The best features of DaVinci Resolve 18

DaVinci Resolve 18 adds a host of new features. Below are the outstanding features worth upgrading to DaVinci Resolve 18 .

The best features of DaVinci Resolve 18

• The Blackmagic Cloud
• Smart vehicle management
• Blackmagic Proxy Generator
• Automatic depth map
• Upgrade subtitles

Blackmagic Design has released DaVinci Resolve 18, the latest version of its powerful post-production video editing suite. DaVinci Resolve has two versions, free and paid.

DaVinci Resolve 18 unlocks more potential for collaborative projects and increased workflow efficiency. Most notable is Blackmagic Cloud. Unfortunately, not all features are available in the free version. Here are the best features that make upgrading to DaVinci Resolve 18 worth it.

The Blackmagic Cloud

Blackmagic Cloud is free to log in and create a project library on the server for about 5USD.

Although using the cloud is a service that may cost money, rest assured, the rest of the basic version of DaVinci Resolve is completely free. The essence of Blackmagic Cloud is to allow users to work collaboratively on projects, with the potential to share with artists around the world.

For example, you can edit the video yourself in the US, give access to an artist in Canada, have an engineer edit the audio in Asia, and more.

Smart vehicle management

One of the headaches that plagues many people when editing video is losing access to footage due to delinking. With smart media management, this problem seems to be solved.

Resolve now allows you to create specific file paths to automatically link scenes when editing remotely. This eliminates the need to re-link files each time you go offline and come back online.

To use this convenient feature, you need an Internet connection as content is stored in project libraries on both the network and Blackmagic Cloud.

Blackmagic Proxy Generator

This is an app that comes with the basic DaVinci Resolve 18 installation. The free version of the system includes a Lite version of this application.

This App allows you to create proxy versions of your footage in compressed file format. Currently offered options are H.264 at 8-bit 4:2:0 1080p half res and full res, H.265 10-bit 4:2:0 1080p, ProRes 422 10-bit 4:2: 2 1080p.

Another great feature of the proxy creation tool is that it allows you to download proxy files to work on an offline edit. This tool simplifies the proxy workflow in general because Resolve can find the specific proxy in the file tree, then easily link back to the original camera file.

Proxies make the editing process smoother by reducing the need for higher capacity storage systems.

The proxy file acts as a reference during editing. They are compressed versions of the original video files and can be used to compile the first scene of a project. The editing system will follow that path back to the original video scene used in the grading process while preserving the structure of the first cut.

Automatic depth map

The free version of Davinci Resolve only allows viewing clips with the logo. However, it does demonstrate how well this new feature works.

The depth map automatically separates the foreground from the background using the 3D depth blur of the provided scene.

If there's a shoot that includes a 2-way conference or interview, it can help you choose the subjects that stand out. You can also bring focus to any specific task taking place in the shot.

Upgrade subtitles

To create multilingual content, for hard-of-hearing audiences, or any situation that requires subtitles, Resolve 18 now has an enhanced Subtitles feature. It allows you to import subtitles from storage media, creating zones for multiple captions per track.

In the styling menu, you can easily change the font, size and position of subtitles. You can also give text a shadow or background so it stands out in the frame.

To create subtitles for professional projects, Davinci Resolve 18 has expanded format support, now including TTML and XML. That means it's easier to create broadcast and web content that meets distributors' requirements.

Above are the outstanding features of DaVinci Resolve 18 . Hopefully this article helps you make the right choice when considering whether to upgrade to DaVinci Resolve or not.