DaVinci Resolve 17.4 Released – Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max Optimization and More

Software News

by Jakub HanOctober 22^nd, 2021

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The new DaVinci Resolve 17.4 brings support for hardware-accelerated Apple ProRes and full use of 120Hz displays on Apple MacBook Pro laptops with an M1 Pro and M1 Max chip. Furthermore, there is now a native Dropbox and Dropbox Replay integration and many other new improvements.

Roughly 14 days ago, we received the new DaVinci Resolve 17.3.2 version from Blackmagic Design. Now, in reaction to the new MacBook Pro laptops from Apple, Blackmagic Design is releasing a new version of Resolve – the 17.4. Apart from the optimization for the new M1 Pro and M1 Max machines, the new Resolve brings plenty of other improvements and optimizations. Let’s take a look at what is new.

DaVinci Resolve 17.4 – New Key Features

As anticipated, the new Apple MacBook Pro laptops triggered a wave of excitement among many creators. Although we still have to wait for real-world reviews, it seems like the laptops again offer an unprecedented combination of power and effectivity (low battery consumption), which is vital for working on demanding tasks on the go. When the first Apple M1 MacBooks came last year, Blackmagic Design was very quick with releasing an optimized version of DaVinci Resolve for the ARM-based architecture. Now, the situation repeats itself.

Firstly, the new Resolve 17.4 supports a hardware-accelerated Apple ProRes on Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max. Secondly, native HDR viewers and 120Hz playback are supported on the new MacBook Pros. Furthermore, the DaVinci Neural Engine performance is faster on Mac OS Monterey. Other new key features include:

• Native Dropbox and Dropbox Replay integration with render presets.
• Sync markers, comments, annotations with Dropbox and Dropbox Replay.
• Export timeline markers as a YouTube video or QuickTime chapters.
• Steinberg VST3 support with access to even more audio effects.
• Simplified auto color management settings with SDR and HDR selection.
• Improved 3D keyer and matte finesse controls.
• New Resolve FX including film halation and custom mixers.
• Text+ support for combined glyphs, right to left text, and vertical layouts.
• Subtitles can auto-resize backgrounds and decompose to a parent timeline.

DaVinci Resolve 17.4 – Full Features List

This is the full list of the new features in the DaVinci Resolve 17.4:

Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max

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

Dropbox

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

Edit Page

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

Color Page

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

Resolve FX

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

Fairlight Page

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

Fusion Page

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

Codecs and File I/O

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

General

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

Minimum system requirements

• Mac 10.15 Catalina.
• 8 GB of system memory. 16 GB when using Fusion.
• Blackmagic Design Desktop Video 12.0 or later.
• Integrated GPU or discrete GPU with at least 2 GB of VRAM.
• GPU which supports Metal or OpenCL 1.2.

Price and Availability

As always, the latest version of DaVinci Resolve is available now as a free download from the Blackmagic Support Center. The full Studio license of DaVinci Resolve 17.3.2 is also available on the same page, but an activation code has to be purchased in order to launch it. The full license for two computers currently costs $295, but with the purchase, you also get a free Blackmagic Speed Editor (check our review here). The license also comes with all new Blackmagic Design cameras.

For those using DaVinci Resolve or DaVinci Resolve Studio on Windows, Blackmagic Design strongly recommends uninstalling previous versions prior to installing 17 Public Beta 5 and higher versions. Going forward, all Fairlight, grading, and editor keyboard firmware updates will be managed from the DaVinci Control Panels Setup utility.

When it comes to database, DaVinci Resolve 17.4 requires a database upgrade from Resolve 16.2.7 and previous versions. It is strongly recommended that you back up your existing database (both DiskDB and PostgreSQL) and then restore it for the upgrade before upgrading to this release. There is no database change from 17.0.

What do you think about the new DaVinci Resolve 17.4 update? Are you planning to purchase one of the new MacBook Pro machines with the M1 Pro or M1 Max chip? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.