DaVinci for Mac, game changer or game over?

[Alex Hastings]

well actually to be precise baselight at 95K now offer the full system including color surface and quite a few TB of storage (if i am not wrong...i had an email couple of days ago...)

Baselight is awesome one of the best, if not the best grader on the market. The 95k Baselight is limited to HD only, can't do 2k without a step up in the system. Full system though, just add grading monitor and your good to go.

If Baselight can keep pushing forward, it actually has the best future of any post app out there. I seem to remember something about Baselight being an internal compositing app at Framestore a long time ago, then it turned into a grader when the GUI was designed. So before it was a grader it was a command line compositing app.. So they just need to build a GUI for the compositing aspects of baselight and its got a another feature set.

[M Most]

Baselight is awesome one of the best, if not the best grader on the market. The 95k Baselight is limited to HD only, can't do 2k without a step up in the system. Full system though, just add grading monitor and your good to go.

I don't think that's the case. That's a description of its video input and output. If you're working with files, and not doing real time video output, I don't think there is any resolution limit, although clearly you're going to hit some performance limitations with things like 4K. Even the system sold as "Baselight HD" was not actually limited to HD resolution. The new version essentially replaces that product, offering a lot more for a lot less money.

[jake blackstone]

Baselight is awesome one of the best, if not the best grader on the market. The 95k Baselight is limited to HD only, can't do 2k without a step up in the system. Full system though, just add grading monitor and your good to go.

If Baselight can keep pushing forward, it actually has the best future of any post app out there. I seem to remember something about Baselight being an internal compositing app at Framestore a long time ago, then it turned into a grader when the GUI was designed. So before it was a grader it was a command line compositing app.. So they just need to build a GUI for the compositing aspects of baselight and its got a another feature set.

To my knowledge, none of Baselight versions are limited in working resolution. People have done 4k features on Baselight 1. It's just a matter of usability and interactivity. I'm sure the new GPU enabled $95k system (curious what they call it these days) is a more capable system than Baselight 1 and Baselight HD of old.

[jake blackstone]

Baselight is awesome one of the best, if not the best grader on the market. The 95k Baselight is limited to HD only, can't do 2k without a step up in the system. Full system though, just add grading monitor and your good to go.

If Baselight can keep pushing forward, it actually has the best future of any post app out there. I seem to remember something about Baselight being an internal compositing app at Framestore a long time ago, then it turned into a grader when the GUI was designed. So before it was a grader it was a command line compositing app.. So they just need to build a GUI for the compositing aspects of baselight and its got a another feature set.

To my knowledge, yes, it was initially an internal Framestore product, but I believe, it was a color grading system from get go.

[Alex Hastings]

To my knowledge, none of Baselight versions are limited in working resolution. People have done 4k features on Baselight 1. It's just a matter of usability and interactivity. I'm sure the new GPU enabled $95k system (curious what they call it these days) is a more capable system than Baselight 1 and Baselight HD of old.

Its not a working resolution, but an export resolution. Its limited to HD export. It can't export sequences above 1920x1080 as file sequences or out of the DVS boards. You need a different license to be able to get anything out of the 95k baselight above HD. Yeah, there is not a limit to whats on the timeline, or whats imported.

[Alex Hastings]

To my knowledge, yes, it was initially an internal Framestore product, but I believe, it was a color grading system from get go.

Yeah, Jake, when you saw it, it was a grading system, but before you saw it, when it was at Framestore and it was a command line based compositor. You need to know some people who where at framestore about 15/20 years ago, like Wolfgang Lempp, but its true.

Its not intended to be a ribbing mate, but thats what I was told.

[jake blackstone]

Its not a working resolution, but an export resolution. Its limited to HD export. It can't export sequences above 1920x1080 as file sequences or out of the DVS boards. You need a different license to be able to get anything out of the 95k baselight above HD. Yeah, there is not a limit to whats on the timeline, or whats imported.

Mike Most had already explained and so did I, that HD limitation only applies for the video I/O. Yes, DVS card requires a separate 2k license, which isn't included, but FilmLight would be happy to sell it to you at nominal cost even for the $95k system, but there is no limitation on resolution for grading and rendering. And in that respect, this $95k system (we need a name for it) isn't any different from any other systems out there.

[jake blackstone]

Yeah, Jake, when you saw it, it was a grading system, but before you saw it, when it was at Framestore and it was a command line based compositor. You need to know some people who where at framestore about 15/20 years ago, like Wolfgang Lempp, but its true.

Its not intended to be a ribbing mate, but thats what I was told.

It's quite possible and I'm not arguing on the facts. But i wonder the validity of an argument for bringing back compositing system, that is in your own words 15/20 years old. If you just need to bring a mask or another image as a layer, size it and incorporate into the timeline, than Baselight can do it now. I wouldn't consider it compositing, may be 15/20 years ago...

[shashbugu]

I am trying to figure out how the thread went from Davinci $995 vs Scratch, to scratch vs baselight. Everyone in the world knows that many years of experience is priceless in any industry. that has never stopped the passionate diehard young creative rookie and the equally innovative young inventor from jumping in and reinventing the tools needed to red-volutionalize the said industry. Might I remind you we are on Red camera forum. Red is presently writing the Motion Picture history books of the future. The industry is not just being revamped here in the United States. People in third world countries are picking up these cutting edge easy to use tools and telling their own stories. How many of the Movies in this year's Oscars were shot in America?
At this years NAB, there were touch screen controlled lights and cleverly engineered Led fresnels costing all peanuts, but putting out enormous intensity whilst using very little energy.

Not to go off topic, but experience is bliss> but it does not take a beautiful talented and eager mind much time to create never before seen image types, colors, and visuals if given the affordable tools to do so.

I think every Professional colorist will tell you that Real Time with clients pays the most. They have all trained themselves to recreate what they already know or have previously done in front of a client. But the real creativity takes time no matter how real time the tools are.
I really applaud the CEO of Black Magic his philosophy has always been "there's no reason why good quality can't be affordable"

I was worried the interface was going to look like Resolve 6.... but no!!!! they actually revamped the whole interface and built in a lot of new features.

[Luis Otero]

This paradigm shift is something similar to what we heard few years ago when a guy called Jim shared with the world an incredible aspiration. For those called professionals, it was a SCAM. Guess what: now there are many people with great enthusiasm and interest on this art that today, due to such SCAM, are learning by doing, and some of them doing great cinema by the way.

So I think that now that a company has done for the CC/Grading exactly what Red did for cinematography (making the tools accessible) will help people to gain the experience that so much has been proclaimed as the king of the world. I agree that it is paramount, but if the tools are not at reach of the masses, we will never have the opportunity to obtain such experience.

It is incredible how people that participate on this forum, that know what is the reality of RED and how it has evolved due to this great cyber-community, have not been able to see the parallelism between these two exciting, and one day unthinkable, achievements, and have the arrogance to talk down to the aspiring people that now can get for less that $1K such a great tool.

Why don't you ask Jim how profitable RED is for him precisely due to those aspiring individuals that invest with some sacrifices, spend and create accessories only because someone had an idea that rocked the establishment.

Just my 2 cents...