Davinci Resolve on M1 Macs - how fast is it really?

So I tried this out on my M1 Air (16GB RAM, 8-core GPU).

I don't have the Studio version so I couldn't change all of the encoder settings as specified. But I set them as follows:



Using hardware acceleration, I could see the GPU was pegged and the CPU was very lightly used. It took 02:36. Disabling hardware acceleration, it took 5:28.

But then I realized I was on battery power. I did it again plugged into power. 2:38 with hardware acceleration on (basically the same as on battery). I didn't test CPU encoding plugged in based on that result.

FYI, the Davinci Resolve and Davinci Resolve Studio 17.1 Updates (dated 10 Mar 2021) "[add] universal app support for Macs running Apple M1 processors. That would get rid of the overhead of running these applications via Rosetta 2 translation.

The March 10 updates also add

• H.265 4:2:2 hardware decode support on Apple Silicon.
• H.265 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 Intel decode support in DaVinci Resolve Studio.
• H.265 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 Intel encode support in DaVinci Resolve Studio.

So, for H.265, both M1 CPUs and recent Intel CPUs might see performance gains. (The wording seems to imply that the M1 acceleration is available in both the free and paid versions of the software (for now), while Intel acceleration is only in the paid version.)

This was just a H264 test rather than H265. And I updated to the latest. Activity Monitor confirms it's running as Apple architecture instead of Intel.

Thank you!

One more little question :

Do you use the paid (=studio) version of Resolve?

Cheers!

skytoastar said:

So I tried this out on my M1 Air (16GB RAM, 8-core GPU).

I don't have the Studio version so I couldn't change all of the encoder settings as specified. But I set them as follows:



Using hardware acceleration, I could see the GPU was pegged and the CPU was very lightly used. It took 02:36. Disabling hardware acceleration, it took 5:28.

But then I realized I was on battery power. I did it again plugged into power. 2:38 with hardware acceleration on (basically the same as on battery). I didn't test CPU encoding plugged in based on that result.

Click to expand...

No. This was just the free version

skytoastar said:

So I tried this out on my M1 Air (16GB RAM, 8-core GPU).



Using hardware acceleration, I could see the GPU was pegged and the CPU was very lightly used. It took 02:36. Disabling hardware acceleration, it took 5:28.

Click to expand...

Got me an M1 Air as well, 16GB and 8core GPU.

The rendering speed for me was exactly the same as yours -- 2:36. Really nice.

BTW, no speed difference between the free and the paid Studio version, at least not at the moment.

Cheers!

I got the vanilla M1 MB Air to be my travel laptop (hopefully this summer). Just tested with Resolve 17.1.1 Studio and was suprised that I was able to edit 5K/10bit HEVC (200Mbit/s) without any issues.

I have been following PC GPU markets since the annoucements of the RTX 3000 series, and due to shortages the prices are just insane. Instead of paying 1000€ for a decent GPU, it may make sense to wait for 2nd generation chips and purchase a new iMac or Mini (if they are updated with the M2 chips).

apekkpul said:

I got the vanilla M1 MB Air to be my travel laptop (hopefully this summer). Just tested with Resolve 17.1.1 Studio and was suprised that I was able to edit 5K/10bit HEVC (200Mbit/s) without any issues.

Click to expand...

For basic HEVC and H.264 decoding (and therefore editing) the M1 seems plenty fast.

In my test video I applied some slow-motion effect with motion estimation, this seems to be too much for the M1, and is way faster on a dedicated GPU - even a very old one like my 1070.

apekkpul said:

I have been following PC GPU markets since the annoucements of the RTX 3000 series, and due to shortages the prices are just insane. Instead of paying 1000€ for a decent GPU, it may make sense to wait for 2nd generation chips and purchase a new iMac or Mini (if they are updated with the M2 chips).

Click to expand...

I doubt the 2nd generation M* will be able to fully surpass dedicated GPUs -- I mean they have been evolving for 20 years now, and NVidia sure know what they are doing.

Anyway, I am happy to play around with my new little toy (M1), and I like it!

The (render-speed)/(power-demand) figure favors the M1 already now, though. My desktop PC draws 150 Watts during rendering.