Resolve V9 was first showcased at NAB 2012, with a projected July release. In May I started to put together a package of ICA classes, Resolve 101, 201 and Warren’s Looks to be rolled out in the second half of 2012.
The world tour kicked off in London in July, although you wouldn’t have known it was summer, as it never stopped raining! The ICA has a new base for Resolve training at Soho Editors, Berwick Street. This is my old stomping ground, where it all began for me 30 years ago. My favourite café, Bar Bruno, was still there and hadn’t changed a bit. That was where I calmed the Beastie Boys down, only to go back to work to find out they were my clients!
Soho Editors have a typical Soho set up, a thin room up a tight stairwell. The eight iMacs were set up against one wall, meaning I could face all eight students, something I really like. Having line of sight with the students makes communication far easier. The students look at two large Plasma TVs showing the Resolve GUI. Resolve V9 was very new. I hadn’t had long to learn it myself and was still making the Power points for the classes on the plane over from Australia.
My eight students were from a mixture of backgrounds, a DP, DIT, long form editor, stereorgrapher, TVC director and an agency producer. They came from the UK, USA, Italy and the Netherlands. Soho is joint top with NY for lunchtime and evening activities, just walking around makes you feel you are in a real industry hub. Everybody seems to be talking production, films, VFX etc. The rain seemed relentless, even one of my favourite pastimes of standing outside a Soho bar watching the world go by proved difficult. I started recording a podcast with Dan Moran, Colorist from Smoke and Mirrors, 
outside a traditional Soho bar, only to be driven inside by wind and rain.
“Node-tastic on today’s DaVinci Resolve 9 training with Warren- you’re gonna love version 9- this class rocks” Den Lennie, F-Stop Academy
The tour moved to Singapore in August after an Olympic break. I know the guys at Media Asylum very well, having collaborated with them on big DaVinci sales and installation projects before Blackmagic acquired DaVinci. MA always pick me up from the airport and always have everything ready to go when I walk in; machines on, media loaded and coffee on the table.
The V9 software was now in public beta so had come on since the London class, both in terms of a new features and added stability. MA have a main Mac Pro station with BMD panels, 4 x 17” 2012 Laptops with external monitors and either Element or Wave control surfaces. The grading monitors are Flanders FSI and a Dolby. The GUI goes out on a large projector and a Panasonic plasma. This is the biggest and best training room I visit. The crowd here came from all over South East Asia. Singapore is a great hub, easy to get to and a great place to visit. It’s good for me as I normally visit Peter Chamberlain and Rohit Gupta from BMD. These guys were part of the old DaVinci set up and have been very influential in the evolution of the Resolve product.
“An excellent course for both seasoned colorists and anyone interested in learning DaVinci Resolve from an experienced teacher. Warren is patient and easy to follow during his lessons. A great experience.
Sean Ashley Lecturer Lasalle College of the Arts Singapore
A week later I was on my way to Sydney. The Australian Film and Television school (AFTRS) had wanted me to visit for over 2 years. One thing or another had always got in the way, making it difficult to get a class off the ground. They have a fantastic building at Fox Studios, equipped with a great Mac Lab. The Resolve GUI from the projector nearly filled the whole side of the room. AFTRS wanted a customised weekend class, so I condensed the 101, this meant for a busy couple of days.
The 10 students sat at 2 rows of iMacs so everybody got their own machine. Those who wanted a control surface could move to the stations equipped with either a Wave, Element or Avid panels. My students were DPs, editors, VFX artists, directors, DITs and producers and came from all over Australia.
I boarded a plane to NY straight after the Sydney class. The Manhattan Edit Workshop shop is on 14th Street and Broadway so in a fantastic Manhattan location. Their room is the smallest I work in but this means you are never far from the Dolby monitor. Lunchtime is a real bonus in NY, fantastic choices.
Classes finished at 1800 so evenings are fun too. My students consisted of a 2 x DPs, a DIT, 2 x Editors, an advertising agency producer and an experienced Colorist. Normally the NYC classes have more overseas guests due more I think to the attraction of visiting the city rather than attending my class. I had never been to NY before in September, but late summer during fashion week was a great time to be in the big apple.
Fantastic quote from Dennis Dillon DP for the CBS show 60 Minutes.
“I turned down a shoot with President Obama to take your class”
I flew out of NY Sunday night getting to LA around 2am luckily I had a day off on Monday it was well needed as I had been teaching for 9 days straight.
The ICA LA training center is based at Roush Media in Burbank. It is a working Post House so great for students to see a real house in operation. The room is the old grading theatre so we use a large projector for the GUI, Dolby for the grading monitor and MacPro towers for the students. The control surfaces are BMD, Avid, Wave and Element, students are encouraged to move around the stations trying the different panel options.
Both the R101 and R201 classes were sold out with students coming from China, Germany, Chicago, St Louis and Los Angeles. A special thanks goes to student Mary Kay Miller, a V8 user and film colorist veteran like myself. She printed and shared her own V9 keyboard shortcuts and was a real help to myself and the other students.
The lunchtime options in Burbank don’t hit the heights of NYC but I usually drag everybody to my favourite Mexican restaurant just around the corner.
The bonus for me on this trip was the chance to hang out at E-Film. A great bunch of guys doing some very cool work.
The Resolve world tour wound up on Sunday 16th September with “Warren’s Looks”. This is my favourite class as students often bring in their own footage for us to play with, it is all about experimenting, creating and having fun.
Class done I packed and headed to LAX for a 10pm flight to Australia. It had been a great few months, going to fantastic cities and meeting like mined people with a passion for grading.
2013 Tour details
Singapore
New York
London
http://www.sohoeditors.com/uk/Blackmagic_DaVinci_Resolve_Training
Sydney
Los Angeles
Warren
