionality previously only available via the audio editor on the full Fairlight console, so editing is much faster than before. In addition, the edit selection mode makes adding fades, cuts and even moving clips only a mouse click away. New scalable waveforms let users zoom in without adjusting the volume. Bouncing lets customers render a clip with custom sound effects directly from the Fairlight timeline.

Adding multiple clips is easier as they can now be added vertically to the timeline, not just horizontally, making it easier to add multiple tracks of audio at once. Multichannel tracks can now be converted into linked groups directly in the timeline so users no longer have to change clips manually and reimport.

There’s added support for frame boundary editing which improves file export compatibility for film and broadcast deliveries. Frame boundary editing now adds precision so users can easily trim to frame boundaries without having to zoom all the way in the timeline. Modifier keys are now supported so clips can be duplicated directly in the timeline using the keyboard and mouse. Users can also copy clips across multiple timelines with ease.

Audio effects easier to find

DaVinci Resolve 16.2 also includes support for the Blackmagic Fairlight Sound Library with new support for metadata based searches, so customers don’t need to know the filename to find a sound effect. Search results also display both the filename and description so finding the perfect sound effect is faster and easier than before.

Finding audio effects is also faster with automatic sorting that will separate them first by category, and then by native or third party plugins. Effects can also be marked as a favorite so they move to the top of the list, making navigation easier than ever.

MPEG-H 3D immersive surround sound audio bussing and monitoring workflows are now supported. Additionally, improved pan and balance behavior includes the ability to constrain panning.

Many new features

The  DaVinci Resolve 16.2 has many new features, which include:

• Improved usability in Fairlight timeline editing.
• Improved Blackmagic Fairlight sound library.
• New automatic sorting of effects and plug-ins.
• Improved immersive 3D surround sound bussing and monitoring.
• Fairlight audio editing track index improvements.
• Improved AAF import and export.
• Improved import of older legacy Fairlight projects.
• Multiple improvements in audio mixing and FairlightFX filters.
• Major improvements in the Fairlight console audio editor.
• Improved transport control on the Fairlight console audio editor.
• New editing features including loading and switching timelines.
• Improved media pool with faster copy and paste of clips.
• New color grading features including smart filters and more.
• Improved file format support for new cameras and standards.

“We are excited about this update as it has more new features for audio post production,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “These new features allow complex audio post production work in the Fairlight page using a simple mouse and keyboard. That allows many more people to add professional audio quality to their work because DaVinci Resolve is a free download. That’s very exciting.”

DaVinci Resolve 16.2 is available now for download from the Blackmagic Design web site.

Blackmagic Video Assist 3.1 and RAW 1.7

Blackmagic Design also announced Blackmagic Video Assist 3.1 and Blackmagic RAW 1.7 which add support for Blackmagic RAW recording from Panasonic EVA1 and Canon C300 MK II cameras on the new Blackmagic Video Assist 12G models. This update lets customers take advantage of Blackmagic RAW workflows and allows dramatically improved quality and creativity in the post production process. Blackmagic Video Assist 3.1 also adds support for metadata entry allowing shots to be logged and tagged on set for better management of media for large productions.

The new Blackmagic Video Assist 12G HDR adds professional monitoring and recording to any SDI or HDMI camera in all HD, Ultra HD, 2K and 4K DCI formats. The new improved design includes innovations such as brighter screens for HDR work, tally indicator, 4 built in scopes, enhanced focus assist features, 3D LUTs and native Blackmagic RAW recording from supported cameras. With 12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0 on both 5″ and 7″ models, customers get support for recording from virtually any device in all formats up to 2160p60.

Improve the quality

“The new Blackmagic Video Assist 12G monitors and recorders are very popular and have become a great way to upgrade the monitoring and recording quality from a wide range of cameras” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “This new Blackmagic RAW recording feature will be welcomed by customers and will dramatically improve the quality of these cameras. We think it will also greatly assist the post production pipeline when used with editing and color correction in DaVinci Resolve.”

Blackmagic Video Assist 3.1 and Blackmagic RAW 1.7 features:

•  3D LUTs can be applied for both monitoring and recording.
•  Standard open file formats compatible with popular software.
•  Records Blackmagic RAW from supported third party cameras.

Blackmagic Video Assist 3.1 and Blackmagic RAW 1.7 is available now for download from the Blackmagic Design web site.