DaVinci Resolve 17 Introduced

Blackmagic Design announced DaVinci Resolve 16 on NAB 2019 while simultaneously launching a Beta program that lasted until the release of Resolve 16 in October. When NAB 2020 was canceled, Blackmagic Design made no announcements regarding Version 17. Because of that, the introduction of DaVinci Resolve 17 Livestream is quite exciting for DaVinci Resolve users like myself.

Some exciting and major improvements and new features have been announced with the DaVinci Resolve 17 update. Let’s find out what exactly is coming…

DaVinci Resolve 17 Color Correction Updates

High Dynamic Range Grading has been vastly improved by zone-based controls. The new Color-Warper tool allows to adjust chroma, luma and saturation by dragging points in a grid-display.

Magic Mask is an AI-based masking tool that allows to track a person or predefined feature with only a few clicks. DaVinci YRGB managed workflows have been simplified. A lot of additional UI tweaks and improvements have been made to scopes and the color-wheels. 11 new tools have been added to the effects palette.

Blackmagic has also released a Key-Cap Update for owners of the Advanced Panel so that new features are represented on the hardware panel.

Fairlight Page Updates

Improved Edit Selection Tools allow better, more responsive, and quicker interaction with clips even during playback and navigation of the timeline. Keyboard shortcuts have been added to quickly access the improved editing and selection tools. Transient Detection allows finding audio edit points faster. Handling of immersive Dolby Atmos Master files has been added, monitoring and downmixing is now possible. AAF import is now also possible! Flex Bus adds enormous flexibility for complex mixing and mastering. The ability to link tracks has been added. The Automation Toolset has been updated. Automation now follows clips, which is great when moving clips around.

Blackmagic also introduced an entry-level Fairlight console, the Fairlight Desktop Console. A monitor can be connected to the console to display UI elements just like on the larger consoles. Faders are touch-sensitive, motorized, and all-metal. The console will be available at the end of the year for $3595.00.

The Fairlight HDMI monitor Interface — available now at $259 — allows users any 16:9 TV or monitor to display the Fairlight User Interface. For people building their own Fairlight desks, Blackmagic Design offers different mounting bars to correctly align Fairlight consoles in custom-built studio furniture. Different options are available.

Cut Page Updates

Amongst a lot of small improvements, the main changes have been made to the palettes. The Transition Palette has been improved with graphic representations of the many transition types. Some new transitions have been added. The Effects Palette and the Title Palette have also been reworked in the same fashion.

Improvements in the timeline include the fact that transitions are now kept, when clips are inserted or clips with transitions are moved. The Inspector has also been reworked and looks more organized and live-updates the changes made.

Organising lots of media has been improved with Bin Dividers and better sorting. Metadata entry in the Inspector is now possible. In Source Tape mode it’s now possible to focus on the region based on the metadata of the clips or on the actual files location.

A new Metadata View has been added to the source media pane. In this view thumbnails and metadata is visible at the same time.

Relinking clips has been improved. With a few clips media that has been moved on disk can be relinked.

A Media Manager has been implemented allows to “trim” all the media used in one timeline to send off to a collaborator. You have the choice of including the original media or transcoded clips.

DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor

Blackmagic Design also introduced the DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor, which is a specialized keyboard designed for the Cut Page. It works in conjunction with an existing computer keyboard or with a laptop. Its Bluetooth enabled, so it does not need cables. A jog/shuttle wheel and big in/out keys and a bunch of dedicated function buttons allow intuitive editing. The device seems to bring back a bit of the analog video editing feeling from the old days into the NLE world. It could be very interesting for people working on Multicam-edits a lot. The DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor will be available now for $295. A special introductory offer is available for the next couple of months: If you buy a DaVinci Studio license from your local reseller, you’ll get the DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor for free.

Edit Page Updates

Synching Multicam clips has been greatly improved. Better handling of interlaced footage and deinterlacing via Neural Engine. Full support for interlaced timelines is now built into Resolve. Re-formatting aspect ratios of timelines with Smart Reframe makes Social Media aspect ratio deliverables. This is also helped by the Neural Engine. More common effects like for example a chroma keyer are now available from within the Edit Page. The Effect Library has now the ability to preview Effects. New essential effects like for example Corner Pin or Collage have also beed added.

The Proxy Workflow has also been simplified, making it easier to edit high-res footage. Proxy Media can be added to Project Archives now.

Fusion Page Updates

The biggie here is audio playback and waveforms, which makes animating to sound much easier than before. Fusion compositions can be used as plugins or templates in the Edit- and Cut Page. That way FX artists can design effects that can be later customised by editors.

Shape Nodes have beed added to Fusion for creating vector shapes for motion graphic design or title sequences.

Any standard transition can now be edited in Fusion. The modified transition can also be exported as a template for further use.

Timeline Markers from the Edit Page are now visible and editable on the Fusion Page. And advanced Optical Flow speeds up re-timing effects.

Collaboration

With Resolve’s collaboration tools editors, colonists, animators, fx-artists and sound mixers can work on a single project simultaneously. Blackmagic Design will make the tools available free of charge for both the Studio and the free version of DaVinci Resolve when the final version 17 is released.

Free Update

The beta of DaVinci Resolve 17 is available now and it will be a free update when the final version arrives. Please do not update your production machine just yet. It’s a beta and things will break and you don’t want to have your editing software act up, when on a deadline.

What do you think of the new version of DaVinci Resolve? What features will make your life easier? Please let us know in the comments below!