Jump to content

Simple Mac video editing....Resolve?


Recommended Posts

I just swapped my old office+video Mini for a new Mini running 10:11:6, and decided to see what else was around for my simple video edit needs beyond FCP7.  Before I bought into Premiere I thought I'd try Resolve, since A: it's used by lots of DIT and colorist folks I know and B: is free.  So far so good.  Anyone else using Resolve as an editor?   One thing I'm not happy about so far, vs. FCP7: the rendering seems very slow--hardly faster than real time playback.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FCP7 unfortunately has become pretty outdated for modern camera codecs (it still works rather well if you only work with ProRes and don't do heavy effects).

Resolve has become really useful lately, they really added a lot of editing functions and updated the GUI so it's pleasant to work and I often use it on small projects. I thought it only works on computers with dedicated GPU though, but maybe they changed that?

The other options are FCPX, which is a rather cool app with high quality and fast rendering, but if you're coming from FCP7 then you probably will be frustrated with the timeline (at least I am), AVID which is great if you like AVID (I don't) i.e. the interface and workflow suits you or Premiere CC, which is probably the most similar to FCP7 and great if you also do After Effects work, but the subscription price is hard to swallow if you don't edit for a living.

I switch between all five because I get involved in finishing projects where the choice has already been made. For smaller projects they all work fine, it's only once you do very specific things when the choice becomes important (like, if you need multiple editors to work on the same project, go avid, if you need after effects go premiere etc).

If you describe the kind of projects you do and what functions you need the most then it might be easier to give sound advice. also FCPX, Premiere CC have a free trial and Resolve is free anyway, so you might want to play around and see which works best for you.

chris

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've downloaded Resolve but I've not used it yet other than to look around it. I plan to edit a project I've already shot soon but you know how that goes. Could be a year before I get to it. Seems like a good replacement for FCP7 which I really liked and could use without thinking about the system and just edit. I'm sure that will come about with any system I end up using. Love to hear from others who use Resolve too. 

CrewC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lightworks is not really free anymore. well, it is if the only thing you need is an youtube export, but for any reasonably professional workflow you'll need the pro option which is 135EUR per year. Also, it's not terribly good and nobody uses it ; )

Resolve is the much better option in my opinion, but as said it probably won't run well on a Mac mini - might be ok for simple HD work with ProRes though, so if you try it I'd be interested to know how it works.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My iMac in my studio is as loaded as I could get it at the end of 2015. It has the horsepower to run anything so I don't think I'll have an issue w Resolve... I know people who use Premire and that is my plan B but I'm hope Resolve is all I need. I know it's a futile gesture but on principle I will never use FCPX. I still think Apple pulled a boner dropping the Pro market just as they were getting a loyal pro community using it. Thanks Obama. Oops!  He had nothing to do with that happening but everything else bad in the world is his fault....

CrewC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Jim Feeley said:

My understanding from talking to engineers is that FCP7 does as much work as possible with the CPU. Resolve, following the trend of lots of more modern code esp for color applications, leans on the GPU. Ain't much GPU in a Mac Mini. I hear FCPX runs fairly well on a mini, but that's $300...

yeah, FCPX runs pretty well on a modern Mac mini as does Premiere (although both have GPU acceleration built in too, so a beefy graphics card will speed them up as well).

I know quite a few young people who like working with FCPX, but I know even more who hate it with passion (usually the ones coming from FCP7 or AVID). What they should have done is put the guts of FCPX in an application with the same GUI principles like FCP7/PP/Resolve, because the performance is really great.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't want to get too far from Phil's original question, but my take with FCPX is that a lot of people HATED HATED HATED it when it first came out. Some came around as they tried it a bit...and as FCPX got better, which it really has. These are "edit to pay my mortgage" people who are fairly experienced and serious. Though note that I don't know anyone first hand who's used FCPX to cut a feature-length doc or narrative. 

Anyway, it seems like Premiere and FCPX deal better with systems lacking a good GPU. Resolve not so much since story editing is its new thing...but geez, Resolve's price and development curve is pretty impressive. I'm a color idiot, but Resolve's a great utility for tons of stuff...and now including editing (with a good GPU).

Phil, if you can't get Resolve running swiftly on a PC, or Macbook Pro, or something, you could maybe try Premiere Elements, the more-limited version of Premiere. $90 download from usual suspect merchants. But first try the free 30-day trial to see if it runs well on your mini and delivers the features you want.

http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere-elements.html

Would love to hear what other people recommend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OT and my two cents: I just finished a  post audio project edited on FCP-X. What a forking nightmare.. since it was not possible to export an OMF.. or AAF for that matter.

I'm no expert on video editing, but rendering is typically much much slower than real-time, especially when there's a lot of processing. A cuts-only project with no resizing or format change should be relatively painless though. Going from 4k down to SD for DVD is  excruciatingly  s  l  o  o  o  o  w  .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On 19.9.2016 at 10:08 PM, Philip Perkins said:

FCX pissed me off too much, coming from FCP7.  Resolve seems like a good fit until/unless I need Premiere.  I was able to dope out a basic Resolve edit with not much manual consult.

 

At first I felt the same, I couldn't seem to get anything done on X the way I was used to from 7. Then I didn't edit anything for months on end and after that tried FCPX again, and now am loving it for speed, simplicity and effects. This is on a Mac Mini 2011 with 16GB RAM! I haven't worked with Resolve yet, but I think FCPX is a real bargain for its price.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Christian Spaeth said:

At first I felt the same, I couldn't seem to get anything done on X the way I was used to from 7. Then I didn't edit anything for months on end and after that tried FCPX again, and now am loving it for speed, simplicity and effects. This is on a Mac Mini 2011 with 16GB RAM! I haven't worked with Resolve yet, but I think FCPX is a real bargain for its price.

I agree that it's a fine app, but also agree on what Rick said above:

If you ever want to send the audio over to protools or the like for sound editing/mixing then it's a real pain - which might be not unimportant on a forum of audio professionals ; ) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...
  • 1 year later...

A number of my coworkers and I have switched to resolve for video editing and color correction. Fairlight has been good enough that on smaller projects (2 to 6) tracks I just edit, mix and master the audio in resolve. For me the turning point was when they introduced 3rd party plug-ins on the master track. It has gotten to the point were it really is a complete one stop shop for post production as long as you have a computer that can handle it, are not dealing with a huge amount of audio tracks, are not composing scores in midi, have decent audio plug-ins to use with it and can wrap your head around node based workflow for visual effects and composting. Fortunately most of what I do fits within that. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I started editing with Resolve V12 and kinda figured it out.  Pretty OK. When Resolve 14 came along and added Fairlight, the audio functions and integration made it a real editor. Resolve is at #15 now. Free cost up to UHD Export. 4086 resolutions and up + noise reduction $300/yr. All resolutions will import into the FREE version of Resolve. Yes, 8K

 

Resolve is a medium challenge to learn, particularly the bin, timeline, media organization. After i got motivated to learn Resolve I spent some hrs with Lynda.com 's excellent tutorials $25-$30/month or free through IATSE. You can do it by yourself but nodes are not intuitive and the # of Ah Ha tricks that are buried in the boiler room are too numerous to easily find yourself.

 

There are plenty of zerk fittings, access panels, worm holes and plumbing that will please the techno-mechanics in all of us. Free.

 

Titling is easy and flexible, Free too!

 

The catch is, Resolve takes a bit of horsepower to run. As mentioned, CPU is not the determinant of transcode/export speed, GPU is. A newish TB2 MacMini may be adequate, with 16GB memory and an internal SSD but realtime/24fps export is the high end of our current 4K-HD transforms. I have seen Sony 4K XAVCHD- H264 !920X1080 scream at 2-3 fps on a macmini. No, I mean the editor is screaming. 

 

Currently a new 3Ghz i7 16GB  SSD mac mini will cost ya $1500+tax.

 

However, Apple anticipates a new Mac Pro early 2019 and the 5K iMacPro is now available for a crushing $8-12K. BUT, The nMP Trashcan that was introduced in 2013 is pretty available on Craig's at $1800 for a Quad/D300GPU/256 flash basic machine, to about $3000 for a 12core/D700GPU/1TB Flash. I just bought one for $2400. Screaming deal for a screaming/non-screaming editor. 

 

The other Ah Ha is hard drives. At 4K, which is the minimum that is being aquired on-set in 2018, be prepared to buy a 2 platter RAID 0 at minimum for compressed 4K so that you get a non-pausing playback. 12TB = $700. A more solid Hard Drive is a 4 platter 24TB RAID 0 or RAID 5. 24TB=#1500-2000 will getchya smooth playback for MOST 4K footage. RAW 5K-8K footage, all bets are off. Test Test.

 

Resolve is free and Blackmagic design will be around  for a few years

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

Resolve 16 is pretty nice and at free or $300 (not a year, just $300 until some future update that may cost money) 🙂 it is a great price. For those with Mac Minis that need more power, consider getting an eGPU from Blackmagic (two models, available at the Apple Store). Also, Apple’s educational bundle for anyone who qualifies (lots more people than one would think) is only $200 and includes Final Cut Pro X and Logic (along with Motion X and Compressor). Final Cut Pro X has really become competitive and, unlike Premiere is a one time purchase. Coupled with something like Affinity Photo or Pixelmator Pro (to replace Photoshop), one can eliminate the monthly subscription fees using either of these Resolve or Final Cut Pro X.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's been a great thing to have for video utility tasks, esp mix demos and converting work-videos for the DAW out of MP4 into something more daw-friendly.  It's great at free and I'd pay for it if I had to.   PP is too much of a commitment (subscription BS etc) and I found DVR much more user friendly, coming from FCP7.  What else is there that can deal with all those codecs etc?  No thanks on FCPX.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...