Blackmagic Design announced that musicians and content creators Jared Dines and Angel Vivaldi turned to DaVinci Resolve Studio for post production on their “Musician Mansion” reality competition YouTube series, as well as Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro digital film cameras for capturing the accompanying “Musician’s Mansion Podcast.”
The company also announced that tech lifestyle influencer Shelby Church uses Blackmagic Cloud storage with Davinci Resolve Studio for her popular lifestyle videos, which focus on real estate, technology and travel, and offer a stylish and informative approach to a wide variety of topics.
The two examples above are not unique, but they are the newest that show how important the tools offered by Blackmagic Design are for a generation of content creators that has become a dominant force in the media industry, as the digital landscape witnessed a significant shift in recent years, with the rise of YouTubers and influencers.
In a world where cat videos and makeup tutorials can garner millions of views, it’s safe to say that online content creation has taken the internet by storm. People everywhere are ditching traditional media and turning to platforms like YouTube and social media to find entertainment, education, and inspiration. With nearly two million subscribers and 157 million views of her videos, the tech lifestyle influencer Shelby Church is an example of that trend, and so is “Musician Mansion” reality competition YouTube series, from musicians and content creators Jared Dines and Angel Vivaldi, with an audience of nearly three million subscribers.
Both the influencer Shelby Church and content creators Jared Dines and Angel Vivaldi rely on DaVinci Resolve Studio for their shows. The platform may be different, but behind every captivating YouTube video or Instagram reel lies the magic of video editing. It’s the art of piecing together footage, adding effects, and polishing the final product. Video editing allows content creators to capture the attention of their audience, enhance storytelling, and create engaging visual experiences. Filmmakers and influencers both use these tools to reach the same goal: attract audiences.
Church is a good example of that approach. A Los Angeles native, she has always embraced technology, both in front of and behind the camera. Her transition to DaVinci Resolve Studio for editing began with a simple tool. “Initially, it was the stabilization feature,” said Church. “I found it worked a lot better than any others I had tried. When shooting I found it was difficult to get a stable shot without a tripod or gimbal, but when I ran my footage through the stabilization tool it looked amazing.”
Though she had continued to edit in other software, Church soon realized working inside of DaVinci Resolve Studio’s full toolset made more sense. “As I discovered more features I couldn’t live without, it made more sense to just stay within Resolve. I now use it to fully edit my YouTube videos from start to finish,” she said. Church found a wide range of tools within DaVinci Resolve that are now critical to her workflow.
For “Musician Mansion” reality competition YouTube series, the show from Jared Dines and Angel Vivaldi that brings 15 musicians together in one house for a competitive reality TV style show for a week of musical challenges and content, the story repeats itself. Here is what Kevin Brady of Pacific Nomad Media, responsible for post production, said:
“I actually started the edit in another program, but after battling with simple playback for two hours, I had enough and dove into Resolve headfirst,” he added. “Resolve’s interface quickly became intuitive, and I was very surprised with the efficiency of the program itself: no frame stutters, smooth playback without render, and zero crashes. It was something that I wasn’t used to, and it was quite relieving. DaVinci allowed me to do my job without waiting on the program. It just worked.”
Kevin Brady used DaVinci Resolve Studio for editing, color grading and audio post, along with a DaVinci Resolve Editor Keyboard. He also notes that “I used Resolve from front to back in post. The new voice isolation tool was especially helpful when cleaning up our audio, since we used onboard mics in lieu of an audio person on set when filming. We were tasked with a difficult job that needed plenty of clean up, and that plugin and more were game changers for us.”
With voice being a key element for many of these shows, the voice isolation tool is an essential part of the software. Shelby Church says that “The features I really can’t go without now are voice isolation, magic mask, stabilization and power bins. The voice isolation tool is very easy to use and quickly cleans up background noise in audio. Magic mask was a little more complicated but still pretty easy. There are so many tutorials on YouTube for Resolve that make it easy to learn.”
Church relies on the transcribe tool to help manage long interviews, as well as the motion tracking tool. “I often need to blur out people, brands, for example, and I can do it in 20 seconds or less in Resolve.” Adding Vlog formats to her work, Church began using Blackmagic Cloud and Blackmagic Cloud Storage with her workflow, which allowed her to hire remote editors to help with her growing workload. “I import all my footage to Resolve, and it automatically uploads proxies to Blackmagic Cloud,” said Church. “I signed up for the first tier, 500 GB plan. The proxies take up very little space, so I’ve found it to be more than enough storage.”
Though the Blackmagic Cloud Storage options were affordable and manageable, it was the speed that really made the toolset useful. “I used to run into an issue when trying to hire editors, in that it would take way too long to upload and download the footage using internet tools. Oftentimes I would have issues relinking files too, but with Blackmagic Cloud I don’t need to relink the files,” continued Church. “With a DaVinci Resolve project automatically uploading media I bring in to Blackmagic Cloud, and the included Proxy Generator, the proxies are small enough that I can upload a project usually within 10 minutes. When my editor in Seattle is finished with the cut, I can immediately go back in and make any changes, add voiceover, etc., without having to relink anything. Then I can export the final project in full resolution. It’s been such a time saver for me.”
Church looks forward to expanding her use of not only DaVinci Resolve Studio but also the Blackmagic Cloud functionality. Though technically minded, she doesn’t feel she had to be an expert to learn the software. “I don’t think I even use Resolve in a very unique way, but probably pretty different to how others might. I know it’s well known for color grading, and I use that a little bit but it’s so much more than that.”
To capture the accompanying “Musician’s Mansion Podcast” for the “Musician Mansion” reality competition YouTube series, shot in Greystone Castle’s game room, which was a difficult location, the team also relied on Blackmagic Design. “To say it was a challenge to shoot is a vast understatement,” explained Vivaldi. “The room was the oddest shaped room I have ever seen, packed with arcade machines and game tables, some of which were impossible to move. The area was incredibly restrictive, but we pushed through and made it work thanks to the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pros’ compact form factor.”
“The picture is absolutely incredible, and the user interface is the cleanest and most sensible design I have ever seen on a camera, especially one of this quality,” Vivaldi added. “The flexibility the Pocket 6K Pro offers suits pretty much any production, including ours. The interface is very intuitive, and anyone can navigate it and find exactly what they need.
Vivaldi concluded, “The best way to stand out in any industry is to embrace your inherent uniqueness. Being unique is far superior than trying to be the best, as being the best is entirely too subjective and an act of futility. Being yourself, knowing your strengths and weaknesses and playing to those attributes is the best way to connect to not only your guests on a podcast, but also to your audience. Being prepared and showing you care about your project goes a very long way.”