A Hands-On Introduction To DaVinci Resolve On iPad Beta for Post Pros

December 7, 2022

Colorist Joey D’Anna gives an extended review of DaVinci Resolve for iPad Beta, how it differs from the desktop, and what it may excel at.


Placing DaVinci Resolve iPad Into Context For Editors, Colorists, and Finishers

While many people were surprised that Blackmagic Design announced a Resolve iPad version – I was predicting this since Apple transitioned to its new ARM-based architecture.

This new architecture is not only exceptionally good for its video editing and color grading – it is also now standard across all of Apple’s hardware products. This means software for ARM Macs will port to iPad easily – and as we’ve seen, Resolve is incredibly well optimized on these new Macs!

Testing DaVinci Resolve for iPad Beta

I’m fortunate to beta test this new iPad release on my M1, 12.9-inch iPad pro. I’ve been putting it through its paces both on the Cut page for editing and the Color page for grading – and I’m very impressed.

I think Resolve on iPad will become the most serious mobile post production option for professionals, thanks to its deep integration and compatibility with desktop Resolve.

Performance on the M1 iPad has been impressive, the feature set is deep, and color management on the iPad’s excellent display works great in both SDR and HDR.

Learning To Edit On DaVinci Resolve’s Cut Page and Speed Editor


Watch Sample Lessons from the Cut Page Course

Key takeaways from this Insight

By the end of this Insight, you should know:

  • What Resolve iPad is, what it isn’t, and what features are available to iPad users
  • Resolve iPad can connect to existing Resolve databases and the Blackmagic Cloud
  • Significant user interface changes for touch and pen usage
  • How to set your caching settings for optimal performance
  • How to get media in and out of Resolve on the iPad, including from cloud services and local files on the iPad
  • How to use the Cut page on the iPad
  • How to set up Reference Mode in iPadOS 16 to enable very accurate color-managed viewing
  • How to use the Color page on the iPad, including color management for SDR and HDR, and using output color space to color manage the viewer
  • If you can use the Blackmagic Speed Editor with the iPad (and why it’s fantastic)

External Links

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Questions or Comments? Leave a comment!

Is this Insight helpful to you? Let us know! Mixing Light is all about community discussions, and we’re curious if you found this helpful, if you have something to add, or if you have more questions that you need answered?

– Joey

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