Wednesday 17 April 2013

Jigsaw24 offering 25% off Resolve and Decklink 4K bundle

DaVinci Resolve 10
At NAB Blackmagic announced the latest version of their colour grading and editing software, DaVinci Resolve 10.
Although it won't be released for a couple of months if you buy version 9 now you can upgrade to 10 for free when it is released. These are some of the new features in Resolve 10 from the press release:


DaVinci Resolve 10 has been developed to simplify the integration of different software tools used in the film and television industry, allowing timelines to be moved into and out of DaVinci Resolve and other edit software such as Final Cut Pro, Avid and Premiere Pro.

As workflows have changed, more post production is now started on set during the shoot. Lighting and other aspects of the shoot are also often verified based on color correction checks and DaVinci Resolve 10 has new powerful tools to manage this process. The new Resolve Live feature allows color grading direct from the video input live with full creative power such as primaries, secondaries, power windows, custom curves and more. Grades can be stored and then relinked when the camera files are loaded.

DaVinci Resolve 10 includes enhanced editing features and allows online finishing of edits performed in other popular editing software. This means multiple users can submit scenes in large complex jobs from the applications they prefer to use, and DaVinci Resolve 10 can finish online from the original camera RAW files for dramatically better quality than would be available when finishing in a standard NLE software package. If any scene needs additional editing, it can be moved back to the NLE software letting editors use the tools they love.

New editing features include full multi track editing with 16 channels of audio per clip and unlimited video and audio tracks in the timeline. Audio can be synced or trimmed and dragged independently to the timeline. Other new editing features include extensive ripple, roll, slide and slip clip trimming support which display dynamically on the timeline and viewer. The viewer also allows split screen display to show in and out points of adjacent clips.

A good example of the online editing process is when an edit has been completed in Final Cut Pro X that includes mixed frame rates, mixed media types, multiple audio tracks and even color corrections. DaVinci Resolve 10 will support import of that project via XML and will online it including full translation of all these elements while rendering the master from the original RAW camera files. This means that Final Cut Pro X editors can use DaVinci Resolve 10 as the tool to online their work for cinema release and generate the Digital Cinema Package file directly from the camera RAW files.

Editing in DaVinci Resolve 10 also includes a powerful title tool with static, lower third, scroll and crawl titles with multiple fonts, size, drop shadow and XY positioning. Timelines in DaVinci Resolve 10 also include the support of compound clips with multiple elements including multiple video and audio tracks. Also, DaVinci Resolve 10 can be used for stereoscopic 3D projects with full support for left and right eye clips in the media pool and the edit timeline. Using timecode and reel name, DaVinci Resolve 10 will automatically associate the left and right eye of the stereoscopic clips.

Color correction features have been upgraded in DaVinci Resolve 10, including support for industry standard OpenFX plug ins with an unlimited number of plug ins per clip. There are now unlimited power windows per corrector node and the new Gradient PowerWindow™ lets colorists quickly add a gradient across the image. Other new color correction features include copy and paste of tracking data, motion effects including spatial and temporal noise reduction and motion blur effects.

For project delivery, DaVinci Resolve 10 includes full audio track visibility in the deliver window timeline as well as EasyDCP integration so users can render directly from their project timeline into a Digital Cinema Package for release to theaters. Because DaVinci Resolve 10 allows rendering from the camera RAW file directly to the Digital Cinema Package files in the highest quality 32 bit float, there is simply no better quality possible for a cinema release master. Customers simply need to purchase a license from EasyDCP to enable this feature.

DaVinci Resolve 10 also supports additional media types and continues to be the industry leader in file based workflows because it operates with virtually all video file types available. New formats include JPEG 2000 decoding and encoding, AVI clip decoding, playback and more.

Jigsaw24, one of Blackmagic's retailers in the UK, is offering a bundle of DaVinci Resolve and the Decklink 4K I/O card at a 25% discount.

The Decklink 4K is the top of the range I/O card from Blackmagic and as the name suggests it is capable of working with up to 4K resolution video in real time.

Decklink 4K

DeckLink 4K Extreme features a high performance design for working in the highest film quality! Get 4 times the resolution of 1080 HD with full Ultra HD 4K capture and playback using 6G-SDI and HDMI 4K support. DeckLink 4K Extreme includes single and dual channel SDI connections for both regular 2D and 3D stereoscopic workflows as well as full resolution color RGB 4:4:4 capture and playback. Includes dual link 6G-SDI, HDMI 3D/4K and analog component, composite, S-video connections. Work in SD, HD and Ultra HD 4K. Also includes AES and analog balanced audio, 16 channel SDI audio, genlock, deck control, broadcast quality up, down and cross conversion, plus built in SD/HD internal keyer.

Obviously the Decklink card will work with Resolve for real time I/O but it is also supported by Adobe, Avid and soon Autodesk software will be able to use it for real time output.

If you want to future proof your system the Decklink 4K is the card to get.

Go here for the deal from Jigsaw24

Thursday 4 April 2013

EVGA announce GTX680 Mac edition

EVGA have announced a new graphics card for the Mac Pro, the GTX680 Mac edition.

The specifications are the same as the 2GB PC version although it does show PCI express 2.0 not 3.0.

I assume that is a limitation of the Mac Pro, not the card.

Core Specs

1536 CUDA Cores
Base Clock: 1006 MHz
Boost Clock: 1058 MHz
Bus: PCI-E 2.0
Texture Fill Rate: 128.8 GT/s

Memory Specs

Memory Detail: 2048 MB GDDR5
Memory Bit Width: 256 Bit
Memory Clock: 6008 MHz
Memory Speed: 0.33 ns
Memory Bandwidth: 192.26 GB/s

Key Features

NVIDIA GPU Boost
Supports four concurrent displays; two dual-link DVI connectors, HDMI and DisplayPort 1.1
NVIDIA CUDA Technology
PCI Express 2.0 Support
OpenGL 3.2 Support
OpenCL Support

The card is compatible with Mac Pro 3.1 (Early 2008) or later running OSX 10.8.3

Newegg are taking preorders for the card with shipping from April 8th, price is $599.99 compared to $479.99 for the PC version, so you can still save some money by going with the PC card.

It will be interesting to see if the Mac version gives anything more than the boot screen, there is no information about the type of BIOS on the card but I assume it must support EFI to be called a "Mac edition" There is also no mention of BIOS switching as there is on the Sapphire 7950

If you get your hands on one please let me know in the comments,

Cheers,

Neil