Dear all, welcome to this short tutorial dedicated to DaVinci Resolve 17,
the best and free video-editing software developed by Blackmagic Design.
Please visit our YouTube channel and our official website to get extra
news, tips, troubleshooting and much more for free!
DaVinci Resolve is an outstanding software with the full set of features
you can ever need: from basic ones to realize simple videos to the most
advanced post-processing effects and corrections, all in one place.
In this video we will use the free version but you can upgrade to the Studio one
to get loads of additional plugins, HDR grading, neural filters and more!
When you open Resolve you get into the Project Manager page where you can
start from any existing project. These are all collected inside the Local
Database on the left, unless you create others with New Database at
the bottom.
To start with Resolve go to New Project and define any name. This opens on
the main interface, showing several workspaces available at the bottom.
With Media you can import, organize and manage your files; with Cut you can
trim these precisely; then you switch to Edit to build your main video
project. You open Fusion to apply complex and professional effects; Color
to make color corrections like a photographer and Fairlight to work with
audio, make recordings and mix sound. Once your project is ready you open
the Deliver workspace to render and export. In this video we will just see
the basic workspaces you need as a beginner.
You can always come back to the Project Manager page with the Home button.
On the Edit workspace you can import pictures, videos and audio files by
dragging and dropping these from any folder into the Media Pool panel on
the left. You can also check each file on the main Preview on the right by
double-clicking on it. Then drop these files into the project Timeline
at the bottom to start working with these.
The timeline is the place where you edit and build your custom video. All
files are shown as colored blocks called clips, as much long as they last
in time. Videos and pictures are collected inside Video Tracks in blue
color; whereas speech and sound content inside Audio Tracks, in green color
at the bottom.
To playback and check the timeline clips you can use the player above and
watch the Preview. This shows content where the red marker is placed in
time. So you can move it by clicking or dragging on the timeline to check
any singular frame or any sequence of these.
For a faster preview you can go to Timeline View Options on the left to
show bigger thumbnails and audio volume waveforms on clips. You can also
zoom in and out over these with your mouse wheel while holding down the ALT
key and move through time with the Shift key.
To save your current project use CMD (or CTRL on Windows) and S. Make sure
to save often, especially when you see either a yellow or a red 'Edited'
word on top.
Now let's see how to edit the timeline clips with the Selection mode
enabled.
Click and drag any clip to move it through time, within the same Track or
in another one. You will create new Tracks if not present yet.
When you drag videos with audio both clips are moved together, being these
linked. You can make these independent by right-clicking and going to Link
Clips.
Pay attention if you overlap clips in time. If you overlap any within the
same Track the one behind gets cut. Whereas if they are placed on different
Tracks the Preview shows the clip on the top Video Track in front of all
the others lower in the Track order.
To adjust any clip duration drag from its edges. Depending on the cursor
shape you will stop at the next clip or go over it. You can stretch video
and audio clips up to their maximum length and shorten these in time
by removing part of their content.
You can also stretch and shorten any clip by acting on its playback speed,
instead of cutting content. If you right-click on it and go to Change Clips
Speed... you can set its speed in percentage, such as above 100% for a
faster and shorter clip or below 100% for a slower and longer clip. From
this panel you can also reverse the clip or change its audio pitch.
To make copies of any clip just drag from it while holding down the ALT
key. Whereas use the Backspace key to remove it.
To split clips in multiple pieces enable the Blade Edit Mode and click on
these. Remember to use CMD (or CTRL on Windows) and Z to undo any action
if you make any mistake.
On the left side you have several options to manage each Track. Use the
Lock button to block any modification on the current Track. Enable the
frame button to hide or show the Video Track content. Whereas on any Audio
Track you can use the Mute button to mute it and the Solo button to mute
all the other Tracks but the current one.
To remove any Track right-click on it.
To correct and enhance any clip select it and open the Inspector panel on
the right. On Resolve 17 this is completely new, with several sections from
Video to File. On each section you can show or hide options by clicking on
their name and adjust these by dragging on the slider or on the values,
clicking twice to type directly. If you do not see any modification on the
Preview make sure that the clip is not overlapped by other clips on top
Video Tracks.
You can also use the revert button to reset any property and the orange
button to turn OFF or ON an entire set of options.
When you select images or videos you can open the Video section to adjust
their appearance. With Transform you can place, scale and rotate the clip,
using Anchor Point to set the rotation point, Pitch and Yaw to 3D rotate
on different axes and also the Flip buttons to flip horizontally or
vertically.
Under Cropping you can crop the clip from several sides, adding feather
with Softness.
You can also transform and crop the clip faster and easier with the tools
on the extreme left. With Transform you move, scale and rotate the clip
on the Preview, clicking and dragging the box or using its nodes. With
Crop you can do the same to crop directly. Make sure to have these tools
enabled or you won't see any node on the Preview.
With Dynamic Zoom you can add animated pan and zoom effects on the clip.
From the Inspector you find ready presets; whereas with the dedicated tool
you can make custom zooms by editing both the green 'Start' rectangle and
the red 'End' directly on the Preview. When you playback the clip the
animation is performed by following the properties changing between the two.
In addition you can go to Composite to add transparency; Stabilization to
remove shakiness from any video and Lens Correction to remove any
distortion given by your camera.
Another useful tool is called Annotations and allows you to drop notes and
sketches by clicking and dragging on the Preview.
Under Audio you can adjust the volume level of the clip and also balance
its left and right stereo channels with Pan. Adjust the audio tone with
Pitch and apply professional band filters with Equalizer.
Moreover if you select RAW images you can open the Image section to apply
advanced corrections on brightness and contrast, add color filters or set
color intensity with Saturation. You can also switch to the Color workspace
for the full set of professional color correction and color grading tools,
including wheels, tone curves and advanced color scopes.
To learn more about the Color workspace watch our dedicated tutorial!
All these Inspector properties can be changed in time with special markers
called keyframes. On the interested property click on the diamond button
and then open the envelope button on the selected clip. If you do not see it,
just zoom in on the clip enough.
At this point the property graph opens showing an envelope completely flat
and static that can be pulled up or down to another value. By moving the
marker and using the top diamond button you can add multiple keyframes on
the envelope, in order to shape it as you like. You can move these
keyframes horizontally in time and vertically in value and use the options
on the top to adjust the curve. You can have multiple properties changing in
time as well.
To remove any keyframe select it and use CMD (or CTRL) and X. To remove all
of them just reset property from the Inspector.
From the Effects Library on the left you can add great visual and audio
effects, transitions and amazing pieces of text. You can get a quick
preview of these by hovering over their name and apply these by dragging
and dropping on the timeline.
You can apply three main kinds of effects: Open FX for visual effects;
Audio FX for audio effects and under Toolbox, Effects also the Fusion
effects, which are complex compositions ready to use and realized with the
Fusion workspace.
We won't see the Fusion effects and workspace in this tutorial. Make sure
to catch our dedicated video to learn more!
When you add any effect on a clip this shows an fx icon and a new Effects
section on its Inspector panel. This list all the Fusion, Open FX and
Audio effects applied on such clip that you can adjust while checking the
preview. Use the orange button to turn ON and OFF the effects, the arrows to
change the effects order and the bin button to remove the effect
permanently.
Video and Audio Transitions are special effects used to introduce or end
any clip. You can drop these on clip edges or between two clips if these
overlap for a short time. You can also extend or shorten these in time to
adjust their speed and open the Transition section inside the Inspector
panel to set its properties. To change the transition effect drag another
on it and use the Backspace key to remove it instead.
Under Titles you can find static titles, animated Fusion titles and also
Subtitles. These generate grey title clips on the timeline that shall be
put on top Video Tracks not to get overlapped by other clips. You can open
the Inspector panel to adjust visual appearance under Settings and text
properties under Title, such as text font, style, color, outline or shadow.
In case of Fusion titles you can manage multiple pieces of text, opening
the Fusion workspace to customize their final appearance.
To export and upload your video, open the Deliver workspace. Adjust the
highlighted region to set what to export and, under Render Settings, set
all video options. You can select any ready template for YouTube and Vimeo
up to HD or 4K, go for a direct upload to Twitter or take suitable formats
for ProRes, Final Cut, Premiere and Pro Tools. Choose Audio Only to export
just the audio part. Under Custom you can fix custom options, including
video size, frame rate, bit rate and other advanced properties.
On top define video name and location and go to Add to Render Queue to
import all these video and audio options as a new job on the right. You
just have to select it and go to Start Render at the bottom to start
exporting it!
Thank you very much for watching this video!! Visit our YouTube channel if
you want to discover more about DaVinci Resolve and its amazing features!