May 28, 2025

Video - DaVinci Resolve version 20 on linux

It has been almost a year since I first installed DR. I just typed "resolve" at the command line, and it launched fine. After a while it told me that a new version was available (20) and gave me a button to download it. It was big (3.4G), but took maybe 10 minutes to download, giving me: 
-rw-r--r-- 1 tom tom 3407592438 May 28 08:03  DaVinci_Resolve_20.0_Linux.zip
The basic advice is to unzip it, then run the "run" file that will produce. If it was like the last install, it will also give me a PDF will instructions.

What I do is that I delete it and download Studio instead. The Studio download is over twice the size (see below).

I have 18 installed, as follows 

which resolve
~/bin/resolve
It looks like the bulk of the install is in /opt/resolve

The file in my bin directory is a 2 line shell script: 

#!/bin/bash

/opt/resolve/bin/resolve
I have a product key for Studio, but I don't know if I have applied it to my linux install, or if "Studio" is a different product I should install.

Typing "resolve" just tells me it is 18.6, so it is the free version. It would say "Studio 18.6" if it was Studio.

So, I should download Studio, install it, and keep my card with the key handy.

Follow instructions

The card tells me to go to: I select "English manual", the Resolve Studio, then if offers me a PDF manual for 19.1 (so perhaps 20 is still in Beta as I read in online discussions). The reference manual is 4032 pages! I save it. 177 MB.

Now I go to the "support page", which suggests I can download what I want. I select the Resolve product family. Here it offers me Resolve Studio 20. It tells me it is the final version (no mention of Beta) There are 4 buttons: (Mac, Linux, Windows X86, Windows ARM). I select Linux.

Now I get a form to fill out. It wants my Serial number (which is on my product activation card). And away goes the download. I end up with: 

-rw-r--r-- 1 tom tom 8765344384 May 28 21:38 DaVinci_Resolve_Studio_20.0_Linux.zip
What they say is:
This software update installs the final release of DaVinci Resolve Studio 20 which adds support for over 100 new features and AI tools such as AI IntelliScript, AI Animated Subtitles, AI Multicam SmartSwitch and AI Audio Assistant, as well as keyframe editing, voice over palette, multi layer compositing tools, new optical flow vector tools and major updates to Magic Mask and depth map. This version requires a DaVinci Resolve Studio license dongle or software activation code.
Linux requirements: 
Minimum system requirements for Linux
Rocky Linux 8.6.
32 GB of system memory.
For monitoring, Blackmagic Design Desktop Video 12.9 or later.
Discrete GPU with at least 4 GB of VRAM.
GPU which supports OpenCL 1.2 or CUDA 12.8.
AMD official drivers from your GPU manufacturer.
NVIDIA Studio driver 570.26 or newer.
It is entirely possible I will need to update my video card.
Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

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