Day 3: 24 Insights in 24 Days New Year Marathon
A New Control Surface For DaVinci Resolve
Along with the announcement of Resolve 17, Blackmagic surprised us with an announcement of the new DaVinci Resolve Speed editor. What is the Speed Editor? Well – it’s a small edit control unit, very similar in functionality to the bigger (and much more expensive) Editor Keyboard. If you’ve read my Insight reviewing the bigger keyboard, you know I really like it.
The Speed Editor shares a lot of functionality with the Editor Keyboard – but at a much lower price point.
$1,000 was a lot to ask for many colorists and online editors that may not use the full functionality regularly, but at $300 I think the new Speed Editor will fit a lot more budgets, and it’s smaller size makes it much more manageable on a desk that may already be packed with other devices. Hardware-wise the Speed Editor shares the Editor Keyboard’s excellent build quality, and great smooth feel on the jog dial. The only difference is the less expensive Speed Editor doesn’t include the magnetic locking clutch when changing between jog and shuttle modes.
The Cut Page? Multicam?
Being so familiar with the edit page, I honestly hadn’t dove into the new cut page much. After getting the Speed Editor – I committed myself to understanding it, and using it on real projects. It doesn’t replace the edit page for me – nor do I think it should, however, I’ve found that when paired with the Speed Editor there are some tasks that the cut page absolutely excels at!
Specifically – the source tape feature is an amazingly fast way to quickly log footage, from shoots with lots of takes, all the way to long shows when working on promos.
And for multi-camera editing – the new sync bin really is a new way of thinking about multicam editing. Instead of focusing mainly on the edit timeline, the sync bin puts your focus on the action happening on every camera angle – letting you easily find and cut in the right moments from each camera. It feels much more like directing a live switch, and with the Speed Editor, it’s very intuitive.
Workflow For Colorists And Editors
In the video below, I’ll walk you through what I like to use the speed editor for – on the Color, Edit, and Cut pages. I’ll go through:
- Quickly navigating timelines on the color page
- Wiping stills on the color page
- Checking conforms and preconforms on the edit page
- Fixing conform issues and adjusting edits on the edit page
- Lightning-fast logging and pulling selects on the cut page
- The cut page’s innovative sync bin, and source-based multicamera editing
Did I mention It’s Free?
Blackmagic must be really excited to get the Speed Editor into people’s hands, because right now (and I don’t know how long this promotion lasts) if you buy DaVinci Resolve Studio from a BMD authorized reseller – the Speed Editor is included free.
In my case – I bought an activation card, so I could use Resolve Studio on my laptop without a dongle. If you have any need to add an additional seat of Resolve Studio, or if you have been waiting to jump from the free version to the Studio version – now is the time!
Just remember – the Speed Editor is being packaged as the free item with the purchase of Resolve Studio – not the other way around. I know of a few people who bought the Speed Editor alone, expecting a free copy of Resolve Studio – so if you have any questions or are unsure of how to order, check in with your Blackmagic reseller.
Happy New Year and happy editing and grading to all – as always, if you have any questions or comments leave them below!
– Joey
