Truelove Tech

I just got back from Future Reality's (http://www.future.com.au/future/Home.html ) launch of the new DaVinci Resolve V7 (http://decklink.com/davinci/resolve/ ), the biggest news as I sure you all know is that the company was bought by Melbourne-based video card maker Blackmagic and their flagship grading product has gone from a hardware solution priced in the 100s of thousands to software solution running on Mac OS X starting at $1300au.

There were 3 systems on display, a Macbook Pro-based setup with a Tangent Wave control surface (http://www.tangentdevices.co.uk/products_wave.asp ), a MacPro-based setup, with a RedRocket for realtime debayering of raw RED footage and a full DaVinci USB-based control surface and a full Linux-based system (which also included a very nice Blackmagic Ultrascope setup).
I had a play with the Macbook Pro system and loved the Tangent Wave and found the software worked fine on the low-end hardware.

The main demo was done by Warren Eagles on the MacPro system, using a beta version of the software (final release due... very soon). I was very impressed by the fluidity of of the workflow especially when working with 4K R3D footage (playback was at 2K as the RedRocket had to be installed in a 4-lane PCI slot, a MacPro feature). The auto trackers which don't require you to set any tracking points are amazing (at least on the demo footage!). The MacPro didn't seem to have any problems playing more than 10 grades simultaneously, although it did start to slow down when any blurs were added. The beta software could not import FCP XML, only EDLs at the moment, but I was told to wait for some announcements at IBC next month. The Scene Cut Detector was very nice for when you don't have either.

Other highlights included:
native support for most Apple codecs inc. H264 from DSLR and all forms of ProRes.
Stereoscopic support on all systems
Tight integration with Blackmagic's Decklink HD Extreme 3D (http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/decklinkhdextreme/ )
Project and clip-based variation of all RED settings

Did I mention the price?

MSP
Sent from my iPad