Blackmagic Design has announced DaVinci Resolve 17.4 which transforms the speed of the grading software to work up to 5 times faster on the new Apple Mac models with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. According to Blackmagic, Resolve users can now playback, edit and grade 8K projects faster, and can work with up to 12 streams of 8K footage.

More resolution, more streams

Editing and grading multiple 8K streams is the name of the game, especially with the born of the new MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. Just to make it simple, those new MacBook Pro were designed for editing 8K ProRes RAW footage and doing it buttery smooth. In fact, the new M1 Max MacBook Pro is more powerful for 8K editing than the mighty Mac Pro, as it allows editing up to 30 streams of 4K ProRes video or up to seven streams of 8K ProRes video in Final Cut Pro, and that’s even more streams than on a 28-core Mac Pro with Afterburner (Read our article: The new MacBook Pro is More Powerful for 8K Editing Than the Mac Pro). Hence, Blackmagic Design hasn’t stayed on the fence and released DaVinci Resolve 17.4 which utilizes those mighty M1 chips.

To have the capability now to easily edit and color grade Blackmagic RAW 8K footage in HDR and all on a laptop while you’re miles away from the studio is incredible.

Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO

DaVinci Resolve 17.4: 5 times faster on the new MacBook Pros

According to Blackmagic Design, the new version (17.4) of DaVinci Resolve runs up to 5 times faster on the new Apple Mac models with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. Blackmagic states that Resolve users can now playback, edit and grade 8K projects faster, and can work with up to 12 streams of 8K footage. DaVinci Resolve 17.4 also increases the decoding speed of 12K Blackmagic RAW files, making it over 3 times faster and H.265 rendering is also 1.5 times faster. Plus, DaVinci Neural Engine performance is up to 4 times faster, for real-time facial recognition, object detection, and smart reframing. Support for ProMotion 120Hz displays makes playback and editing incredibly smooth and HDR viewers are also supported on the new Apple MacBook HDR displays.

Dropbox Replay integration

DaVinci Resolve 17.4 also adds Dropbox Replay integration. Projects will flow smoothly from DaVinci Resolve Studio directly to Dropbox Replay for easy video review and approval. Frame accurate colored markers, comments, and annotations made in Dropbox Replay are almost instantaneously synced to the DaVinci Resolve timeline. Plus with a simple login, customers will only have to sign in once. Other features include quick and easy render set up with dedicated Dropbox and Dropbox Replay presets as well as automatic background uploads that are monitored for status and conformed when complete.

What’s new in DaVinci Resolve 17.4

The new version includes many features and improvements regarding all segments of the software (editing, sound design, grading, encoding, SFX, and more). Explore the complete [LONG] list below:

Key Features

1. Hardware-accelerated Apple ProRes on Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max.
2. Faster DaVinci Neural Engine performance on Mac OS Monterey.
3. Native HDR viewers and 120 Hz playback on supported MacBook Pros.
4. Native Dropbox and Dropbox Replay integration with render presets.
5. Sync markers, comments, annotations with Dropbox and Dropbox Replay.
6. Export timeline markers as YouTube videos or QuickTime chapters.
7. Steinberg VST3 support with access to even more audio effects.
8. Simplified auto color management settings with SDR and HDR selection.
9. Improved 3D keyer and matte nesse controls.
10. New Resolve FX including lm halation and custom mixers.
11. Text+ support for combined glyphs, right to left text, and vertical layouts.
12. Subtitles can auto-resize backgrounds and decompose to parent timelines.

Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max

1. Hardware-accelerated Apple ProRes on Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max.
2. Faster DaVinci Neural Engine performance on Mac OS Monterey.
3. Smoother 120 Hz UI and playback on M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pros.
4. Native HDR viewers on M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pros.
5. Native full-screen mode on Mac OS.

Dropbox

1. Dropbox login within DaVinci Resolve preferences.
2. Render presets for Dropbox and Dropbox Replay with background uploads.
3. Sync comments and annotations with Dropbox Replay in Studio.
4. Sync markers and comments with Dropbox in Studio.

Edit

1. Subtitle and caption backgrounds now auto-resize to t text content.
2. Subtitle tracks in nested timelines now decompose to the main timeline.
3. Adding a new subtitle caption now auto-focuses on the text area.
4. Simple titles and subtitles are faster on Apple Silicon systems.
5. Improved ease in and out functionality for position curves in the timeline.
6. Options to include effects and grades for render-in-place operations.
7. Switch Multicam angles in the edit page with the speed editor.
8. Ability to mark selection for timeline gaps.
9. Edit asymmetric audio transitions created in the Fairlight page.
10. Trim video and audio transitions asymmetrically using cmd/ctrl.
11. Fine audio clip gain adjustments using shift + mouse drag.
12. Support for pasting retime attributes on audio clips.
13. Option to limit audio sync to the first timecode match.
14. Preview composite modes by hovering over each mode in the inspector.
15. Ability to set per-clip deinterlace quality in the inspector.
16. New square iris transition.
17. Support for custom aspect ratio controls for shape transitions.
18. Improved overlays for Fusion tools in the viewer.
19. Improved undo support for Fusion off effects and Text+ in the inspector.
20. Support for the folder-based organization of effect templates.
21. New customizable key actions to go to previous/next timeline tabs.
22. Ability to close timeline tabs with middle click.
23. Preview generators and titles from the effects panel in the cut viewer.

Color

1. Support for an automatic mode for color-managed projects.
2. Support for ACES 1.3, gamut compression and new CSC transforms.
3. New 3D Keyer with new modes, better selection/stroke logic, live feedback.
4. Improved HSL and luma keyers with updated matte nesse controls.
5. Track forward and back with a single action in trackers and magic masks.
6. Node tooltips now indicate LUT and effect type present.
7. Dragging new links to layer and key mixers auto-creates node inputs.
8. Dragging color nodes over key links creates key-to-RGB connections.
9. Added individual primary and secondary tool icons for faster switching.
10. Clip filters for timeline clips with Dolby Vision analysis or trim.
11. Disabled clips are now shown as gray in the timeline.
12. Support for applying camera LUTs and CDLs to ARRI MXF ProRes clips.
13. The printer light state is now persisted across application restart.
14. Navigating to markers in the timeline now auto scrolls to the center marker.

Resolve FX

1. Film halation emulates lm stock reflections and scatters with Studio.
2. Custom mixer to combine effects and grades with finer control.
3. Improved 3D, HSL, and Luma keyers in edit and Fusion.
4. Better noise handling and key refinement for existing keyers.
5. Improved patch replacer with the ability to align source and target.
6. Film grain with interactive previews and grain freeze options.

Fairlight

1. Support for Steinberg VST3 audio effects on Mac OS and Windows.
2. Ability to reorder, move and duplicate effects in the mixer.
3. Support for copying clip ranges with partial fades.
4. Single-sided audio transitions are now displayed as fades.
5. Support for multi-channel audio outputs on Linux.
6. Waveform displays are visible at smaller track heights and lower zoom levels.
7. Ability to shift-click and cmd-click on keyframe selections in the timeline.
8. Navigating to the previous or next timeline marker now selects the marker.
9. Improved default processing order in Fairlight mixers.
10. Automation curves display current values when no automation is present.
11. Flashing edit cursor in edit selection mode.
12. Improved column order and search behavior in the clip index.
13. Improved jog, scroll, and shuttle with the editor keyboard and speed editor.
14. Fairlight FX meters have resizable displays and improved channel labels.
15. Improved audio performance when using Blackmagic monitoring devices.

Fusion

1. Text+ support for combined glyphs and right to left language layouts.
2. Improved vertical Text+ layout, vertical glyphs, rotation, and line direction.
3. Improved Text+ character grouping, spacing, underlining, and borders.
4. Text+ supports per-character stylistic sets for supported fonts.
5. Support for OpenType features, including old-style numbers in Text+.
6. Multiple Text+ improvements for character styling and animation.
7. Hover to show tool descriptions in the effects panel and add tool window.
8. Improved default tracker search and pattern size for grid warps.
9. New search area scale slider in tracker options.

Codecs and File I/O

1. Improved encode settings for YouTube render preset.
2. Option to export a timeline marker color as YouTube video chapters.
3. Option to export a timeline marker color as QuickTime chapter markers.
4. Support for decoding opus audio in QuickTime and MP4 clips.
5. Hardware-accelerated Panasonic 8K AVC decodes on Apple Silicon.
6. Improved decode speeds for ARRI ARX clips.
7. Hardware-accelerated H.265 encodes on the free version on Windows.
8. H.264 encode profile options on supported Nvidia systems with Studio.
9. H.264/H.265 encode bit rate controls on supported Windows Intel systems.
10. Faster hardware acceleration on Windows Intel systems with Studio.
11. Support for rendering EXRs with ZIP1 compression.
12. Ability to add custom languages in DCP/IMF composition naming options.
13. Ability to use approved operator/rating/region lists for DCP naming.
14. Marker support in the IO encode plugin SDK.
15. Ability to bypass re-encodes for Sony XAVC Intra clips.
16. Improved retention of comments metadata for third-party XML workflows.
17. Improved display of render job names with tooltips.

General

1. Right-click the audio icon to adjust the volume of media, color, and deliver pages.
2. Auto-identifying media storage sequential image formats as stills or clips.
3. Prompt to overwrite existing projects when invoking save as.
4. Locked project indicator for PostgreSQL databases with usage info tooltip.
5. Ability to clone a PostgreSQL database from the project manager.
6. Ability to export PostgreSQL access keys from the project manager.
7. Option to import into the current timeline when importing an AAF.
8. Scripting API support to access inspector properties for video clips.
9. Scripting API support to set play-head position on the timeline.
10. Scripting API support to get the color versions for video clips.
11. Scripting API support for rejecting upload status in render job APIs.
12. Scripting API support for setting network optimization in render jobs.
13. Scripting API support for H.264 multi-pass encode option in Mac OS.
14. Improved scripting property set when querying MediaIn nodes.
15. Addressed an issue with Vimeo login.
16. General performance and stability improvements.

Watch the Blackmagic Design video that summarises the highlights of Resolve 17.4: 

Dedicated to Apple’s laptops

“This amazing update gives customers massive performance gains on the new Apple MacBook Pro models with the M1 Pro and Max processors. It completely transforms workflows and unlocks some incredible creative potential. What’s exciting is simply by downloading this free DaVinci Resolve update customers will get all these features for free,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “To have the capability now to easily edit and color grade Blackmagic RAW 8K footage in HDR and all on a laptop while you’re miles away from the studio is incredible. Plus the ability to easily collaborate on projects with Dropbox Replay makes it such an exciting time for our customers to be out there creating content. We’re very excited to see what our customers can do with this amazing update to DaVinci Resolve.”

What about us Windows 10/11 users? Even on my ryzen 7 5800x/2070, super build with 32GB of ram, I struggle natively running 1440p.

DaVinci Resolve user

And what about Windows?

Although Resolve 17.4 contains a few codec improvements in the Windows environment, PC users feel like Blackmagic ditched them. “What about us Windows 10/11 users? Even on my ryzen 7 5800x/2070, super build with 32GB of ram, I struggle natively running 1440p “ says commenter. “What about optimization on PC?” claims another Windows user: “Even with the high-end hardware, the performance is really bad and the recommended specs are really high, and if I have fusion comp in the timeline, it gets really slow. Optimize the platform of the majority of your users first”. “Tomorrow I am getting a 3070 ti, not sure how much better it will get but hopefully a good amount better with more CUDA cores” adds other. Does it mean Apple offers a more convenient platform for software optimization compared to, let’s say, RTX Studio? It’ll be interesting to test how Resolve 17.4 performs on M1 Max compared to top-tier RTX Studio laptops. The answer for that is, however. not so simple and unequivocal.

How to get it

DaVinci Resolve 17.4 is available for download for free from the Blackmagic Design website support page.

You can also buy the more advanced Studio version with the Speed Editor included, on the B&H and Adorama websites.

Product List

Here’re the products mentioned in the article, and the links to purchase them from authorized dealers. 

• Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve 17 Studio with Speed Editor
  • Buy on B&H
  • BUY on ADORAMA