BlackMagic buys daVinci – confirmed.

[Jason Diamond]

BlackMagic are a very forward thinking innovative company and this new purchase of daVinci will be a great merger. IBC holds some surprises i think, lets see how it rolls out.




http://www.fxguide.com/qt/1448/blackmagic-buys-davinci-confirmed

[Mel Matsuoka]

I've had more than my fair share of quality-control issues with BMD products over the past 5 years, so it's hard for me not to be snarky about Grant's statement that "products are just not that faulty to justify such a high support contract fee. I think it’s much better to pay if a fault happens."

But still, he's right. It's refreshing and courageous of him to begin chipping away at this longstanding hidden cost of owning big-iron systems like the 2K or Resolve. And, if my crystal ball isn't lying to me, I wouldn't be surprised if BMD eventually figures out a way to start selling dumbed down, lower-cost Resolves based on BMD hardware, to cater to the market that needs a significantly better grading alternative to Apple Color, yet could never afford a current Resolve or 2K system (*raises hand*)

Apple probably won't be shaking in its boots over this acquisition (80% of the people who "use" Apple Color probably don't even know what a daVinci *is*, let alone actually lusted after one), but I hope it at least spurs a tiny bit of competitive urgency within Apple to improve Color.

I guess Assimilate and Autodesk have more to fear about this acquisition than Apple ever will :)

[Shane Betts]

And he's right in so much as most electronics hardware doesn't break, it's either OK or it was made badly (or fails during shipping). Of course, the heat problems with Multibridge fall into the third category. I also loved his statement about trying to improve and protect the resale value of daVinci gear on ebay. That's a Jim Jannard-like statement right there. It's so like Grant to immediately reinstate a bunch of engineers and give others back the jobs they enjoyed. An engineering position at BMD is one of the most sought after jobs in the Australian market, for good reason. Expect daVinci to become likewise. Jim and Grant have much in common (although they each might deny it). One difference of course is that Jim can spell:tongue_smilie:

[M Most]

And he's right in so much as most electronics hardware doesn't break, it's either OK or it was made badly (or fails during shipping)...

It's also clear to me that Grant doesn't have a whole lot of real experience with the 2K. Even in the newest systems, the board designs are pretty complex (I believe they're 6 layer boards), have complex connectors that are prone to developing bent pins, and occasionally have heat issues because of the chassis design. That's the reality that facilities have dealt with for years. Since one normally doesn't have a backup 2K sitting around, any problems are dealt with by having DaVinci send a replacement board and - sometimes - repairing yours. Maintenance contracts with complex but essential equipment are not luxuries, they're necessities, and when each board costs over $15,000, it is usually cheaper and far more expedient to carry the contract than to pay for per episode problem solving.

I think Grant will realize that in short order after talking to more of DaVinci's user base.

[Shane Betts]

... and when each board costs over $15,000
It'll be interesting to see if that changes with Grant's know-how and attitudes to board design and manufacture. He seemed to indicate probably not but I wonder if he'll be able to resist. Even switching manufacture of the boards to Port Melbourne would significantly reduce the cost. BMD's setup here is highly automated and incredible.

[Mark L. Pederson]

I guess Assimilate and Autodesk have more to fear about this acquisition than Apple ever will :)
More like ... the folks at Assimilate and Autodesk are drinking champagne. I'm hearing they have been shopping for a buyer for years and if there was any tech that Apple was interested in they would could/would have purchased the company. I'm pretty shocked it was BMD. Best of luck with that ...

[Jason Diamond]

Competition is good no matter what form...just ask some guys I heard about that started a camera company.. i forget their name but I heard they're doing pretty good.

[Shane Betts]

For any interested, there's a good interview with Grant Petty over at the Cow on his plans for DaVinci. Worth a read if a thread with DaVinci in its header attracts your attention.

[M Most]

It's refreshing and courageous of him to begin chipping away at this longstanding hidden cost of owning big-iron systems like the 2K or Resolve.

If you actually read what Grant said, it's exactly the opposite of your statement. I don't necessarily disagree that they might be considering desktop products, but that's not what they've said at all. In buying the company, they also inherit the user base. The vast bulk of that user base has no interest in seeing their systems "dumbed down" and available to anyone with a PC.

[Cüneyt Kaya]

In buying the company, they also inherit the user base. The vast bulk of that user base has no interest in seeing their systems "dumbed down" and available to anyone with a PC.

i guess former Final Touch owners thought the same. and today color is free with fcs. thats life. doesnt mean it has to happen to this guys.

[Paul Lee]

And, as users of Final Touch since v.1, Color is actually a far improved product with Apple behind it.

[M Most]

i guess former Final Touch owners thought the same. and today color is free with fcs. thats life. doesnt mean it has to happen to this guys.

Final Touch was about $25K (at least for most of the seats that were actually sold), wasn't a "systems" based product (they wanted to do turnkey versions, but I don't think they actually ever sold any), had only been around for about a year or so, and had a very small user base that had a number of individuals as well as small facilities. DaVincis are devices that cost, at the very least, about $180,000, is a systems based product (that is, it incorporates a lot of proprietary hardware, as well as some advanced networking/clustering schemes in the Resolve line, and relies on those technologies to do what it does), has been around for over 20 years, and has a very significant user base that consists almost exclusively of facilities, not individuals. The "brand" exists because of its user base and the work done with the product. That's a very different situation, regardless of who bought the company. Doing what some are suggesting would be like Ferrari suddenly deciding to sell a car for the price of a Miata. Not going to happen.

Now, once again, I'm not saying that BMD won't ultimately look into doing a lower end, software only, limited functionality product based on some of the DaVinci technology. But it won't be what the Resolve is now.

[Shane Betts]

Much more likely is that BMD will bring to bear their expertise in board design and; a/reduce the reliance on proprietary boards (Grant has already suggested as much) b/reduce the cost of the proprietary boards through manufacturing efficiencies and c/designing newer, more cost efficient ways to achieve what the current design achieves - for instance, using their experience with direct PCIe connections to outboard devices to replace the expensive infiniban links. So, no, you're not going to be able to buy a Resolve for $2k but the prices will drop.

Grant has a lot more experience under the hood of DaVinci hardware than you might expect Michael and he has the engineers, both software and hardware, to re-engineer this stuff. I'd count on it. I remember the number and complexity of the boards in a Media Composer when Grant first introduced Digital Voodoo and then Decklink cards, doing the job with a single card - and those cards are now smaller and cheaper than ever before when Avid insisted you needed four slots.

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Now, once again, I'm not saying that BMD won't ultimately look into doing a lower end, software only, limited functionality product based on some of the DaVinci technology. But it won't be what the Resolve is now.

With GPGPU development and constant advances in lowering the cost of SSDs I would actually say that the eventual 'lower end' software only product will surpass Resolve in the relatively near future.

I imagine BMD might see an opportunity to buy the tech before it's trivial to run on commodity hardware.

Of course there is no reason the custom hardware version wouldn't continue to advance so I would say a more accurate statement would be "It won't be what the Resolve will be by then."