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Worth buying Fusion Studio 9?

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davorin

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Worth buying Fusion Studio 9?

PostSun Aug 26, 2018 8:59 pm

Good evnin'

I just received this week my Resolve Studio dongle as I very like the workflow compared to other software....okay...lots of GPU memory errors though in version 15 using fusion, but seems I am not the only one without a 2Terabyte graphic card with 128 PCIe lanes ;-)

Anyway...I've read that Fusion Studio 9 has many more features built-in...
So my question...does it makes sense to buy it or will it be soon dropped in favour of built-in Fusion into Resolve?

I tried the free Fusion version on Linux but it won't even recognize my GTX1060 whereas blender does...
Last edited by davorin on Mon Aug 27, 2018 5:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
DaVinci Resolve Studio 16.1.2, Intensity Pro 4K
macOS 10.15.2: i7-7700, 32GB RAM, RX 5700 XT 8GB
Debian 10/Windows 10 Pro: Threadripper 1950X, 64GB RAM, 2 * RTX2080TI
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Bryan Ray

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Re: Worth buying Fusion Studio 9?

PostSun Aug 26, 2018 9:55 pm

The question would be if there are features in the Studio version of Fusion standalone that you need/want, and how valuable they would be to you.

The Studio-only features are:

Licensed ProRes encoding for Windows and Linux (not available in Resolve, and if you need ProRes well worth the price all on its own).

Remote rendering. If you have a render farm, Fusion Studio comes with unlimited render nodes. Resolve can't do distributed rendering at all yet. Note that ProRes rendering is not licensed for the render node—it's an interactive-only feature.

Plug-ins. Not sure where Resolve currently sits with regard to OFX nodes on the Fusion page, but it can't yet use native SDK plug-ins. Krokodove is another tool that's worth the $300 price tag all on its own, and yet it is itself free. Indicated's CustomShader 3D is another if you're a heavy user of Fusion's 3D system. On the OFX side, I'd also count ReelSmart Motion Blur, Frischluft LensCare, and NeatVideo noise reduction among my must-have plug-ins. Of course, all of those but Krokodove would be an additional expense on top of Fusion, unless you already have OFX licenses for one or more of them.

External scripting—execute Fusion scripts from your project management software or interact with other programs through scripting. The free version has full scripting support from the interactive session, so this would only be useful if you need to control Fusion from an outside process. Resolve technically has this, but its scripting API is still not as well documented or understood as Fusion standalone's.

Export formats larger than 3840x2160. Fusion Free can import and work in virtually unlimited resolution, but it can only save images up to UHD.

Camera and Planar trackers (also available in Resolve Studio, which you have).

Optical Flow. Now available in the free version of Resolve, but still restricted to Studio licenses of Fusion standalone. OF is something that is frequently pre-rendered, though, so even if you do need it, it might still make sense to just do it in Resolve and write your vectors out to EXR (watch out for the current channel output limitations, though!)

Spherical camera, VR, and stereoscopy. I believe all of this is Studio-only in both Resolve and Fusion. I have never tried any VR or stereo work in Resolve, but I'd hazard a guess that it's an area where Fusion standalone is superior, if for no other reason than it still has all the useful buttons visible in the Viewport and not hidden away behind a context menu.

Fusion Connect—a plug-in for Avid Media Composer to exchange data with Fusion. Probably superfluous in a pipeline containing Resolve.

The Bins player. I honestly can't even figure the thing out, so I don't know how much you'd be losing there! But Generation AM doesn't run on Linux, so if you need a relatively light-weight playback program, Studio Player may be the way to go.

The Bins server. A nice-to-have feature, but not one to get terribly excited over, in my opinion.

I think that about covers it.

Oh, and as a side benefit, a Fusion Studio dongle will also give you another seat of Resolve 15.
Last edited by Bryan Ray on Sun Aug 26, 2018 9:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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RCModelReviews

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Re: Worth buying Fusion Studio 9?

PostSun Aug 26, 2018 9:55 pm

Well on BMD's recommendation, I bought the studio version of Fusion 9 because the dongle also lets you use the studio version of Resolve. So you get two for the price of one!

Fusion is great at what it does but I wish it was a little more robust. I still think my $300 was money well spent.
Resolve 18.1 Studio, Fusion 9 Studio
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I'm refugee from Sony Vegas slicing video for my YouTube channels.
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davorin

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Re: Worth buying Fusion Studio 9?

PostMon Aug 27, 2018 6:13 am

Thanks for the extensive clarifications :-)

So this would mean for me: sell the resolve studio dongle and get the fusion dongle (o;
DaVinci Resolve Studio 16.1.2, Intensity Pro 4K
macOS 10.15.2: i7-7700, 32GB RAM, RX 5700 XT 8GB
Debian 10/Windows 10 Pro: Threadripper 1950X, 64GB RAM, 2 * RTX2080TI
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RCModelReviews

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Re: Worth buying Fusion Studio 9?

PostMon Aug 27, 2018 10:35 am

The only thing I would be concerned about is that while the Fusion dongle works on Resolve Studio at this point in time, they may change their mind in future releases, leaving you with a choice of either buying a Studio license or going back to the free version of Resolve.
Resolve 18.1 Studio, Fusion 9 Studio
CPU: i7 8700, OS: Windows 10 32GB RAM, GPU: RTX3060
I'm refugee from Sony Vegas slicing video for my YouTube channels.
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davorin

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Re: Worth buying Fusion Studio 9?

PostThu Sep 20, 2018 8:37 pm

Just a curious question...

Why Fusion didn't get any updates since December 2017?
That a sign of being obsolete soon?

Resolve got several minor and major updates in this time span...
DaVinci Resolve Studio 16.1.2, Intensity Pro 4K
macOS 10.15.2: i7-7700, 32GB RAM, RX 5700 XT 8GB
Debian 10/Windows 10 Pro: Threadripper 1950X, 64GB RAM, 2 * RTX2080TI
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Kristof Indeherberge

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Re: Worth buying Fusion Studio 9?

PostThu Sep 20, 2018 9:25 pm

davorin wrote:Just a curious question...

Why Fusion didn't get any updates since December 2017?
That a sign of being obsolete soon?

Resolve got several minor and major updates in this time span...


Didn't you spot the elephant in the room? It is a concern shared by many users that BMD doesn't feel like addressing in a clear, direct and straightforward way. Shame on them, really.

Appreciate you asking, though. The more people keep poking at it, the harder it will be for them to ignore it.
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davorin

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Re: Worth buying Fusion Studio 9?

PostThu Sep 20, 2018 9:31 pm

Well I've heard good things about Fusion Studio...just took a sneak peek at Fusion only as people suggested it due to the GPU RAM issues inside Fusion of Resolve Studio...

OTOH I never understood why Resolve Studio came out beta that soon as it is still at beta stage (o;

But I still love the work flow of both software....and I would even spend some bucks on Fusion Studio as well besides Resolve Studio if there would be some commitments from BMD...
DaVinci Resolve Studio 16.1.2, Intensity Pro 4K
macOS 10.15.2: i7-7700, 32GB RAM, RX 5700 XT 8GB
Debian 10/Windows 10 Pro: Threadripper 1950X, 64GB RAM, 2 * RTX2080TI
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davorin

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Re: Worth buying Fusion Studio 9?

PostFri Oct 19, 2018 8:02 pm

Lately I started using blender for our products and user interface show cases....and seems this open source bugger can even do great camera tracking and 3D compositing....even with different render layers.

And you can choose the renderer you like...and so far LuxCoreRender beats all of them (being opensource).

Way beyond what the Fusion renderer is capable of....

Not sure wha BMD is planning with Nvidia RTX....at least bidir raytracing is not doable on regular GPUs...doubt RTX can do thos as well....
DaVinci Resolve Studio 16.1.2, Intensity Pro 4K
macOS 10.15.2: i7-7700, 32GB RAM, RX 5700 XT 8GB
Debian 10/Windows 10 Pro: Threadripper 1950X, 64GB RAM, 2 * RTX2080TI
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Sander de Regt

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Re: Worth buying Fusion Studio 9?

PostSat Oct 20, 2018 3:31 pm

davorin wrote:Way beyond what the Fusion renderer is capable of....

Well, Fusion is first a compositor, with a powerful 3D render to help creat cool stuff. But it's not a 3D package. Saying something like this is akin to saying: yes, this car can drive so much faster on asphalt than my snowboard can. It's not comparable. But if Blender works better for you, by all means use it. It's a great piece of software with a wonderful community.
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