Video Editing & Motion Graphics · Guide
DaVinci Resolve for beginners: your first edit
Seven pages look intimidating and you need two. Here is a first edit from import to export, using only the parts of Resolve a beginner should touch.
The Nextversity teamVideo Editing & Motion Graphics schoolUpdated August 10, 20266 min read
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The short answer
Resolve has seven pages along the bottom of the window and a beginner needs two: Edit and Deliver. Ignore the rest for a month.
Your first edit: set the project frame rate, import footage, drag clips to the timeline, trim, add music, correct the color roughly, export from Deliver. An hour, start to finish.
What the seven pages are
Knowing what you are ignoring makes ignoring it easier:
- Media: importing and organizing.
- Cut: fast editing, built for quick turnarounds. Genuinely good for simple projects.
- Edit: the traditional timeline, where most work happens.
- Fusion: node-based visual effects and motion graphics. Powerful, and a whole discipline of its own.
- Color: the grading page Resolve is famous for.
- Fairlight: the audio suite.
- Deliver: export.
You can do a complete, professional edit using Edit and Deliver alone.
Before you import: frame rate
Set your project frame rate to match your footage before importing anything, in Project Settings (the cog, bottom right).
Resolve locks the timeline frame rate once media is on the timeline. Getting this wrong produces stuttering playback and is annoying to fix later. If your footage is 24 fps, set the project to 24.
Your first edit, step by step
- New project. Set the frame rate as above.
- Import. Drag your footage into the Media Pool on the Edit page.
- Drag a clip to the timeline. Resolve creates the timeline automatically.
- Add the rest, in rough order. Do not trim carefully yet.
- Trim. Drag clip edges, or use the blade tool (B) to cut and delete what you do not want. Press A to return to the normal selection tool.
- Music. Drag an audio file to a lower track. Lower its volume by dragging the horizontal line inside the clip down, or set it in the Inspector.
- Titles. The Effects panel has Text and Text+. Use plain Text for simple titles, since Text+ is a Fusion element and heavier.
- Rough color. Right-click a clip and try the automatic balance, or move to the Color page and adjust the primary wheels. Do not spend an hour here on your first edit.
- Deliver. Move to the Deliver page, choose the YouTube or H.264 Master preset, set the filename and location, Add to Render Queue, Render All.
That is a complete, exported video.
Fixing stuttering playback
The most common beginner complaint, and it is a performance issue rather than a broken install.
- Lower the timeline resolution while editing (Playback menu, Timeline Proxy Mode, Half or Quarter). Exports still use full resolution.
- Generate optimized media. Right-click your clips in the Media Pool and choose Generate Optimized Media. Resolve makes lighter versions to edit with.
- Turn off Render Cache while working, or set it to Smart.
- Close other applications. Resolve wants your memory.
Blackmagic's product page lists the system requirements, which are worth checking honestly against your machine.
Resolve does not feel hard once you accept that five of its seven pages are for people doing a different job than you are today.
Ten shortcuts worth learning
- Spacebar: play and pause
- J, K, L: rewind, stop, forward. Press L twice for double speed.
- I and O: set in and out points
- B: blade tool, A: selection tool
- Ctrl+B: cut at the playhead
- Delete: lift (leaves a gap), Shift+Delete: ripple delete (closes the gap)
- M: add a marker
- Ctrl+Shift+Z / Ctrl+Y: redo, depending on platform
- Alt+drag: duplicate a clip
- F: match frame
Ripple delete is the one that changes your speed most.
What to learn next
Once you have finished three projects on the Edit page:
- The Color page, starting with primary wheels and a scope. This is where Resolve is genuinely best in class.
- Fairlight, for cleaning up dialogue and setting proper levels.
- Proxies and media management, once your projects get bigger.
- Fusion, last, and only if you want motion graphics. After Effects is the alternative if the node approach does not suit you.
There is a general guide to editing that covers the craft rather than the software, and a comparison with Premiere Pro if you are still choosing. Adobe's Premiere user guide is a useful reference point for the comparison.
Where to learn it
The DaVinci Resolve certificate covers editing, color, audio and delivery in a sensible order, with practice throughout. One subscription opens the whole Video Editing & Motion Graphics school.
Two pages, one hour, one finished video. Then do it again.
Questions people ask
Which DaVinci Resolve page should beginners use?
The Cut page for quick edits and the Edit page for everything else. Colour, Fusion, Fairlight and Deliver can wait until you have finished a few projects.
Why is my playback stuttering in Resolve?
Usually the footage is heavier than your machine likes. Set the timeline resolution lower, use optimized media or proxies, and turn off render cache while you edit.
How do I export from DaVinci Resolve?
Go to the Deliver page, pick a preset such as YouTube or H.264 Master, set the location and filename, add to the render queue and press Render All.
Do I need to make a project settings change before editing?
Set the timeline frame rate to match your footage before you import, because Resolve locks it once media is in the timeline. Getting this wrong causes stutter that is annoying to fix later.
Is Resolve good for beginners?
Yes, if you ignore most of it at first. The Cut page is one of the fastest ways to get a simple edit finished in any software, free or paid.