12 New Features in Resolve Studio 12.5 (that are worth paying to upgrade)

May 9, 2016

These 12 New Features in Resolve Studio 12.5 may finally get you to upgrade to the paid version. See some of them in action.


Series
DaVinci Resolve Studio Rises: Part 2

Blackmagic Is Giving You Reasons to Lighten Your Wallet

In Part 1, we took a look at new capabilities in DaVinci Resolve Studio 12.5 that are exclusive to the paid version. Mostly, those features in Part 1 were extensions to features that are already (or partly) available in earlier versions of Resolve Studio. In this Insight, we’ll look at 12 new features in Resolve Studio 12.5, completely new to the software.

These specific features indicate that Blackmagic is changing its approach to the paid version of Resolve

As I run through this list of Studio-only features, notice how they have nothing to do with multi-user workflows… which, prior to this release, essentially defined why you’d buy DaVinci Resolve Studio. Instead, Blackmagic seems to have made the strategic decision to hold back some new features that are very desirable to working professionals from all backgrounds.

And while the average non-Studio user could be expected to have a need and use for a few of these features, it’s the working pro who is likely to find the bundle of them to be worth the investment. Here’s a quick rundown of the feature-sets I cover in this Insight:

  • Interlacing, Deinterlacing, and 3:2 pulldown insertion
  • Lens Distortion Correction
  • (3) Studio-only ResolveFX filters: One of which I covered in the earlier Insight of my Resolve 12.5 Little Gems
  • An interesting change to how OpenFX plug-ins work and why we might see new Studio-only 3rd party OpenFX plug-ins
  • The Resolve Color Transform Language
  • ARRI Raw Look files available in nodes
  • Headless Remote Rendering
  • Sony XAVC Intra rendering

When you add in the workhorse (and fast) Temporal and Spatial Noise Reduction tools, this collection gives Free users an eclectic mix of features worth spending money to obtain.

My prediction: Over the next 18 months there will be enough new features exclusive to Resolve Studio that a whole lot of people who have been 50/50 on spending the money, for them, the upgrade will become a no-brainer.

And what I like from this 12.5 release is that not having these features doesn’t hobble the software for free users. DaVinci Resolve is still DaVinci Resolve, free or paid. It’s just that the paid version is now offering native features you’d normally go the 3rd party plug-in route for and which are desirable.

In this Insight, you’ll see demos of how some of these features are implemented.

And since Parts 1 and 2 of this series are not hidden behind the membership pay wall, feel free to share these two Insights with your peers. We get tons of people asking, “What is the difference between the Free and Paid versions of DaVinci Resolve?” Consider this 2-part series a big part of the answer to that question.

Don’t forget, we love comments!

Did I miss any Studio-only features for Resolve 12.5? As the Public Beta cycle continues, has Blackmagic added new Studio-only features? Let us know in the comments! And please post your thoughts: Do you like this new approach by Blackmagic? Do you think it’s a mistake?

Enjoy!

-pi

P.S.- The footage used in this series was downloaded from Philip Bloom’s sample GoPro footage when he took the GoPro Session for a test ride, along with the ProTunes codec.


Update 1

In the video below I wasn’t sure how some of these new features are presented to users of the free version of DaVinci Resolve 12.5. In the Comments, Mixing Light member Rami About Fakher lets us know that many of the Studio-only features can be used in the free software, but the footage is watermarked and the user is urged to upgrade to Resolve Studio!

A few hours later, the leader of the DaVinci Resolve software development team confirmed:


https://media.s3bubble.com/embed/hls/id/bWKe29070

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