Blackmagic Forum

I just got another email from the reseller (Scan in the UK) to say that the key is now delayed until 30th December and the Speed Editor until 20th January.

Given that Scan are saying that BMD won't let them split the order that means I won't see either until after 20th January (or even later, if they're delayed for a fourth time).

This is just a bit of a mini-rant, and echoes other threads on the forum.

1) Why can't BMD assure stock of the items before allowing resellers to take orders (and money)?
2) Why can't BMD tell the resellers when stock will be available? This is the third delay that Scan have reported to me
3) Why is it so difficult to ship an activation key?
4) Why can't the order be split (I guess this *might* be down to the reseller)?

All in all, I don't think this launch has been handled particularly well and it kind of sours my excitement at getting both products. I'm not going to cancel - this isn't a hollow gesture of any sort - it's just a pretty frustrating experience.

Sourcing parts might be more difficult this year. Also, BMD isn't a huge manufacturer but it's been mentioned before that they have their own factory/factories. So it's not Foxconn churning out thousands of devices every minute.

With BMD:s target price point and large catalog of products combined with hyped releases comes the inevitable delays. Anyone who's ever pre-ordered an early BMD camera knows exactly what I'm talking about.

I'm waiting for my Speed Editor too, but I knew what I was getting into.

Similar Scan situation here.

On the 24th of November they said "Alistair sent over your details to quote for the Davinci Resolve Studio – Activation key, which we stock for £ 287.48 Inc VAT and delivery with the free speed Editor, this isn’t in stock but can ship it separately,"

I was about to post today asking if all the resellers are running two months behind the planned delivery dates. Someone said a few weeks ago that BMD were shipping their UK stock into Europe as a protection against a tricky Brexit.

I am realistic enough to realise that delays are a factor of life at the moment.

But so are explanations and apologies!

Happy Christmas.

Tony
London UK

For those of you in the UK just look at the TV news. The UK container ports have been in gridlock since November. The Channel ports are also overloaded even with out the Teir4 shutdown this week.

The problems for global supply chains are multiple at the moment. Disruptions in manufacture, global shipping, national distribution (most nations). In fact a major container shipping line has diverted it's ships from Felixstow (UK) to Rotterdam (Netherlands) since mid November. It is due to a combination of COVID, Christmas and Brexit. The latter being a tipping point for the UK.

I have a Zoom Podtrak on order (from November) that is now scheduled to be in the UK on the 26th January!!!


And just to rub salt in the wound for the OP my DVR license and Speed Editor arrived from http://www.ProAV.co.uk last week

I've got notification emails set up with a few US resellers to see when (if ever) Resolve Studio becomes available. Mostly a matter of morbid curiosity at this point... I'll say it again: it's so, so dumb that BMD is sticking with this archaic reseller model for software. Let us buy a license online!

TonyGamble wrote:Similar Scan situation here.

On the 24th of November they said "Alistair sent over your details to quote for the Davinci Resolve Studio – Activation key, which we stock for £ 287.48 Inc VAT and delivery with the free speed Editor, this isn’t in stock but can ship it separately,"

Not sure if this means you have one on order, but Scan lowered the price to 264.00 inc VAT at the beginning of December. You may wish to contact them and request a refund of the difference.

This is a similar complaint. Does anyone know of any way in the U.S. to get an activation key without the speed editor?

I don't want and don't need the speed editor. I just want the studio version of DR but can't order it separately as the speed editor comes free with the activation key. All of the listed online companies are saying that I have to wait until the speed editor is available before I can get the studio activation key. And they have no idea when this will be available. My order is backordered with no foreseeable ship date.

If anyone knows a way around this to just get Studio WITHOUT that unneeded editor I would really appreciate some help.

Thanks Lyes,

I'll get in touch with Scan and get some money back.

Tony

zeegee wrote:This is a similar complaint. Does anyone know of any way in the U.S. to get an activation key without the speed editor?

I don't want and don't need the speed editor. I just want the studio version of DR but can't order it separately as the speed editor comes free with the activation key. All of the listed online companies are saying that I have to wait until the speed editor is available before I can get the studio activation key. And they have no idea when this will be available. My order is backordered with no foreseeable ship date.

If anyone knows a way around this to just get Studio WITHOUT that unneeded editor I would really appreciate some help.

Buy a DR dongle or activation key off ebay from someone who owns some other BMD products like the pocket cinema camera. A DR 16 studio key will get you access to the DR 17 Studio beta

atmosfar wrote:Buy a DR dongle or activation key off ebay from someone who owns some other BMD products like the pocket cinema camera. A DR 16 studio key will get you access to the DR 17 Studio beta

Thank you so much!! I just ordered one that will be here soon and it was $100 cheaper.

zeegee wrote:

atmosfar wrote:Buy a DR dongle or activation key off ebay from someone who owns some other BMD products like the pocket cinema camera. A DR 16 studio key will get you access to the DR 17 Studio beta

Thank you so much!! I just ordered one that will be here soon and it was $100 cheaper.

I realise this is probably a bit late, but I would suggest only ordering from authorized BMD resellers. There are many people in this forum who have found their dongle has suddenly stopped working with a new version of Resolve, and only then discovered they had been sold a counterfeit dongle (it seems especially common that these sellers claim they received the dongle with hardware and didn't need it as they already had a license).

An example of this is here, but search will yield further posts:
https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=108788

lyesbkz wrote:I realise this is probably a bit late, but I would suggest only ordering from authorized BMD resellers. There are many people in this forum who have found their dongle has suddenly stopped working with a new version of Resolve, and only then discovered they had been sold a counterfeit dongle (it seems especially common that these sellers claim they received the dongle with hardware and didn't need it as they already had a license).

Oh no! I bought an activation key, not a dongle, so hopefully it is legit. The seller has a very good reputation so if the code doesn't work maybe I can get a refund. And also the seller is selling some Black Magic camera equipment so it seems legit he would have extra codes. Hope so. This is an anniversary present!

I did actually purchase Studio through an authorized site that sells BM products but they wouldn't ship me the code without the hugely back ordered editor (which I don't even want).

Scan UK had 6th Jan, now showing 12th Jan. They have no idea what is going on.

For the record, the reseller (who I don't blame) took my money in early December.

Pretty poor show frim bmd, to be honest. I actually don't care when the order is fulfilled (it's only a few hundred dollars) but the lack of communication, generally and through resellers, is extremely poor. If I treated my customers with this lack of respect they would run to my competitor.

My experience is that West Coast photo folk often make mistakes when it comes to choosing their European distributors. GoPro is a classic example. It is a real shambles this side of the Atlantic and the US folk had no idea when I directed a complaint in their direction.

I am not putting the blame on Scan but there will be other links in the chain before they get the goods and this is where the problems might lie.

T

TonyGamble wrote:I am not putting the blame on Scan but there will be other links in the chain before they get the goods and this is where the problems might lie.

There are pretty huge delays happening at ports due to covid - some (many?) ports have a 2+ month backlog to even unload container ships. I've heard that's the reason for the current scarcity of new AMD CPU's, at least here in North America.

richards wrote:

TonyGamble wrote:I am not putting the blame on Scan but there will be other links in the chain before they get the goods and this is where the problems might lie.

There are pretty huge delays happening at ports due to covid - some (many?) ports have a 2+ month backlog to even unload container ships. I've heard that's the reason for the current scarcity of new AMD CPU's, at least here in North America.

It depends on what is being shipped from where. In the UK I ordered a small one off item that is coming from Germany. It is clear that the release to shipping was slower than normal by 48 hours. Which I assume is COVID restrictions in the company I ordered from. Most of the rest of the transit via road/air to the UK airport was at "normal speed" It remains to be seen how easily it gets from the UK airport to me.

I have a friend who is on executive jets at a local airport was telling me that in 2020 "everything" coming from the EU was loaded from the aeroplane to delivery trucks Fed-EX, UPS, DPD etc airside and driven out the gate. Now it *ALL* goes to the customs sheds to go though clearance. They need a lot more internal baggage trucks and customs people. There is a backlog there.

Container shipping to UK ports has been in melt down since November Ie a bout 2 months and very slow. So bad that some shipping lines diverted to Rotterdam just across the Channel in the EU. Thus they could land it quickly and free up the ship(s). Getting it from Rotterdam to the UK used to be VERY quick by road or rail. Since mid December it has become chaotic and slow.

So it depends how BMD is shipping it stuff into the UK. Also as noted there are a shortage of some components like MCU's etc that are going top stall manufacture.

I think like vast number of companies who used to have their EU office in the UK BMD will open an office in the EU if not move the UK one to the EU.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55582426

My Speed Editor and key arrived from Scan early this morning.

Via DPD.

Tony
London SW6

TonyGamble wrote:My Speed Editor and key arrived from Scan early this morning.

Via DPD.

Tony
London SW6

Good stuff. My order is with Scan too. When did you place your order?

TonyGamble wrote:My Speed Editor and key arrived from Scan early this morning.

Via DPD.

Tony
London SW6

And, out of sheer curiosity, was it a Resolve 16 branded key card or are 17 branded ones shipping?

My Speed Editor arrived from CVP today. No Resolve license key or dongle, though - which is very frustrating!

Order placed with Scan late November.

The key card is branded Resolve 17.

T

lyesbkz wrote:

TonyGamble wrote:My Speed Editor and key arrived from Scan early this morning.

Via DPD.

Tony
London SW6

And, out of sheer curiosity, was it a Resolve 16 branded key card or are 17 branded ones shipping?

When my Speed Editor arrived a few weeks ago from http://www.proAV.co.uk It came with a Resolve Studio 16 as they said the same key will work with 17. Which it did when I downloaded the DVR Studio 17 Beta.

Received mine today (and it was for Studio 17)

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=128812&p=713782#p713782

IanTempleman wrote:My Speed Editor arrived from CVP today. No Resolve license key or dongle, though - which is very frustrating!

Funny , as I had my delivery form CVP on the same day as you but only got the resolve license.
something strange here !!

consean wrote:

IanTempleman wrote:My Speed Editor arrived from CVP today. No Resolve license key or dongle, though - which is very frustrating!

Funny , as I had my delivery form CVP on the same day as you but only got the resolve license.
something strange here !!

I contacted CVP and they are splitting the delivery based on what was ordered. eg. As I ordered the editing keyboard, they sent that as a priority - with the resolve license to follow.

Latest estimate from Scan is Feb 26th. Although I'm almost certain at this point that they just make these dates up and don't know when the stock is coming in!

lyesbkz wrote:Latest estimate from Scan is Feb 26th. Although I'm almost certain at this point that they just make these dates up and don't know when the stock is coming in!

To put things in perspective.
I have just had some hardware turn up from Germany. It was in stock and shipped on the 8th Jan. UPS has just let us know today (21st Jan) it is at a collection point 1/2 a mile away!!! Not at the company address! This shipment would normally take 36 hours.

It BMD have similar delays from the manufacturing sites to the distributors as well as mass-production delays it will be a bit of a lottery. It is one of those things and out of control of the BMD distributors.

I think I was lucky as I went to www.proAV.co.uk who are not listed as a BMD distributor so they probably had a much shorter back order list compared to the primary BMD distributors.

lyesbkz wrote:Latest estimate from Scan is Feb 26th. Although I'm almost certain at this point that they just make these dates up and don't know when the stock is coming in!

Ditto here (appreciate this comment adds nothing to the thread, but I thought I'd let you know you're not alone)

I have the same experience. I don't understand why, in this day and age, the license key can't be sent electronically! I can happily wait for the Speed Editor, but I really want the studio key now.

Scan UK now has stock of both the activation key and the dongle, but no Speed Editors, and refuse to split orders. They won't send anything out until the Speed Editors are in stock. The only option they offered was to (permanently) remove the free Speed Editor from the order and ship the key immediately.

lrose69 wrote:I have the same experience. I don't understand why, in this day and age, the license key can't be sent electronically! I can happily wait for the Speed Editor, but I really want the studio key now.

In some countries there has to be a physical delivery. India (ie Bollywood) is one such place.

I think BMD could do with a bit of a shake up on how it operates. It is full of quirks (as is DVR)

lyesbkz wrote:Scan UK now has stock of both the activation key and the dongle, but no Speed Editors, and refuse to split orders. They won't send anything out until the Speed Editors are in stock. The only option they offered was to (permanently) remove the free Speed Editor from the order and ship the key immediately.

That's strange behaviour! Can't they handle back orders? Besides as you are buying the DVR they can charge you the whole lot when they send the activation key. The Speed Editor is "free" so can follow on at any time. though I have a feeling the offer was "short time, whilst stocks last" but that seems to have gone out of the window. I assume at some point the offer will end though.

jamedia wrote:

lrose69 wrote:I have the same experience. I don't understand why, in this day and age, the license key can't be sent electronically! I can happily wait for the Speed Editor, but I really want the studio key now.

In some countries there has to be a physical delivery. India (ie Bollywood) is one such place.

I think BMD could do with a bit of a shake up on how it operates. It is full of quirks (as is DVR)

The world has evolved. Almost every software product can be purchased and activated digitally. A lot of content is streamed nowadays where you cannot purchase a physical copy. I know some countries have a physical media requirement, but the UK isn't one of those so they could send out the license key. It seems counter intuitive that I have to wait for a physical package just to get some alphanumeric I will enter into a form field on a screen.

lrose69 wrote:

jamedia wrote:

lrose69 wrote:I have the same experience. I don't understand why, in this day and age, the license key can't be sent electronically! I can happily wait for the Speed Editor, but I really want the studio key now.

In some countries there has to be a physical delivery. India (ie Bollywood) is one such place.

I think BMD could do with a bit of a shake up on how it operates. It is full of quirks (as is DVR)

The world has evolved.

A lot of the world has evolved. but not all of it.

lrose69 wrote:Almost every software product can be purchased and activated digitally.

Absolutely!

In my hardcopy DVR Studio 16 pack I was expecting a printed licence key but very surprised to get a and SDHC card with the SW on it as the first thing you do is down load the latest version anyway.

lrose69 wrote:A lot of content is streamed nowadays where you cannot purchase a physical copy.

A lot of software is like that. Adobe CC for example.

lrose69 wrote: I know some countries have a physical media requirement, but the UK isn't one of those so they could send out the license key. It seems counter intuitive that I have to wait for a physical package just to get some alphanumeric I will enter into a form field on a screen.

Agreed. As I ship Software (not videos) I happen to know India Requires physical delivery and also some company processes (not in the media world) require something physical at goods in, even in the UK (but that was a mechanical engineering company), however it is very much the exception not the rule these days.

jamedia wrote:That's strange behaviour! Can't they handle back orders? Besides as you are buying the DVR they can charge you the whole lot when they send the activation key. The Speed Editor is "free" so can follow on at any time. though I have a feeling the offer was "short time, whilst stocks last" but that seems to have gone out of the window. I assume at some point the offer will end though.

It's unfortunate given that I paid in full back at the start of December. They said they're still taking orders for the deal with the free Editor, and couldn't get a straight answer as to why they wouldn't ship separately, but I spoke to more than one person and they were quite clear (something to do with their system which I'm sure could be overridden if they really wanted to).

I thought I'd try given that I read in this forum about others having success earlier, but never mind. Hopefully not too much longer anyway! I should add that I offered to pay additional shipping costs to have them sent separately, but it didn't work

For UK folks who ordered from Scan, I received my kit today (ordered Dec 8th, and the latest estimate had been Feb 26th). The Speed Editor included a USB-C to USB-C cable and the DRS license card was v16 branded. Hope this helps

lyesbkz wrote:For UK folks who ordered from Scan, I received my kit today (ordered Dec 8th, and the latest estimate had been Feb 26th). The Speed Editor included a USB-C to USB-C cable and the DRS license card was v16 branded. Hope this helps

Glad you got it! Don't blame Scan, they will be doing the best they can with what they get. At least you got a USB cable. I didn't.

My DVR was also a V16 package. complete with V16 on an SDHC card. You would have thought that these days it would just be the cardboard folder with a license number. The first thing I did was downland the latest V17 Studio Beta.

I think DVR need a shake up on their processes and systems.

lyesbkz wrote:For UK folks who ordered from Scan, I received my kit today (ordered Dec 8th, and the latest estimate had been Feb 26th). The Speed Editor included a USB-C to USB-C cable and the DRS license card was v16 branded. Hope this helps

That's weird / interesting that they shipped a v16 licence card to you, but they shipped me a v17 one a couple of weeks ago.

We know this makes no effective difference, so I guess they're scrambling to get dispatchable boxes they can send out. I'd definitely rather have had a v16 card early than wait for a v17 card later.

Scott Leckie wrote:

lyesbkz wrote:For UK folks who ordered from Scan, I received my kit today (ordered Dec 8th, and the latest estimate had been Feb 26th). The Speed Editor included a USB-C to USB-C cable and the DRS license card was v16 branded. Hope this helps

That's weird / interesting that they shipped a v16 licence card to you, but they shipped me a v17 one a couple of weeks ago.

We know this makes no effective difference, so I guess they're scrambling to get dispatchable boxes they can send out. I'd definitely rather have had a v16 card early than wait for a v17 card later.

As you say it makes no practical difference. My V16 SDHC became a V17 (Beta) about 30 minutes after I got it I assume that as Speed Editors arrived ProAV bundled them with the DVR licenses they had to fill the orders and are sorting out the paperwork with BMD. (I don't envy them that job)

SO I can only assume it is up to the distributors if they do that or not. I am just pleased ProAV.co.uk decided to do that. I knew there was a reason they are my preferred supplier

Here is a possible explanation as to the delay on the speed editors

https://www.eetimes.com/auto-industry-chip-shortages-reflect-wider-shortfall/

Whilst it says automotive manufacturers it comments they also mention Apple and Qualcomm in the mix all fighting for silicon. So a minute user like BMD is going to be at the back of the queue along with thousands of other negligible, in silicon company terms, users.

It will be the same with most other volume components. You only need to have one component not turn up and no goods ship... it may also hold up any form of production as things need to be done in a order. Gone are the days when chips were socketed.

The email I received from BM said it was a button part they were struggling to get hold of

As you have noted both products are being shipped together as they are being ordered by our resellers. Due to limited availability of a button part, we haven’t been able to build as many Speed Editors as customers have ordered. We are building more each week, and we are trying to catch up as quickly as we can. We can only apologise for the delay.

My Speed Editor arrived from Scan today (ordered 16/11/20).

No USB-C cable in the box, and a DR16 Studio licence card separately in the parcel.

lrose69 wrote:The email I received from BM said it was a button part they were struggling to get hold of

As you have noted both products are being shipped together as they are being ordered by our resellers. Due to limited availability of a button part, we haven’t been able to build as many Speed Editors as customers have ordered. We are building more each week, and we are trying to catch up as quickly as we can. We can only apologise for the delay.

I just popped a keycap off my Speed Editor and it looks like there are Cherry MX Red mechanical keyboard switches with LEDs built in, I guess those could be scarce!

atmosfar wrote:

lrose69 wrote:The email I received from BM said it was a button part they were struggling to get hold of

As you have noted both products are being shipped together as they are being ordered by our resellers. Due to limited availability of a button part, we haven’t been able to build as many Speed Editors as customers have ordered. We are building more each week, and we are trying to catch up as quickly as we can. We can only apologise for the delay.

I just popped a keycap off my Speed Editor and it looks like there are Cherry MX Red mechanical keyboard switches with LEDs built in, I guess those could be scarce!

They are good quality. They might be in short supply for BMD. In the grand scheme of things BMD is a "small" player. Think how many keys a company like Dell would be using. Apple had this problem years ago with IBM and Motorola. As a Power PC user Apple barely registered compared to the big automotive and telecoms users.

It is more likely the rotary switch is the one in short supply. That is a bit more specialist.

However you can't really blame BMD on this one the pandemic has rolled the dice and come up with the worn numbers all over the world.

The inability to turn off the Bluetooth,however is a major design error you can blame BMD for .