Video editing with Davinci Resolve

Learn how to use Davinci resolve, video editing and color correction software, with CUDO Compute.

DaVinci Resolve collaboration tools allow multiple users to work on the same project simultaneously, enabling real-time collaboration and communication. It provides features such as shared projects, project locking, and chat capabilities, making it easier for teams to collaborate and streamline their workflow.

Quick start guide

Prerequisites
Setting up a Davinci resolve project server on Windows
Setting up a GPU rendering node

Prerequisites

Create a project and add an SSH key

Setting up a Davinci resolve project server

For the project server we will use a low-cost CPU only instance as it only needs to host a database.

Choose a CPU only VM and Configure
Use the Windows 10 Pro image

Be sure to set a secure password for your Windows VM.

Connect to your instance via Windows Remote Desktop. Use the public IP address of the VM as the remote desktop computer name. It may try and login with your local windows account if this is the case select 'more choices' -> 'Use a different account' and type 'admin' as the username.

Installing project server

Open a web browser on the VM and go to https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/ and download the latest version of Davinci project server.

Next install project server.

You will be prompted to create a server

Enter the server name
Create an admin user
Set a secure password

Next create a project library. A project library can be used to hold multiple projects that share resources, i.e. a film and a trailer.

Open Project server and click 'File -> Enable Network Connections'

Click the 'i' on your project and enable the project library Project info

Enable project

Allowing remote database access

Open notepad using 'Run as administrator' change the file type to open to 'All files'

Navigate to C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\13\data and open pg_hba.conf

pg_hba.conf is a file used by PostgreSQL to determine who is allowed to connect to the database server and how they can authenticate themselves, based on their location, username, and preferred authentication method.

You should see something like below.

# pg_hba.conf file has been edited by DaVinci Project Server. Hence, it is recommended to not edit this file manually.
# TYPE    DATABASE    USER    ADDRESS    METHOD
host    all    all    127.0.0.1/32    scram-sha-256
host    all    all    ::1/128    scram-sha-256
host my-project all XX.XX.XX.XX/27 scram-sha-256

To the bottom of this file add this line:

host all all 0.0.0.0/0 scram-sha-256

This will allow any ip address to connect to any of your project libraries.

For security purposes it would be best to limit which ip addresses can attempt to connect to your project libraries.

Allowing incoming connections

Open Windows defender firewall and click on 'advanced settings' on the left hand panel.
Go to 'Inbound rules' -> 'New Rule'
For rule type select 'Port'
Select 'Specific local ports' and enter 5432
Select 'Allow the connection'
Enter a name for your rule

Test Connection

Open your local copy of Davinci resolve.

On the home screen got to the 'Network tab'
Click 'Add Project Library'
Be sure to select the 'Connect' tab in the pop-up
Enter the library name, server ip address, username and password

Add library

If you want to collaborate with other users at the same time it would be better to set your project to multiple user collaboration.

'File' -> 'Multiple User Collaboration'

Setting up a GPU rendering node

DaVinci Resolve uses GPUs to accelerate various tasks such as real-time playback, color grading, and rendering. The software supports both NVIDIA GPUs and can utilize multiple GPUs simultaneously. DaVinci Resolve (free) allows for a single GPU to be used, however the paid studio version can utilize multiple GPUs.

Start a VM

Choose an NVIDIA GPU VM and Configure
Use the Windows 10 Pro image=