Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/462877
54 CINEMONTAGE / WINTER 2015 54 CINEMONTAGE / WINTER 2015 TECH TIPS by Joseph Herman S ome few months ago, Blackmagic Design released version 11 of DaVinci Resolve. Long recognized as one of the world's leading color-correction applications, it's been used to grade a long list of Hollywood blockbuster films, television commercials, music videos and documentaries, including such recent features as The Grand Budapest Hotel, Captain Phillips, Sacrifice and many more. Blackmagic acquired Resolve from DaVinci Systems in 2009. Before that, getting up and running with DaVinci Resolve was an expensive proposition that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Luckily for us, however, Blackmagic Design made some bold moves. Not only did they keep improving the product after they took it over, but they made it less expensive. How much less expensive, you ask? A lot. First, there is Resolve Lite, which is as cheap as it gets: free. Although you might be inclined to think that the Lite version is brain dead, it isn't. While there are differences between it and the full version of the software, Resolve Lite is remarkably robust. The full version of DaVinci Resolve software adds things like stereoscopic grading, collaborative tools and noise reduction (among other things). It costs around $1,000 but comes free with the purchase of most Blackmagic cameras. For high-end users looking to build a professional color suite, Blackmagic makes a sexy control surface with weighted trackballs, illuminated keys, soft knobs, LCD displays and buttons galore (see Figure 1). DaVinci Resolve with the Blackmagic control surface costs a Be It Hereby Resolved THAT COLOR GRADING AND EDITING ARE ONE ORGANIC PROCESS DaVinci Resolve is equally at home in a high-end color or edit suite or your home studio. Figure 1: DaVinci Resolve is an advanced color- grading tool and NLE. It is pictured here with the Blackmagic Resolve control surface.