DaVinci Resolve or lightroom

[vindibona1]

I pay $60 monthly ... but I use over 12 applications and 1TB of cloud memory. Here's my site: Schundlerphoto.myportfolio.com

You've got quite a collection of stuff on your website, some of it quite good. I've got to update mine. I've neglected it for so many years after I closed my brick and mortar studio that I may have to rebuild it from scratch, now that I want to include and perhaps feature aerial imaging.

I can see how this can be chalked up to "the cost of doing business". But to me $720 PER YEAR is kind of steep when one considers that if purchasing the software we could run for a year or two... or ten without upgrading. I don't judge others because there might be great value for some. If nothing else it prompts you to learn the new features, some of which are really helpful- from time to time. But I have no interest in any software subscription schemes when there are alternatives that are just as good or better that don't have their hand in my pocket every month- whether I use their software or not. Sadly, I'm stuck with a Photoshop subscription because Adobe won't allow me to activate a perfectly adequate and functioning CS3 on my new computer.

 

[jagraphics]

I pay $60 monthly ... but I use over 12 applications and 1TB of cloud memory. Here's my site: Schundlerphoto.myportfolio.com

It's seeing posts like this I know why I stick with a permanent license for CS6 and LR 6.14 I paid for in a single payment many years ago and a couple of upgrade costs but nothing for many years!

BTW a good Photoshop replacement is this Affinity Photo – Professional Image Editing Software (at about $50 for a permanent license)

Resolve is going to be overkill for most DJI users if you are on a MAC FCPX is a far better solution. Which is why it has as many paid users than Resolce has free and paid users on all three platforms. The Problem is Resolve is aimed ad the outdated Hollywood workflow and terminology. FCPX is huge everywhere except LA but then Hollywood ceased to be the global film capital a few years ago and alegedly COVID has accelerated the decline by a few years.

I am getting to grips with Resolve because we are moving from Mac to PC. (if FCPX were on PC as well I would be looking at Resolve any more)

 

[SkyeHigh]

Resolve is going to be overkill for most DJI users if you are on a MAC FCPX is a far better solution. Which is why it has as many paid users than Resolce has free and paid users on all three platforms.

I would like to see the figures that back your assertion.

The Problem is Resolve is aimed ad the outdated Hollywood workflow and terminology. FCPX is huge everywhere except LA but then Hollywood ceased to be the global film capital a few years ago and alegedly COVID has accelerated the decline by a few years.

Absolute rubbish. The professional workflow is anything but outdated. Apple dumbed-down the FCPX interface to attract non-professional users as that is where the mass market is. That is the reason FCP Studio was dropped - money.

To say COVID has anything to do with it is just ridiculous.

The vast majority of film and TV programmes (including News) you are watching in the UK were edited with professional workflows, largely Avid’s MediaComposer and will be for many years to come.

 

[jagraphics]

Absolute rubbish. The professional workflow is anything but outdated. Apple dumbed-down the FCPX interface to attract non-professional users as that is where the mass market is. That is the reason FCP Studio was dropped - money.

FCP Studio was dropped for licensing and legal reasons to do with libraries used internally. Hence FCPX being new from the ground up.

To say COVID has anything to do with it is just ridiculous.

Hollywood has been dying on it's feet for the last few years. (it has not been the global film centre for a few years,. The COVID shutdown has simply accellerated that decline (in the same way it has with many other declining industries) I have a very good analysis on this from a friend in Hollywood I will see If I can post his observations.

The vast majority of film and TV programmes (including News) you are watching in the UK were edited with professional workflows, largely Avid’s MediaComposer and will be for many years to come.

You are aware that in 2019 more news was consumed on line via YouTube that via broadcast TV? the balance is shifting and the industry changing. You are sounding like one of those people who said wet film wans't dying and digital was for amatures.

 

[SkyeHigh]

FCP Studio was dropped for licensing and legal reasons to do with libraries used internally. Hence FCPX being new from the ground up.


Hollywood has been dying on it's feet for the last few years. (it has not been the global film centre for a few years,. The COVID shutdown has simply accellerated that decline (in the same way it has with many other declining industries) I have a very good analysis on this from a friend in Hollywood I will see If I can post his observations.


You are aware that in 2019 more news was consumed on line via YouTube that via broadcast TV? the balance is shifting and the industry changing. You are sounding like one of those people who said wet film wans't dying and digital was for amatures.

Fully aware of the junk on YouTube. Anyone who believes half the unqualified ‘news’ reports on YouTube is a mug. Sadly giving everyone access to ‘broadcast’ was always going to drop quality and factual reporting to the lowest common denominator. The TV industry has long been very aware of what was going to happen but we’re powerless to change. Now UK TV is just like that in the US, multiple channels of mindless junk. There’s only so much revenue from advertising and licences and it now gets divided by all forms of online/over the air channels.

I’m certainly not one of those opposed to change, on the contrary I’ve embraced all changes in technology, tape formats, analogue & digital video and all file formats. I’ve spent the past 20-years building multiuser NLE editing suites, shared storage and broadcast systems for enterprise companies in the UK and throughout Asia Pacific working for the industry heavyweights. By far the greatest number of systems requested were based on Avid MediaComposer and ISIS storage. Most sites have a few legacy FC Studio suites and a number of Premiere Pro systems used by broadcast graphics designers that we integrate into the storage network. And not a single FCPX in sight.

Premiere Pro is rightly making inroads following the demise of FC Studio but it’s reliability is preventing a greater take-up in the broadcast and film industry. It’s still being used largely for dailies and logging.

The reason MediaComposer is dominant is its multiuser/shared storage and media management capabilities. It is the choice of all professional TV and Film training schools and attracts the highest salaries for editors in the industry- more than double the salary of Premiere Pro.

As for FC Studio, executive meetings we had with Apple’s senior management painted a very different explanation to us and it was all about money for the consumer and prosumer market and the unwanted expense and demands of the broadcast and film industry.

 

[vindibona1]

I have a couple more thoughts to the comments that @jagraphics mentioned along the way...

1) The number of users that a program or platform has means nothing. I remember, back around 1990 having an argument with a good friend who was an IT guy who said that Apple wasn't going to survive, citing so many more PC users at the time and Apple's limitations. I guess we all know where that went.

2) FCP has been around for a LONG time. For some time it was the only decent prosumer editing program out there. It is my assertion that those who start with one program tend to stay with that program, if for no other reason than its familiarity. If you're like me you HATE learning new software, even if it's the same software title, but they've changed procedures and quick keys which makes one's brain oscillate violently when your brain is programmed for one key stroke but you have to now stop your right brain from acting and switch to your left brain to execute the new key stroke. I digress. Bottom line: Longevity will automatically cultivate more followers.

3) [Perhaps a profound thought???]... It occurred to me that when we think something is "easy", it is only easy because it is familiar. We have certain innate and developed skills and processes. The actions required to get a certain outcome will seem easy if they're already in your "wheelhouse". Starting fresh will often not seem easy until the new information becomes familiar. As a alluded earlier in the thread, if you've learned something one way and have to get the same result but do it in a different way, in many cases the brain is going to freak out.

4) Familiarity breeds speed. That goes for shooting as well as editing. My first two drone projects took weeks. The last project, which I finished last night, took days (because I didn't like the original footage and had to go back). And if I had shot it right in the first place, the whole project would have only taken a few hours. I can now do in minutes what it took hours to do initially. I'd probably be in the same place had I started with FCPX or PP or Filmora and, if starting from scratch, don't see one being any easier or more difficult to learn than the others.

5) Learning resources are important. Earlier the mega-paged Resolve manual was mentioned, but honestly I never looked at it. There are SO many tutorials, many covering the same skills, but with different approaches. I suspect there are just as many for FCP or PP. But that's the thing. It doesn't matter if Hollywood uses Resolve or not, it is considered a MAJOR editing program along side of PP and FCP, supported pretty much the same way by many 3rd party vendors. I didn't learn Resolve in one afternoon (like I did Photoshop 2... when it had only ONE undo!). Developing any full-featured program is, or at least should be, a process of building blocks, adding skills on top of other skills, then learning the short-cuts and streamlined methods. Davinci Resolve is perfect for a building-block approach.

Sorry for the diatribe.

 

[SkyeHigh]

Excellently put vindibona1, as usual. Fully agree with everything you say.

The important factor is what you are comfortable with. I’ve been involved with most of the NLE’s out there over the years both professional and consumer grade.

MediaComposer scares the life out of most when they first see it. It was not designed to have all the GUI bells and whistles other more recent NLE’s have than what was needed to get the job done and quickly. The icons take some getting used to but soon become second nature and you just use the keyboard instead, it’s the quickest way to edit - little need for a mouse. What it did do was set the most logical screen layout and workflow that has since been copied by virtually all NLE’s including the original Final Cut, Premiere Pro, Velocity, Edius and more recently Resolve.

My beef is about people claiming FCPX is dominating, which is very far from the truth and misleading new starters from what is really going on in the professional industry and if they have future thoughts of making a living from editing.

As you mention changing an interface is a big stumbling block as much as using a new application for the first time. Learn on Premiere Pro and you can very quickly transfer to virtually any other editor. I started with the first release of Premiere Pro (post tape and offline editing), quickly picked-up speed with MediaComposer, Velocity, Edius, and Davinci Resolve.

I don’t really care who sells the most. Adobe can (and do) manipulate the figures with the number of the Adobe Master Suite subscribers that have Premiere Pro but they count them whether they use the editor or not. The figures mean little.

We need to ensure people can start on the right track, be aware that an NLE can be intimidating at first but persist with it. If they want to try several different applications to see what they prefer try from a supplier that offers a feature rich one for free. It is for that reason I’d heartily recommend Davinci Resolve. It takes some learning but it’ll do anything you’ll ever want and you won’t have to start from scratch if you decide to try a different NLE in the future.

 

[manic]

One limitation that I'm aware of in the free version of resolve is that the maximum resolution your can export (save) your output is 1080p. That should be enough for social media use.

 

[vindibona1]

One limitation that I'm aware of in the free version of resolve is that the maximum resolution your can export (save) your output is 1080p. That should be enough for social media use.

That information is incorrect. I'm exporting in 4k now all the time. Just posted one in the Showcase section today. Looking a a 2160p clip right now on YouTube. Obviously you have to be aware to set the proper resolution and frame rate when you begin the project.

 

[SkyeHigh]

That information is incorrect. I'm exporting in 4k now all the time. Just posted one in the Showcase section today. Looking a a 2160p clip right now on YouTube. Obviously you have to be aware to set the proper resolution and frame rate when you begin the project.

Absolutely, unless you set your frame rate prior to importing media you won’t be able to export anything other than 24FPS. It’s been a bug for many versions. Easy fix after the event, delete all imported media, change project frame rate then CTRL (or CMD) + Z and media will be restored.

 

[vindibona1]

Absolutely, unless you set your frame rate prior to importing media you won’t be able to export anything other than 24FPS. It’s been a bug for many versions. Easy fix after the event, delete all imported media, change project frame rate then CTRL (or CMD) + Z and media will be restored.

A bug or just a quirk? Either way, I appreciate your "easy fix". I'll have to try that on an earlier project that was shot in 2.7k but rendered in 1080p. I may have one additional hurdle as I've moved all the media off the main drive. I'll have to try it on a copy of the original.

 

[KingRat]

Can anyone point me in the right direction for trying to learn Davinci Resolve please? I have watched and watched tutorials. The one I can watch the longest is the bald chap with a beard - his voice is nice and mellow and he doesn't talk too fast, but I can't find it again now. Others I have watched I simply cannot listen to their voice, or they assume you already know so much that I am lost from the very outset. I have not yet managed to even load a clip into Davinci Resolve to try the very basics - to start with just cutting bits out and joining the cut pieces would be a great help. Once I have got started I can build on that. I do like to read a book to learn, I don't know why but I find it more effective than looking at a screen, especially when that screen is the same one you have to load the video to - a book can be open beside the screen, read a bit, do it, read the next bit... and so on and soforth.

I have used Media Maker, I still have it, it is on Windows 7 though and apparently that needed changing. I am glad I kept that computer with it on, at least I can still use it while I try to learn this other one. For pictures I still use Nikon Capture NX2, I have a book on it and still refer to it when working on some pictures, I can't remember how to do it without. For the drone pictures I have Lightroom 6, the fixed version, a friend loaded it for me. It is limited, I can't do multiple pictures for instance - the HDR multiple picture thing. I don't have the selection button for it, so it is probably a limited capability version.

If anyone knows where to find that tutorial chap again I would be grateful.

 

[vindibona1]

Can anyone point me in the right direction for trying to learn Davinci Resolve please? I have watched and watched tutorials. The one I can watch the longest is the bald chap with a beard - his voice is nice and mellow and he doesn't talk too fast, but I can't find it again now. Others I have watched I simply cannot listen to their voice, or they assume you already know so much that I am lost from the very outset. I have not yet managed to even load a clip into Davinci Resolve to try the very basics - to start with just cutting bits out and joining the cut pieces would be a great help. Once I have got started I can build on that. I do like to read a book to learn, I don't know why but I find it more effective than looking at a screen, especially when that screen is the same one you have to load the video to - a book can be open beside the screen, read a bit, do it, read the next bit... and so on and soforth.

I have used Media Maker, I still have it, it is on Windows 7 though and apparently that needed changing. I am glad I kept that computer with it on, at least I can still use it while I try to learn this other one. For pictures I still use Nikon Capture NX2, I have a book on it and still refer to it when working on some pictures, I can't remember how to do it without. For the drone pictures I have Lightroom 6, the fixed version, a friend loaded it for me. It is limited, I can't do multiple pictures for instance - the HDR multiple picture thing. I don't have the selection button for it, so it is probably a limited capability version.

If anyone knows where to find that tutorial chap again I would be grateful.

You're probably referring to Jason Yadlovski. YouTube link below. He's good and at the beginning I got a lot from him.

What makes Davinci Resolve seemingly difficult is that every setting has an icon rather than menus. You have to learn where the controls are. Then it's a matter of learning the process. I need to start writing a tutorial series when I learn stuff an call it "The Blind Leading the Blind" series. To get started with the basics of the basics here's what I would tell you to do.

1) Know what your timeline resolution and frames per second will be as well as the location of the media (presumably video clips) that you want to edit.
2) Open Resolve. It will probably prompt you for master settings. If the settings dialog doesn't appear click the cog in the lower right.
I suggest starting at 3840x2160 Ultra HD @ 23.976 or 30 fps. Video format 1080p 23.976 Data levels full, 10bit Bilenear scale. You can set as you like, I'm just mimicing my current settings.
3) Import media. Hit "Control+I" (PC) and locate your clips and click ok. I think you can drag the clips directly in, but control (command) I will open the dialog box and will remember the folder for later.
4) Once you have the clips in the media, navigate to the edit page click on a clip in the media pool and simply drag it into the timeline. To trim clips you can cut clips wherever the playhead is by hitting "command+B". Then you can hit BACKSPACE to delete the clip and leave space behind it, or the DELETE button to delete what you have currently selected and move everything else over where the deleted portion was. That's call a "ripple delete". You can also drag either end of the clip to trim the front or the back, and can even drag two adjacent clips where they are joined.
5) Audio can be treated pretty much the same way as video clips.
6) Obviously save your file. Make sure you don't move your source media once you get started or you'll have to point Davinci Resolve to where you moved it.

And that is the abridged, shortened, truncated, Davinci By Dummy first time beginners tutorial. This is the just the first building block to get started. Even the beginning section has nuances, but since you got stopped at "couldn't import clips" I thought I'd try to get you that far. PM me if you have any questions. FWIW my time zone is UTC -5.

I hope this helps at least a little.

 

[SkyeHigh]

A bug or just a quirk? Either way, I appreciate your "easy fix". I'll have to try that on an earlier project that was shot in 2.7k but rendered in 1080p. I may have one additional hurdle as I've moved all the media off the main drive. I'll have to try it on a copy of the original.

Certainly an odd quirk but I don’t know of any other NLE’s that don’t let you set a default project/frame rate. From memory (v5?) it didn’t use to behave like this. It can be changed but you have to edit XML files to do it and will likely change between upgrades.

 

[SkyeHigh]

A bug or just a quirk? Either way, I appreciate your "easy fix". I'll have to try that on an earlier project that was shot in 2.7k but rendered in 1080p. I may have one additional hurdle as I've moved all the media off the main drive. I'll have to try it on a copy of the original.

If you have your original project and media on an external drive you should be able to relink it to the timeline without having to import.

 

[KingRat]

You're probably referring to Jason Yadlovski. YouTube link below. He's good and at the beginning I got a lot from him.

What makes Davinci Resolve seemingly difficult is that every setting has an icon rather than menus. You have to learn where the controls are. Then it's a matter of learning the process. I need to start writing a tutorial series when I learn stuff an call it "The Blind Leading the Blind" series. To get started with the basics of the basics here's what I would tell you to do.

1) Know what your timeline resolution and frames per second will be as well as the location of the media (presumably video clips) that you want to edit.
2) Open Resolve. It will probably prompt you for master settings. If the settings dialog doesn't appear click the cog in the lower right.
I suggest starting at 3840x2160 Ultra HD @ 23.976 or 30 fps. Video format 1080p 23.976 Data levels full, 10bit Bilenear scale. You can set as you like, I'm just mimicing my current settings.
3) Import media. Hit "Control+I" (PC) and locate your clips and click ok. I think you can drag the clips directly in, but control (command) I will open the dialog box and will remember the folder for later.
4) Once you have the clips in the media, navigate to the edit page click on a clip in the media pool and simply drag it into the timeline. To trim clips you can cut clips wherever the playhead is by hitting "command+B". Then you can hit BACKSPACE to delete the clip and leave space behind it, or the DELETE button to delete what you have currently selected and move everything else over where the deleted portion was. That's call a "ripple delete". You can also drag either end of the clip to trim the front or the back, and can even drag two adjacent clips where they are joined.
5) Audio can be treated pretty much the same way as video clips.
6) Obviously save your file. Make sure you don't move your source media once you get started or you'll have to point Davinci Resolve to where you moved it.

And that is the abridged, shortened, truncated, Davinci By Dummy first time beginners tutorial. This is the just the first building block to get started. Even the beginning section has nuances, but since you got stopped at "couldn't import clips" I thought I'd try to get you that far. PM me if you have any questions. FWIW my time zone is UTC -5.

I hope this helps at least a little.

Thank you very much. I can't remember the chap's name, I'm not sure it gives it.. I shall have to watch again now!

 

[vindibona1]

Thank you very much. I can't remember the chap's name, I'm not sure it gives it.. I shall have to watch again now!

It's not that hard. Really. The one thing about video tutorials is that it's hard to skip over stuff that's just blathering or getting past stuff you know or not interested in. Nor can you stop it and ask it questions. There will be videos or things within them that will go over your head, but you'll come back to it in a month and understand it completely. If you get stuck again PM me. Once you get over the beginner's hump you'll pick up the other stuff in no time. I promise.

 

[Jay241]

Thank you all for this great thread, new to air photography/video and was looking for an alternative to CS6. It ran its course but can't afford a monthly subscription to use a video editor. I will give Davinci a spin and will keep using CS6 to edit RAW photos.

 

[SkyeHigh]

Thank you all for this great thread, new to air photography/video and was looking for an alternative to CS6. It ran its course but can't afford a monthly subscription to use a video editor. I will give Davinci a spin and will keep using CS6 to edit RAW photos.

You’ll find Resolve quick to pick-up if you have been using Premiere Pro from CS6.

 

[vindibona1]

Thank you all for this great thread, new to air photography/video and was looking for an alternative to CS6. It ran its course but can't afford a monthly subscription to use a video editor. I will give Davinci a spin and will keep using CS6 to edit RAW photos.

Ya know, there is an alternative to the Adobe Borg for raw and general editing, similar to Lightroom, but only $100 one time purchase. It has some AI stuff that a lot of folks will find extremely useful and time saving. I use it from time to time, though I've been a long time user of Capture One Pro, the grandaddy of standalone RAW processing programs. On1 Photo Raw Website