There’s been a bit of chatter floating around the ‘net during the last week about the upcoming release of Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 7.0 and Resolve for the Macintosh. The releases look like they’re getting closer to reality. Most of the new info hit last Tuesday, August 17, when two forum threads were posted at Red User and Creative Cow announcing that Resolve on Mac now supports RED Rocket, ProRes and Cineform.

If you want to follow what’s sure to be an on-going Twitter conversation about the new Resolve as it’s released then it’s been suggested that Twitter-ers use the hashtag/keyword “#resolve” to make the topic easy to search out. #resolve it is.

From the Creative Cow user forum thread, which is essentially a release from the Blackmagic Design folks:

Blackmagic Design is pleased to announce our support for RED Rocket in both our Mac and Linux systems. Stereo r3d playback with dual Rockets is also supported on the Linux system. In each case installation is plug and play. If you do not have Rockets installed, r3d clips are decoded and debayered as per user configurable settings on a project or clip basis.

Resolve on Mac also supports ProRes and H.264. Mac and Linux support Cineform file playback inc. stereo and with an additional license read and write of DNxHD.

These new features and more including stereoscopic grading and monitoring in the V7.0 release which is now in beta.

With Resolve 7.0 officially being in beta then that means it’s closer to shipping. This jibes with some other chatter that says it’s been in beta overseas for a little while as well. Another message that came online on the 17th was from filmmaker and colorist Alexis Van Hurkman. He tweeted this: “Got permission to let the cat out of the bag—I’ve been beta testing DaVinci Resolve on the Mac, using it to make examples for the book.” After a bit of Twitter discussion Alexis linked to the Amazon pre-order for his upcoming book Color Correction Handbook: Professional Techniques for Video and Cinema. There aren’t a lot of color grading books out there so this one will be a welcome addition, especially since he says that his book is essentially platform independent and concentratse on most of the major players in color correction these days. Alexis tweeted: “I’m also getting great support from Filmlight, Assimilate, Iridas, and Quantel on this project, with documentation, demos, and information.” Apple is obviously missing from the list but the fact that he got access to these higher-end systems in order to explain the process will make the book very valuable. If you want time in front of those big, expensive grading tools, someone has to give you access first. Apple Color, on the other hand, is on every post-production person’s computer. If you don’t want to wait until fall for his book, check out Alexis’ website for some other color-correction training resources that he also has available. And if you want a bit more insight into what Resolve on Mac might be like then just study his Twitter feed.

In other related Resolve news, there was an Australian launch of the product in Sydney on August 17 as well. Future Reality held the event and staff from the blog Truelove Tech posted a little bit about their experience there. If you happen to be in Australia and would like to attend a DaVinci Resolve Mac preview event, they are holding another one on Tuesday, August 24. in Melbourne. The Future Reality web site has the information as well as an RSVP link. And to round out the Resolve discussion there’s a July 27 interview that’s worth a read for those following the tool coming to the Mac. It’s a short interview with colorist Warren Eagles called DaVinci Resolve: A User’s-Eye View.

Have any more DaVinci Resolve for Mac gossip? Post a comment below!