DaVinci Resolve, the professional video editing and coloring app, is coming to iPad

Along with the announcement of the new M2 processor iPad Pro tablets, Apple also revealed that DaVinci Resolve, one of the most advanced professional video editing apps, will be coming to iPadOS. But only now, a few days after the announcement, Blackmagic Design, the company that owns DaVinci, has started talking publicly about the release, revealing some important details about it and what it will integrate into the mobile version.

DaVinci Resolve on iPad will offer a limited experience compared to the desktop one

The new DaVinci Resolve for iPad will be a dedicated tablet version, with an interface tailored for touchscreens and for use with an Apple Pencil. While the desktop version is more designed for use with a keyboard, mouse and various professional control accessories, the new mobile app will allow access to some of the capabilities of the “full” version with a number of platform-specific modifications.

Thus, instead of multiple desktop pages such as Media, Cut, Fusion, Color, Fairlight, or Deliver, the mobile app will initially integrate only two pages: Cut and Color. This way, you can quickly edit videos and then colour your footage, with access to all the advanced features. Audio editing and special effects remain on the desktop for now, though these could be added in the future. Incidentally, online collaboration projects for DaVinci 18 desktop can be opened from the iPad without any problems.

Blackmagic Design says the interface is optimized for the 12.9″ iPad Pro, and that it allows HDR editing on iPads Pro with 12.9″ M1s, but it’s unclear if the app will run on other iPad models, such as 11″ or non-M processors. What we do know for sure, however, is that iPadOS 16 is required for installation, and compatible edited files must be in H264, H265 or ProRes format, so the formats iPhones shoot in, or Blackmagic RAW, the company’s proprietary camera format. However, it looks like those who pick up an iPad Pro with the M2 will get four times the performance improvements in rendering 4K footage in ProRes format (presumably over the M1).

There will also be a “free” version

The app can recognize Apple Pencil, Magic Trackpad, Magic Keyboard and Smart Keyboard Folio for shortcuts and allows external monitoring on Apple Studio Display, Pro Display XDR and via AirPlay.

DaVinci Resolve for iPad will be a free app in the App Store, providing access to basic functionality. It will be “upgradeable” to the Studio version for a fee. The desktop license cannot be transferred to the iPad, so this version will also need to be purchased separately by those who already own DaVinci Resolve Studio on the desktop.