Blackmagic Forum

Hi all,
I am trying out the DaVinci Resolve 17 free version and seriously thinking of buying the Studio version for my crew and myself. I am still not clear on a couple of questions regarding the Studio version:

1. Does it definitely support the codec produced by the C300 MKII?
2. Does it support an external Client monitor without additional hardware?

Many thanks

Yes to both.

Sorry to put some water with the wine:

It supports H.264 from the Canon, but it might be slow if not hardware decoded by your GPU.

You need an I/O interface made by Blackmagic for proper display on a client hero monitor.
That applies to both the free version and Studio.

Uli Plank wrote:You need an I/O interface made by Blackmagic for proper display on a client hero monitor.
That applies to both the free version and Studio.

Depends on what you mean by proper. It's a popular myth that the Video Clean Feed out of a GPU in Resolve Studio is somehow worse. It certainly used to be true that video output generated by the operating system was problematic, and it's still true for the GUI viewer. But modern API:s have no problem outputting a correct image.

If you output SMPTE color bars and capture the output of an UltraStudio/DeckLink and compare it to Video Clean Feed using scopes they match perfectly. If it's an old GPU you might not have 10-bit output, but that's it. I tested on a 2019 MacBook Pro.

There are conveniences in using an UltraStudio/DeckLink though, such as granular control in the Resolve project settings over the video output parameters. It's "safer" in that you can't accidentally screw up the colors like you can with a GPU if you mess around with custom settings in the GPU driver. There might also be differences if you need to monitor in HDR, I haven't looked into that.

Uli Plank wrote:You need an I/O interface made by Blackmagic for proper display on a client hero monitor.

For critical color work I wouldn't recommend Clean Feed. For content monitoring by a client, should be OK.

Jim Simon wrote:For critical color work I wouldn't recommend Clean Feed.

Why not? A statement like that without any reasoning just perpetuates this myth.

It all depends on how picky the client is. If the content goes to the internet, it'll look different on all user's devices anyway.

BUT what if the client complains about his brand colors in the final product looking wrong on the monitor on his/her desk or in the boardroom presentation? Then it's always good to show them a calibration protocol of the monitor they have seen when signing off the product.

Sure, but I don't see how that disqualifies Video Clean Feed. Like I said, when comparing the outputs using scopes they're the same.