Hi all, I currently finish in Resolve, but keep an eye on Flame here, on Discord, watched all the Flame Learning channels videos, some Lives, done the trial (twice), etc. Planning on making the move and I’m building a case (for cost) on how it will real-world affect our workflow.
We usually finish 1-2 spots per job with a few versions (cutdowns & aspect ratios). Lately we’ve been doing larger campaigns (50 unique edits w/ 3x aspect ratio each, etc). The edits themselves are basic (testimonials w/ static graphics, split screens, minor paint here & there, some beauty work, etc).
I have a pretty tight workflow in Resolve where I can do about 30 edits (mix of 30’s, 15’s, 10’s and 05’s in 3x aspect ratios for a total of 120 deliverables with 2x 16x9 versions for broadcast & web mixes) in roughly 36 hours. That’s everything from conform to color to cutting in graphics to split screens/reframe to delivery & QC.
But, I feel like it should be/can be faster. So, for those that do this type of volume work, does it seem like this could be done faster in Flame, all things being equal? If so, anything specific I should look into (connected conform, etc)? How do you handle multiple aspect ratios? One timeline or multiple (I work out of one in Resolve which is handy for updates)?
Well aware of the learning curve and I know this is a tricky question. Just trying to gauge how Flame handles these types of campaigns.
(excuse any typos, just wrapping a 12+ hour day delivering this project )
Hey, we do this a lot - loads of very heavy multi timeline deliveries
In resolve there is nesting which sounds like you are doing that, and thats allright
Flame does not have that concept its extremely different in that regard, the whole way media is manged and linked across segments and timelines has nothing to do with any other software that I know at least .
Flame instead uses / you allready said it - connected conform and its a bit of a mountain to climb but basically
“Segements are linked across timelines” would be the core thing to get
For example - you need to change the framing of shot030 in all 9:16 timelines of which there might be 500 or 5000, you can just change the resize effect on it and sync just that to all connected segments across all 9:16 timelines
Or: you get updated audio and need to replace it in 5000 timelines - thats one click in flame
Or you get a updated VFX shot from comp / again same thing ripple the replacement through every timeline
it requires some setup and you have to work very cleanly so it does not break but its sort of like remote grades that sync on demand if we talk resolve.
In general as someone that is a heavy resolve user and has finished in resolve a lot / flame is simply better at this imho, by like a lot.
It does have a learning curve, its not perfect its not flawless, its expensive … but its still the best choice for these heavy multi deliverable outputs
As to your specific question - I usually setup one sources sequence per aspect ratio usually to manage my shots in that way, but you can do almost whatever you like just this “nesting” is not a thing in flame at all.
I do that in about 8-12 hours without doing colour. That does not include any cleanup or comping. I am usually handed any animating titles, but I tend to set my own legals.
Finn’s insight here is probably one of the most valuable around these parts because he’s actually using both Resolve and Flame at an extremely high level. I can give my insight but admittedly I haven’t used Resolve in any professional capacity like you or Finn have.
My guess is that Flame becomes noticeably more valuable compared to Resolve once:
The compositing work you’re doing becomes a bit more challenging than what Fusion can reliably handle
You find yourself revising / splitting off shots after you already have a high volume of timelines in play
You have a team of compositors you’re working with and need to start to manage lots of versions from a lot of people.
But again this is my very biased perspective from someone who really hasn’t done a side-by-side Flame|Resolve comparison. From what I’ve heard about Resolve I have no interest in switching over any time soon, but a lot of that is my comfort level as Flame has been my program of choice for the last 12 years.
I can’t really speak for resolve because I don’t work with it except for maybe a magic mask or something on occasion. One thing about doing spot work with flame, however, is I can bring an archive back from either my facilis or an LTO and be exactly where I was a year or two later without relying on rounding up footage from a job long delivered.
Resolve has added MultiMaster Trim Manager, not sure if you have explored that. I haven’t yet. But I don’t see anyone really mentioning it either, expect small release notes. I only found this video about it.
DaVinci Resolve 21 has made managing your HDR grade trims simpler with the new MultiMaster Trim Manager. This tool allows you to manage multiple grade trims from a single timeline. The main node graph (including Pre and Post Group and node stack layers) serve as the hero grade for your timeline, while additional trim layers are grades that you can apply on top of the hero grade for each deliverable.
The MultiMaster trim manager allows you to generate multiple HDR and SDR trim deliverables from a single timeline and differnt framing formats with differnt aspect ratio. When enabled, the node editor will display additional layers for trim operations, allowing you to color manage the timeline for each output standard and render each iteration in one go.
@finnjaeger that’s a helpful understanding of connected conform. This last project I used a master timeline for remote grades and having that work across all ops sounds amazing.
I recently started using compound clips for nesting graphics to better manage timelines, but I don’t love nesting in general. Especially when you need to update something in the nest but you need the video and you don’t want to decompose.
@ytf Good to know, helpful for setting a benchmark.
@Jeff big part of my push to Flame is to do it all in one. Right now I work between Resolve & Nuke Studio with some Fusion/AE, but it’s a lot of interchange for what can be done in package. I like Flame’s logic and seems more intuitive for the type of work we do.
@Kruno yeah, I did see that, but haven’t updated to 21 yet. From what I remember, the only sizing it saves is from the node sizing on the color page and output sizing. I do most of the resizing in the edit page, but the output sizing part will be helpful.
Really wish Autodesk had a learning edition or similar. I’ll just need to buy some tokens to really dive in.
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