Blackmagic Design released DaVinci Resolve 18.5
NAB 2023, Las Vegas, USA - Sunday, April 16, 2023 - Blackmagic Design announced today the release of DaVinci Resolve 18.5, a major new update that adds new AI tools and over 150 feature upgrades, including Resolve FX relight, speech-to-text editing, automatic subtitling, AI audio classification, Universal Scene Description file support, and new menus on the Cut page that allow customers to work more efficiently and have more time for creativity. The public beta version of DaVinci Resolve 18.5 is now available for download from the Blackmagic Design website.
DaVinci Resolve 18.5 introduces dozens of new tools, including four new AI tools, over one hundred fifty feature enhancements, and significant revisions to the Cut page. With the automatic speech to text feature, editors can now transcribe audio within clips to search for media based on narrative content, or rapidly generate subtitles for timelines. DaVinci Neural Engine AI can analyze and automatically sort audio clips based on their classification, and audio tracks can now be grouped on the Fairlight page for quicker automation and editing of mixes. Colorists can apply virtual lighting to a scene using the new Relight FX. With support for USD files and the multi-merge tool, VFX artists can collaborate more easily and work quicker.
Customers can now initiate remote monitoring with a Blackmagic ID and a session identifier. Simply enable remote monitoring in DaVinci Resolve and share their code without worrying about IP addresses or port forwarding. Customers can simultaneously broadcast to multiple computers, iPads, and iPhones. Customers with project libraries can also export their timeline to the Blackmagic Cloud using the new Presentations feature, which is currently in public beta. Multiple individuals can review their timeline, offer comments, and even participate in a live chat with Presentations. Comments will appear as markers on the DaVinci Resolve timeline, allowing users to respond swiftly to feedback.
On the color page, color management in DaVinci Resolve can now be configured at the timeline level. Existing custom timelines are automatically initialized with the project's color management parameters. This enables the setting of separate timeline and output color spaces per timeline for mixed-media applications. The new Relight FX allows users to add virtual light sources to a scene in order to creatively modify environmental lighting, fill shadows, and alter the mood. Light sources can be directed to cast a diffuse light, a point source, or a spotlight, and their softness and specularity can be adjusted. The Color page viewer now supports marker annotations and overlays for clip and timeline markers.
The addition of three new menus to the Cut page timeline allows for quicker and more flexible editing. Use the timeline options, timeline actions and edit actions to toggle ripple editing, trim edit points to the play head, resync audio, change the appearance of the timeline and more. Scene cut detection is also now possible directly on the Cut timeline. Simply navigate to the timeline menu and click ‘detect scene cuts’. Selected clips will be analyzed for content and cut points automatically be placed on every new edit in the rendered clip. Customers can modify or remove trim points as needed.
The Cut page has a new ripple button that enables and disables rippled edits. Previously edits were always rippled, now by disabling the ripple button the duration of the edit will be preserved so customers can create gaps in the timeline. Customers can hold the option key to disable ripple for that edit only. Split A/V allows the edit point for video or audio to be adjusted separately. Simply drag the lower part of a clip to separately adjust the audio track, allowing the dialogue to be heard before or continue after the video clip is seen. Editors can now creatively focus visual attention on the scene using audio to add interest, drama and even tension to dialogue scenes on the Cut page.
The auto subtitle feature on the Cut and Edit pages transcribes speech to text automatically into a subtitle track on the timeline. To activate, simply click ‘create subtitles from audio’ in the timeline menu. Once analyzed, click the individual captions to modify them in the inspector.
Speech-to-text editing has also been added in the ‘transcribe’ feature which automatically transcribes video and audio clips. Customers can search for specific terms or jump to the section of a clip where a word appears. Instead of listening to entire scenes or interviews, customers can quickly locate the topic they need and add it to their timeline saving countless hours.
Content creators can now upload videos directly to TikTok by logging into their TikTok account in preferences and utilizing the render preset on the Deliver page or the fast export dialog. A new option for vertical aspect ratio output facilitates the creation of social media content.
Support for the OpenTimelineIO (OTIO) format expedites and simplifies the import and export of timelines from other NLE applications. OTIO supports metadata for clips, timing, tracks, transitions, and markers, in addition to information regarding the order and duration of edits and references to external media. Enabling per-timeline backups in preferences enables Plus customers to back up and restore their work rapidly. For increased security on multi-user projects, modified timelines will be backed up locally for both collaborative and non-collaborative projects on local, network, and Blackmagic Cloud project libraries.
Fusion now supports Universal Scene Descriptor files to facilitate collaboration between visual effects artists. Importable USD data includes geometry, illumination, cameras, materials, and animation. Customers are now able to manipulate, re-light, and render files using Hydra-based renderers such as Storm, thanks to the new USD utilities in Fusion. The new multi-merge tool enables users to combine multiple media sources into a single multi-layer stack, making it simpler to create composites by combining clips, still images, and graphics using layers. Each layer has its own controls, allowing users to modify distinct properties such as position, size, and mode. Fusion Studio now supports the native AI-based Depth Map instrument.
It is now possible for audio engineers to combine related audio recordings or mixer channels into groups, allowing for shared automation or editing operations. Customers can determine the shared parameters when creating organizations. Groups can be nested or momentarily suspended so that the focus can be quickly shifted to smaller groups or individual tracks. The DaVinci Neural Engine can now categorize audio recordings based on their content, allowing editors to make quicker editing decisions when reviewing unfamiliar materials. After analysis, audio samples are sorted into bins for dialogue, music, and sound effects, with subcategories including explosions, water, and insects.
When retiming audio recordings with elastic wave processing, the new 'voice' option provides natural-sounding, high-quality results when adjusting the speed of dialogue or singing, even when using more extreme keyframing.
