Feature Request : Online documentation of Resolve

Dear community, please, it's 2022. Hundres of PDF manual to be read is really pain, it would be better if it documented on website, not in PDF.
Thanks.

The manual is available on the website. You can access it with your browser. It's not the same as online documentation from other companies, tho, BUT

The Blackmagic manuals are incredibly detailed and possible some of the best out there. I haven't seen any software that is documented that well as Resolve. That takes a lot of work, especially for over 1.500 pages. So I don't think the chances for a web based layout are high. Remember, they not only do Resolve. There is Fusion and all of the other software and hardware stuff aswell.

I vote no. PDF is the industry standard document type for good reason. That needs to be kept.

Thanks for reply Jim and Simon. What i mean is online documentation like this : https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/create-multi-camera-source-sequence.html
PDF is good for other people, but not effective for another people. The best way is online documentation.
by the way Has blackmagic have this?

This seems like a reasonable and useful suggestion.
I believe there are programs that automatically produce such HTML-based doc from the source without need for hand editing.

Hopefully BMD will investigate or, if they've already done so and deemed it impractical, let us know here.

This seems like a reasonable and useful suggestion.
I believe there are programs that automatically produce such HTML-based doc from the source without need for hand editing.

Hopefully BMD will investigate or, if they've already done so and deemed it impractical, let us know here.

Thank joe, most people search their problem from google. When you search your problem of Resolve, you wil never find the answer from BMD official page. Becouse no online documentation.

It wil help each other easely.

I vote no. PDF is the industry standard document type for good reason. That needs to be kept.

How does an online html version of docs hinder the ability to read a pdf? Feature request is to add online docs, not to remove pdf version.

+1. I've consumed several app manuals over the last couple of decades, and perusing Resolve's monolith is by far the worst experience for me. An online, HTML version would be very welcome.

Note that you can also peruse the manual from the HELP menu within Resolve itself. The problem with making the manual available online is there are situations where a) an online connection isn't available, or b) facilities want to prevent system computers from getting online to prevent piracy and other information leaks. The manual only takes up 169MB of space, which is pretty minor these days (the DaVinci Resolve app itself is about 3GB plus related files).

The problem with making the manual available online is there are situations where a) an online connection isn't available, or b) facilities want to prevent system computers from getting online to prevent piracy and other information leaks.

It's fairly trivial to run HTML docs on a local web server, no Internet connection needed.

The problem with making the manual available online is there are situations where a) an online connection isn't available, or b) facilities want to prevent system computers from getting online to prevent piracy and other information leaks.

How does any of this prevent you from reading the manual that came with installer? Online help should be additional to installer carried help because not every time when someone wants to check or read something from help is one behind desk and/or has Resolve running.

The problem with making the manual available online is there are situations where a) an online connection isn't available, or b) facilities want to prevent system computers from getting online to prevent piracy and other information leaks.

How does any of this prevent you from reading the manual that came with installer? Online help should be additional to installer carried help because not every time when someone wants to check or read something from help is one behind desk and/or has Resolve running.

Also, many workstations do not have an internet connection for various of reasons.

I do not think adding an online documentation is a bad idea per se. I just don't feel the need to spend resources on managing the well written manual plus an extra web version.

And I haven't seen any good examples of online documentations yet aswell.

The problem with making the manual available online is there are situations where a) an online connection isn't available, or b) facilities want to prevent system computers from getting online to prevent piracy and other information leaks.

How does any of this prevent you from reading the manual that came with installer? Online help should be additional to installer carried help because not every time when someone wants to check or read something from help is one behind desk and/or has Resolve running.

Also, many workstations do not have an internet connection for various of reasons.

I do not think adding an online documentation is a bad idea per se. I just don't feel the need to spend resources on managing the well written manual plus an extra web version.

And I haven't seen any good examples of online documentations yet aswell.

Mmm, it's 2022, I was web developer back in the days (15-20 years ago), and even then, I was able to make html pages and PDF version of them from coming from an unique source.

There si nothing complicated, and any junior dev can do it not even in a day. It's not a lack of resources. I mean, yeah, you have to do it once, then each time the manual is updated, the web and the PDF versions are generated at the same time.

No needs to manage anything more than what exists already. The content would be exactly the same. The only difference is how quick it would be indexed, and searchable/usable.

For the "puriste", the online version could look almost exactly the same as the PDF version. But so much lighter. Nothing can beat CSS with simple text.

FL Studio (like hundreds of other company) has an online version : https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio-le ... ne-manual/ - with a search box that will suggest terms

And BTW, having an online version of it would help for its accessibility to people who are not fluent in English. I'm sure the manual is not translated in every language.

It would be way easier for those people to learn and find stuff. And they will be less inclined to directly ask questions on the forum.

For me it's a win-win situation to have an online version of the manual. I don't see any drawbacks, only advantages.

+1 to this. Should be an automatable process; both PDF and HTML versions have value in different contexts.

As an example of a huge and complex package that provides best-in-class HTML/online documentation, I'd cite Houdini. Its documentation is vast, rich, always up to date, eminently searchable. It presents both conceptual (prose) and reference information in a beautifully laid out and logical manner. Even manages to sneak in little moments of humour, without undermining the professional air. SideFX really know how to do docs (which, given how complex Houdini is, is kinda essential

As long as the included documentation is kept up to date, I don't see the problem.

The worst is when doc is online only. Or... maybe this is the worst: when it's online only and you don't find that out until you're on a plane trying to get stuff done, and then encounter a problem you need to look up.

The idea of serving HTML doc locally on your computer is absurd, however. You can put the current manual on an E-reader or tablet. I have the Resolve manual in Books on my Mac, which syncs to my iPad. That's not going to work with a pile of HTML.

A comprehensive clickable index would go a long way to making the manual more usable. Though much smaller the Pro Tools manual has this making it so much easier to use.