New Products

Blackmagic Design Releases DaVinci Resolve 17, Speed Editor

Resolve 17 offers more than 100 new features and 200 improvements, and the Speed Editor is a new keyboard for the cut page.

ASC Staff

Resolve 17 offers more than 100 new features and 200 improvements, and the Speed Editor is a new keyboard for the cut page.

Blackmagic Design has released DaVinci Resolve 17, which offers more than 100 new features and 200 improvements, and the DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor, a new keyboard for Resolve’s cut page that offers a faster editing solution. 


DaVinci Resolve 17’s color page includes new HDR grading tools, redesigned primary controls and AI-based magic mask, among other features; Fairlight updates mouse and keyboard edit selection tools so users can work faster, and FlexBus is a next-generation audio engine and busing architecture with support for 2,000 tracks. Editors get a metadata slate view with bin dividers, zoomed waveforms for audio trimming, smart reframing, a unified inspector and dozens of other tools. In addition, compositions created in Fusion can now be used as an effect, title or transition on the edit and cut pages.


Power Window drawing has been improved with new split-screen wipe options, an additional Sat vs. Lum curve, improved scopes and support for 17-point 3D LUTs. The HDR grading palette enables users to create new color wheels with custom roll-off for specific tonal ranges; the wheels include exposure and saturation controls for each zone. The mesh-based warping tool lets users adjust two color parameters at once, either hue and saturation or chroma and luma. 


Magic mask uses the DaVinci Neural Engine to automatically create masks for an entire person or specific features such as face or arms. Users also get matte-finesse tools, the ability to add and remove strokes and automatic tracking.


DaVinci Resolve color management adds features to simplify workflow and improve image quality. DaVinci wide gamut and DaVinci intermediate are timeline color space and gamma settings that provide a universal, internal working color space. It’s larger than what cameras can capture or BT.2020, Arri wide gamut and ACES AP1.


Metadata slate view with bin dividers makes it easy to sort and find clips based on scene, shot and camera; when used with source tape, it’s the fastest way to jump in and out of scenes or groups of shots. Users can also now edit in 16:9 HD or Ultra HD and quickly create square or vertical versions for posting to social media. The DaVinci Neural Engine automatically identifies faces and repositions them inside the new frame.


Users can create independent proxy media; these can be as small as 1/16th resolution and saved as H.264, H.265, ProRes or DNxHR. They can also be generated internally or externally by third-party tools.


New Resolve FX 3D, HSL and luma keyer plug-ins let customers pull keys directly in the timeline on both the edit and cut pages. In addition, alpha channels from Resolve FX and Open FX plug-ins are now supported, as are embedded alpha channels and external matte files.


The render-in-place command enables users to generate render files for any portion of the timeline. Once rendered, they can be moved, edited and trimmed without having to re-render. Source side adjustments allow users to change a clip before editing it into the timeline. For example, customers can adjust Raw controls, add a LUT, remap audio tracks, change sizing, playback frame rate and more, all before editing a clip into the timeline.


Compositions customers create on the Fusion page can now be saved as a template and used on the edit or cut page. New animation curve modifiers can be used to automatically retime animations when customers change their duration in an edit. 


DaVinci Resolve 17 also features consistent timeline navigation across all pages; better metadata support; new image-scaling algorithms; the ability to share smart bins, smart filters and optimized media across all projects on a system, and more GPU and CPU accelerated Resolve FX.


“This is a massive update that offers amazing, new features for colorists, audio engineers, editors and visual-effects artists,” says Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “While the new color science, HDR grading and improvements and Fairlight usability are the most noticeable features, what I am most proud of are the thousands of small improvements that customers will notice every day!”


DaVinci Resolve 17 public beta is available now for download from the Blackmagic Design website.


The new DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor features a source-tape function that enables faster clip searching, large trim in and out buttons, new keyboard modes for intelligent editing, buttons that allow the search dial to live trim, buttons to change the transition type, an integrated search dial control and a keypad for direct timecode entry.



“We think this is an incredibly exciting product, as it has dramatic workflow ramifications,” Petty observes. “Until now, editing software has been designed to be used with a mouse, but that’s slow, as each edit function often takes multiple mouse clicks to do each task. With the DaVinci Resolve cut page and the DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor being co-designed, it means they work together for a whole new generation of editing workflow.” 


DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor lists for $295.


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