Once again that tension thrived between the “barbarians at the gates” and the “elitists in the towers.” Resolve sets the standard for professional color grading apps, and the free version is more than most people will ever need. It wasn’t enough that we had a free DaVinci now, it was that the former high-end suites and artists knew we had a free DaVinci. There was a not-so-subtle schadenfreude among starving filmmakers when BlackMagic did the the unthinkable and gave the rabble the keys to the Ferrari. Resolve used to cost as much as a small apartment, ran on proprietary hardware, and was reserved for the highest-end projects for high-paying clients. If you have ever spent time in any of the Resolve wannabes or the more esoteric apps like SpeedGrade, then you will instantly fall in love with the grandmother of all digital grading platforms. As we move toward this future, my only advice is to avoid the temptation to decide on a “best.” Feature films with famous actors have been colored in the Magic Bullet Suite and no-budget webisode videos have been graded in Resolve.

The choice of which one to use will get more interesting. Plus, next month Resolve 12 will drop and include more “edit-y” features.

It’s only going to get more polarized now that Premiere Pro CC 2015 includes in-timeline color grading. Most small to medium post companies doing ad work want me to color in the NLE, while filmmakers working on shorts and features want a Resolve session after picture lock.

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