Performance difference between the Lite and Studio versions?

I’ve been using the Lite version of DaVinci Resolve for years and liking it more and more. Since there is a price drop I want to purchase the studio version. I’ve read in a few other forums people are saying that there is a performance difference between the Lite and Studio versions. Meaning that the Studio version will not run as fast as the Lite version. Is there any truth to this?

Note: I’m using DR 14 Lite Beta version. It’s running very well on my Mac Pro 5,1 (2012) 3.33 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon, 48GB Ram, NVIDIA GTX 970 4095 MB, OS 10.12.4

Thanks,

-Russ

I never heard that, and you know what they say about what one reads on the internets.

Studio does offer some additional functionality which results in more drain on the CPU or GPU in some cases. For instance when using NR, or some of the FX like Camera Blur etc.

But this is not because Studio is somehow less efficient, it's just because people using Studio typically want to access those additional functions which are not available in the free version.

That statement likely comes from the difference between CUDA and OPENCL and the crappy Apple store Studio version only beeing able to run in OPENCL.
I was also hit by that as ran on CUDA very fast on the lite version, then was surpriced negatively by the super bad performance on the studio version (app store) , to only find out after the fact it was caused by CUDA not beeing supported (and me running with 2 Nvidia CUDA cards). At that time it was not obvious and took some deep investigation to find that hidden "feature" . Was not advertised and i know more people who fell into that trap.

I dropped the crap-store version in the proverbial trashcan and got a dongled studio version , which can run both cuda and opencl.

Hint : if companies offer both an app store version and a downloadable version from their own website, get the latter as apple blocks all kinds of features due to their sandboxing rules !!!
I had similar crap with 2 other apps.

Thank you, Kays and Glenn for your reply. Yes, you have to be careful what you read on the internet.

I applied some of the filters that only come with the Studio version in the 14 Beta. It lets you do that but applies a watermark. I think it’s a good test to see how a computer performs, (I’m guessing that’s the case). The ones I tested worked fine.

I know to stay away from the version that is on the Apple Store. I’ll go with one of the authorized online resellers that are listed on the BMD website.

Let me get this right. You buy the Dongle from the online store, then download the software from the BMD website?

Thanks, again

Let me get this right. You buy the Dongle from the online store, then download the software from the BMD website?

Thanks, again

Yes, but for the sake of clarity let me point out the following (which have been part of the official Blackmagic news I have read but which many seem to miss):

1. Blackmagic Resolve Studio is now officially priced at $299 (down from $999 or $499 on the Apple Store). You can buy it online from people like B&H etc.

2. What you get is Resolve Studio 12.5 because Resolve 14 Studio is still in the beta stage (many forget that it was announced less than a month ago). At some point Resolve 14 will be officially released, have no idea when but a good guess IMHO would be around late August (just pulling this out of you know where, but also based on previous release cycles).

3. When Resolve 14 Studio officially comes out, Blackmagic has said that they will drop the dongle requirement and switch to (I'm assuming) a serial number based authorization which previous Studio users can obtain from Blackmagic.

4. If you buy Resolve 12.5 Studio, you will receive a free upgrade to the official Resolve 14 release (and the current 14 Studio beta works with the 12.5 dongle).

Yes, I did know that when you buy the Dongle it's for Resolve Studio 12.5.

Just last week I saw an interview online with a Rep from BMD saying they were thinking of dropping the Dongle and moving everyone with a Dongle to the serial number based authorization. What was still up in the air is how BMD was going to handle users of the studio version going from one computer to another. For me I work at home but go to a different worksite to continue the project I'm working on using their computer. I would like to not have to buy another copy of DR. So I hope they can figure everything out for us multi computer users.

Seems like some misinformation here. I distinctly recall BMD stating that dongle users could continue to use their dongles with Resolve Studio 14. Time for BMD product management to chime in again, I guess.

[Rohit Gupta]

Resolve 14 will be a free upgrade for all Resolve 12.5 dongle users. So if you have a dongle it will continue to work with Resolve 14.

Thanks Rohit.

Yes, I did hear that Resolve 12.5 dongle users will get the upgrade to DR14 for free, and the dongle will continue to work for DR14. But what about the dongle working for the upgrades after DR14? I know I am looking way into the future but...

Russ,

It's the other way around. If you are running multiple GPUs the studio version will work much more smooth. Lite only uses one gpu while the studio version will use all gpus available to it.

Hope this helps,

-Ara

Ara,

I'm only running one GPU. How is that going to effect the performance using the studio version verses the lite version? Shouldn't the performance be the same except when maybe using some of those studio only filters?

-Russ

Ara,

I'm only running one GPU. How is that going to effect the performance using the studio version verses the lite version? Shouldn't the performance be the same except when maybe using some of those studio only filters?

-Russ

Yes. Identical if you stick to the same technology (cuda vs opencl).
Actualy you can even see the performance of the studio only stuff in lite, as they also work there only render with demo marks on the screen. All my benchmarks are identical between the 2 versions (ignoring the app store version as mentioned before)

[Rohit Gupta]

You will see better performance with Studio on some platforms and some codecs. For example with 14 beta 3 you should see better scrubbing performance with h264 on windows.

Hi Rohit,

Not using windows, but for the sake of that crowd, why would studio run faster then light on windows in aforementioned combination ? Did you burry in a secret incentive to buy studio we dont know about

Ps great work on the ongoing 14 betas work . Respect !!!!

Update: I just purchased DR Studio for $299. from Full Compass. It comes with the Dongle. They had one in stock. A lot of other places were out-of-stock.

So when I get the Dongle. Does it come with a serial number so I can download DR Studio from the BMD website? How does this all work?

Thanks!

-Russ

[Rohit Gupta]

You download the new versions available from the Blackmagic website support section.

Make sure you download the Studio version and not the free version.

Update: I just purchased DR Studio for $299. from Full Compass. It comes with the Dongle. They had one in stock. A lot of other places were out-of-stock.

So when I get the Dongle. Does it come with a serial number so I can download DR Studio from the BMD website? How does this all work?

Thanks!

-Russ

You do not need any serial number to download Studio version. It will not work if you do not have a dongle.

Thanks for all the help and replies everyone

"That statement likely comes from the difference between CUDA and OPENCL and the crappy Apple store Studio version only being able to run in OPENCL."

Under OSX 12.5 always showed the CUDA option.

Now running under WIN 10 with GTX-1080. I remember Resolve can use anIntel on-CPU GPU and I assume the GTX-1080.

What should 12.5 and 14 show that indicates it is using the GTX-1080? At this moment, I remember it does not show anything about the GPU.

Update: I just purchased DR Studio for $299. from Full Compass. It comes with the Dongle. They had one in stock. A lot of other places were out-of-stock.

So when I get the Dongle. Does it come with a serial number so I can download DR Studio from the BMD website? How does this all work?

Thanks!

-Russ

You do not need any serial number to download Studio version. It will not work if you do not have a dongle.

You do to register it. The Serial number is on the back of the box.