Is Davinci Resolve 16 Safe for Mac, PC, and Linux?

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Davinci Resolve is a powerful editing and color correction program. But can it do harm to your computer? Is it safe to use for all users?

Both Davinci Resolve 16 and Davinci Resolve Studio are completely safe to use. Resolve is created by BlackMagic Design, a well respected digital cinema company founded in 2001. You can safely download the software from Blackmagic’s website or through the Mac App store.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/

Keep reading to discover

Is it safe to use the Davinci Resolve Beta?
how to fix various errors
what are the difference is between Davinci Resolve and Davinci Resolve studio?
Can my computer run Davinci Resolve?
An in-depth tutorial on setting up and using Davinci Resolve

Is the Davinci Resolve Public Beta safe?

Before Davinci Resolve launches a brand new version, they’ll release a public Beta version of the new software. The Beta is completely safe to use, but it will have more bugs and issues that still need to be resolved within the program. This could slow down your editing and color correction, but it would also give you access to new features.

I don’t typically work on paid projects or anything with a deadline using the Beta program. However, Beta is great for trying out new features and updates.

I have Davinci Resolve 15 and I want to upgrade to 16. Is it safe to upgrade?

It’s safe to upgrade from Davinci Resolve 15 to 16. However, if you are right in the middle of a project or you have an approaching deadline, it’s worth waiting. It may take a few days to get used to updates, and occasionally there can be minor issues updating your projects from version 15 to 16. This is a potential issue for any editing software.

My antivirus software says that Davinci Resolve is a virus. Why is this?

Most people won’t have this issue, but sometimes antivirus software will falsely flag software as a virus. If you downloaded Davinci Resolve from the official website, the antivirus is not correct. You can use resolve safely.

I’m getting the error: “Davinci Resolve is an app downloaded from the internet. Are you sure you want to open it?” on my Mac. What should I do?

By default, Apple will give this error message for any app downloaded from the internet (and not from the app store). If you downloaded from Davinci Resolve’s website. Click “Open”. It’s completely safe.

If your computer is only letting you open programs from the Mac App Store:

Go to system preferences>Security and Privacy, click the lock and enter your password, then choose “allow app downloads from: App store and identified developers”.

Is Davinci Resolve color correction software or editing software?

Davinci Resolve is one of the most powerful and advanced pieces of color grading software in the film industry. Over time, they began to add and introduce editing capabilities in addition to color grading features. Now, it is a fully featured editor AND color grader, with capabilities that rival pro software like Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, and Avid Media Composer.

Is Davinci Resolve actually free?

Yes! In 2011, Blackmagic announced a free version of Davinci Resolve called Davinci Resolve Lite. At the time, the full version of Resolve was $1000.

Blackmagic has changed the naming of the free and pro versions since then. The paid version used to be called “Davinci Resolve” and the free version used to be called “Davinci Resolve Lite”. Now, the paid version is called “Davinci Resolve Studio” and the free version is simply called “Davinci Resolve”. Davinci Resolve Studio currently costs $300 while Davinci Resolve is free.

The free version is not stripped down and has no watermark. It’s fully featured and I know many people that edit full time using Davinci Resolve. The features that are only offered in Davinci Resolve Studio are very advanced and are geared toward studio work.

What features does Davinci Resolve (free) have compared to the Davinci Resolve Studio (paid)?

Davinci Resolve offers:

Advanced Color Grading Capabilities
Green screen and Chroma Keying
2D and 3D titles and motion graphics
Audio Mixing and Mastering
A full editing Suite
Editing up to 4k Resolution
Subtitles
Optical Flow Retiming (an advanced slow motion feature that generates extra frames)
Multicam Editing
Noise Reduction
Color Correction LUTs
Raw photo and video processing

Davinci Resolve Studio adds the following features:

Professional Film Grain: Add pro film grain to your footage directly within Resolve Studio.
Multi-User Collaboration: Let’s multiple people collaborate on projects with chat and
Neural Engine Features: AI assisted retiming, facial recognition, and color grading
Stereoscopic 3D Grading

The full feature Davinci Resolve feature list is below or you can find it at Davinci Resolve’s website

Can my computer run Davinci Resolve 16?

While Blackmagic doesn’t officially list minimum system requirements, they posted these general guidelines in their forum:

Davinci Resolve 16 system requirements:

16 Gigabytes of RAM minimum
A 64-bit operating system
Intel, AMD, or NVIDIA GPU with at least 2 GB of VRAM. It should support Metal, OpenCL2.0 or greater, or CUDA 10 or greater.
A minimum of quad core CPU

Is it safe to run resolve if I don’t meet the minimum requirements?

It will not damage your computer or cause any significant damage. However, the program will run slow and may have issues opening.

How user friendly is Davinci Resolve?

Davinci Resolve is the most advanced free editing software on the market. The learning curve is a bit more challenging than a program like iMovie or Final Cut Pro. Once you get past the learning curve, Davinci Resolve is easy to use and feature rich.

Is Davinci Resolve the best free editing software?

In terms of features and capabilities, Davinci Resolve is the best free editing software. The learning curve is higher than other free options, but it’s well designed. It’s easy to quickly edit and color grade once you get the hang of it. If you’re looking to edit a short and simple video, iMovie (Mac only) or Filmora by Wondershare. If you’d to learn to edit consistently or professionally, Davinci is the best option.

How does Davinci Resolve Compare to Final Cut Pro or Premiere Pro

Each have their pros and cons. Personally, I believe Premiere Pro is best at organization and stabilization, while Final Cut Pro is ideal for speed. Avid Media Composer is ideal for the studio setting and is the most commonly used professional software. Personally, I use Final Cut Pro the most often, since most of my work deals with small projects that need to be edited quickly.

Best free software: Davinci Resolve
Best for color grading: Davinci Resolve
Best for speed: Final Cut Pro
Fastest to learn for new users: Final Cut Pro
Best for organization: Premiere Pro
Best for getting a job in the industry: Avid Media Composer

Conclusion: Davinci Resolve is safe and it’s one of the best video editors (if not THE best).

Davinci Resolve is created by Blackmagic Design, a well respected and trusted company. Download the software from their website or the Mac App store. It’s safe to try the new BETA versions when Blackmagic Releases them, but Beta’s are buggier and aren’t recommended for professional work. If you don’t meet the minimum system requirements, it’s safe to install Davinci Resolve, but it will run slow (or potentially not open at all).

Davinci Resolve Studio introduces some more advanced features, but the free version will have enough capability for most editors. It’s not as user friendly as a few other free editing apps, but it has more features and capabilities. It’s one of the best color grading programs (paid or unpaid) and is competitive with professional programs like Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, and Avid Media Composer.

You can download it from their website. I also created this in-depth step-by-step tutorial on editing in Davinci Resolve. If you’d like to compare editing in Davinci Resolve vs Final Cut Pro, I’m including my “editing using Final Cut” video as well.

If you’re editing for social media, take a look at our simple guide that shows the best photo and video sizes for social media.

Editing can be pretty technical and time consuming, did you know that’s ONE OF THE SERVICES we offer at Jacob LE Video Production? We have a number of people send us footage from their camera or phone.