Blackmagic Forum

Greetings!

I'm not sure who or where to ask this question...

I purchased the new Speed Editor with Studio Activation Key from B&H a few weeks ago. It's still back ordered. I'm wondering if there is anyway to get the studio version activation code now... so that I can start using the studio version right away, while waiting for the bundles to be back in stock? B & H now says late January!

Also I'm wondering if the Studio Version will render any faster than the free version? I have an i7 4770K CPU with a GTX 1080 ti GPU (11GB). 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD boot and 1TB SSD work drive.

I'm working on a Virtual Choir with 56 videos... and even with Use Proxies and Optimized media turned on... when it comes to render, the 4min video with everyone on screen takes nearly 8 Hours to render. Ugh. I realize I'm not on an optimal machine for editing a 4K video from 56 1080 clips, and I've pre-rendered all of them down to 560p to use as my source files to minimize the pixel bucket brigade (then rendered proxies at 1/4 size of that)

So...

Can I get my activation code now, since I've paid for it already?

Can I expect any improvement in rendering performance once I have it?

Thanks!
Bruces

I feel your pain waiting on B&H...

I don’t believe the Studio version will offer any increase in render speed, sorry to say. It’s pretty much identical to the free, other than max import size and Noise Reduction etc.

If I’m wrong, someone will set me straight.

Are you talking about 56 synced video tracks in the timeline? That’s a lot for any setup to handle, tbh.


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Render speed when it comes to free/Studio depends on which codec you're rendering to. The Studio version uses hardware acceleration if available for H.264 and H.265.

If you're rendering H.264 today you will likely see an incredible increase in render performance if all you're doing is simple grading. But a video with 56 active simultaneous video tracks sounds like a nightmare, that will be the bottle neck, not the encoder. Maybe activate render cache, and then in the render settings you render from the cache that has been building up as you work.

If you're rendering DNxHR or CineForm there won't be any difference.

I feel you. I've had a copy on order, not quite for that long but I still think it'll be a while and the date does keep getting pushed back. The seller is clear they won't ship the key until the Speed Editor is available too, which I think is increasing the delays.

I'd love to get my hands on the Studio version I've purchased and think it would be great (although unlikely) to be able to get a temporary activation in the circumstances. Still, there's plenty to keep me busy in the free version for now!

Does anyone even know when the resellers in the USA will start having the DVR 17 and Speed Editor combo? I hate to preorder and let my money be used by them for another 30-60 days.

They’ve had my money since the very day it was announced. I watched the unveiling and punched in my credit card on B&H. Having had the Editor keyboard for a while, THIS is what I wanted. The speed editor is what I thought the editor keyboard would be.
That was in November sometime.
I’m just told it continues to be backordered.


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I hear rumors of late January. But who knows. I would guess they weren’t prepared for the demand.


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Thanks everyone for the responses!

Yeah, I'm building "plates" of layouts, rendering them out for the whole song or parts of the song where I am most likely to want to cut to them. some take 7.5 hours to render in 4K (and then of course I notice something that I couldn't see before because I can't play anything back in real time while laying out the shots, and have to re-render

I wish there was an affordable render farm service or just a group of Resolve users that could share rendering time on their boxes after hours, even if it was for a small fee. Think of the help that would be for all of us on large projects. Blackmagic... are you listening? Please make Studio version include cloud render groups between trusted machines or friends. Please....

But, by tomorrow, I'll be putting them altogether on the master timeline for editing. Looking like I'll make my deadline after all!

BruceS wrote:I'm working on a Virtual Choir with 56 videos... and even with Use Proxies and Optimized media turned on... when it comes to render, the 4min video with everyone on screen takes nearly 8 Hours to render. Ugh. I realize I'm not on an optimal machine for editing a 4K video from 56 1080 clips, and I've pre-rendered all of them down to 560p to use as my source files to minimize the pixel bucket brigade (then rendered proxies at 1/4 size of that)

You've answered your own question. If you're "not on an optimal machine," then it's going to be a struggle from day one. Figuring out the workflow for this kind of project is the real challenge. If you use really, really light-duty files -- like 720P DNxHD36 clips (or 422LT) -- you could do this on a lot of different machines. Then, once you lock the edit, you could conceivably link back to the original files and then (and only then) render.

Worst case, find a local computer vendor who will rent you a big machine for a day or two and do all the relinking and rendering on that.

If somebody had come to me and said, "hey, I have to run 56 videos for a 4-minute video," I would run screaming from the room... and we have a $20,000 system. The syncing alone would be a nightmare. If it were me, I'd do the thing in pieces and maybe do 12 at a time, then put them together in segments and as finished layers at the very end. There's a way to do it, but a lot of it boils down to methodology and workarounds, not around Resolve limitations per se. This would be tough on Avid or Premiere or FCPX, too.

In general, I'd tell you, "don't start working on a project until the software actually arrives." Worst case, I would've just bought a 16 license from a local vendor and done it all in that, and waited to get the Speed Editor (which is still a work in progress). When your living depends on having equipment and software that works, today, you have to deal with the current reality of stable versions and reliable hardware.

Thanks Marc Wielage,

I've done a 16 person VC before this so I knew it would get not just a little slower but much much slower with 64 vids. I've looked at several ways to piece it up and then combine, The problem with say, rendering 16 up grids, times 4 and then combining them together is mostly that there would be that many steps times the number of different layouts and I would loose the ability to have any cell's content cross a 1080p border into the other with any certainty of them really lining up when combined. Using the new Tiles feature in 17 has been at least workable. It's not as flexible as doing the layouts by layout (which is extremely painful and time consuming if you want a seamless, look without grid lines), but it's at least faster and accurate to create layouts.

17 beta has been completely stable, probably because I'm not using many of it's more esoteric features, and while the render time is horrible for pages layouts that have everyone on the screen at the same time... I'm down to my last layout and will be editing the final project together tomorrow. So I can see light at the end of the tunnel at least.

Oh, syncing of clips is very easy, because I have a sound track with a beep tone that every singer sings to and every video clip includes in it's footage. So many are easily auto aligned and the ones that can't be (due to too much ambient reverberation) can be done visually in a few seconds.

You are super correct, planning and workflow is everything on these sorts of crazy projects. Yes, I just admitted that I'm running around the room screaming

Thanks for your response.

BruceS

I wish I had a $20K box to work on... I'm on a $4K box from 6 years ago that fortunately I built out pretty fast for that time. It's nothing like what I could build today for that sort of money - computers are as bad as sail boats, they are a box into which you shred money.

BruceS wrote:It's nothing like what I could build today for that sort of money - computers are as bad as sail boats, they are a box into which you shred money.

But only because we are asking more and more from them. I started my professional work in 3D animation on a Silicon Graphics workstation for the price of a city apartment and an older iPhone would now be faster than that

I received my Speed editor last week, but like a bonehead, I ordered the speed editor and not the 17 studio software. B&H said that I have to return it and order resolve 17 to get the editor free. Does anyone know if you can get the activation key for free instead?

Mike Cha wrote:I received my Speed editor last week, but like a bonehead, I ordered the speed editor and not the 17 studio software. B&H said that I have to return it and order resolve 17 to get the editor free. Does anyone know if you can get the activation key for free instead?

There is no Activation required for the Free version ... maybe you should change your username to Bonehead? ok just kidding ...

I too ordered the Speed Editor from B&H based upon the assumption that the "Studio Version" of the software was included. That is how Grant presented it and that is how it was advertised and I got SPEED EDITOR with no software key for the "Studio Version". It feels like a bait and switch move. Is this Blackmagic Designs fault or B&H? Please comment on this. I want to know.

JeffVasquez wrote:I too ordered the Speed Editor from B&H based upon the assumption that the "Studio Version" of the software was included. That is how Grant presented it and that is how it was advertised and I got SPEED EDITOR with no software key for the "Studio Version". It feels like a bait and switch move. Is this Blackmagic Designs fault or B&H? Please comment on this. I want to know.

Hopefully someone responds to this post as I got "this is not a valid serial so I can't help you" prompt.

JeffVasquez wrote:That is how Grant presented it

No, he made it clear that if you buy the hardware, you get only the hardware. If you buy Studio, you also get the hardware. (For a limited time.)

Grant states that they will have a special offer where they bundle the speed editor with DR17.


When you go to the BH website and order DR17, there is an option to order software only or with the speed editor.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1606248-REG/blackmagic_design_dv_resstud_dongle_se_bun_davinci_resolve_studio_dongle.html

Confusing as it may be, BH does not offer the bundle option when you order the speed editor directly.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1604768-REG/blackmagic_design_dv_res_bbpnlmleka_davinci_resolve_speed_editor.html

Mike Cha wrote:

JeffVasquez wrote:I too ordered the Speed Editor from B&H based upon the assumption that the "Studio Version" of the software was included. That is how Grant presented it and that is how it was advertised and I got SPEED EDITOR with no software key for the "Studio Version". It feels like a bait and switch move. Is this Blackmagic Designs fault or B&H? Please comment on this. I want to know.

Hopefully someone responds to this post as I got "this is not a valid serial so I can't help you" prompt.

Hey the Free version is a separate download - you may be trying to use the Studio version as FREE... please re-download the correct version and check.

BrandonJ wrote:Grant states that they will have a special offer where they bundle the speed editor with DR17.

When you go to the BH website and order DR17, there is an option to order software only or with the speed editor.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1606248-REG/blackmagic_design_dv_resstud_dongle_se_bun_davinci_resolve_studio_dongle.html

Confusing as it may be, BH does not offer the bundle option when you order the speed editor directly.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1604768-REG/blackmagic_design_dv_res_bbpnlmleka_davinci_resolve_speed_editor.html

Totally understand this now- I have the speed editor in hand so it seems like a waste (time, money, environment, etc.) to return the item and repurchase the studio key to get the speed editor for free.
Anyhow will return the speed editor and put another on order. I'm not in a huge hurry to get it.