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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

New DaVinci Resolve for Mac Configuration Guide Available

D

Dwaine Maggart

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An updated version of the DaVinci Resolve for Mac Configuration Guide has been posted on our website. You can find the PDF on the DaVinci Support page. Or here:

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/downloads/davinci/pdf/DaVinciResolveMacConfigGuide.pdf

We've received a lot of requests by owners of Early 2008 Mac Pro computers wanting to use Resolve. Resolve 7.0.2 added this support and this edition of the configuration guide provides details of which models are certified and what settings need to be changed. Compressed formats may or may not be processed in realtime depending upon the codec used. Compressed file formats place higher demands on the CPU than uncompressed formats. Of course uncompressed file formats require a fast disk array to cope with the high read and write data rates.

If you are regularly using compressed file formats, a certified 2009 or newer series Mac Pro is recommended for realtime performance.


Dwaine Maggart
Blackmagic Design DaVinci Support
 
roryhinds said:
Do you know with AJA support is coming?
Is there a demo license version available like Smoke?
Click to expand...

Indeed I would like to try before I buy and I would also like to know about timeframes for AJA support. Thanks
 
Thank you for the update on the 2008 machines!

Any word on wether the Nvidia quadro FX 5600 will do the job on a mac 2008?

I suppose there are many of us early 2008 users that have the 5600 and would love to keep instead of switching to the 4800.

P.S

An update on the aja kona 3 status of support would also ease the decision.


Thanks.
 
Hi, at this time I do not have a schedule for Resolve to use the AJA card. Regarding FX5600, its a non certified and certainly non tested config. Resolve is tuned for real time performance with the certified configurations as per the config guide.
thanks.
Peter
 
Peter Chamberlain said:
Hi, at this time I do not have a schedule for Resolve to use the AJA card. Regarding FX5600, its a non certified and certainly non tested config. Resolve is tuned for real time performance with the certified configurations as per the config guide.
thanks.
Peter
Click to expand...

Thank you Peter,

As things stand, any chance for a demo licenses to test un certified configurations before buying?

Thanks again.
 
My first time reading the config guide.

As awesome as the notion of having a Resolve for $995 its evident that the hardware of a MacPro isn't really up to the task. Its on the edge, and there are a lot of limitations.

I have a lot of trust in BlackMagic and Apple, but my experience is that technologies that are just over the minimum performance cause a lot of headaches.

In 18 months or so the hardware under the Resolve will be a lot more capable and deliver vastly better performance.

Two key technologies should emerge in that time:

Lightpeak- this is important to help deal with the expansion limitations of the MacPro

New GPUs- potentially powerful enough so that we can use a single graphics card.

Additionally there should be a new generation of CPU's and other normal improvements. Hopefully those improvements will include the availability (and possibly the ubiquity) of USB 3 on Macs.

So... while I may acquire Resolve soon, I won't be implementing it as my main color correction solution until performance is better without such strict performance requirements- or until I can afford a Linux license and a full blown Resolve. (In which case my OS X license will be used as an assistant's station.)

So, while Resolve is almost certainly in my future, Color will remain my weapon of choice for now.

On another note... I don't expect rapid support for AJA, or any third party i/o, in Resolve. AJA competes with BlackMagic in the i/o card market- so it makes no business sense to make supporting competitors products a priority.

Even when BlackMagic does support AJA and other third party i/o, I would just look at a BlackMagic card as part of the hardware requirements, particularly for a dedicated color correction station.
 
Alexander Ibrahim said:
I won't be implementing it as my main color correction solution until performance is better without such strict performance requirements
Click to expand...
Please name one other real time color grading solution, where it's up to the user to select any desired hardware.
 
jake blackstone said:
Please name one other real time color grading solution, where it's up to the user to select any desired hardware.
Click to expand...

Color

Don't get me wrong... I know Resolve is at a different level, but Color doesn't hold me back yet. Its very fast, and operates at or near real time most of the time, until render time of course.

A Rocket is more important to my work, as is an HBA and a video i/o card. Add in the "GUI" video card and you've used all the PCIe slots on current Mac Pros.

So, right now at least, my main complaint is that Resolve requires a dedicated video card in order to operate.

Another minor gripe is that ATI cards are not supported. I double checked- ATI cards are all that ships with Mac Pro computers today.

I think in the next year or so we should see hardware fast enough so that Resolve will be able to use a second video card, but not require it.

If Blackmagic is interested in having me purchase and use Resolve professionally in the near term, then I need a little bit more help.

How about a Decklink 3D card with a CUDA GPU on it intended for Resolve? Use the CUDA part to accelerate other applications using the card for i/o as best possible- no point in having it idle when Resolve isn't running... but the main point is to simplify both Resolve installs and make them both higher performance and more reliable.

What about a BlackMagic video card that has multiple GPU's on board intended to support Resolve and standard OS X use? The sort of solution Apple provides for MacBooks - but with desktop processors?

If I was building a dedicated Resolve station, then I'd be happy to buy a BlackMagic Decklink 3D+CUDA and one or more of the BlackMagic video cards to get better Resolve performance. I get the notion though that Resolve for Mac doesn't support using more than one GPU.

It's certainly not impossible to satisfy me today, but it may not be worthwhile to BlackMagic. I think the Decklink+CUDA card would be a real hit- especially if BlackMagic can use the CUDA with general OS X media apps.

I also think that a BlackMagic multi GPU video card would be a hit... Apple is really creating a market with its poor selection of video cards. Also it strikes me that the cooling provided for one GPU is excessive- spread it out over two GPU's and it seems more efficient.

It does strike me that such deviecs also provide a continuing revenue stream for BlackMagic. If I buy a Decklink 3D, I'm set for a very long time. If I buy a DeckLink 3D+CUDA, I may well have to replace that card more often.

In closing, I think the hardware available falls a bit short today, but I remain excited about Resolve for Mac. I think there are solutions... one of which may simply be waiting for hardware to get better.

There are a couple of other things I would like while I am asking...

I'd love a BlackMagic portable i/o device for Macs... something that uses ExpressCard, USB3 or LightPeak. (Yes I know about the Windows USB3 widget... and I'm sort of jealous)

Work with RED to get more magic Rocket juice into BlackMagic i/o cards.
 
Alexander Ibrahim said:
Color

Don't get me wrong... I know Resolve is at a different level, but Color doesn't hold me back yet. Its very fast, and operates at or near real time most of the time, until render time of course.

A Rocket is more important to my work, as is an HBA and a video i/o card. Add in the "GUI" video card and you've used all the PCIe slots on current Mac Pros.

So, right now at least, my main complaint is that Resolve requires a dedicated video card in order to operate.

Another minor gripe is that ATI cards are not supported. I double checked- ATI cards are all that ships with Mac Pro computers today.

I think in the next year or so we should see hardware fast enough so that Resolve will be able to use a second video card, but not require it.

If Blackmagic is interested in having me purchase and use Resolve professionally in the near term, then I need a little bit more help.

How about a Decklink 3D card with a CUDA GPU on it intended for Resolve? Use the CUDA part to accelerate other applications using the card for i/o as best possible- no point in having it idle when Resolve isn't running... but the main point is to simplify both Resolve installs and make them both higher performance and more reliable.

What about a BlackMagic video card that has multiple GPU's on board intended to support Resolve and standard OS X use? The sort of solution Apple provides for MacBooks - but with desktop processors?

If I was building a dedicated Resolve station, then I'd be happy to buy a BlackMagic Decklink 3D+CUDA and one or more of the BlackMagic video cards to get better Resolve performance. I get the notion though that Resolve for Mac doesn't support using more than one GPU.

It's certainly not impossible to satisfy me today, but it may not be worthwhile to BlackMagic. I think the Decklink+CUDA card would be a real hit- especially if BlackMagic can use the CUDA with general OS X media apps.

I also think that a BlackMagic multi GPU video card would be a hit... Apple is really creating a market with its poor selection of video cards. Also it strikes me that the cooling provided for one GPU is excessive- spread it out over two GPU's and it seems more efficient.

It does strike me that such deviecs also provide a continuing revenue stream for BlackMagic. If I buy a Decklink 3D, I'm set for a very long time. If I buy a DeckLink 3D+CUDA, I may well have to replace that card more often.

In closing, I think the hardware available falls a bit short today, but I remain excited about Resolve for Mac. I think there are solutions... one of which may simply be waiting for hardware to get better.

There are a couple of other things I would like while I am asking...

I'd love a BlackMagic portable i/o device for Macs... something that uses ExpressCard, USB3 or LightPeak. (Yes I know about the Windows USB3 widget... and I'm sort of jealous)

Work with RED to get more magic Rocket juice into BlackMagic i/o cards.
Click to expand...
As I said, "real time" color grading solution. Color is not by a long shot...
 
Jay A. Kelley said:
Until it moves to PC.. I am not a customer.

Jay
Click to expand...

Fair enough... But the alternative would be?

I say this so often to Mac die-hards, what difference does it make what OS you're working on? Your platform is not Mac or Linux or Windows, it's Resolve, or Avid or whatever. The price of Davinci on Mac is so incredible in comparison with other tools of it's ilk, the cost of a Mac Pro, IMHO, pales somewhat into insignificance (and that's saying something).

Just my 2c worth.
 
Jay A. Kelley said:
Until it moves to PC.. I am not a customer.

Jay
Click to expand...

You sound like a Mac Head!

Think of it as a single-purpose system on a unix-derivative operating system. Put a sticker over the mac stuff, add dell monitors... and don't tell yourself it's a mac.

Get over it. If it ran on a PC, that wouldn't stop me from setting one up.
 
Hey Greg...

It's not loyality.. It's money. I am PC based, and I get more bang for my buck on this side of the pond. I have considered a MAC, and I still do, but between my pocket-book and the lack of activity at Apple in terms of updating their hardware, I just cannot do it.

Also, my business does not need this type of color correction... Yet..

I have looked at this though, and considered it... But for now, it's too much for me to switch... Unless they create a PC version, then I'll buy it in a heartbeat

Jay
 
Jay A. Kelley said:
Also, my business does not need this type of color correction... Yet..

I have looked at this though, and considered it... But for now, it's too much for me to switch... Unless they create a PC version, then I'll buy it in a heartbeat
Click to expand...

If you don't need this level of color correction then why do you care what software is available on what platform at what price? Why would you buy it if you don't need it?

Look, if you want to use Resolve, the cheapest way to do so is to buy a Mac Pro that meets the specs and a Resolve License. That would run in the $7000 range.

The next cheapest option will involve a computer built pretty much to the same specs as the Mac Pro, running Linux with a $30000 license of Resolve, and a $30000 hardware console.

Feel free to price out a Baselight or Lustre system.

As far as the Mac vs. Windows argument... its tiring.

Windows doesn't support the applications I need... so its not an option. So, if Apple considers porting Final Cut Studio to Windows, BlackMagic ports Resolve and Foundry ports Storm, then I'll consider switching.

No no... don't hold your breathe.
 
jake blackstone said:
I'm sure nVidia would have something to say about this idea...
Click to expand...

Why?

I'd expect BlackMagic to buy GPGPUs in bulk from nVidia, and to pay for engineering support like any other card manufacturer.

Someone needs to make these solutions. Neither Apple nor nVidia seems interested.
 
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