[Solved] DaVinci Resolve Lite for Linux request

Hello!

First comment here, but I go with a precise message.

To begin with, thank you so much for giving an opportunity to use your software and see how it works!
DaVinci Resolve Lite is a very amazing way to bring in more people and show them how great the DaVinci Resolve is.

However there is a big section of people forgotten. DaVinci Resolve is so attractive due to the fact that not only it is a BIG name in Hollywood and not only Hollywood movie production, but it also has a Linux version! It is actually one of the first serious software that appeared on Linux two decades ago (?) ! And the fact it has a Linux version makes it be even more attractive.
But here we are with DaVinci Resolve Lite available for WIndows and Mas OS X, but not for Linux. And Linux is the most attractive platform due to the possibilities it can give.

There fore I would like to ask Blackmagic Design to consider an option to provide DaVinci Resolve Lite for Linux too. This way you will be the most appealing color grading software choice on the planet. There is nothing better than a tool that works on all major platforms and gives you true freedom of creativity with sharing issues headache free.

In addition why it is worth considering is that Editshare Lightworks award winning video editor is coming to Linux and OS X and will be the first Hollywood strength video editor to support all major platforms. it is already making revolution and painting a new portrait of industry.

I have tried DaVicni Resolve Lite on Windows, absolutely love it! Paired with Lightworks video editor, DaVinci Resolve is one really amazing, absolutely fantastic combination! These two tools together makes another revolution in video production world.

I believe I would be not the only one really grateful if you considered this option. And it would be a lot more effective to attract more people if we could try out DaVinci Resolve on our platforms of choice, learn it, grow with and upgrade to Pro version with no second thought. For example I am looking for video production software and I want to work exclusively in Linux platform. I am also looking for Color grading solution but I am not able to see if DaVinci Resolve will be the tool of my choice for use in Linux.

Dear Balckmagic Design team, please consider making DaVinci Resolve Lite available on Linux too. In addition it would be amazing if you would pick some more commonly used LTS Linux distribution (Ubunu (or Debian) comes to mind because it is the first one to get driver support or fedora will do (which I suppose your current RPM should support)) so not only the users would find this amazing software, but also you would find a lot more new clients to be using your software and hardware.

Kind regards,

Danas

A most hearty seconded!

The Linux community is extremely excited to have these big name projects on the platform.

I support the request by Danis as well! Everything he said is so true

I Absolutely agree.
Resolve looks like it could be perfect for my post production workflow. The lack of a Linux lite version means the difference between knowing this is true of mere speculation.

Just wanted to add my support to this. I sent an e-mail to Blackmagic asking about it a few months ago and received a lackluster response, but maybe the opportunity to gather all the requests in one place publicly will help.

I'm an independent filmmaker, and Linux offers me lower operating costs, the ability to customize and develop the software that I need, and a philosophy of sharing that I strongly believe in. I still have to resort to Windows on occasion for certain editing projects but, with the coming of Lightworks, that will stop. Color grading is another matter, however, as Linux options are currently simplistic.

Resolve Lite is a very clever marketing strategy -- offering it free helps popularize the software with low/no-budget filmmakers in order to capture their loyalty early on. With the lack of a Linux version, though, I think Blackmagic is really missing a trick. As Danas says, Lightworks will shortly be available for Linux and -- were there a Linux edition of Resolve Lite -- the combination of a free and high-quality operating system, editing suite, and color correction suite could open up a new arena in independent post-production.

Make them work well together, and you'd have a very attractive package. Imagine the number of beginning or low-budget filmmakers that would jump at the chance to use a trio of free software like this, or schools that would switch their loyalties from Final Cut or Premiere with their basic built-in color correction and upgrade costs to the triumvirate of Resolve/Lightworks/Linux. You'd get filmmakers interested in color grading early on, and invested in Resolve so that they take it with them to bigger projects as they become successful.

Anyway, I'm disappointed that the Linux version is so unloved, but I hope someone at Blackmagic might see the potential and turn things around.

I agree!!!!
There is a new way brewing and blackmagic would do itself a great service by getting on a train that looks like it is going to finally be leaving the station. If davinci lite was on linux there would be a huge untapped market that would love to find a loyalty but don't have a single choice right now.

Curious... Has anyone actually tried using a DaVinci Resolve Software dongle to activate the Linux version, or is it a completely different license?

I know that the $29,995 control surface comes with a dongle that works on Mac, Windows and Linux - just curious if the $995 also works with Linux?

Anyone have a CentOS 5.4 box they can test it out on?

Well since the one can actually buy a pro version of Resolve software for Linux, I suspect the dongle thingie could work I don;t think it is worth having different activation licensing methods for each platform, however the question is would it understand the Lite version licensing? I would like to try and see if Resovle would work on my set up, unfortunately I can't because I have DELL XPS L502X which has Optimus technology and I read that it is quite a challenge to make Bumblebee to work properly on Centos especially for a Linux n00b like I am so without NVidia card I guess Resolve wouldn;t play nice.

I read the instruction how to install bumblebee for Fedora but at the moment my brain is too tiny for that.
Ubuntu based system on the other hand is a cool wind breeze on a hot sunny day.

I have tried to install DaVicni Resolve on Ubuntu 12.04 based system using the alien rpm to deb converter, installation went fine but once I try to launch Resovle, it says that no Balckmagic Design hardware was detected and shutdowns it self.

Oh I so wish there was a lite version for Linux... And if they made universal .run or binary file instead of rpm package that would be so convenient since there would be possibilities to launch DaVinci Resolve on more long term support Linux distributions. But I would be happy enough to enjoy Resolve Lite on any Linux even Centos before I am able to upgrade to pro version.

Resolve 9 (for Linux) requires:

- CentOS 5.4
- 16GB of RAM
- Blackmagic Design Desktop Video version 9.2
- NVIDIA Driver version 295.53
- RED ROCKET Driver version 1.4.25
- RED ROCKET Firmware version 1.1.16.5

Resolve for Linux doesnt support any 3rd party control surfaces, so in order to grade with it you need the panels, which come with the Linux license and installer. Your Mac/Windows licenses will not work on a Linux box, and the installer is not available on the web.

While you have listed some of the technical requirements, there are more than the ones posted for a fully functioning system. Blackmagic chose a select number of solutions providers in their channel to build, test and install these systems as they're alot more particular on setup and support than OSX or Windows.

As Lite will limit your use of resolution and GPUs, I dont see the point in a Linux Lite version. If you only need HD and 1GPU the OSX system is the best option for you.

The only good argument I have had for a lite linux version is for onset work or a MCR conform/render system where no panels are required.

As Lite will limit your use of resolution and GPUs, I dont see the point in a Linux Lite version. If you only need HD and 1GPU the OSX system is the best option for you.

The "point" in a Linux version is the same as the point in a version for any other operating system -- its users would like software that runs natively.

There is a further argument for a Linux version of Lite -- which has already been described above -- in that it could form the basis of a no-cost beginning production suite for low-budget filmmakers, in conjunction with Lightworks and other apps.

As for technical requirements, there is no reason the Linux version need be any more complicated to develop or support than those for Windows or OS X.

Resolve for Linux doesnt support any 3rd party control surfaces, so in order to grade with it you need the panels, which come with the Linux license and installer.

Yes, I understand that currently only the proper Resolve panel is the only panel supported on Linux. However, a lot of users are happy to drive Resolve without a panel.

What Michael is suggesting is having a Resolve Lite option for Linux, not for high-end power users, but for the other extreme, no-budget filmmakers who have more time than money and are happy to do things with a mouse. For users who need a high-end grading suite - the panel comes with a bundled license of Resolve on Linux, so they're good to go anyway.

There are Tangent Element drivers already for Linux, so it wouldn't be too hard for BM to add support for this panel later down the line.

Your Mac/Windows licenses will not work on a Linux box

Curious, have you actually tried this first hand? You would ASSUME that would be the case, but I'd love to see a real world example. If anyone has both a Mac dongle and a Linux dongle (assuming there is actually a dongle for the Linux version - or is the panel itself the dongle?), I'd love to see if you can swap them around and see what happens. Chances are it won't actually work - but it would be interesting if it does.

and the installer is not available on the web.

Actually that's incorrect.

Personally I think Blackmagic just think it will be too difficult to support a Linux version of Resolve Lite. As someone who maintains an Autodesk Smoke Advanced system on Linux, I can tell you first hand it requires a LOT more "love" than our MacPro suites. I have heard many rumours over the years that they would do a Resolve Lite on Linux release - but given it hasn't happened yet, I'm going to assuming they've added up the numbers, and it just doesn't make sense supporting a 3rd OS, when Mac OS and Windows are such easy options. Really there's no advantage to go with Linux over Windows at this point in time, as you can use exactly the same hardware, and all the device drivers for Windows are much more stable.

I think the way Blackmagic currently has it (Mac & PC for the lower end, Linux for higher end) makes sense, and really the natural progression is build a suite around a lower-cost panel using Mac or PC, then once you start making serious money, then you can invest in a proper Resolve panel and upgrade the rest of the hardware accordingly. I think it all makes sense. Having that said - I can certainly understand what Michael and others are suggesting.

My 2c.

This information is helpful for people wanting to build their own Resolve Linux system:

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/4 ... g_2012.pdf

What Michael is suggesting is having a Resolve Lite option for Linux, not for high-end power users, but for the other extreme, no-budget filmmakers who have more time than money and are happy to do things with a mouse. For users who need a high-end grading suite - the panel comes with a bundled license of Resolve on Linux, so they're good to go anyway.

I understand the idea, but you've answered this later in your post. The support guys for Linux have to have some level of dedication to those power users, or you lose the high end of the market which is a major reason that people want to use Resolve as it runs some of the biggest film, tv and commercial houses in the world.

Your Mac/Windows licenses will not work on a Linux box

Yes I have, no it doesn't

Actually that's incorrect.

If you read the configuration guide most will quickly realise that is'nt an 'installer' that most users are used to, it requires knowledge of CentOS/Linux to put the packages together and build a disc to install the server box. It might be straight forward for you as someone used to running premium Linux software, but for the 99% it wont be.

I think the way Blackmagic currently has it (Mac & PC for the lower end, Linux for higher end) makes sense, and really the natural progression is build a suite around a lower-cost panel using Mac or PC, then once you start making serious money, then you can invest in a proper Resolve panel and upgrade the rest of the hardware accordingly. I think it all makes sense. Having that said - I can certainly understand what Michael and others are suggesting.

My 2c.

I agree with you here, and I did infact say that I see a good reason for a free linux support license, just not for the same reasons as Michael

Yes I have, no it doesn't

Ah, well! It was worth a shot! Thanks for humouring me!

What Michael is suggesting is having a Resolve Lite option for Linux, not for high-end power users, but for the other extreme, no-budget filmmakers who have more time than money and are happy to do things with a mouse. For users who need a high-end grading suite - the panel comes with a bundled license of Resolve on Linux, so they're good to go anyway.

I understand the idea, but you've answered this later in your post. The support guys for Linux have to have some level of dedication to those power users, or you lose the high end of the market which is a major reason that people want to use Resolve as it runs some of the biggest film, tv and commercial houses in the world.

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Actually, I dont really undestand your point of view (Or I do not understand you correctly). I mean why should Davinci Resolve loose high-end users, when a lite version, which does not have all the pro-features (like 2K/4K, noise reduction, etc.) is released.

And of course, I know that no-budget filmmakers are not the target gruop for DaVinci Resolve, but I personally think as there is a full version of Resolve for all three major plattforms, it won't be too hard to release a linux-lite-version as well.

The first minute BMD released Lite version they touched low budget filmmakers.

To my understanding BMD wants to grow more new artists and filmmakers to use DaVinci Resolve and BMD wants to expand. Linux is equal market place.

If BMD managed to make DaVinci Resolve run on Windows, there is no reason why Lite version or pro version couldn;t run on any Linux distribution because most up to date Linux distributions has good hardware support. While I understand the advantages of having Resolve running on specially tailored hardware, BMD made Resolve be acceptable for Windows and Mac users. Why not support Linux equally?

Days when Linux were geek or production house only OS is long time over, today Linux is one of the most attractive and well developed DE with many impressive advancements for multimedia artists. The only thing missing is the support from various software developers who develop professional tools. It is either too expensive or nice opensource initiatives but they can;t replace pro grade tools.


Luckily Editshare decided to break this discriminating look at Linux users community and developed Lightworks to be true cross platform software and made it be accessible to everyone.

Now would be a very good timing to create an unbreakable workflow between two professional grade tools. Lightworks and DaVinci Resolve makes a very good combination. Both of them could highlight the advantages of using these tools. Resolve is the most widely used color grading solution in industry as well as it has high chances to be the number one choice for many growing filmmakers, Lightworks is another industry well accepted, award winning and widely used tool by professional filmmakers (see the big list of well known movies).

With giving support for all 3 major platforms software developers create a perfect environment for various clients. My personal view is this: looks for software that has true cross platform support, if it has, it means it is good software. BMD almost has it, it just needs to be more accessible to everyone including Linux users.

Lite version for Windows and Mac OS X is a good start, but BMD already has native Linux architecture on which it grew. If BMD decided to be generous for Windows and OS X users, why do they ignore young talents who are Linux users? Isn;t the Lite version supposed to give the taste of professional color grading and attract more new and fresh users clients who will ensure the long life for the software? Doesn;t BMD want to show how flexible they are, how flexible their tools are?

BMD is so close to be a definition of a perfect color grading software and hardware developers.
I am sure if BMD managed to port Resovle to such OS as windows, they would not have any trouble to port it to a more supported Linux OS like Ubuntu, RED Hat is one good OS of Linux but it doens;t seem to be the first one to get the support of the latest hardware, I might be wrong, but CentOS (which is created based on RHL) didn;t leave me an impression to be well supported, while such Linux distribution like Ubuntu is so well supported, it is the first one to get latest hardware support. It has long term support versions which with the 12.04 generation is set to be supported for 5 years. And it will always be the first one to get the latest hardware support while keeps it self on stable basis. I don't think BMD can go wrong with making DaVinci Resolve be same as it is for Windows and OS X and also introduce lite version for Linux together with picking a more widely used Linux distribution and keep that superman power option for grown up clients with the specific hardware and extended strength in features.

Linux is equal to OS X and Windows platforms. What companies should understand is that the client is responsible for making sure that their hardware is supported on Linux. So if Resolve can run on Windows in this variety of hardware it also can run on Linux on this same variety of hardware.

If I can run blender on windows and Linux on the same hardware and even increase my productivity on Linux why can't we do such a thing with Resolve?

Lightworks soon will be accessible on Linux why can't it be with Resolve?

Since Resolve has OS X and Windows support it means it is flexible enough to repeat this on generic Linux driven hardware too.

Hi !

I also want to ask for a Linux version. I'm also in the situation that I don't like the limitations the mac pro has, also we all don't know how long Apple will make them, and there are also a lot of other reasons why to leave the apple platform.
Would it be possible to get a version of Resolve (I have three full licenses running) which runs on Ubuntu?
A version which is optimized for a LTS for example in a debian package? That would be really awsome.
Plus a driver for the Element panels...
I would pay for that also a higher price as for the Mac and Windows version...

regards
rainer

[Joshua Helling]

Thanks for the input guys. However we have no plans for this at this time.

Thanks for the input guys. However we have no plans for this at this time.

Well, that is sad and upsetting.

But maybe this will change once more folks will request this once LW for Linux will appear.

It would be nice if we could get Resolve running on any computer as Mac OS X and Windows users can.
it now feels kind of discriminating... anyway, at least big studios can enjoy it on Linux with full potential! lucky they are, I will keep dreaming for resolve and resolve lite for the rest of the Linux users.

Resolve did fit my workflow so well! but I guess I need to look for something that could replace Resolve once I 100% move to Linux, Which will happen sometime soon after October 30.

I just wish Linux users would be more active regarding this because Resolve is such a perfect color grading software. It would be so awesome if every Linux user could take the advantages of Resolve as every Windows user with a decent PC can.

Keeping my fingers crossed for BMD to recognize this option as a "go for it" soon.

Joshua, thank you for your note regarding this.

Yup, that's a shame and seems completely short-sighted, but unfortunately Blackmagic seems to fall into the category of those "traditional" software companies that don't see the potential in expanding Linux usage because they can't see beyond the numbers in their marketing spreadsheets. Oh well, maybe someone else will step up to fill the gap.

[Joshua Helling]

Well, it's kind of a cart before the horse kinda thing if i'm honest. We only support the Linux version of DaVinci resolve on a very specific set of hardware that we certify. And even though the OS is free the hardware that we support in the software is not.

So it's a financial commitment. Also there is no installer right now as on Mac or Windows. It's essentially a disk image that gets installed on the HDD of that machine.

So at the point that you've committed to the hardware, the software is a very small thing.

I could suggest that if all you'd like to do is see that resolve is right for you, that you could install the free version on a Windows PC, or Hackintosh and see if you like it. If that works and you feel comfortable with the software aspect, then you can buy the full version and the supported hardware.

well it is just upsetting that Davinci Resolve for Mac and Windows can run on any hardware, and Linux version support only special hardware, when if BMD was able to make Resolve run on Windows machines there should be completely no issues to make Linux version be as the one for Windows and run on any computers. Linux support most hardware available for computers like Windows does. And it feels really upsetting that Windows and MAc users can take the advantages of BMD amazing software on any decent computer when Linux users can only get it with special hardware which is not accessible in many countries.

I fully realize what advantages the specially designed hardware gives, but if Windows and Mac users were presented with generic hardware support, why can't Linux users be treated the same?

unfortunately the suggestion to try it on Windows or hackintosh is not the best, because Windows to my personal experience is a terrible investment. I have it and regret it. But that is a personal opinion, which is more likely to be the same for most Linux users, that is why they use Linux, they are not satisfied with Windows or policies that MS came up with while Hackintosh is illegal and against the law, at least this was like so a year ago when I read articles about it.

We can not make arguments with BMD because it is your developed software and BMD takes the road map they see best fit their needs.

But as a possible client I have a feature request to recognize Linux users same way as you did Mac and Windows users. Maybe the Linux market looks small because people can;t afford the dedicated hardware, but if Linux users could buy Resolve and use it as Windows users on their regular decent computers you would see a different portrait of the market and its possibilities. After all, you managed to make it work on Windows and Mac OS X.

Another reason to think about it is that MS with Windows 8 made some really not attractive decisions and most video production professionals are not likely to upgrade and it is a question how long will they keep us with win7, while no one knows how long will Apple support their pro line, after the last surprise of theirs, many people who use pro gear from Apple are no longer trusting Apple.

Just my two cents.

Anyway, thank you to BMD for developing Resolve and making it be accessible for MAC and Windows users. It is a very impressive software for color grading.

Well, it's kind of a cart before the horse kinda thing if i'm honest. We only support the Linux version of DaVinci resolve on a very specific set of hardware that we certify. And even though the OS is free the hardware that we support in the software is not.

- Joshua Helling

This is exactly right. It's really easy as a software consumer to forget about the complexities involved in making the OS work together with your software. The problem with linux support isn't on the part of the software creators but on the part of drivers support. The hardware manufactures need to see the power of the OS and the market potential.

Linux audio software is just now starting to be taken seriously by companies like Harrison Consoles. (Highend audio console manufacturer - harrisonconsoles.com) However, it has been a slow process because of the driver problems encountered with Firewire and USB Audio. It took a decade for the Jack Audio Connection Kit (jackaudio.org) to become recognized as mainstream by software developers.

Video is worse off than audio. OpenGL is still a nightmare for developers to work with reliably. Davnci Resolve uses OpenCL which is supported by newer cards. But Linux support is in its infancy. Because of the low price tag of the OS hardware vendors don't feel pressure to support Linux.

Companies like RedHat (Centos and Fedora) and Canonical (Ubuntu and children) do a lot to advance the viability of the Linux market. But it is slow to get graphics cards companies to release drivers to the group of people most likely to reverse engineer their proprietary work.

Like Joshua is saying, this is a cart and horse problem. It's not a matter of desire its a mater of ability. BMD has shown how deeply they desire to embrace and enhance the Linux software ecosystem. They are in bed with Linux. But because Nvidia and ATI have less confidence in Linux companies like BMD are left waiting on them to catch up and smell the 21st century.

I don't think Joshua is in anyway saying that they don't WANT to move forward with a wider Linux support. Just that they don't have the ability to do that just yet. My guess is that in 3-5 years BMD may have the hardware support they need on the average consumer Linux system (Ubuntu et al.) with the growing support of OpenCL. This should add the missing piece needed to let BMD continue pioneering the Linux front for video software. We can hope anyway...

While specialty hardware may have support these type of things get intricate. For the audio systems I build I have to modify the Linux Kernel with Ingo Molnar's (from RedHat) patches. This type of invasive modification doesn't fit well into the paradigm of traditional installers.

Until we have good graphics card drivers DaVinci Resolve on Linux makes no sense. This is why I firmly believe the next big wave of software trends in Linux will be application specific OSes based on Linux. We can already see BMD moving in this direction. That is probably the best thing that could happen for any of us.

This will all take time. But it's not something to get discouraged or impatient about...

I know this has been a while since the last post.. but I am interested in finding out now if the upcoming July release of Davinci 12 Lite is going to run on Linux now, or if it's still only Windows/Mac based. If that is the case, assuming I buy a camera that comes with it, will the full version run on Ubuntu/Debian/etc Linux? Or is it still a special version of hardware that must be purchased for 30K?

[Peter Chamberlain]

The Linux dongle is included with the Mac/Windows dongle when you purchase the BMD DaVinci Resolve panels. The Linux version of Resolve only operates on a specific version of CentOS, or its binary equivalent RedHat, as provided in our installer that comes with the dongle. That installer formats the system disk and creates partitions with the appropriate install config and drivers etc. There are no plans to offer support for other versions of Linux or a Lite version.

Hi,

I am not sure what BMD panels are.. does that come with say the Ursa Mini when I buy that with the full version of Resolve? Or are the panels the 30K+ hardware setup?

I was hoping to avoid having to use Lightworks.. seems Resolve would be so much better with BMD gear.

I am not sure what BMD panels are.. does that come with say the Ursa Mini when I buy that with the full version of Resolve? Or are the panels the 30K+ hardware setup?(

These are the BMD panels: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/control

Yes, retail is about $29K and includes Mac / Windows / Linux dongle. It's the only way to get into Linux.

My guess: They figure if you can spend $30K on a control surface you've got a staff engineer (or hired a consultant) who can tune Linux.

I'd love to see a set of cheaper, smaller first-party panels (say, around $5K-$6K) that come with a Linux dongle. We'd likely move at least one, possibly both of our Windows Resolve systems. It's fine for BMD to say they won't provide tech support to Linux installs except on hardware from their qualified list, so this doesn't necessarily have to create much overhead for them.

I'm supporting author's initiative.

I'm using Lightworks NLE from EditShare and also I'd like to see obtainable professional color grading solution like DaVinci Resolve for Linux platform (I'm using Gentoo Linux amd64).
Of course in the future if I'll grow in this movement, speciality I'll be able to buy full pro version but for now it's not possible for me so Lite version for Linux is very appreciated.
Thanks for attention.

Here's a vote AGAINST Resolve lite for Linux. Why would a paying customer of a professional system want development and technical support resources taken away from them only to go to low budget entry level users? You can't just "release" software to the wild, it must be supported by a team of people - that team of people is currently already stretched to their limit without getting 300 emails a day on how to install from RPM that they would be getting if they released resolve lite for linux.

No - keep the support and development team on the enterprise solution please.

kthx!

Here's a vote AGAINST Resolve lite for Linux.

that's an interesting idea!
but to stop the professional linux branch would look much more consequent to me.

many linux developers would be happy, if their their efforts and voluntary work will not be abused by entrepreneurs, that only try to make the big money based on free software achievements, while giving a away the much less powerful toy variants to the poor masses in a kind of PR-campaign, strengthen only a few big monopolists and the usual stupid business against the free software eco system and the reciprocation of giving.

but don't care so much about the support needs of this negligible few linux addicts. they are used to act and think independent.
I dare say an absolute rudimentary package of resolve lite would be enough for them. everything else could be managed within their community and by distribution maintainers.

well -- perhaps they would write too much critical bug reports. an old habit in this milieu, that is hard to silence.

Here's a vote AGAINST Resolve lite for Linux. Why would a paying customer of a professional system want development and technical support resources taken away from them only to go to low budget entry level users?

I'm sure that's a very realistic reason to keep the price where it is. And anybody who follows history should be aware that the original version of Resolve for Linux was $700K (for the most fully-featured 2009 version), which was not that long ago. Even spending $70K for that kind of functionality to day is a bargain.

Just wanted to double it.
I'll not continue this kind of political discussion: this is BMD's deciision: to make the Lite version avaliable for GNU/Linux platform users as for other polular OSes' users or to not make it.
I just want to say that for me Davinci Resolve Lite for Linux is something I'm now missing. The LWKS for editing + Resolve for colour grading/correction is just impressive and unability to use it at home is really disappointing. I don't have thousands of bucks to spend it for panels, I don't even have the enough space to install them at my 40 sq. meters apartment where I have only 6 square meters of my own personal space where I also need to live not only work on cut/correction And I think there are a lot of people living in the same conditions who do want to use GNU/Linux in their full production chain and do want to use DaVinci Resolve Lite on Linux. I think if Leonardo was alive he'd have wanted to do this
So please. If it's possible, please make this. EditShare already made: maybe this is the turn for entire platform and the future for filmmaking? Many Linux users are familiar with debugging tools and can understand if there will be need in some deep testing, bug reporting and other stuff to get software to work.
Anyway, thanks for developing such a great software. Even if it's not avaliable to me now. Just thank you.

Same as Maksim I'm using Lightworks for edit and Resolve Lite for color correction. My goal is to create Linux-based workstations, not for costs but for stability. I have bad experience with Windows, and not good with OSX. Because I'm a prosumer I'm not aware about all of available hardware, so I don't expect that everything will work OOTB. I need to simplify my workflow and optimize time&costs of production.

Currently I'm trying to install Resolve Studio on Manjaro/Arch Linux based system. I'm working on dedicated installer, getting all dependencies together and putting all into separate environment for Resolve. The goal is to create package for automated installation of Resolve Studio for Arch/Manjaro distro. I'm also a software developer, so I can solve many issues myself and create automated installation.

But there are some limitiations on the Blackmagic Design side:

• Possibility to download Resolve archive from direct URL (currently the website is generating a time-limited download token)
• The "Lite" version of Resolve for Linux
• Agreement (or just no objection) for making custom installers for oficially unsupported Linux distributions

There is almost 2016. BMD, please reconsider a linux market.

* * *

Why Arch/Manjaro Linux? They are a rolling-release distributions, so packages are up to date and mostly bug-free. Manjaro should be more stable than Arch, because maintainers do additional testing before submitting new packages. Also provides awesome hardware detection tool and is simpler to use for end user (easy installation, easy upgrade, easy kernel switching). Manjaro is very stable, reliable and fastly fixed if something goes wrong. Both uses AUR (Archlinux User Repository), a big database of packages created by community.
On the other side Centos 6, the system required for Resolve, is very old. I've tried Centos 7 but it is very buggy. Many of applications crashes on the same hardware, and distro includes buggy-and-old versions of many packages. This is not a solid-rock base for production system. That's why I went back to Arch-based system, but a little enhanced - the Manjaro. And it works great!

On the Arch/Manjaro OS we have automated installation for Lightworks, which is not oficially supported by EditShare. But installation is simple as clicking on package name and "Install" button. This cannot be simpler. And finally I bought a license in a few minutes! It just works!

I'm also working on a toolkit for pre-production steps, as importing&converting footage from AVCHD, slowmotion (60i->24p), denoise, stabilization, mostly based on ffmpeg. It should be available in AUR soon.

I belive we can create a great system for prosumer postproduction based on Linux workstations.

I read all the posts above and realised they are written a while ago.
However, I am still wondering: Will there ever be a payable DaVinci Resolve version for Linux ?

I'm on the way completely switching my creative workflow from OSX to Linux (90% reached so far).
The main reason is because Apple stopped producing this beautifully nice power horse workstations, Adobe is doing this stupid monthly cloud abo and returning to Windows is not an option for me.

However, with Blackmagic Fusion (which is an amazing tool) I got a pretty cool After Effects replacement and I'm planning to buy the full version to get use of OFX plugins.
After searching, downloading and trying every available video editing software running on Linux, I ended here in this forum. There are many tools available, but not one is nearly as good as DaVinci (or FinalCut, or Premiere).

Releasing a Linux version is not as complicated as it was a few years ago.
Nowadays you can pack the whole application into an appimage (appimage org) which then can be run on any Linux distro. I guess most of us are willing to pay up to $995 for a license.

Is there any hope or do we have to donate and wait until Kdenlive, Openshot and all this guys build production usable video editing tools... ?

i think that the short answer is no.

no for a lite version, and no for a 999+tangent panels. as a client of me once said to: "we too have to pay rent".

Hi, Marc.

It looks like there will be no Linux version of Resolve, so I'd recommend focusing on Lightworks as the only one professional NLE for Linux. Upcoming V14 will have new simplified layout for beginners and users who does not require maximum flexibility (the classic layout will be still available).

I've "forced" myself to learn Lightworks months ago, and now I can say that there is no fastest editor from the list of NLE's mentioned above (fastest mostly in terms of editing speed). There are two dedicated hardware controllers and special keyboard which improves the editing speed, and both works with Linux.

Lightworks have a decent tools for color correction. The FX subsystem is based on nodes (but a little different than the Resolve's one). There are no specialized tools like motion stabilizer nor tracking, but primary CC and limited secondary CC are possible. Windows and OSX versions have BorisFX and BorisGraffiti available - both improves Lightworks on the FXs ground. Unfortunatelly they does not work with Linux.

It's worth mentioning that some FXs are programmed in shaders language, so anyone can write custom effects. There is a quite big community FXs pack available.

The pricing is OK. At the beginning you may work with free version and then buy 30-day license for finish / delivery. For a long term using it is better to buy 1 or 2yrs subscription (major updates included) or the outright one (one pay for unlimited time, but without major updates - a traditional pricing model).

For everyone else - this is not a marketing nor sponsored post. I'm a just regular user. An user who was driven out here by talks and rants about requiring pro soft for FREE. But same as Marc I'm just preferring Linux ecosystem over Windows and OSX, and this has nothing to do with their prices. When I've dropped dreamings about Resolve on Linux, and go with only one pro route available - a Lightworks, I can do my work (mostly editing) using preferred platform. Professional colourist will have to use Win/OSX + Resolve, of course, but I'm not a colourist and don't need this tool anymore.

Kind Regards,
Marcin

...as a client of me once said to: "we too have to pay rent".

yes, i also think, BMD should pay the rent for squeezing profit from utilizing linux in their high end solutions!

sharing more equal access to davinci resolve with other fellow inhabitants of the open source ecosystem would look like a fair compensation to me...

...as a client of me once said to: "we too have to pay rent".

yes, i also think, BMD should pay the rent for squeezing profit from utilizing linux in their high end solutions!

sharing more equal access to davinci resolve with other fellow inhabitants of the open source ecosystem would look like a fair compensation to me...

really you're trying to make that argument?

let's go back in time 6 years, where no resolve lite exist and the linux version was 100k+: was it better then?

if BM strategy is soo against the consumer, try to buy a baselight. then you will tell me.

most of what i hear is:

"you did not do anything for ME: I want it, (near) free. I WANT IT NOW.!"

m2c

...as a client of me once said to: "we too have to pay rent".

yes, i also think, BMD should pay the rent for squeezing profit from utilizing linux in their high end solutions!

sharing more equal access to davinci resolve with other fellow inhabitants of the open source ecosystem would look like a fair compensation to me...

really you're trying to make that argument?

"you did not do anything for ME: I want it, (near) free. I WANT IT NOW.!"

m2c

Yep, some weird expectation which is growing and growing.

Having been and still in the industry when color correction systems regularly were accepted to cost half a million to a million dollars as a starting point I am more than happy with the ability to field a system that can run a 4K professional DI for 60 Thousand dollars and allow companies to keep artists and engineers employed.


Everyone is entitled to their opinion but if 60K is the top end buy-in for a professional DI machine with software and a color panel I would be thanking Black magic for making the industry more available to the general artists rather than asking for more things for free at this point.

let's go back in time 6 years, where no resolve lite exist and the linux version was 100k+: was it better then?
if BM strategy is soo against the consumer, try to buy a baselight. then you will tell me.

i think, you know my position (and it's quite simple!):
i'm not asking asking for any utterly unrealistic fantasies, but just for equal access conditions on all platforms!

and btw. i'm not one of this youngsters grown up with an iphone in his hands!
is used linux even in pre-kernel-1.0 days -- long before davinci!
and i did serious artistic work utilizing this operating system quite early (e.g. 'horizontal radio').

that's, why i do not sympathize with companies, which didn't abolish this lines of artificial demarcation and apartheid until now. ;(

The frame of reference for someone coming from big-iron color grading days is very different from the frame of reference of open-source enthusiasts/evangelists.

To old-school color timers and graders (I include myself here) Blackmagic has revolutionized our business and made it possible for individuals to set up shop for a tiny fraction of the costs it used to take. And that includes the $29995 Linux seat.

I also have been using Linux for many years for my own education and interest and was pleased that I could run Linux on hardware that was not able to run the various then-current bloated versions of Windows. But I do not confuse the pleasures of open source and its efficiencies with the history of the professional color business and the engineering costs involved there.

Blackmagic has no obligation to play by the externally imposed rules of the open source movement. And as has been stated repeatedly, those long term customers who do pay for enterprise Resolve would not be well-served to have their engineering needs siphoned off and given away. Blackmagic is a business, not a hobby.

I personally would love to be able to run a Linux workstation off my Resolve license, it would save me considerable money, I could forget the heartbreak of Apple's abandonment of pro workstations and I wouldn't have to go back to Windows, but I can't put myself ahead of the ecosystem that has served me well, by and large. Blackmagic has done much more to help me, than to harm me.

The frame of reference for someone coming from big-iron color grading days is very different from the frame of reference of open-source enthusiasts/evangelists.

well -- real open-source enthusiasts/evangelists would ask for not less than opening the source of resolve!

that's something, i would consider as utterly unrealistic.
therefore i'm only asking for equal access on all platforms. this looks like a much more rational arguable claim to me.

...Blackmagic has revolutionized our business and made it possible for individuals to set up shop for a tiny fraction of the costs it used to take...

was it only blackmagic?
don't you forget all those people, which did build the operating system and a lot of useful libraries and tools, utilized by BMD just like a little dwarf on the shoulder of giants?

But I do not confuse the pleasures of open source and its efficiencies with the history of the professional color business and the engineering costs involved there.

this argumentation only makes sense, if resolve for linux would use a distinct code base and would show significant benefits over the releases for other platforms -- but that's not the case!

it's in fact just the same software and the differences in performance and features on the various platforms are marginal.

the only plausible reason to ask for equal access to the linux binaries should be seen in the simple fact, that it is very uncomfortable to switch the operating system or utilize complex virtualization solutions just to run this particular software, if you prefer to do all your other daily work on linux. but otherwise i would simply suggest, that everybody enjoys the operating system of his choice!

it really doesn't make any sense, to mystify resolve for linux as something exceptional -- a kind of the holly grail.
no -- it's just the same software running on a different operating system and the same hardware!

sure, you could argue, that many people are not aware of this simple facts, and BMD should take advantage of this stupidity and squeeze as much profit as possible out of it. yes -- somehow i have to agree -- that's how businesses often works outside of the open source paradise.

but from a more enlightened point of view, you could perhaps also agree, that no soft- and hardware manufacturer will regret any chance to widen the customer base of his products by relative simple concessions.

sure, not all linux users will immediately order a physical panel from BMD, if they could use resolve under just the same conditions as on the other operating systems. but those few, which really have some use for it, could get the professional control devices for just the same price as before. so -- what's the problem ...even from an economic point of view?

are you rally scared, that a bigger linux user base could find more bugs? nasty little show stoppers, which could be fixed before they appear in really cost intensive production critical high end studio circumstances?

Blackmagic has no obligation to play by the externally imposed rules of the open source movement.

sure -- it's only an ethical obligation -- nothing, we can enforce...

but, i still think, equal treatment of linux would have only positive consequences for all involved sides.

...
was it only blackmagic?
don't you forget all those people, which did build the operating system and a lot of useful libraries and tools, utilized by BMD just like a little dwarf on the shoulder of giants?

In case you're not aware, DaVinci ran on turnkey Linux systems, at a much higher cost, many years before Blackmagic bought DaVinci.

It's only since BMD started providing software-only versions that people started demanding that the historically enterprise version be made "equal".

I get your point, I just think you're not looking at both sides of the equation.

The consequences to the paid engineers and high end facilities might not be positive at all.

Do you get paid for your work? Or do you do everything for free? And if the latter, how do you live? Rhetorical questions, you don't have to justify anything.

I get your point, I just think you're not looking at both sides of the equation.
The consequences to the paid engineers and high end facilities might not be positive at all.

that's indeed a very interesting hint!

there where lots of requests for resolve on linux here in the forum since it became easier accessible on the other platforms, but we never got plausible answers from BMD, why they do not want to treat this operating like the others. it looked totally absurd to most of us linux users, because it was quite obvious, that all needed code is still there. nostalgic references about historic price tags, as often argued by old fellow colorists, and the general mystification of the linux setup made it even harder, to apprehend the real situation in a more rational way. therefore i really welcome you pointer to the mighty lobby of davinci maintenance engineers. that's at least a plausible argumentation.

well -- i even feel a little bit of solidarity. it's not easy to neglect this very practical threats of a grown community of experts. but you also have the see the importance and reasonable interest of many linux users in access to this this particular software on the other hand.

a more equal access to resolve for linux would fill a significant gap in the range of available software for this operating system. it's in fact the only application, which i use frequently in virtualized windows environments, because there is no adequate native replacement available. for all other daily work i prefer linux based solutions. that's a very important aspect, and this objective fact hasn't changed over all this years fighting with BMD for concessions.

Do you get paid for your work? Or do you do everything for free?

sure! -- i even earn my living mostly by using free available open source tools and expertise in this filed of software and development of fresh open source solutions for art projects -- that's no contradiction per se!
and it's not only possible for myself -- profound trained davinci maintenance experts would survive as well, if this software would be available to linux users just like on the other operating systems.

We shouldn't mix opensource with Linux port. These are two different things. I think that most of Linux users needs working port rather than opensourced one. Nobody cares about opened sources, excluding opensource developers and few fanatics.

There is also a common myth that Linux users won't pay for a software. This comes probably from opensource community (Linux != opensource, but relies mostly on it). Regular and business users, who works with Linux, does not care about opensource.

There are only two reasons against porting software to ANY other operating system - technical issues and the market size. Technical issues (in the Linux context) are related to the multiple OS distributions (many different environments), which can be solved by opened sources (no company won't do this) or tools like AppImage or Docker. For many years there were no tools like AppImage, that's why open sourcing was a preferred way of distributing software for the Linux platform. But this was changed last years.

The second argument, a market size, is probably most important. Nobody wants to spent time & money without ROI. This is pretty reasonable. Resolve works with many external libs and hardware, which may provide many incompatibilities on a new platform, so without selling hw there may be no serious business here.

I have to pitch in here also. Nowadays every time I dual boot into Windows just to run Resolve Studio I check the BMD website praying there would be a new Resolve for Linux announcement.

Now that Apple have stopped producing real computers we really have no other option but to move over to Linux for any serious work. It does not matter if we have super good software if we don't have any decent hardware and OS:es to run them on. Windows really is a dead end for me (and I believe many others as well).

The current Fusion release for Linux is awesome! I really hope Resolve will follow one day...

We shouldn't mix opensource with Linux port.

well -- but you should also differentiate between typical windows or mac applications, which are not very well suited for cross platform use, an the special case of davinci, which was written and centered around linux for a long time.
that's why it doesn't make much sense IMHO to ask adobe for porting its tools, but resolve would only need some slight modifications of its licensing management modules to enable exactly the same features on linux as on the other platforms. it doesn't need huge additional investments, it's just a political and marketing decision.

I think that most of Linux users needs working port rather than opensourced one. Nobody cares about opened sources, excluding opensource developers and few fanatics.

even through i agree, that we shouldn't ever expect an open source release of a commercial application like resolve, and a closed source binary release under similar conditions as on other platforms would be already a significant improvement, i do not share your general ignorance about the importance of open source.

that's not just an dogmatic question. i just have to look back, how much troubles i have seen concerning those few closed source applications often used on linux hosts (skype, adobe reader, flash...). closed source binaries simply do not fit very well into an open source environment. simply accepting all the the attendant symptoms, you often risk to loose most of the important benefits that make linux systems attractive to some of us. if you really like the flawless way of maintaining and updating a debian based system and dependency management, it's highly optimized and efficient debugable interplay within the context of all other installed libraries and drivers, etc, you will hardly see windows typical installation procedures and application individual update requirements as a desirable paradigm change. it only makes your system much more insecure, unstable and harder to maintain.

but that's an issue, which isn't only characteristic for closed source offers. a lot of more complex contemporary open source multiplatform projects use quite complex continuous integration solutions, external build services and windows like distribution paradigms in the meanwhile. some of them even mimic the stupid barriers of subscription for access and similar questionable achievements of the closed source world. we simply have become accustomed to app stores, PR spam and privacy violations to such an extend, that some people take it as an inevitable requirement of professional attitude, to copy all those nasty practices. a lot of characteristics of open source approaches, which formerly have drawn a clear distinction and the real attraction of this kind of ecosystem, are slowly vanishing this way. i personally would state, that open source culture passed its peak.

but beside all this more general considerations and observations, we simply have to ask, why opening the source code doesn't fit very well for commercial products like resolve?

protecting intellectual property and advantage over competing products, is only one reason for this restriction. an other one, which doesn't look less important, has to be seen in the simple fact, that graduated commercial offers of different feature sets (e.g. resolve studio), are nearly impossible to enforce, if the souce code is available to everybody.

if you really do not care about open source and acceptable licensing conditions at all, you will easily find cracked versions of resolve for linux in the darker corners of the net right now. but this isn't of much interest to usual linux users. in this respect, they are usually much more consequent and exemplary then windows and mac os users, which often do not feel much disinclination to install dubious cracks of wide spread commercial software (and trojans) on their machines for private use. most of the serious linux users i met, are much more sensible to security concerns and strict ethical decisions. they are more like people, which quite consciously choose organic food, if the have the chance to choose, not just the cheapest and most fashioned offer. i think, that comes closer to the real difference between both worlds.

There is also a common myth that Linux users won't pay for a software. This comes probably from opensource community (Linux != opensource, but relies mostly on it). Regular and business users, who works with Linux, does not care about opensource.

that's easier asserted than proved!

i don't think, we should whitewash and idealize the economic conditions of linux software development and marketing to much. outside of the public sponsored academic sphere and some other rather small niches, it's hardly possible to make a living as an open source developer.

take the natron project as an example. they really did an incredible job over the last few years. they wrote an professional grade free multiplatform video compositing software from scratch, which is IMHO in many respects more powerful and handy than BMDs fusion. it's an extremely capable team of developers. i'm sure, if you would give them the necessary funds, they would be able to build a more modern open source alternative to resolve as well. but don't ask about their actual economic troubles and worries!

but somehow i also have to agree with you:
davinci resolve could be an extraordinary exception in this respect!
a professional editing and mastering solutions for linux would fill an evident space, which could turn out as very successful even from an commercial and advertising effectiveness point of view. that's a very uncommon initial situation, which can not be asserted for many other applications.