There are a lot of features I’d love to see, but I'm going to be contrary first and say that Blackmagic should probably cool it on new features for a while and focus on optimizing the software as it is. I appreciate Blackmagic's dev cycle and how frequently they usually update and pack in new features, but many releases since 12 have been problematic for me. Perhaps my system is completely at fault (doubtful, though I am looking into a new workstation), but I should not be getting the number of crashes I'm getting, even when working smartly with optimized media, node cache, render cache, proxy mode, etc.
I think the worm at the core for me is Resolve's implementation of OFX. I have had many, many crashes over the years that Blackmagic has looked at and said are the result of OFX plugins or running out of VRAM, even when working on very modest shots with little complexity. OFX developers blame Blackmagic, Blackmagic blames the third-party developers, maybe the truth lies somewhere in between. One developer of an OFX plugin suggested when I was having issues that I organize a meeting between Blackmagic and their dev team. Really? I should be the one to get you guys on the phone with each other? And this is some very popular third-party software. There should be more communication going on and support between Blackmagic and third-party developers to prevent people like me from constantly being hobbled and frustrated and wasting time on a shoddy integration of OFX.
I like OFX in theory and it allows me to do things Resolve just can't do, and I've spent a lot of money on them, so it would be nice if that implementation worked better or Blackmagic created some stricter standards for developers. Or, just disown OFX. Just don’t provide an option that is so prone to failure and problems and crashes as it is now, at least for me. Whether it's OFX or just optimization, resource management issues, and caching in Resolve, I think the existing software should be looked at more thoroughly by Blackmagic, but maybe they are doing that and I just suck.
One more caveat, I'm not a programmer and I definitely don't understand what the demands or challenges are of my requests, but oh well.
Ok, having said that, here are some of my dream features/areas to optimize:
Render-Cache Handles optionRender-cache clip handles (by default handle length assigned in Edit settings) without having to park on each clip individually and let it render. Just an option somewhere in project settings or the render cache dropdown to also render the handles for your grades automatically. Then, in the timeline view, there could just be a little icon, two bumpers on either ends of your clips that denote the handles have been cached.
This is the bane of my existence... Well one of them. My clients almost always want source resolution, round-tripped renders with handles, and I like using render cache in final delivery, because it helps speed things up and mitigate crashes, which tends to happen a lot on a trashcan mac pro handling 4k files and a meager 7-10 nodes applied
At the very least, just change the current system. Why when I render a clip in the color page while viewing handles, the handles render, I save, quit, restart, then I go back to the same clip, view handles, and the handles are now unrendered and red in places? Why is Resolve's memory so foggy when it comes to retaining cached handles? Even without quitting Resolve, sometimes jumping between shots and caching them while handles are enabled, I'll return to an already cached shot and its handles are spotted with red or just gone.
Having handles pre-cached and using them in final delivery would help me so much. Oftentimes, when I render with handles in the deliver page it struggles with the handles or that jump between unrendered handles and the render-cached part of the main clip, and crashes can happen. For whatever reason, render caching the handles in the color page seems more stable than using render cache in the deliver page.
Smarter / More Stable CachingCaching can be a nightmare for me, and it seems to have only gotten worse in newer updates. It would help my workflow considerably to have…
Enabling/Disabling node-cached node should not automatically require re-caching. I just want to be able to revisit certain nodes and make sure the correction is right without totally re-caching. This is problematic especially with compound nodes that are intensive (have some OFX nodes inside them). Resolve should not discard the cache so quickly if you're just bypassing your one node-cached node. It should recognize it has that cache already and connect it.
Creating a new version of a shot should not automatically require re-caching. Really? Nothing has changed. It can’t recognize that and inherit the cache from the last version? I work in versions a lot so this is particularly frustrating. Same goes for copying a remote grade to local. Why does Resolve always re-cache after going to local when nothing in the image is changing? Aaaaaand... same goes for copy and pasting the exact same clips I already had cached in one timeline into another one. They shouldn't lose the cache they already had. I just don't see a plausible reason for this and why making small changes that don't break cache prevent the same shots from inheriting the old cache.
Also, even if nothing changes and I only work downstream from my cached nodes, many times Resolve will decide the upstream node needs to re-cache arbitrarily, when I've done nothing to break the cache. Caching is not stable or consistent for me to say the least.
Also, I’d like an option to just select a bunch of clips at once, right-click and choose ‘render cache disabled for selected clips’. It’s particularly annoying and time consuming when working on a long project and you get toward the end, a lot of shots are locked, and for some reason you need to clear some space or something's off and you want to delete your entire render cache except for a couple shots you’re still working on, but after doing so Resolve decides it needs to regenerate the cache for the shots you don’t want. Rather than selecting every single one of those shots individually, finding a buried node thats set up for node caching and turning that off, one by one, over and over, it would be nice to batch disable any caching for selected shots.
Pause Rendering option, not just enable or disable render caching globally.
Option to delete all other versions' cache except active version.
Undo Behavior
It drives me crazy when I undo and wind up in the last node adjusted for that level of undo, keep working, make adjustments and realize I'm affecting the wrong node. I want to just stay inside the node I was working on after I undo. I want to quickly undo and redo to see changes, not be kicked out into another node. This should at least be a behavior you can choose in preferences (Default behavior or Stay on same selected node after undo).
Also, Resolve loves to group multiple changes together into one Undo operation. Say I change a curve and then change my offset. If Resolve feels these things happened in close succession, then it considers that a compound change and undoes both of them. This drives me crazy sometimes. Each action should be its own level of undo.
In addition, I've noticed, frequently, Resolve will forget levels of undo. For example, if I tweak the red channel output values in the RGB mixer and I go to .74, click and release, look at the image and then after a couple seconds change the same value to .95 and then change it to 1.04, and hit undo, Resolve will just skip to .74, forgetting .95 was used. Not a fan of having adjustments forgotten by undo. Especially when I have to use my pen to get back to the value I want in the RGB mixer, which reminds me... Bonus feature request: ability to manually input values for RGB bars and RGB mixer with your keypad.
Matrix Transforms
"Smart" matrix transforms
Like what is available in Baselight. I want to engineer my color inside Resolve without going into third party software and screwing with making LUTs and bringing them in, and potentially degrading my image.
"Dumb" matrix transforms
A toolset to enable and control common matrix functions, such as pure, true blacks/whites (certain designated IRE threshold not allowed to exceed specified cyan value etc.) and Resolve handles the rest to balance it.
I know I'm not alone in sometimes using a dummy node with no corrections and a 3D qualifier just to use the Despill option, if it works for the shot (sometimes it disagrees with a particular clip or introduces ungodly noise). This is an example of what I would like available as a tool with more applications.
Grade ManagementSmarter Copy and Paste
For example: Copy Color Correction Only from a node. Or Copy Qualifier Only, Windows Only, etc.
Node Groups
Basically, being able to create a single node or a series of selected nodes and treat it as a group and have it in 'Clip' view, not Post-Clip. Then when you assign other shots to that Group, only those nodes are propagated, appended, and linked. This doesn't change things drastically, I personally just hate bouncing between Clip view and Post-Clip all the time. Some group nodes with a little badge to indicate they're grouped would be nice. And I understand this could create problems if this were applied to Remote Clips the way Resolve currently is, but I can think of times it would be nice to work in remote grades and then for some shots have group nodes and Resolve would just ignore those in the other remote shots unless assigned.
Selective Remote/Group Grades
Whether in groups or remote grades, it would be nice to designate what is propagated between linked nodes. For example: Right-click on a node and choose link only curves, link only color, link only windows, etc. Or combinations of these. Whatever you want. So, if the shot called for it, you could easily have completely different windows on two different remote shots (windows unlinked), but only the color adjustments are linked and propagated between the two shots for that node.
Group Versions
Pretty self-explanatory. Would like the ability to version groups.
UIUniversal ‘Cleanup Node Graph’ option
Ability to Cleanup Node Graph inside compound nodes or a pop-up node graph from a still or timeline shot.
Ability to open up and exit compound nodes within a node graph you pull up from stills or other shots in timeline.
Input and output nodes are still annoying. They like to pin themselves to corners of the screen and stretch everything out. This seems to have gotten a little better, but I'd like some better cleanup here.
Show Colorspace metadata in View Clip Details window.
Show Offline (yes or no) as a metadata category, so you can filter all of your offline shots and quickly find them.
Delivery
More Codec Options for Avid AAF Workflow
I worked on a job that was having issues with DNXHR 444. Multiple Avid editors confirmed there was an update and issues with Avid interpreting that codec. But on a project where they want source resolution UHD files like this job, this is your only option. I had to render out ProRes and the editor had to eye match my outputs to his sequence, but the ProRes worked. So I was, in part, a big pain in the ass on this job, and just the simple ability to render out ProRes with an AAF would have saved me. And an option to output an EDL instead of AAF would be nice, also.
My congrats to anyone who made it through all of this.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk