New DaVinci Resolve for Mac Configuration Guide Available

[Oliver Peters]

This is what the DaVinci folks have told me regarding video I/O cards. At the moment, BMD has not released any hardware SDKs for Resolve. This means that Resolve will only work with Decklink cards and either the Tangent Wave or BMD control surface. That's because BMD has written direct drivers for these hardware options. There are plans down the road to release a hardware SDK.

- Oliver

 

[Brice Ansel]

Thanks Oliver,
now the question is, how long will the road be for the SDK to pop up.
Hope sooner than later.
Cheers
Brice

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Thanks Oliver,
now the question is, how long will the road be for the SDK to pop up.
Hope sooner than later.
Cheers
Brice

Long enough to sell a few more BMD I/O cards. :biggrin:

Sorry, couldn't resist. I don't stand by that statement at all. I know nothing of their plans.

 

[Brice Ansel]

Hé hé,
yes business is business, and we can't blame them to make money.
But they can't blame me to try saving money using my MXO2LE.
Probably the Red companie's fault.
I always have that little music playing into my head: obsolesence is obsolet.
Brice

 

[Alexander Ibrahim]

Hé hé,
yes business is business, and we can't blame them to make money.
But they can't blame me to try saving money using my MXO2LE.
Probably the Red companie's fault.
I always have that little music playing into my head: obsolesence is obsolet.
Brice

I have to say that the Matrox MXO2 i/o option is VERY good.

The major downside is its lack of support for Resolve.

One unnoticed downside is that the Matrox i/o boards only support 10 bit 4:2:2 input and output. That is just unacceptable for some tasks.

Another un-noted downside is that the Matrox's inputs and outputs aren't as high grade as those on BMD or AJA boards. That is to say that the i/o, even in similar modes (i.e. limiting the BMD cards to 422 to match the Matrox) is not as technically precise. There are all sorts of little foibles that can creep in to the Matrox i/o.

If you are delivering to high end clients the difference can be critical... especially if its going to a broadcast chain. Its less critical if you are just using the card for monitoring and delivering file based renders, or if your final delivery is direct to a video format like DVD or BluRay.

A final and important difference... the BlackMagic cards support 3D, as does Resolve itself. If 3D is part of your life, or if you think it will be, then the DeckLink 3D is probably the smartest and most cost effective solution out there today.

So, I would expect that for most RED users the MXO2 solution is an excellent offline solution, while the BMD and AJA i/o boards are more well suited to online and finishing.

Of course, in today's markets the definition of online and offline are variable depending on the clients and deliverables. If your delivery is web based, broadcast video monitoring of any sort is a luxury, not a requirement. You would be better off finding a way to stream that HD-SDI output to your iPad via h.264 wireless. Well that or you could just watch the NLE program window on your computer monitor.

 

[Dustin Cross]

I have BMD and MXO LE with Max. I use the Black magic card way more than the MXO. I really only use the MXO for h.264 rendering and since you can't use Max and output at then same time, I find then MXO not so useful. plus I get better performance from apps using the Decklink than the MXO. Haven't used Resolve yet though.

MXO is good for laptop, but I think I am just getting a Max card for tower.


Dusty

 

[Alexander Ibrahim]

I have BMD and MXO LE with Max. I use the Black magic card way more than the MXO. I really only use the MXO for h.264 rendering and since you can't use Max and output at then same time, I find then MXO not so useful. plus I get better performance from apps using the Decklink than the MXO. Haven't used Resolve yet though.

MXO is good for laptop, but I think I adjust getting a Max card for tower.


Dusty

I have not seen a meaningful difference in application performance between the BMD i/o cards, the AJA i/o cards and the Matrox.

Its the technical results where I have noted some differences- and even those just on tests on scopes. For most people its a solid 4:2:2 card, and I think it can serve as a great offline card for most everyone.

I can't say enough how much I value the single PCIe card solution with a BoB.

Of course BMD offers that too in its MultiBridge products. If 4:4:4 is of any utility to you then MultiBridge is a no brainer. Its priced pretty close to the Matrox MXO2 Rack.

My only criticism of that product line is that it does not yet support 3D, from what I can tell on the site. I guess that's a wish list item as well.

I do have another wish list item for the MultiBridge... make a version of the interface card with a GPU onboard for Resolve and hopefully other applications. Provided I can keep my MultiBridge BoB, I can upgrade interface cards every few years.