DaVinci Resolve 12.5.1 Released

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.

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

Minimum system requirements for Mac

• Mac OS X 10.10.5 Yosemite
• 16 GB of system memory is recommended and 8 GB is the minimum supported
• Blackmagic Design Desktop Video version 10.4.1 or later
• CUDA Driver version 7.5.25
• NVIDIA Driver version – As required by your GPU
• RED Rocket-X Driver 2.1.34.0 and Firmware 1.4.22.18 or later
• RED Rocket Driver 2.1.23.0 and Firmware 1.1.18.0 or later

Minimum system requirements for Windows

• Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bit
• 16 GB of system memory is recommended and 8 GB is the minimum supported
• Blackmagic Design Desktop Video version 10.4.1 or later
• NVIDIA/AMD/Intel GPU Driver version – As required by your GPU
• RED Rocket-X Driver 2.1.34.0 and Firmware 1.4.22.18 or later
• RED Rocket Driver 2.1.23.0 and Firmware 1.1.18.0 or later

Minimum system requirements for Linux

• CentOS 6.4
• 32 GB of system memory is recommended and 16 GB is the minimum supported
• Blackmagic Design Desktop Video version 10.4.1 or later
• NVIDIA/AMD Driver version – As required by your GPU
• RED Rocket-X Driver 2.1.34.0 and Firmware 1.4.22.18 or later
• RED Rocket Driver 2.1.23.0 and Firmware 1.1.18.0 or later