DaVinci Resolve is the industry standard tool for color grading and editing. It is a powerful app with deep features that can be daunting for the inexperienced. In this article, you’ll learn how to use DaVinci Resolve as an editor by creating a new project, importing media, organizing files and clips on the timeline, and more.
What is DaVinci Resolve?
DaVinci Resolve is a powerful color correction, audio editing and compositing application that can run on macOS and Windows machines. It also has advanced features such as <a href="https://blog.jambox.io/what-is-post-production-video-editing”>video editing and titling, multi-camera editing support, stereoscopic 3D editing, Ultra HD, and high frame rate workflows.
The software was first released in 2002 by a company called Ripple Training (which was acquired by Blackmagic Design). The product was originally called “Ripple” but was renamed DaVinci Resolve after Apple purchased the name “Ripple” for use in Final Cut Pro X (FCPX).
How to Use DaVinci Resolve for Editing?
DaVinci Resolve is an editing tool that can do more than just trim, cut and splice your video clips together. It has a ton of advanced features that allow you to make subtle changes to the look and feel of your footage. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to use DaVinci Resolve for editing, including how to add watermarks, change titles, color-correct footage, create visual effects and more.
Step 1: Create a new project and import your media
Open DaVinci Resolve.
From the Project Manager, select New Project.
Give your project a name.
Open Project Settings, which is the cog icon in the lower right of the interface.
You will need to set your Timeline Frame Rate. This defaults to 24 fps, but ideally, you will change this to match the majority of your footage (such as 23.976 or 25 fps).
If you change the timeline frame rate, change the Playback Frame Rate and Video Format tabs to match.
If you don’t know exactly what these settings should be, don’t worry. You’ll have another chance to alter the frame rate when you import your footage.
On the Cut tab, go to the menu bar and select File > Import > Import Media.
Step 2: Add Trimmed Clips to the Timeline
Once you’ve imported your footage into Resolve, you can start editing. To do so, load your clips into the timeline by selecting File > Open Media and selecting the video and audio files you want to use. Once the clips are loaded, you can trim them by selecting an In Point or Out Point. This can be done by clicking and dragging the handles of a clip’s edit line or by using keyboard shortcuts.
Once your clips are trimmed to the desired length, select “Open Timeline.” This will allow you to add more clips to your timeline. You can add multiple clips at once by highlighting them and pressing “A” on Mac OS X or “Ctrl” + “A” on Windows.
You should also enable the source monitor that displays each clip’s source media so that you can see exactly what is being used in each scene. Select Window > Show Source Monitor from the application menu bar at the top of your screen or press “S” on Mac OS X or “Ctrl + Shift + S” on Windows if it’s not already enabled by default. You should see a small window appear with all available sources displayed within it. This is where DaVinci Resolve gets its name from!
Step 3: Add Text or Titles
One of the most common uses for DaVinci Resolve is adding text or titles over your video clips. You can add a title at any point in your project by clicking on the “T” button in the top toolbar:
Click on the “+” button next to the “T” icon to add a new title track. You can then type in your title, choose from a variety of fonts, and adjust its size and position:
You can also add lower thirds (smaller text that appears below someone speaking) by clicking on the lower nub in the top toolbar
Step 4: Add Transitions
Transitions are useful when you need to transition between two scenes or clips in your project. You can use them to add extra flare to your videos.
To add transitions in DaVinci Resolve, follow these steps:
1) Select the video clip that you want to apply a transition to by clicking on it once with the mouse.
2) Click on the Effects icon at the top of the screen and then click on Transitions from the drop-down menu. This will open up another menu with all the different types of transitions available for use. Click on Video/Audio effects and then choose which type of transition you want from there.
Step 5: Add effects to your videos
If you want to add video effects, click on “FX” in the toolbar on the right side of the screen and then choose an effect from the drop-down menu. You’ll see all your options for adding effects like color correction or stabilization on this menu. When you’ve added all your effects, click “OK” at the bottom of this menu and then play back your clip to see how it looks!
Step 6: Add Music or Audio
DaVinci Resolve lets you import any audio file (including music) into your project. To do this, click on the add icon in the upper right corner of your timeline window (or press Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + A). You can then select an audio file from your computer to add it to your project.
Step 7: Color Correction
Color correction is the process of making changes to the lighting, color saturation, contrast and exposure of photos and videos. Color correction is often used to make an image look more realistic or pleasing or to make it fit better with the rest of the video footage.
Color grading is similar to color correction but involves changing all colors in a video instead of only certain ones. It can also include adding special effects like sepia tones or warming effects like golden hour light.
Step 8: Share Your Project
Head back over to the Cut page once you are happy with your edit, titles, transitions, music, and color!
- Move into the Cut page.
- Click Quick Export found in the top right of the interface.
- Select H.264 > Export.
Save the file to your preferred folder on your computer.
While it exports, Resolve will have a status window in the progress of your render.
