DaVinci Resolve Studio or not for now?

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and into film-making. What's up? I hope life's good!

I just bought a powerful enough computer in order to be able to edit 4k. As you can already imagine I have paid quite a lot for it. Now, I would like to edit a film in 4k, but I cannot afford right now to buy the Studio version of DaVinci Resolve. My questions are:
1. Can I edit 4k-filmed video's in the free version and export the film at a lower resolution? Or will it not work at all because it's 4k and the free version does not allow for that?
2. Can I save the project and open it later with the Studio version and export it at a 4k resolution?

Thanks!

Do you need actual 4k or just UHD, 3840x2160?

Hello Alexandra,
1. Max. 4 k UHD
2. Yes

Simon

Your 1 answer is a bit confusing.

4k = 4096 x 2160 and requires Studio for export.
UHD = 3840 x 2160 and can be done in Free.

Hi, everyone, thank you for your replies.
I see that I am able to edit in 4k (my PC has arrived in the meantime), but I can only export in Ultra HD. That's fine for now.

Unfortunately I see that my video's don't always play nicely on the edit page (the image in the video is not clear and seems to lag). Also, when playing a longer video on my timeline (2 minutes), my PC gets quite warm. I am using Timeline Proxy Resolution set to a quarter.

I still have a few (noob) questions.

1. Is my PC OK?
I have done quite some research before buying it, in the end I settled for:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10900 CPU @ 2.80GHz 2.81 GHz
Gigabyte Z590 Ultra Durable
64GB 3200 MHz RAM (standaard, 4x 16GB)
GeForce RTX 3060 12GB
vRAM 12G
3x BeQuiet Pure Wing 2 140mm
MSI MAG CoreLiquid 240R

My monitor has a resolution of 1680x1050. I do plan to buy a new one after sufficient savings.

2. Why is the warming up and the lag taking place? Is it because of the PC? Because of DaVinci? Because of how i shot things? Because of the drivers?

I must say that I've shot the films in 60fps and 120fps. I am now wondering if that was or not overexagerated. I wanted to have the possibility to slow things down...

Anyways, I hope you guys can help. Much appreciated!

Your CPU is from 2020 so not very recent and it has a low power configuration. Is it at 100% when you play the movies?
Another thing to look for is the SSD disks where you have the files.

Also. If you are editing h264 or h265 that might be an issue (that the studio version might solve). Or tou can create proxies.
Or edit you timeline in HD and export at UHD might help.
So many answers if we don’t know everything.

Alex, hi! Thank you for your help!
Does it? I've really spent a lot of time trying to find something powerful enough for a decent price... can it be that bad? When I am playing the movies with a player the image is perfect. But not in DaVinci. Quite bad, really! The files are stored on an HDD. I can try to copy them on the SSD where the Windows is installed.

Derick, thank you to you too!
I am using the timeline proxy set to a quarter. H265 or h265... I had to google that. Oh yeah, I do use that.

OK, I will try some things. I keep you updated. Maybe it's a problem that it's filmed in 4k and the non-Studio version may not process that as smoothly as it is mentioned in the description of the differences between the free and studio version.

Again, thank you. I appreciate you guys advice!

How it went the test with the movie moved to SSD?

Intel quite improved their CPU's first with 11 version which made it on par with AMD , then with current 12 version, 10 series is still the hot and not very efficient process. I am not aware of comparative prices so maybe your choice was the best at the time.
With 10 cores i don't think it should be the bottleneck but it would be helpful if you can check the processor use when you play in DaVinci.


You should really get a new monitor , sorry to say it but that is not way to work, preferably work with 2 equal monitors, FHD 1920x1080 at least. But the objective should be to work with monitor resolution equal to the resolution you deliver.

I9s aren't cool running chips. Nobody asked but what are you editing? Codecs? Or at least camera?

Depending on the answer you might/would have been better with an 11th gen chip. Doesn't really need to be an I9.

I9s aren't cool running chips. Nobody asked but what are you editing? Codecs? Or at least camera?

Depending on the answer you might/would have been better with an 11th gen chip. Doesn't really need to be an I9.

Indeed, the codec used can make all the difference.

Also, if your pc gets hot, what kind of case are you using? Some are closed of boxes, some are basically just a chasis to keep mesh panels together. Makes a huge difference.

Thanks, again, for your messages!

Haha, yes, for sure I will get a nice 4k monitor, or two... but I can't afford that right now, it has to be postponed towards the end of the year.

The movies moved to the SSD did not make any difference. Sadly!

I have used a GoPro10, 120fps, 4k Ultra HD.

CODEC H265

My case is BeQuiet Pure Base 500; the upper part has lots of empty room for a good airflow.

My processor goes up to 98% after playing the video in DaVinci for 3 seconds. Crazy! But when I play it in a normal player that does not happen. I see that DaVinci Studio supports up to 120fps, the free version not. Can it be that I need to upgrade to the Studio version? I wanted to do that anyway, but not now...

Peace! Thanks again!

Airflow in empty space doesn't make a difference. You need airflow around the parts that get hot.

The 3060, while not terrible, isn't a high-performing card, relatively-speaking. The saving grace for your case is the 12gb, which should make it workable.

H265 is **not** an editing codec. This will not work smoothly on *any* PC, so you need to generate proxy media.
Go into your project settings, set Proxy Files setting to half or 1/4, and while you're at it create a default Project so that all your settings are automatically in place for each new project.

Then go to Media page and right-click each content file, and choose 'Generate Proxy Media'. Once that's done, load up your files in the timeline, or create a blank timeline, but either way then go to the Playback menu, go to Timeline Proxy mode and choose half or 1/4 again.

Your system should handle 4K footage fine with the Studio version but I suspect that the H265 codec is hammering your CPU in the free version because it's not using the GPU for decode.

My own system (which also has an RTX3060 and an older i7 8700 CPU) is very smooth with the H265 4K footage from a Panasonic HC-X1500 even at framerates of 60FPS and bitrates of 200Mbps.

Your best option might be to transcode to a more edit-friendly codec and then use those files with Resolve.

Your best option might be to transcode to a more edit-friendly codec and then use those files with Resolve.

Or use proxy media.

@hangingout

can you post an example part of your video somewhere like mediafire or such and a link to download?
That way we can all test it and give recommendations.

@hangingout

can you post an example part of your video somewhere like mediafire or such and a link to download?
That way we can all test it and give recommendations.

Or he can just follow my instructions, and he's golden.

H.265 should run fine with the Studio version, but not on your hardware if it’s 10 bit 4:2:2.
Any M1 Mac can handle it, though.

Your best option might be to transcode to a more edit-friendly codec and then use those files with Resolve.

Or use proxy media.

Man, you rock! It worked. It's called "Generate optimised media" now. I thought that just by setting the Timeline Proxy Resolution to 1/4 would make things work, but right-clicking the films and optimizing the clips afterwords is the way to go. After 10 minutes of processing the clips play nicely. Awesome.

Thank you, everyone!

Just for clarity: DR can use both proxies or optimised media.
Good to know it helped.