Datacolor has announced a major overhaul of its display calibration suite with the release of SpyderPro, positioning the software as a professional-grade solution for studios and postproduction environments. The company describes it as a “quantum leap” in calibration accuracy and workflow design. Marketing rhetoric aside, the tool introduces measurable technical improvements that could matter to HDR and colour-critical workflows.

Technical updates for HDR displays

SpyderPro now supports displays up to 12,000 nits brightness, including OLED, QD-OLED, Mini-LED, and Apple’s Liquid Retina XDR panels. This covers the luminance range typical of current reference and field monitors used in HDR mastering and on-set review.

The software retains Datacolor’s colourimeter-based measurement approach but now integrates calibration control and simulation tools intended for more consistent HDR handling. Whether measurement precision remains reliable at such brightness levels has not yet been independently verified.

3D-LUT export for video workflows

A new 3D-LUT export (.cube) function allows calibrated colour transforms to be exported directly to compatible video monitors. This enables the SpyderPro to feed LUTs into devices used in video or cinema environments, simplifying display matching.

Device Preview Plus: cross-device simulation

SpyderPro introduces Device Preview Plus, a simulation and comparison tool allowing users to preview how images appear on different displays or in print. The feature supports side-by-side comparisons, pixel sampling, batch conversions, and extended export options. For production artists, this could serve as a quick-check tool when evaluating deliverables across multiple output devices.

Integration with light meters

The new light-meter integration enables synchronisation with Datacolor’s LightColor Meter and other lux-capable devices. This function adjusts calibration according to ambient illumination, potentially improving accuracy in variable lighting conditions, a practical addition for studios with mixed lighting setups.

Content authenticity with C2PA

SpyderPro now embeds Content Credentials (C2PA), an open standard for cryptographically securing authorship and edit history metadata. This allows creatives to attach verifiable provenance data to calibrated outputs. The move reflects growing industry interest in transparency within AI-influenced workflows.

We are currently preparing a story on content authenticity and will be speaking directly with Datacolor about how C2PA is implemented in SpyderPro, what data it embeds, and what that means for creative verification. Keep your eyes peeled for that.

Pricing and availability

The new SpyderPro software is available immediately for €289 through Datacolor.com, Amazon, and authorised resellers. Existing SpyderPro owners receive the update free of charge. Users of Spyder, Spyder Express, SpyderX, or Spyder X2 can upgrade at a discounted rate.

Verdict

SpyderPro’s technical claims (HDR coverage to 12 k nits, LUT export, and ambient-light integration) target postproduction more directly than earlier Spyder tools, which often leaned toward photographic use. As with any colour management solution, results depend heavily on hardware quality, measurement repeatability, and consistency of use.

The post SpyderPro goes full HDR with receipts (C2PA) first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Lightweight 16-inch graphics tablet with 4K OLED screen from Xencelabs – is it worth the switch?

The Pen Display 16 is said to be the industry’s first 16-inch 4K OLED pen display with over a billion colours, improved colour reproduction from deep blacks to vivid highlights. The screen resolution is 3840 x 2160, the contrast ratio is 100,000:1 and with a weight of only 1.21 kg and a thickness of 12 mm, it is easy to transport and is suitable for use in the studio as well as on the go.

Xencelabs Pen Display 16 Bundle

The topic of graphics tablets could be discussed at length: Do you even need a tablet? Logical! Which size is best for the individual? No idea! Should it be a “normal” tablet or a pen display? That also has to be decided on an individual basis. Some artists consider a tablet without a monitor to be perfectly adequate. However, one with a monitor almost always seems to be the most convenient. The size of the Xencelabs Pen Display 16 is generally seen as a pleasant compromise between space and money requirements – but above all because of the possible mobility. This is what the Xencelabs Pen Display 16 promises.
If you search for Xencelabs on the internet and social media, you will find a wealth of tests, “unboxing videos” and tutorials. The majority of users are enthusiastic about Xencelabs products. Xencelabs offers graphics tablets, pen displays and corresponding accessories. We tried out the Xencelabs Pen Display 16 Bundle and were curious to see whether the device could fulfil the high expectations raised by so many positive reviews.

Pen Display – why the bundle?

Xencelabs currently offers graphics tablets in various sizes and 3 Pen Displays with built-in monitor – actually only two: namely Xencelabs Pen Display 16 Essentials or the same tablet as a bundle with some useful accessories, as well as a Pen Display 24.

To abbreviate: We found the bundle more recommendable than the Essential version, although the “more” accessories included in the bundle can also be purchased separately (Mobile Easel, Quick Keys and better connection options thanks to more connection cables and a power supply unit).

How are the features of the bundle?

Included in this bundle is

A case – with two drawing pens (a standard pen with 3 buttons and a thin pen with two buttons)
Both have an eraser at the back. The functions for the buttons and eraser can be set in the software. The pens respond to pressure between 3 g and 500 g.
The pressure curves can be customised over a wide range. And yes, we really liked drawing with these pens. Also included are 10 replacement refills (6 standard, 4 felt tips), tip pullers and a wireless dongle.

“Mobile Easel” is the name of the lightweight and easy-to-transport stand supplied, with two tilt angles of 18° and 32° that can be adjusted by folding it open. The tablet is simply placed on it – and is stable enough to work on.
The optional Desktop Easel is even more stable and convenient. This promises infinitely variable tilt adjustment and rotation of the tablet and is VESA-compatible.

Two matching plastic clips serve as a pen holder, which can be attached to the sides of the tablet as required – practical when working on the move, the pens and holder are stable on the tablet. However, “real” pen holders would certainly be more convenient on the desk. If you want something like this, you can find stylish pen holders in the accessories section.

There are also adapters (USB-A to USB-C), a power supply unit and hub for the wireless connection to the remote control, various cables and, among other things, a carrying case and a special glove for drawing on the tablet.

Game Changer Quick Keys?

The highlight is the “Quick Keys”, the remote control included in the bundle. In the software, 40 key combinations can be preset for any application (8 customisable key combinations in up to 5 groups, switchable with a “set key”). The mechanical rotary wheel, with which up to four application-specific functions can be used (scrolling, zooming, brush size and, in some applications, rotating), is worthy of praise. A multilingual OLED display should help users to find the relevant buttons more easily. There is also a colour-adjustable LED illumination of the rotary wheel (colour ring to differentiate between the respective modes).

• The remote control is suitable for right or left-handed users and can be set horizontally or vertically.
• However, there are other users who find it a little difficult to feed the remote control with all kinds of shortcuts and then get used to the handy but unfamiliar remote control, so that they always prefer (out of old habit?) to reach for the keyboard while drawing instead of taking advantage of the Quick Keys. Some complain that macros are probably only possible by calling up corresponding batch files and that switching between different modes is said to be somewhat slow.
• In fact, we found this remote control to be a practical tool for calling up many shortcuts in different applications more quickly. Although many typical function sets are already predefined, it still takes a while to set up the possible variations of key combinations for different sets – and to actually be able to utilise them effectively.

The connection to Quick Keys can be made via cable, Bluetooth or wirelessly with the supplied dongle, which worked without any problems in the test. And if you want to know more: we took a look at the Quick Keys in everyday use as a “stand-alone device”. (https://digitalproduction.com/2024/10/31/xencelabs-quick-keys-remote).

Installation

Installing the Xencelab is simple: download the driver from the Xencelabs website, install the software, customise the settings using the Xencelabs software (e.g. pen pressure curves, display settings, remote control, etc.)

The tablet can be connected via a single USB-C cable. Then, however, with reduced maximum brightness of the display (170 cd/m2), when operated via the power supply unit and the supplied hub for USB-C, HDMI or Mini DisplayPort with three incoming cables (power, video, USB) and a single cable to the PC, 300 cd/m2 should be achieved. All cables are sufficiently long.

Who is “Xencelabs” ?

The market for digital drawing tools has developed enormously in recent years. There are now a large number of suppliers of graphics tablets whose quality is extremely high and also meets professional requirements – and some have become significantly more affordable. Xencelabs was founded in 2019 in the USA by Hanvon Ugee Technology Co. Creative professionals with many years of experience in the digital art industry had the ambition to offer digital artists, illustrators and designers even more excellent drawing tools with precise pen technology, high-quality materials and well thought-out accessories. The declared aim is to create tools that increase productivity and offer a natural drawing experience. Made up of “Xence” (pronounced “sens”) and “Labs”, the name “Xencelabs” refers to the support of artists’ artistic senses and creative experimentation. After only a few years on the market, Xencelabs’ products are sold in more than 40 countries, according to the company.

Conclusion

We have already talked about drawing: Drawing – even on a PC – is and remains individual. We liked the quality of the display and the way the pen glides smoothly across the screen. The matt surface provides slight resistance and reduces reflections – and how thin and light the device is.
We noticed typical problems (parallax – hardly noticeable, latency – not annoying, jittering lines – as with other tablets, but in contrast to users who described this as a shortcoming, we were able to live with it).

As the device has no buttons apart from a power button and there is unfortunately no touch function (so it can NOT be used as a touch display), users will have to resort to the PC keyboard or a remote control – in our case Quick Keys. It is a pity that the Xencelabs software does not yet support customisable on-screen menus.

If you want to use such menus, you can rely on the screen customisation and menu functions of some graphics software, such as Clip Studio Paint, Blender or Krita, or you can try free tools, e.g.
AutoHotPie here or Pie-Menus here

We suspect that such menus only save time for power users who use a lot of specific commands in special applications. “Normal users” should probably first search for and find the necessary commands “at their leisure” (maybe with the Quick Keys after all?).

Overall, the Xencelabs Pen Display 16 Bundle made a very good impression on us. However, it must also be noted that other providers also offer “fine” devices. In many details of technical parameters, e.g. whether 8 or 16 K pressure levels are available, as they are already available on some devices, even experienced artists seem to hardly notice any differences.

The tablet has a very high-quality finish, is simple and well thought out, also very flat and lightweight. A cover and carrying case are included. There are no buttons – but the Quick-Keys (in the bundle version) offer many options, although effective use of these may not be possible without “training”.
The lack of buttons can be seen as a shortcoming, but seems to be due to mobility (thin and light – and cost?) and could also be seen as an opportunity to avoid operating errors while drawing, such as the on/off button, which works with a 3-second delay for the same reason.

Overall, our opinion is similarly positive to that of the many users. We found the drawing experience to be very pleasant. Parallax problems did not bother us – nor did a slight latency with fast strokes. Slowly drawn diagonal lines in particular show a slight jitter, as with most tablets. This is not only due to the artist’s dithering, but is usually caused by the way the cursor position is interpolated. It seems unlikely that the body’s own shaking and the system-induced shaking will cancel each other out when drawing. But modern graphics software can help. Cheers to the effective stabilisation functions in good graphics software. If you are looking for a somewhat exquisite tablet with a super display and are not afraid of the price, the Xencelabs bundle could be an option for you.

Compatible software:

PC: Windows® 7 or higher (latest service pack/build)
Windows ARM
MAC: OS X 10.12 or higher (latest update)
Linux – Ubuntu 14.04 or higher, Debian 9.5, CentOS 7.0 or higher, Redhat 7.0 or higher
compatible hardware:
USB-C port with DisplayPort Alternate mode (UHD),
Or DisplayPort (UHD) and USB-C/USB-A,
Or HDMI 2.1 (UHD) and USB-C/USB-A
Internet access to download the driver.

Prices from Xencelabs

A selection – click here for the shop

Pen Displays
The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 = 2099,00 €
Pen Display 16 Essentials = 1129,00 €
Xencelabs Pen Display 16 Bundle = 1389,00 €

Accessories
Quick Keys = 109,90 €
Mobile Easel for Pen Display 16 = 59,90 €
Desktop Easel for Pen Display 16 = 199,00 €
Xencelabs Dongle = 19,99 €

Xencelabs Limited Edition Dragon Pen Holders = 35,00 €
for those spoilt by luxury: Mountains and Seas Pen Holder 269,00 €

Xencelabs offers free shipping, a 30-day return policy and a 2-year warranty, which can be optionally extended. There are also regular promotions where vouchers are raffled off.

The products at a glance

All the products that Xenselabs sells are shown below.

The post Test: Xencelabs Pen Display 16 first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Ralf Gliffe.

Datacolor has launched its latest monitor calibration solutions: Spyder and SpyderPro. These new tools enhance color precision on modern displays and offer features like smartphone display previews and advanced video targets.

Monitor Calibration for New Display Technologies

Datacolor’s new Spyder and SpyderPro models extend their well-known color calibration precision to support cutting-edge display technologies, such as OLED, Mini-LED, and Apple Liquid Retina XDR. These displays offer advanced color depth and detailed contrast that can now be fully utilized with proper calibration.

The new SpyderPro model introduces additional features for professional users. It allows for fully customizable calibration workflows and comprehensive display analysis. In particular, this includes calibration for high-brightness monitors and video/cinema targets, ensuring consistent colors throughout the production workflow.

Both models, Spyder and SpyderPro, feature Datacolor’s intuitive interface, guiding you through the calibration process efficiently, whether you’re new to color calibration or have years of experience. The SpyderPro further includes unlimited calibration settings and tools like StudioMatch, which ensures consistent colors across multiple monitors.

Device Preview Feature

One of the standout features is the new Device Preview function, still in its beta phase. This allows you to simulate how your images will appear on different devices, like smartphones or tablets. Datacolor has integrated popular device color profiles into their software, making it easier for you to see how your content will look to your audience across different screens. This is particularly useful for content creators who rely on precise color correction before publishing images or videos. Additionally, the software includes a soft proofing tool for simulating printed outputs. You can preview how your images will appear in print, ensuring the final result meets your expectations before the printing process begins.

Video and Cinema Targets

SpyderPro also supports specific workflows for video production, with video and cinema targets enabling color calibration for cinema production pipelines. This tool helps you standardize color across the entire video production process, ensuring consistency in color grading and final output.

Spyder is available for €189, while SpyderPro is priced at €289, both including VAT. Both models are available immediately from photography retailers, Amazon, and Datacolor’s online store.

Conclusion

The Spyder and SpyderPro offer tools for color calibration across a wide range of monitors and devices. However, it’s recommended to test each feature carefully before integrating them into active workflows, as they may still undergo further refinement, especially the Device Preview feature. For more details on the product specifications, you can visit Datacolor’s website and explore the Spyder product documentation.

And a note: We have the product already in our hands, and a test of it’s features will follow soon!

For further details on pricing, licensing options, and the full documentation, visit the official Spyder product page.

The post Spyder and SpyderPro for Monitor Calibration Released first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

This article originally appeared in DP 04 : 2022.

This article is brought to you by notebooksbilliger.de.

NVIDIA Studio Laptop – computing power like a gamer PC always with you

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In principle, we would advise anyone looking for a lot of performance for as little money as possible to buy a powerful desktop computer. That would still be a PC, because Apple does not yet have expandable M1 computers in its programme. This means a computer running Windows or Linux with a powerful GPU or a corresponding Intel-based Hackintosh. Unfortunately, the availability and prices of high-performance GPUs are still problematic and digital nomads just want performance in their laptops. by Prof. Uli Plank

We have only compared the Asus Studiobook 16 OLED (Asus for short) with a similarly equipped Macbook M1 Pro (Mac for short) here under DaVinci Resolve, as a general test of the Asus has already appeared in DP 01:22.

Appearances and the price

Both computers have a 16-inch display (41.5 cm) and 32 Gbytes of RAM. Apple’s M1 Pro costs 3,200 euros in this country. The Asus laptop has a Ryzen 9 CPU 5900HX and an Nvidia RTX 3070 laptop GPU with 8 Gbytes of VRAM. The model policy of Asus from Taiwan is somewhat confusing (to put it kindly), but our test model does not seem to be available in Germany at the moment or is no longer available. Based on the standard 1:1 conversion from US dollars, it should cost between 2,200 and 3,000 euros depending on the features. The version with an IPS display costs 2,400 US dollars in the USA, we estimate our model with OLED at around 2,500 to 2,600.

The Mac weighs 2.1 kilograms, while the Asus is not only slightly heavier at just under 2.3, but also a little larger in all three dimensions. Apple’s power supply unit with plug and clever MagSafe cable adds 350 grams, the Asus 570 grams (plus matching power cable). The workmanship on the Mac is top-notch and, according to the manufacturer, the case is made of 100% recycled aluminium. We couldn’t find any exact details for the Asus, but the casing is also made of metal, at least at the top, and makes a much more stable impression than the usual cheap laptops, whose casing bends just by typing. It also looks serious when you come to the customer and not like a gaming laptop. However, although it is labelled “military grade” (MIL-STD 810H) by Asus, slight bends were visible on the upper part of the casing under the SD card slot and the USB port on the right-hand side as soon as the new device was unpacked from its undamaged packaging. This is not quite as confidence-inspiring as on the Mac. On the other hand, the two-part housing with openly accessible screws appears much more service-friendly. Once you have unscrewed the lower lid, both slots for RAM and PCIe 3.0 M.2 are easily accessible for your own upgrades. The screen appears softer than on the Mac and also bounces slightly when typing vigorously. The dark casing shows fingerprints a little more clearly than Apple’s space grey.

Display

The screen of the Asus is a novelty so far, because it is an OLED display with full 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,400 pixels). The Mac also has an excellent display, but only a resolution of 3,456 x 2,234 pixels. The Asus draws its very high contrast from the perfect black of the OLED, but does not achieve the brightness required for HDR. The Mac, on the other hand, has a display that delivers a considerably higher peak brightness of 1,600 nits for HDR. Our Asus was far too green ex works, but covered 99.4% of P3 after calibration and remained below a Delta-E of 3 in the maximum deviation with an average of 0.11. The Mac fulfils P3 to a good 98% with Delta-E consistently below 1. It also offers further specifications ex works, which are met very well. With the Asus, these would first have to be added through further calibrations.

The Mac can also display 24, 25 or 50 frames per second smoothly, which is particularly advantageous for film makers or European TV productions. There are presets with 48 and 50 fps for this, while other computer displays with 60 fps show motion artefacts (the Mac manages up to 120). You have to set the display on the Asus to 200% if you want to see the complete GUI of Resolve, on the Mac to 2,056 x 1,329 – you should have very good eyesight for both. Alternatively, you can work with the recommended scaling, but then not everything will be displayed at the same time, especially on the colour page.

Disadvantages? OLEDs can burn in, and the Mac’s mini-LEDs can slightly outshine bright elements on a black background. But in comparison with the majority of current laptops, both offer excellent image quality for creative work, and Asus has taken measures in the software with OLED Care to largely prevent burn-in.

Sound and webcam

The sound of the Asus is clean and concise, voices are easy to understand, but despite the discreet Harman Kardon label, there is a lack of transparency and bass. The Mac produces a very full sound, especially the 16-inch model with its larger woofers. The sound almost seems to detach itself from the device, especially with Dolby Atmos. Music or films are a pleasure in quiet surroundings.

The quality of the 720p webcam in the Asus is no longer quite up to date, but it can be covered with a slider – a nice detail instead of adhesive tape. Apple has finally come up with a better camera in the latest models, and the microphones are also better at cancelling out ambient noise than on the Asus.

Operation

The keyboard is good on both devices with a slight pressure point as feedback. As a novelty, the Asus offers a rotary wheel for the left hand, which reacts sensitively and makes a subtle detent noticeable. It is currently only fully usable with some programmes from Adobe’s Creative Cloud. It is easy to imagine that, with the appropriate programming, it would also be useful for film transport or the precise adjustment of parameters in Resolve.

But the wheel needs space. The keyboard has therefore been moved relatively far up and the function keys have been reduced in size. Apple has once again dispensed with the unloved touch bar and has replaced it with standard-sized function keys. The keyboard on the Mac can be illuminated, which can be quite helpful on a laptop. While the Mac uses up the space for the better speakers, the Asus still has a numeric keypad.

The touchpad on the Mac is huge and very sensitive to use, but the Asus is hardly inferior and has a third, centre mouse button. This is particularly important in Resolve for selecting the section in the viewer, whereas with the Mac you are happy to buy a 3-button mouse. Both computers have fingerprint recognition in the power button, although the recognition on the Asus is sometimes a little less responsive than on the Mac, but Windows supports facial recognition as an alternative.

Connections

In terms of connections, the PC laptop is somewhat more comprehensively equipped. In contrast to the Mac, it also has Ethernet and two USB-A ports. This usually saves you having to lug around an adapter. The HDMI output corresponds to version 2.1 and can therefore deliver up to 120 Hz in UHD, while the Mac only goes up to 60 Hz. On the other hand, the Mac has three USB-C ports, all of which also support a display. For once, Apple has also listened to users and brought back the ingenious MagSafe connection on the USB-C charging cable. This has probably already saved many laptops from crashing in the literal sense.

Both can also be supplied with power via USB-C or charge other devices, as per the standard. A special feature is the SD card slot on the Asus, which already supports the new SD Express. However, these cards are not yet widely used and the usual SD cards are transferred much slower at around 90 Mbytes per second than in the Mac’s SDXC slot, which reads a Sony Tough card more than three times faster, for example. As with all AMD CPUs, there is no Thunderbolt support.

Mass storage

With a Mac, you have to decide at the time of purchase how much RAM and storage space you want, whereas both are easily accessible and expandable by the user with the Asus. Our sample of the PC had two SSDs with 1 Tbyte as RAID-0, which helps to achieve enormous speed: a good 4.3 Gbyte/sec. when reading and over 4.4 Gbyte/sec. when writing. On the Mac, our modest 512 Mbyte SSD is not exactly slow either, it reads at over 2.6 Gbyte and writes at almost 2.4 Gbyte.

With the exorbitant prices that Apple charges for the larger (and even faster) SSDs, the question arises as to whether you really need them for video. We have not only tested the standard low-cost Samsung T5 and T7 on the Mac, but also a Samsung 980 Pro in an Acasis case that supports Thunderbolt in addition to USB-C. This then runs externally on the Mac at almost 2.8 Gbyte/sec. when writing and 2.7 when reading. To be able to compare, we placed a boot system on the external SSDs. From the chime to the password request, the Mac booted in 13 seconds from the internal, in 18 from the NVMe and in 27 from the Samsung T7.

But how often do you really have to reboot a modern system? We preferred to compare how long it takes Resolve to start up and load a project lasting 1.5 hours with around 1,800 edits. This took 11 seconds for all three variants, meaning that the type of SSD and its connection is completely irrelevant in practice. Only material in uncompressed raw from Arri’s Alexa 65 with a good 30 Mbytes per image naturally stuttered on the simple USB-C discs, while it ran smoothly from the NVMe SSD via Thunderbolt.

So you can simply order the Mac with the essentials for the system and programmes and later add more storage to one of the three interfaces as required. Caching in Resolve also runs just as well from a fast external SSD, but it’s better to keep the database on the internal one.

Editing professional formats

Let’s get to the essentials: What can laptops like this do? We tested both with the third beta of DaVinci Resolve 18, on the Mac under Mac OS Monterey 12.4 and on the PC under Windows 11, but at first the PC crashed constantly even during the simplest work steps. So we set about the favourite activity of video people (and gamers) under Windows: searching for a suitable driver. We found the Studio 512.96 driver from Nvidia, which led to largely normal operation of the Asus after a clean install. The Mac ran smoothly straight away. In the first round, we used a UHD timeline at 25 fps to test the extent to which the computers are even capable of playing back demanding sources from professional devices smoothly. The clips were only provided with a correction LUT to Rec. 709 if they were log recordings. The raw material, which is also referenced in our test project, comes from the manufacturers themselves. Only with the Canon R5 did we use our own recordings in 8K H.265 with maximum data rate and also 8K Canon Raw, which Tony Mellinger used for his video at
is.gd/eos_r5_youtube, which Tony Mellinger kindly offers for download at is.gd/tony_r5_download . You can find the rest of the raw material here and for download at www.digitalproduction.com.

is.gd/arri_sample_footage
is.gd/bmd_sample_footage
is.gd/red_sample_footage
is.gd/sony_sample_footage

To minimise the impact of frame rate conversions, all clips have been set to 25 fps under Clip Attributes. All tools such as cache, optimised media or timeline proxies were deactivated. According to the alphabet: Arri Raw 65 ran smoothly in full resolution from a fast SSD in both versions (Resolve and Arri). BRaw from the Blackmagic 12K is so efficient that both machines can play it back smoothly, but Canon Raw only in “Full res – Resolve”. Canon 8K in H.265 at 10 bit 4:2:2 can only be played back smoothly on the Mac because the PC has no hardware decoder for this. There it jerks along at 6 to 8 fps, but the Asus can also manage corresponding material in UHD resolution.

Since the Komodo was released, RED has switched its compression from the wavelet, which was long hailed as superior, to the widely used DCT (this also applies to the Raptor). As the number of pixels increased, the performance obviously became problematic. This is also noticeable during playback: 6K from the Komodo or 8K from the Raptor is played back smoothly in “Half res. premium”, with 8K from the Helium you have to reduce to “Quarter res. good”. Finally, clips from the Sony Venice run in 6K OCN-XT from a fast SSD in both “Full res – Resolve” and “Full res – Sony”.

These specifications apply to both computers with a timeline of 24 or 25 fps, while recordings in 50 fps in a corresponding timeline are tight for both, so that the decoding quality has to be adjusted or even proxies have to be used. The Mac only manages BRaw 12K in full quality, as the division of labour between CPU and GPU is obviously somewhat better.

Benchmark project

And what about finishing on a laptop like this? Unfortunately, the renowned Puget benchmark for Resolve is still not available on the Mac, so we have created our own small project with the most difficult tasks possible. You can download the project from us, but you’ll have to get the originals from the manufacturers or from Tony Mellinger, apart from HEVC in 8K from our download.

First of all, we have had sophisticated functions calculated individually on 10 seconds of material each. Temporal noise filtering, which requires a lot of memory depending on the radius, has been on board for a long time, but the spatial version is also computationally intensive in Resolve. With our settings (as in the test project for the 6th clip), the PC needed 1 minute 34 seconds, but the Mac 6:34. Speed Warp, on the other hand, which provides one of the best intermediate image calculations for video, needs 3:55 on the Mac and 5:13 on the Asus on the second attempt after a crash.

Version 17 already had a cut detection function that is supposed to be based on AI. It managed a 30-minute film on the PC in 2:54, on the Mac in 3:28. The Surface Tracker, on the other hand, is completely new in version 18, which took 37 seconds on the Mac with the same network density, but just over a minute on the PC. The new object tracking with the Magic Mask, on the other hand, was about the same speed on both.

The sensation in the 18, however, is certainly the new Depth Map, to which Arthur C. Clarke’s famous sentence can be confidently applied: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” While very expensive phones still have to use LIDAR for this, Blackmagic does it with software. The distance from the camera in a scene is calculated with astonishing accuracy. This doesn’t necessarily look entirely credible for a subsequently reduced depth of field (nor does the phone). However, you can use it to create very good atmospheric effects together with Fast Noise.

The Mac needs 6:28 for Depth Map alone, whereas the PC only needs 2:50 – if it doesn’t crash first! H.265 in 8K plus Speed Warp kills Resolve 18 on the PC, as does RED in 3:1 with Depth Map and Lens Blur. The Nvidia 3070 in the Asus was obviously unable to cope with these combinations and we had to try it with more easily decodable material. Together with Fast Noise
for the clouds, the Mac came out on top in the flyover from Alexa (1st clip) with 6:16, the PC needed 9:41.

Stability problems

The test project is intended to calculate different material together with very demanding functions. Initially, we tried to output our UHD timeline directly in H.265 with 10 bit. The Mac did this reliably in 26 minutes and 25 seconds; sooner or later, the PC either crashed to the desktop or got stuck in the rendering process. Mostly without an error message, occasionally the following message also appeared: “Cannot find appropriate codec for encoding the video frame.” This is obviously nonsense if it doesn’t appear right at the beginning.

As the GPU in the Asus also has to handle the encoding to H.265, we also tried DNxHR in HQX 10 bit, but again the calculation on the PC got stuck at different positions. Only with GoPro CineForm at YUV 10 bit did the Asus manage it in 28:07. Alternatively, we left the encoding to H.265 to the AMD GPU. This worked, but only produced reduced quality in 8 bit. These problems only occurred with the original material. If we supplied the PC with previously converted DNxHR in 6K, rendering in 4K or UHD ran smoothly, but this took a lot of time and memory.

So as not to start a religious war, we must remember that this is beta software. It is very time-consuming for every manufacturer to test all the configurations available on the market for Windows. With the Mac, the manageable number of models comes with hardware and system from a single source. With the PC, something like this first has to mature extensively, which is why there is a public beta. To be on the safe side, we also tried it with the same raw material under Resolve 17.4.6, but unfortunately the same problems occurred on the PC.

We therefore tried to get to the bottom of the problem. This is difficult when crashes occur at different points in the editing process without an error message. The most likely cause is a memory problem or overheating. We therefore ran the free tool GPU-Z
and observed both. In fact, the Nvidia GPU is constantly running at its limit, according to GPU-Z with up to 91.5 degrees and utilisation of a maximum of 8,097 Mbyte
VRAM.

Although the cooling can be maximised with the ProArt Creator Hub by setting it to Full Speed Mode, the computer then constantly makes a lot of noise, even though the CPU usually doesn’t have much to do. Things are slightly better with the adaptive performance mode, but this is also so loud at its peak that you don’t want to sit close to the computer. Nevertheless, we still had crashes during rendering in both settings. This indicates problems with the VRAM.

If you watch the Mac with TG Pro at work, the temperature remains below 65 degrees with full cooling (which still sounds more discreet). With adaptive, very quiet cooling, the maximum temperature in the GPU is 80 degrees, and then you can only hear the Mac’s fans with your ear directly on the screen. It is interesting to note, however, that the Mac only fully utilises the 16 cores of the GPU in our test project; the CPUs mostly twiddle their thumbs, just like on a PC. Nevertheless, up to 28 Gbytes of RAM are used by our 32, although Resolve should be able to cope with 16 without Fusion. So here the M1 draws on the full potential of its unified memory, while the Nvidia in the PC only has 8 Gbyte
VRAM – who would have thought a few years ago that we would be writing “only” here ..

Whether the problems lie with the memory or the temperature cannot be conclusively clarified. What is clear is that the Mac runs stably even with the beta version and uses a maximum of 60 watts for the GPU and CPU.

Power consumption

The Asus can also work at full power in battery mode. However, the warning message appears after just 56 minutes during rendering and it switches off after a good hour. When it is connected to the mains again, the 90 Wh battery is already at 95% after 1 hour and 17 minutes and full after 1:45. With its 100 Wh battery, the Mac manages an astonishing 4 hours and 50 minutes until the warning and only switches off at 5:16. It reaches 95% charge after 1:10 on the mains.

On the Asus, GPU-Z clearly shows where the power (and heat) ends up during rendering: Up to 135 watts end up in the GPU board, of which a maximum of 110 is for the chip. In the dark mode of the standard setting, the OLED screen should even be more economical than the mini-LEDs of the Mac. Of course, both computers will last much longer if you only edit and occasionally try out a look. But Apple’s new processors are so efficient that you can actually work through a long flight or a day away from civilisation.

Comment

The Asus ProArt currently seems to be the best Windows laptop on the market in terms of price-performance ratio for creative professionals, as long as it is not overtaken by the in-house competition with an Intel CPU (not tested here). It is perfectly suitable for editing professional material on the move if you have a solid desktop computer at home for the final calculations. Where this is not the case, you have to take the diversions via the CineForm codec instead of being able to output H.265 in high quality directly. Those who indulge in pixel mania will also not be happy with Nvidia’s 8K in H.265 as a source.

On the other hand, if you are prepared to invest a little more and make friends with Mac OS, the Macbook M1 Pro is the more reliable device with significantly lower power consumption. It may be a little slower than the Asus for some tasks, but the reliable output in any desired codec ultimately saves more time. Since the 16 GPU cores of our M1 Pro are constantly utilised at 100% when rendering under Resolve, the more expensive laptops with the M1 Max or the compact base model of the Mac Studio should be significantly faster.

The post Asus or Apple for Resolve on the move? first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

In nuce: In a study worth reading, the Animation Institute of the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg reports on virtual production – and how it can be used to realise sustainable film projects. The title of the paper is “Green Screens, Green Pixels and Green Shooting”, outlining in four informative pages how modern film productions can focus on sustainability.

Research question of the study: Can VFXs be produced more sustainably thanks to new technologies? To answer this question, the authors of the study contrasted two comparable productions: A traditional offline post-production and a virtual production with an LED wall.

The initial situation: According to the study, several recent reports show how conventional film productions affect the environment. The average CO₂ requirement of current feature film productions is estimated at 2840 tonnes. However, according to the study, visual effects and their impact were not taken into account. The Animationsinstitut study is primarily based on the Screen New Deal.

Comparing two approaches: As knowledge about the sustainability of virtual productions is currently thin on the ground, the authors of the study decided to compare two different approaches to film production: A production with commercially available offline rendering and industry-standard post-production, contrasted with a production with LED walls and in-camera visual effects (ICVFX).

Object of the comparison: In order to investigate the environmental impact of a film production, two Filmakademie productions were compared with each other: the offline production “Sprout” (2019) and the virtual production “Awakening” (2021). “Awakening” was part of a set extension workshop for Film Academy students, in which students get to know the different film departments.

Turning the focus – and the wheel of time? Will blue and green screen soon be a thing of the past in terms of production technology?

Production No. 1 – offline production “Sprout”: In this production, most of the energy consumption was used for offline rendering and post-production. Here, the traditional green screen was used in post-production. The study states: “The studio shots were realised in two days. The production comprised eight shots with a total of 3233 frames, including VFX.” It goes on to say: “The average render time was between 40 minutes and up to two hours.”

How much (wo)manpower was required for “Sprout”? The study says that the pre-production of “Sprout” took 100 man-days (eight hours per day), while the subsequent post-production was completed within 300 man-days. A person-day is made up of eight person-hours. The so-called person-hour measures the average performance of a person within one hour. A total of five students were involved in pre- and post-production.

How much electricity was consumed during offline production? All in all, “Sprout” consumed a total of 5073 kilowatt hours of electricity, 4% of which came from pre-production, 13% from post-production, 79% from offline rendering and 4% from the electricity required for the displays.

Sprout (2020) | VFX Breakdown

Production No. 2 – LED wall production “Awakening”: Instead of the frequently encountered green screens, “Awakening” used curved LED walls as part of a virtual production. The authors of the study measured “Awakening” with eight shots, which totalled 8898 individual images. In terms of workload, seven students were involved in the pre-production for five weeks, and six students were responsible for the post-production for a period of five weeks.

How big was the (wo)manpower of “Awakening”? Six people were involved in post-production for five weeks, resulting in a consumption of 504 kWh. The authors point out that one might have expected a lower figure for ICVFX, as it is generally understood that in-camera visual effects are those that are recorded on set and do not subsequently require post-production.

How high was the power consumption of the LED wall production? The authors of the study estimate the total power consumption for the LED wall production at 1594 kilowatt hours, of which 37 % was used for pre-production, 31 % for post-production, 10 % for the displays, 19 % for the LED wall, 1 % for LED wall rendering and 2 % for offline rendering.

In their conclusion, the authors of the study came to the conclusion that a virtual production can consume around three times less energy than an offline rendered production. The authors therefore consider virtual production to be a sustainable and environmentally conscious production technique. However, the authors emphasise that they are not giving a clear vote in favour of virtual production, as it is “not a solution for all aspects of film production”. At the same time, however, it should be seen as a valuable option that presents environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions.

Click further: You can read the entire study in either German or English. Click on the links to find out more about the Film Academy, its animation institute and its research activities. Prospective students can find out everything they need to know about the Ludwigsburg university’s training programme in our article “Filmakademie: Auf zum Studenten-Oscar?”, printed in the print edition DP 03 : 2021.

The post The Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg researches sustainable filmmaking first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.