Q about playback interface by a novice.

Hey guys,

I understand I need a playback interface to connect my computer to an external monitor to avoid any issues
I mostly work with footage from Sony a7s ii, mostly 4K. Do I need to get the Ultra Studio 4K for that? Might sound stupid, but I don't really need all those SDI, XLR input/outputs. It's a monster! . I just want to connect my MBP to a monitor. I guess I would go with Ultra Studio Mini but it doesn't support 4K and it doesn't support 50p as well, which for me are a must. Any other options?

I am working with NEC 272W, which has max res 2560x1440. I can obviously watch 4K QT files on that monitor. I'm embarrassed to ask, but in order to edit 4K footage with DaVinci Resolve do I need a 4K monitor, or QHD is ok?



Thanks!

timeline should match your deliverables,
monitor should match your timeline
I/O needs to support the monitor
what are you delivering?

timeline should match your deliverables,
monitor should match your timeline
I/O needs to support the monitor
what are you delivering?

Hi Dermot, thanks for replying.
I deliver 1080p. But I shoot 4K because the footage looks much better shot in 4K than 1080p - especially with LS - which I do a lot.

...in many situations you'd want to shoot 4K even if you deliver 1080p - to have some flexibility in framing when you do the editing. A common practice, as you know. And guys like me, who shoot with a7S ii (or GH5 or 5D, with SD cards you can just plug into the computer), then edit and do the color correction, what do they do? Are they all buying the UltraStudio 4K just as a playback interface for editing? who needs 6 SDI I/O/Loop, 2 component, I/O, 2 NTSC/PAL I/O, Timecode, Ref, remote 4 XLR, BNC unbalanced audio etc. I'm not trying to be sarcastic. Just practical. And please forgive me if I'm missing something.

...in many situations you'd want to shoot 4K even if you deliver 1080p - to have some flexibility in framing when you do the editing. A common practice, as you know. And guys like me, who shoot with a7S ii (or GH5 or 5D, with SD cards you can just plug into the computer), then edit and do the color correction, what do they do?

You don't need to monitor in 4K. You can work in 4K and then just monitor in HD -- it works fine. At least that way, you'll see exactly what you'll be delivering. It is true that a 4K timeline is necessary with 4K material in order to get the most out of a blow-up or repo during the project. You don't necessarily need to do that until the file is delivered. 4K material in a 4K timeline downrezzed to HD will generally look better than 4K material downrezzed to HD in the timeline and then delivered in HD.

Note that laptops are not ideal for Resolve unless you have a fairly powerful CPU and GPUs. If it's very light-duty material, it can work to a point. DSLR footage is not great unless it's transcoded to a simpler codec, like DNxHR or ProRes.

Hey Yaron

A possible option that may be worth investigating would be to get a Thunderbolt 3 expansion chassis and put a Decklink 4K Mini Monitor card in that. The Decklink card would get you the monitoring output you're after with none of the bells and whistles.

I've no personal experience of them, but an Akito Node or Akito Node Duo would seem to be possible expansion chassis options (more expensive than the Decklink card itself tho) with the latter option, the Node Duo, having 2 slots... so you could put a GPU in there too.

Maybe worth looking in to.
Cheers
Andy

Hey Yaron

A possible option that may be worth investigating would be to get a Thunderbolt 3 expansion chassis and put a Decklink 4K Mini Monitor card in that. The Decklink card would get you the monitoring output you're after with none of the bells and whistles.

I've no personal experience of them, but an Akito Node or Akito Node Duo would seem to be possible expansion chassis options (more expensive than the Decklink card itself tho) with the latter option, the Node Duo, having 2 slots... so you could put a GPU in there too.

Maybe worth looking in to.
Cheers
Andy

Hey Andy,
Thanks for writing. Sounds like a good option - I'll look into that.

...in many situations you'd want to shoot 4K even if you deliver 1080p - to have some flexibility in framing when you do the editing. A common practice, as you know. And guys like me, who shoot with a7S ii (or GH5 or 5D, with SD cards you can just plug into the computer), then edit and do the color correction, what do they do?

You don't need to monitor in 4K. You can work in 4K and then just monitor in HD -- it works fine. At least that way, you'll see exactly what you'll be delivering. It is true that a 4K timeline is necessary with 4K material in order to get the most out of a blow-up or repo during the project. You don't necessarily need to do that until the file is delivered. 4K material in a 4K timeline downrezzed to HD will generally look better than 4K material downrezzed to HD in the timeline and then delivered in HD.

Note that laptops are not ideal for Resolve unless you have a fairly powerful CPU and GPUs. If it's very light-duty material, it can work to a point. DSLR footage is not great unless it's transcoded to a simpler codec, like DNxHR or ProRes.

Hey Marc,
Thanks a lot for the info & tips. I didn't know it's better to work in 4K timeline and then export it in 1080p - rather than working in 1080p to begin with.

Question about the frame rate of a playback interface. I'm trying to understand... so, for example, the Ultra Studio Mini can deal with 1080p footage up to 30 fps.
What if I create a 1080p 25 fps timeline - and use footage recorded in 1080p 50fps. Will it still work? Or will I not be able to see the footage at all? Thanks

Question about the frame rate of a playback interface. I'm trying to understand... so, for example, the Ultra Studio Mini can deal with 1080p footage up to 30 fps. What if I create a 1080p 25 fps timeline - and use footage recorded in 1080p 50fps. Will it still work? Or will I not be able to see the footage at all? Thanks

You can monitor in 25fps even from a 50fps timeline.

Question about the frame rate of a playback interface. I'm trying to understand... so, for example, the Ultra Studio Mini can deal with 1080p footage up to 30 fps. What if I create a 1080p 25 fps timeline - and use footage recorded in 1080p 50fps. Will it still work? Or will I not be able to see the footage at all? Thanks

You can monitor in 25fps even from a 50fps timeline.

Thnx Marc,
You mean that as long as I export my project in the same frame rate of monitoring it's ok? So for example I can have a 50fps timeline, work with 50fps footage, but if I monitor in 25fps I'll have to export it in 25fps, right? I guess exporting a project not in the same frame rate I'm monitoring doesn't make sense...

And along the same lines...can I have a 4K timeline, work with 4K footage, but monitor in 1080p and export it in 1080p? Does such a setting work? I mean, if yes, and if I'm only exporting 1080p, then I can get the UltraStudio Mini after all. Not sure... Thnx!

You mean that as long as I export my project in the same frame rate of monitoring it's ok? So for example I can have a 50fps timeline, work with 50fps footage, but if I monitor in 25fps I'll have to export it in 25fps, right? I guess exporting a project not in the same frame rate I'm monitoring doesn't make sense... And along the same lines...can I have a 4K timeline, work with 4K footage, but monitor in 1080p and export it in 1080p? Does such a setting work? I mean, if yes, and if I'm only exporting 1080p, then I can get the UltraStudio Mini after all. Not sure... Thnx!

Yes to most of these. The key is right before you export... you change the settings necessary. But you can't change the frame rate. That would have to stay at whatever speed you want to deliver.

You can monitor 25fps from a 50fps timeline, and be aware that you need fairly hefty hardware to do 50 or 60fps. As long as the timeline is 50fps, you can deliver in 50fps if you wanted to. Make sure that the delivery destination can handle the frame rate and size you're working at. Note that the timeline frame rate has to be the very first thing you set when you start the session.

You mean that as long as I export my project in the same frame rate of monitoring it's ok? So for example I can have a 50fps timeline, work with 50fps footage, but if I monitor in 25fps I'll have to export it in 25fps, right? I guess exporting a project not in the same frame rate I'm monitoring doesn't make sense... And along the same lines...can I have a 4K timeline, work with 4K footage, but monitor in 1080p and export it in 1080p? Does such a setting work? I mean, if yes, and if I'm only exporting 1080p, then I can get the UltraStudio Mini after all. Not sure... Thnx!

Yes to most of these. The key is right before you export... you change the settings necessary. But you can't change the frame rate. That would have to stay at whatever speed you want to deliver.

You can monitor 25fps from a 50fps timeline, and be aware that you need fairly hefty hardware to do 50 or 60fps. As long as the timeline is 50fps, you can deliver in 50fps if you wanted to. Make sure that the delivery destination can handle the frame rate and size you're working at. Note that the timeline frame rate has to be the very first thing you set when you start the session.

Hey Marc. thanks for following up. I remember that you cannot actually export the project in a different frame rate than that of the timeline, and the timeline frame rate cannot be changed once established. So in that case I won't be able to have a 50fps timeline and deliver 25 fps (in any case, I'm not interested in delivering 50fps but 25fps). But resolution is something you can change in the rendering settings.

So just to make sure I got it right. Can I have a 4K timeline, work with 4K footage, but monitor and export in 1080p? Does it make sense?