Resolve 15

Hello again,

I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro. I use a different NLE for my primary editing, but on my old computer I had the free version of resolve 14, which I used primarily for transcoding ProRes footage...and occasionally messing around with/testing color grades.

I attempted to search for Resolve 14 to install on my new Mac. But I could only find 15.

Does the resolve 15 beta (free) pretty much override 14? And should I install it?

You can still download the latest version of Resolve 14 from the Support pages:

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/

Scroll down through the "Latest Downloads" column until you find Resolve 14 (be careful not to accidentally download the Studio version, which is the paid version).

That said, Resolve 15 is great, adds a lot of new features and bug fixes, and is quite stable. I've been using it for a few months (since it was first announced) and have upgraded to each subsequent beta version with no problems. Windows users have experienced more problems, especially with audio, but with Mac you should be fine.

As you know, laptops offer limited performance with Resolve, but if you're mainly doing editing you should be fine.

You can still download the latest version of Resolve 14 from the Support pages:

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/

Scroll down through the "Latest Downloads" column until you find Resolve 14 (be careful not to accidentally download the Studio version, which is the paid version).

That said, Resolve 15 is great, adds a lot of new features and bug fixes, and is quite stable. I've been using it for a few months (since it was first announced) and have upgraded to each subsequent beta version with no problems. Windows users have experienced more problems, especially with audio, but with Mac you should be fine.

As you know, laptops offer limited performance with Resolve, but if you're mainly doing editing you should be fine.

So I can go ahead and download the free beta version of resolve 15?

After quite a bit of research when looking for a new computer the general consensus was that, like you said, stuff like color grading and whatnot is fairly limited on a laptop. I MUST have portability so a laptop is my only option. I really have my heart set on the new BMPCC coming out. Which sucks because I guess it comes with Resolve. I hate to waste an opportunity to use free software.

Is this “heavy” grading (whatever that is) that is limited? Or am I literally stuck with just cutting clips and that’s it? Because that’s kind of unfortunate.

So I can go ahead and download the free beta version of resolve 15?

After quite a bit of research when looking for a new computer the general consensus was that, like you said, stuff like color grading and whatnot is fairly limited on a laptop. I MUST have portability so a laptop is my only option. I really have my heart set on the new BMPCC coming out. Which sucks because I guess it comes with Resolve. I hate to waste an opportunity to use free software.

Is this “heavy” grading (whatever that is) that is limited? Or am I literally stuck with just cutting clips and that’s it? Because that’s kind of unfortunate.

Yes, you can just go ahead and download the free version 15 beta. When you get your BMPCC 4K you can replace it with the Resolve Studio version that comes with the camera; it's a separate product (it's not as if having the license key unlocks features in the free version; they are two separate programs). The Studio version gives you noise reduction (very useful) and a number of other features that are missing in the free version.

As I noted in your other thread, Resolve is different from other NLEs in the way it partitions tasks between the CPU and the GPU, and it thus has higher GPU requirements than other NLEs. If you're doing straightforward one- or two-node color corrections it should be fine; the easiest way to test your laptop's limitations when it comes to grading is to apply a few of Resolve's built-in "looks" (available on the color page); some of these use multiple nodes and will put your GPU to the test. I'm able to do simple color grading on a refurbished 2014 i5 Mac Mini with integrated Intel graphics, but once I start adding nodes for secondary grading I can see the impact (it starts skipping frames and playback gets jittery). Same goes for optical flow in editing, which you use to achieve smooth playback in slow motion. There are a few other editing features that might be too much for your laptop, but you're unlikely to use them (one, for example, is the "upscaling" feature that improves the resolution of lower-res stills or video, but while that's a very processor-intensive task the manual describes a workaround).

My understanding is that you should work with proxy footage if you're editing in 4K on a laptop, but since I have no intention of filming in 4K and I don't have a laptop, I haven't learned about it. My suggestion would be to go ahead and download Resolve and start learning it; the worst-case scenario is that you may ultimately decide that Final Cut or Premiere will be a better choice for your laptop, but if Resolve ends up meeting your needs you can avoid spending anything on software.

Thanks again for your help.

I have one more issue that I’m currently dealing with...and then I’ll leave you alone.

I installed resolve 15. And today I dropped in some clips from a skate park I was filming at yesterday. As mentioned before, I pretty much only use resolve to transcode my footage. When I went through the usual process (A few minutes ago), Da Vinci froze on me. I had to power off and back on again. I retried the process and it froze again.

Any idea what could’ve caused this? It’s the first time this has happened...even when I was using my older, underpowered MacBook.

Can't help you with that one, sorry, but maybe others here can! It would be best to post the exact specifications of your laptop -- make, model, processor (i5 or i7, etc.), memory, GPU and GPU memory. Edited to add: you should also post that question in the DaVinci Resolve section of the forum as it'll more likely be noticed there.

If there's something with v. 15 that's causing these crashes you can uninstall it and download the last version of v. 14 instead and see if that works.