Da Vinci Resolve 15 New Features Guide

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New Features Guide
PUBLIC BETA
DaVinci
Resolve 15
Welcome
Welcome to DaVinci Resolve 15 for Mac, Linux and Windows!
DaVinci is the world’s most trusted name in color and has been used to grade
more Hollywood films, TV shows, and commercials than anything else. Now, with
DaVinciResolve15, you get a complete set of editing, advanced color correction,
professional Fairlight audio post production tools and now Fusion visual effects
combined in one application so you can composite, edit, grade, mix and master
deliverables from start to finish, all in a single tool!
DaVinci Resolve 15 has the features professional editors, colorists, audio engineersand
VFXartists need, and is built on completely modern technology with advanced audio,
colorandimage processing that goes far beyond what any other system can do.
Withthis release, we hope to inspire creativity by letting you work in a comfortable,
familiar way, whilealso giving you an entirely new creative toolset that will help you cut
and finish projects at higher quality than ever before!
We hope you enjoy reading this manual. With its customizable interface and keyboard
shortcuts, DaVinci Resolve 15 is easy to learn, especially if you’re switching from
another editor, and has all of the tools you need to create breathtaking, high end work!
The DaVinci Resolve Engineering Team
Grant Petty
CEO Blackmagic Design
3DaVinci Resolve 15 BETA New Features Guide
About This Guide
DaVinci Resolve 15 is a huge release, with the headlining addition of the
Fusion page for advanced effects and motion graphics, and
workflow‑enhancing features added in equal measure to the Edit page, the
Color page, and the Fairlight page. Consequently, this year’s public beta
needed a different approach to the documentation. This “NewFeatures
Guide” provides a focused and comprehensive look at only the new features
in DaVinci Resolve 15. If you’re a Resolve user already and you just want to
know what’s changed, this is for you. If you’re a new user who needs to learn
the fundamentals, you should refer to the DaVinciResolve 14 Manual, but
know that none of the new features in version 15 are covered there.
This PDF is divided into two parts. Part 1 covers new features in the previously
existing pages of DaVinci Resolve, including chapters on overall interface
enhancements, Editpage improvements, Color page features, and Fairlight
page additions.
Part 2 provides a “documentation preview” of chapters that cover the basics
of the new Fusion page. Fusion compositing is a huge topic, and the chapters
of Part 2 seek to provide guidance on the fundamentals of working in Fusion
so that you can try these features for yourself, even if you don’t have a
background in node‑based compositing.
Eventually, the information in this guide will be rolled into the next update
ofthemanual that will accompany the final release of DaVinci Resolve 15.
Fornow, use this guide as a tour of the exciting new features being unveiled,
and havefun.
4DaVinci Resolve 15 BETA New Features Guide
PART 1
New Features in 15
1 General Improvements 1-2
2 Edit Page Improvements 1-15
3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning 1-37
4 Color Page Improvements 1-49
5 New ResolveFX 1-68
6 Fairlight Page Improvements 1-81
7 FairlightFX 1-105
PART 2
Fusion Page ManualPreview
8 Introduction toCompositing inFusion 2-2
9 Using the FusionPage 2-7
10 Getting Clips into the Fusion Page 2-46
11 Image Processing and Color Management 2-52
12 Understanding Image Channels and NodeProcessing 2-58
13 Learning to Work in the Fusion Page 2-84
14 Creating Fusion Templates 2-150
Contents
PART 1
New Features in 15
Chapter 1
General
Improvements
Part I of the DaVinci Resolve 15 New Features Guide explores and explains
all of the new features that have been added to the Media, Edit, Color,
Fairlight, and Deliver pages in this year’s public beta. This particular
chapter covers overall enhancements that affect the entire application.
DaVinci Resolve 15 introduces numerous improvements to saving, to the
overall user interface, to Project Settings and Preferences, and to export.
Furthermore, many improvements to performance have been implemented to
make working in DaVinci Resolve even faster. There are avariety of image
quality enhancements, including support for “SuperScale” image
enlargement for doing higher‑quality enlargements when you’re dealing with
smaller‑resolution archival footage or when you’re punching way into a clip to
create an emergency closeup. There’salso support for numerous additional
media formats, with support for built‑in IMF encoding and decoding, and the
beginning of workflow‑oriented scripting support for DaVinci Resolve.
1-2Chapter – 1 General Improvements
Contents
Overall User Interface Enhancements 1-4
Menu Bar Reorganization 1-4
Contextual Menu Consolidation 1-4
Page‑Specific Keyboard Mapping 1-4
Project Versioning Snapshots 1-5
Ability to Open DRP Files From the macOS Finder 1-6
Floating Timecode Window 1-6
Ability to Minimize Interface Toolbars and the Resolve Page Bar 1-7
Performance Enhancements 1-7
Selective Timeline and Incremental Project Loading 1-7
Bypass All Grades Command Available on All Pages 1-8
Improved PostgreSQL Database Optimization 1-8
Optimized Viewer Updates 1-8
Improved Playback on Single GPU Systems Showing Scopes 1-8
Improved Playback With Mismatched Output Resolution and Video Format 1-8
Audio I/O Processing Block Size 1-8
Support for OpenGL Compute I/O on Supported Systems 1-9
Video Stabilization Has Been GPU Accelerated 1-9
ResolveFX Match Move is GPU Accelerated 1-9
Quality Enhancements 1-9
“Super Scale” High Quality Upscaling 1-9
Improved Motion Estimation for Retime andNoiseReduction Eects 1-10
Audio I/O Enhancements 1-11
Full Fairlight Engine Support For the Edit Page 1-11
Support for Native Audio on Linux 1-11
Record Monitoring Using the Native Audio Engine 1-11
Media and Export Improvements 1-11
Improved Media Management for Temporally Compressed Codecs 1-11
Support for Frame Rates Up to 32,000 Frames Per Second 1-11
Support for XAVC‑Intra OP1A HDR Metadata 1-12
Support for ARRI LF Camera Files 1-12
Support for HEIC Still Image Media 1-12
Support for TGA Files 1-12
Support for DNX Metadata in QuickTime Media 1-12
Kakadu‑based JPEG2000 Encodingand Decoding (Studio Only) 1-12
Native IMF Encoding and Decoding (Studio Only) 1-13
Native Unencoded DCP Encodingand Decoding (Studio Only) 1-14
Scripting Support for DaVinci Resolve 1-14
1-3Chapter – 1 General Improvements
Overall User Interface Enhancements
A number of usability enhancements improve command access and keyboard shortcuts
throughout every page of DaVinci Resolve, as well as facilitate the backing up of your projects
in DaVinci Resolve.
Menu Bar Reorganization
In an effort to accommodate the additional functionality of the Fusion and Fairlight pages with
their attendant menus, all commands from the Nodes menu have been moved into the
Colormenu, making room for the new Fusion menu on laptops with limited screen real estate.
The menus have been updated to accommodate the Fusion and Fairlight pages
Additionally, most menus have been reorganized internally to place multiple variations on
commands within submenus, making each menu less cluttered so that commands are easier
tospot.
Contextual Menu Consolidation
Contextual menus throughout DaVinci Resolve have been consolidated to omit commands that
were formerly disabled, with the result being shorter contextual menus showing only commands
that are specific to the area or items you’ve right‑clicked on.
Page-Specific Keyboard Mapping
When customizing keyboard shortcuts, you can now specify whether a keyboard shortcut is
“Global” so that it works identically on every page, or you can map a particular keyboard
shortcut to do a particular thing on a specific page. With page‑specific keyboard shortcuts, you
can have a single key do different things on the Edit, Fusion, Color, or Fairlight pages.
Keyboard shortcuts can now be mapped to specific pages, if you like
1-4Chapter – 1 General Improvements
Project Versioning Snapshots
Turning on the Project Backups checkbox in the Project Save and Load panel of the User
Preferences enables DaVinci Resolve to save multiple backup project files at set intervals, using
a method that’s analogous to a GFS (grandfather father son) backup scheme. This can be done
even while Live Save is turned on. Each project backup is a complete project file, excluding
stills and LUTs.
The User Preferences controls for Project Backups
Project backups are only saved when changes have been made to a project. If DaVinci Resolve
sits idle for any period of time, such as when your smart watch tells you to go outside and walk
around the block, no additional project backups are saved, preventing DaVinci Resolve from
overwriting useful backups with unnecessary ones.
Three fields let you specify how often to save a new project backup.
Perform backups every X minutes: The first field specifies how often to save a new
backup within the last hour you’ve worked. By default, a new backup is saved every
10 minutes, resulting in six backups within the last hour. Once an hour of working has
passed, an hourly backup is saved and the per‑minute backups begin to be discarded
on a “first in, first out” basis.” By default, this means that you’ll only ever have six
backups at a time that represent the last hour’s worth of work.
Hourly backups for the past X hours: The second field specifies how many hourly
project backups you want to save. By default, 8 hourly backups will be saved for the
current day you’re working, which assumes you’re working an eight hour day (wouldn’t
that be nice). Past that number, hourly backups will begin to be discarded on a “first in,
first out” basis.
Daily backups for the past X days: The third field specifies for how many days
you want to save backups. The very last project backup saved on any given day is
preserved as the daily backup for that day, and by default daily backups are only saved
for five days (these are not necessarily consecutive if you take some days off of editing
for part of the week). Past that number, daily backups will begin to be discarded on a
“first in, first out” basis. If you’re working on a project over a longer stretch of time, you
can always raise this number.
Project backup location: Click the Browse button to choose a location for these project
backups to be saved. By default they’re saved to a “ProjectBackup” directory on your
scratch disk.
1-5Chapter – 1 General Improvements
Once you’ve enabled Project Backups for a long enough time, saved project backups are
retrievable in the Project Manager, via the contextual menu that appears when you right‑click a
project. Opening a project backup does not overwrite the original project; project backups are
always opened as independent projects.
Restoring a project backup in the Project Browser
Ability to Open DRP Files From the macOS Finder
This is a feature that’s specific to macOS. If you double‑click a DaVinci Resolve .drp file in the
Finder, this will automatically open DaVinci Resolve, import that project into the File Browser,
and open that project so that you’re ready to work.
Floating Timecode Window
A Timecode Window is available from the Workspace menu on every page. Choosing this option
displays a floating timecode window that shows the timecode of the Viewer or Timeline that
currently has focus. This window is resizable so you can make the timecode larger or smaller.
A new floating timecode window is available
NOTE: When using this feature, the very first project backup that’s saved for a given
day may be a bit slow, but all subsequent backups should be unnoticeable.
1-6Chapter – 1 General Improvements
Ability to Minimize Interface Toolbars
and the Resolve Page Bar
If you right‑click anywhere within the UI toolbar at the top of each page, or the Resolve Page
Bar at the bottom of the DaVinci Resolve UI, you “Show Icons and Labels” or “ Show Icons
Only.” If you show icons only, the Resolve Page Bar at the bottom takes less room, and the
UItoolbar becomes less cluttered.
The UI Toolbar and Page bar showing icons only, to save space
Performance Enhancements
Several new features have been added to improve performance.
Selective Timeline and Incremental Project Loading
To improve the performance of longer projects with multiple timelines, the “Load all timelines
when opening projects” checkbox in the Project Save and Load panel of the User Preferences
defaults to off.
When this checkbox is off, opening a project only results in the last timeline you worked
on being opened into memory; all other timelines are not loaded into RAM. This speeds
up the opening of large projects. However, you may experience brief pauses when you
open other timelines within that project, as each new timeline must be loaded into RAM
as you open it. If you open a particularly gigantic timeline, a progress bar will appear
letting you know how long it will take to load. Another advantage of this is the reduction
of each project’s memory footprint, which is particularly valuable when working among
multiple projects using Dynamic Project Switching.
If you turn this on, all timelines will be loaded into RAM and you’ll experience no pauses
when opening timelines you haven’t opened already. However, projects with many
timelines may take longer to open and save.
The new “Load all timelines when opening projects” preference,
that defaults to off to speed up project load times
NOTE: While “Load all timelines when opening projects” is turned on, the
Smart and User Cache become unavailable.
1-7Chapter – 1 General Improvements
Bypass All Grades Command Available on All Pages
The Bypass All Grades command, previously available only on the Color page, is now available
on the Edit page either via View > Bypass All Grades, or via a button in the Timeline Viewer.
Turning off grades is an easy way to improve performance on low power systems, and it’s also a
convenient way to quickly evaluate the original source media.
The Bypass All Grades button in the
Timeline Viewer title bar of the Edit page
Improved PostgreSQL Database Optimization
The Optimize command for PostgreSQL project databases in the Database sidebar of the
Project window produces improved results for large projects, resulting in better project load
and save performance.
Optimized Viewer Updates
A new preference, “Optimized Viewer Updates,” which only appears on multi‑GPU macOS
andWindows systems, and on single‑ or multi‑GPU Linux systems, enables faster viewer
updateperformance.
Improved Playback on Single GPU
Systems Showing Scopes
Video scope playback performance is improved on single‑GPU systems.
Improved Playback With Mismatched
Output Resolution and Video Format
Playback performance has been greatly improved when you set Output Resolution in the Image
Scaling panel of the Projects settings to a different frame size than Video Format in the Master
Settings panel, while outputting to any Blackmagic Design capture and playback device.
Audio I/O Processing Block Size
A new “Audio Processing Block Size X Samples” parameter in the Hardware Configuration
panel of the System Preferences lets you increase the sample block size to add processing
headroom to the system, at the expense of adding latency to audio playback. The default value
is Auto, which automatically chooses a suitable setting for the audio I/O device you’re using.
For those who have specific needs and are interested in setting this manually, here are some
examples of use. In a first example, when a system is under a heavy load (there are many
plug‑ins being used on many tracks), then increasing the block size to add processing
headroom will result in a longer delay every time your audio hardware requests samples to feed
the speakers. If you’re only mixing, the resultant latency may not be a problem, so this gives you
the option to add headroom so your system can run a few more plug‑ins or tracks.
1-8Chapter – 1 General Improvements
On the other hand, this increased delay in the processed audio running through the mixer is a
much bigger problem if you’re recording an artist in an ADR session, where they need to hear
themselves in the headphones, or when you’re recording foley or voice over and there’s an
increased delay between what you see and what you’re recording, so in this case sticking with
the default value (or smaller) will sacrifice processing headroom for diminished latency.
Support for OpenGL Compute I/O on Supported Systems
The “GPU processing mode” pop‑up menu in the Hardware Configuration panel of the System
Preferences has a new option for OpenCL on supported systems.
Video Stabilization Has Been GPU Accelerated
Video stabilization in DaVinci Resolve has been accelerated, demonstrating an up to
6ximprovement vs. 14.3 on the Late 2014 Retina 5K iMac. Additionally, the automatic cropping
behavior has been improved.
ResolveFX Match Move is GPU Accelerated
The Match Move ResolveFX plug‑in is now GPU Accelerated, resulting in faster tracking and
compositing workflows on the Color page.
Quality Enhancements
Two image quality enhancements have been incorporated providing higher visual quality
forsome of the most challenging operations in DaVinci Resolve: upscaling, retiming, and
noisereduction.
“Super Scale” High Quality Upscaling
For instances when you need higher‑quality upscaling than the standard Resize Filters allow,
you can now enable one of three “Super Scale” options in the Video panel of the Clip Attributes
window for one or more selected clips. The Super Scale pop‑up menu provides three options
of 2x, 3x, and 4x, as well as Sharpness and Noise Reduction options to tune the quality of the
scaled result. Note that all of the Super Scale parameters are in fixed increments; you cannot
apply Super Scale in variable amounts.
Super Scale options in the Video panel of the Clip Attributes
TIP: A common strategy when you need to force more cooperation from a particular
workstation and audio interface is to reduce Audio Processing Block Size when you’re
about to do a recording session, when track and plug‑in use is lower. Later, when you
start mixing in earnest and adding plug‑ins, you can increase Audio Processing Block
Size to give you better performance once you’re finished recording.
1-9Chapter – 1 General Improvements
Selecting one of these options enables DaVinci Resolve to use advanced algorithms to improve
the appearance of image detail when enlarging clips by a significant amount, such as when
editing SD archival media into a UHD timeline, or when you find it necessary to enlarge a clip
past its native resolution in order to create a closeup.
This is an extremely processor‑intensive operation, so be aware that turning this on will likely
prevent real‑time playback. One way to get around this is to create a string‑out of all of the
source media you’ll need to enlarge at high‑quality, turn on Super Scale for all of them, and then
render that timeline as individual clips, while turning on the “Render at source resolution” and
“Filename uses > Source Name” options.
Improved Motion Estimation for Retime
andNoiseReduction Effects
When using mixed frame rate clips in a timeline that has Optical Flow retiming enabled, when
using Optical Flow to process speed change effects, or when using Image Stabilization or
Temporal Noise Reduction controls in the Color page, the Motion Estimation pop‑up of the
Master Settings (in the Project Settings window) lets you choose options that control the
trade‑off between speed and quality.
There are additional “Enhanced” Optical Flow settings available in the “Motion estimation
mode” pop‑up in the Master Settings panel of the Project Settings. The “Standard Faster” and
“Standard Better” settings are the same options that have been available in previous versions
of DaVinci Resolve. They’re more processor‑efficient and yield good quality that are suitable for
most situations. However, “Enhanced Faster” and “Enhanced Better” should yield superior
results in nearly every case where the standard options exhibit artifacts, at the expense of
being more computationally intensive, and thus slower on most systems.
New improved Motion estimation mode settings in the
Master Settings panel of the Project Settings
1-10Chapter – 1 General Improvements
Audio I/O Enhancements
Audio processing, playback, and recording in DaVinci Resolve 15 has been improved for better
cross‑platform support.
Full Fairlight Engine Support For the Edit Page
All Edit page features now use the Fairlight audio engine, providing superior transport control
performance, as well as the ability to choose which audio I/O device to output to.
Support for Native Audio on Linux
DaVinci Resolve on Linux now supports using your workstation’s system audio on Linux, instead
of only supporting Decklink audio, as with previous systems. This means that DaVinci Resolve
can use your Linux workstation’s on‑board audio, or any Advanced Linux Sound Architecture
(ALSA)‑supported third party audio interface.
Record Monitoring Using the Native Audio Engine
The native audio of your workstation’s operating system can now be used for record
monitoring. This makes it possible to set up recording sessions where your audio input is
patched via a third party interface, and the audio output you’re monitoring can be patched via
your computer’s native audio.
Media and Export Improvements
DaVinci Resolve 15 supports several new media formats and metadata encoding methods.
Improved Media Management for
Temporally Compressed Codecs
As of DaVinci Resolve 15, the Media Management window can “copy and trim” clips using
temporally compressed media codecs such as H.264, XAVC, and AVC‑Intra, enabling you to
eliminate unused media for these formats during media management without recompressing
ortranscoding.
Support for Frame Rates Up to 32,000 Frames Per Second
To accommodate media from different capture devices capable of high‑frame‑rate slow motion
capture, and to future‑proof DaVinci Resolve against the rapidly improving array of capture
devices being developed every year, DaVinci Resolve has shifted the upper limit of supported
frame rates to 32,000 frames per second. Hopefully that’ll cover things for a while. Please note,
just because extremely high frame rate media is supported, do not expect real time
performance at excessively high frame rates, and understand that what performance your
workstation is capable of depends on its configuration and the speed of your storage.
1-11Chapter – 1 General Improvements
Support for XAVC-Intra OP1A HDR Metadata
DaVinci Resolve 15 now supports writing color space and gamma metadata to MXF OP1A format
media using the XAVC‑Intra codecs.
Support for ARRI LF Camera Files
Media from the new ARRI LF (Large Format) camera is now supported at all resolutions and
frame rates.
Support for HEIC Still Image Media
DaVinci Resolve 15 supports the High Efficiency Video Compression (HEIF) standard used by
Apple for capturing images on newer iPhones. With HEIF support, these still images can be
used in DaVinci Resolve projects.
Support for TGA Files
TGA stills and image sequences are supported for import.
Support for DNX Metadata in QuickTime Media
DaVinci Resolve 15 supports DNX Metadata including Color Range, Color Volume, and
HasAlpha within QuickTime files.
Kakadu-based JPEG2000
Encodingand Decoding (Studio Only)
DaVinci Resolve 15 supports the encoding and decoding of JPEG2000 using a library licensed
from Kakadu software. This includes a complete implementation of the JPEG2000 Part 1
standard, as well as much of Parts 2 and 3. JPEG2000 is commonly used for IMF and
DCPworkflows.
A variety of Kakadu JPEG2000 options are available when you choose MJ2, IMF, JPEG 2000,
MXF OP‑Atom, MXF OP1A, or QuickTime from the Format pop‑up menu of the Video panel of
the Render Settings on the Deliver page.
Choosing a JPEG2000‑compatible format
enables Kakadu JPEG 2000 codec options
1-12Chapter – 1 General Improvements
Native IMF Encoding and Decoding (Studio Only)
The Format pop‑up in the Video panel of the Render Settings now has a native IMF option that
lets you export to the SMPTE ST.2067 Interoperable Master Format (IMF) for tapeless
deliverables to networks and distributors. No additional licenses or plug‑ins are required to
output to IMF. The IMF format supports multiple tracks of video, multiple tracks of audio, and
multiple subtitle and closed caption tracks, all of which are meant to accommodate multiple
output formats and languages from a single deliverable. This is done by wrapping a timeline’s
different video and audio tracks (media essences) and subtitle tracks (data essences) into a
“composition” within the Material eXchange Format (MXF).
When the IMF format is selected, the Codec pop‑up menu presents numerous options for
Kakadu JPEG2000 output, including RGB, YUV, and Dolby Vision options. Additional controls
appear for Maximum bit rate, Lossless compression, the Composition name, the Package Type
(current options include App2e), and a Package ID field.
Render settings in the Export Video section for the IMF format
1-13Chapter – 1 General Improvements
Native Unencoded DCP
Encodingand Decoding (Studio Only)
DaVinci Resolve 15 also has new native DCP Encoding and Decoding support built‑in, for
unencoded DCP files only. That means that you can output and import (for test playback)
unencoded DCP files without needing to purchase a license of EasyDCP. If you have a license,
a preference enables you to choose whether to use EasyDCP (for creating encrypted
DCPoutput), or the native Resolve encoding.
Native DCP settings in Resolve
Scripting Support for DaVinci Resolve
As of DaVinci Resolve 15, Resolve Studio begins to add support for Python and LUA scripting to
support various kinds of workflow automation. More information will be forthcoming as it
becomes available via developer documentation.
1-14Chapter – 1 General Improvements
Chapter 2
Edit Page
Improvements
The Edit page sees a wide variety of improvements and enhancements to
nearly every area of editing in DaVinci Resolve 15. Media Pool
improvements include new editable Clip names by default and larger
thumbnails. Marker enhancements include drawn annotations and the
ability to turn markers with duration into In and Out points. Editing
enhancements are far‑reaching, beginning with the ability to stack multiple
timelines to accommodate so‑called “pancake editing” techniques,
improved dynamic trim behaviors with automatic edit selection and the
ability to move to next and previous edits, the ability to create subclips via
drag and drop from the Source Viewer to the Media Pool, and many, many
more improvements large and small. Finally, editorial effects
enhancements include the new TextPlus generator, keyframable OpenFX
and ResolveFX, alpha transparency support in compound clips, and
improved optical flow options for speed effects.
1-15Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Contents
Media Pool and Clip DisplayEnhancements 1-18
Display Name is Now Called Clip Name, On by Default 1-18
Display Audio Clip Waveforms in MediaPool and Media Storage 1-18
Media Pool Command for Finding Synced Audio Files 1-19
Improved Media Pool Column Customization 1-19
Larger Thumbnails in the Media Pool 1-19
Recent Clips Pop‑Up Menu 1-19
Ability to Create Subclips via Dragand Drop from Source Viewer 1-20
Ability to Remove Subclip Limits 1-20
Import Hierarchically Organized Nests of Empty Directories 1-20
Import Clips with Metadata via Final Cut Pro 7 XML 1-20
Enhancements to Markers and Flags 1-21
Drawn Annotations on the Viewer 1-21
Ability to Create Markers and Flags With Specific Colors 1-22
Timecode Entry in Marker Dialogs 1-22
Clip Markers Show Overlays in the Timeline Viewer 1-22
Command to Turn Markers With Duration into In and Out Points 1-23
Editing Enhancements 1-23
Tabbed and Stacked Timelines 1-23
Improved Dynamic Trim Behaviors 1-25
Ability to Modify Clip Duration Via Timecode 1-26
Ability to Delete Multiple Timeline Gaps at Once 1-26
Improved Separation Between the Video and Audio Tracks 1-27
Improved Ripple Cut and Ripple Delete Behavior 1-27
Improved Automatic Audio Track Creation 1-28
New Play Again Command 1-28
Option to “Stop and Go To Last Position” 1-28
Single Viewer Mode is Available in Dual Screen Layout 1-28
Copy and Paste Timecode in Viewer Timecode Fields 1-28
Improved Timecode Entry 1-29
Replace Edit Using Clips Already in the Timeline 1-29
Option to Ripple the Timeline in Paste Attributes 1-30
Transition Categories in the Eects Library 1-30
Linked Move Across Tracks 1-30
Track Destination Keyboard Shortcuts Also Disable Tracks 1-31
Ability to Mark In and Out Points in Cinema Mode 1-31
Updated Timeline View Options Menu in the Toolbar 1-31
1-16Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Edit Page Effects Enhancements 1-32
The Text+ Title Generator in the Edit Page 1-32
Fusion Titles and Fusion Templates 1-34
Support for Caching of Titles and Generators 1-35
Position Curves in the Timeline Curve Editor 1-35
Keyframable OpenFX and ResolveFX 1-35
Compound Clips Support Alpha Transparency 1-36
Improved Smooth Cut 1-36
Improved Optical Flow for Speed Eects 1-36
1-17Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Media Pool and Clip
DisplayEnhancements
A variety of improvements have been made to clip display and the Media Pool.
Display Name is Now Called Clip Name, On by Default
The clip metadata that was formerly called “Display Name” is now known as “Clip Name,” so
that there are two sets of clip identification metadata available to DaVinci Resolve, Clip Name
and File Name, both of which are visible in the Media Pool in List View.
Starting in DaVinci Resolve 15, Clip Name is the default clip identifier, while File Name is hidden
by default. This means that you can freely edit the default name that’s visible in the Media Pool,
either in List or Icon view, without needing to change modes. When necessary, you can switch
DaVinci Resolve to identify clips by file name only by choosing View > Show File Names.
Display Audio Clip Waveforms in
MediaPool and Media Storage
The Media Pool option‑menu presents an option to Show Audio Waveforms. When you do so,
every audio clip in the Media Pool appears with an audio waveform within its thumbnail area. If
Live Media Preview is on in the Source Viewer, you can then scrub through each clip and hear
its contents. If you don’t want to see audio waveforms, you can turn this option off.
You can now enable waveform thumbnails in the
MediaPool that you can scrub with Live MediaPreview
TIP: Don’t forget that you can use % variables to automatically populate Clip Names
viametadata, such as Scene, Take, and Description (%Scene_%Take_%Description),
leveraging whatever metadata entry you’ve done to prepare your clips to automatically
create useful clip naming conventions. Using Clip Attributes, you can edit the
ClipNamefor multiple selected clips using metadata variables all at once, which is a
real time‑saver.
1-18Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Media Pool Command for Finding Synced Audio Files
When you’ve synced dual‑system audio and video clips together in DaVinci Resolve, you can
find the audio clip that a video clip has been synced to using the following procedure.
To find the audio clip that a video clip has been synced to:
Right‑click a video clip that’s been synced to audio, and choose “Reveal synced audio
in Media Pool” from the contextual menu. The bin holding the synced audio clip is
opened and that clip is selected.
Improved Media Pool Column Customization
The list of Media Pool columns that appears when you right‑click on one of the column headers
is alphabetized, making it easier to find the columns you need when you’re choosing which
columns to show or hide.
Larger Thumbnails in the Media Pool
The maximum size of thumbnails in the Media Pool has been increased.
The maximum size of thumbnails has increased
Recent Clips Pop-Up Menu
A new pop‑up at the top of the Source Viewer, next to the name of the currently open clip, lets
you open a menu containing a list of the last 10 clips you opened in the Source Viewer. This list
is first in, first out, with the most recently opened clips appearing at the top.
A recent clips menu lets you recall the last 10 clips you opened in the Source Viewer
1-19Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Ability to Create Subclips via
Dragand Drop from Source Viewer
There’s a new way of creating subclips. Simply open a clip into the Source Viewer, set In and
Out points, and then drag a clip from the Source Viewer to the Media Pool. The new clip that’s
added to the Media Pool will be a subclip with a total duration that’s bounded by the duration
you marked.
Ability to Remove Subclip Limits
You can right‑click any subclip in the Media Pool and choose Edit Subclip to open a dialog in
which you can turn on a checkbox to use the subclip’s full extents, or to change the start or end
timecode of the subclip via timecode fields, before clicking Save to modify the subclip.
The Edit Subclip dialog
Import Hierarchically Organized Nests of Empty Directories
You can import a nested series of directories and subdirectories that constitutes a default bin
structure you’d like to bring into projects, even if those directories are empty, by dragging them
from your file system into the Media Pool bin list of a project. The result is a hierarchically
nested series of bins that mimics the structure of the directories you imported. This is useful if
you want to use such a series of directories as a preset bin structure for new project.
Import Clips with Metadata via Final Cut Pro 7 XML
In order to support workflows with media asset management (MAM) systems, DaVinci Resolve
supports two additional Media Pool import workflows that use Final Cut Pro 7 XML to import
clips with metadata.
To import clips with metadata using Final Cut Pro 7 XML files, do one of the following:
Right‑click anywhere in the background of the Media Pool, choose Import Media
from XML, and then choose the XML file you want to use to guide import from the
importdialog.
Drag and drop any Final Cut Pro 7 XML file into the Media Pool from the macOS Finder.
Every single clip referenced by that XML file that can be found via its file path will be imported
into the Media Pool, along with any metadata entered for those clips. If the file path is invalid,
you’ll be asked to navigate to the directory with the corresponding media.
1-20Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Enhancements to Markers and Flags
The use of markers and flags to identify moments in clips and things to keep track of has been
significantly enhanced in DaVinci Resolve 15.
Drawn Annotations on the Viewer
It’s now possible to use the Annotations mode of the Timeline Viewer to draw arrows and
strokes of different weights and colors directly on the video frame, in order to point out or
highlight things that need to be fixed. These annotations are stored within markers, similarly to
marker names and notes. To start, simply choose Annotations mode from the Timeline Viewer
mode pop‑up menu to do this.
Choosing Annotations from the Viewer Mode pop‑up menu
Once in Annotations mode, an Annotations toolbar appears showing the following options:
Draw tool with line weight pop-up: Click the Draw tool to be able to free‑form draw on
the Viewer. Click the Line Weight pop‑up to choose from one of three line weights to
draw with.
Arrow tool: Click the Arrow tool to draw straight‑line arrows pointing at features you
want to call attention to. Arrows are always drawn at the same weight, regardless of the
weight selected for the Line tool.
Color pop-up: Choose a color for drawing or lines.
The annotations toolbar in the Viewer
Methods of making and editing annotations:
To create an annotation: Simply enable Annotations mode, then park the playhead on
any frame of the Timeline and start drawing. A marker will automatically be added to
the Timeline at that frame, and that marker contains the annotation data. If you park the
playhead over a preexisting Timeline marker, annotations will be added to that marker.
To edit a stroke or arrow you’ve already created: Move the pointer over a stroke or
arrow and click to select it, then choose a new line weight or color from the appropriate
pop‑up menu, or drag that stroke or arrow to a new location to move it.
To delete a stroke or arrow: Move the pointer over a stroke or arrow and click to select
it, then press the Delete or Backspace keys.
1-21Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Drawing annotations to highlight feedback
Ability to Create Markers and Flags With Specific Colors
The Mark > Add Marker and Add Flag submenus have individual commands for adding markers
and flags of specific colors directly to clips and the Timeline. Additionally, these individual
commands can be assigned specific keyboard shortcuts if you want to be able to place a
specific marker color or flag color at a keystroke.
Individually mappable marker color commands
Timecode Entry in Marker Dialogs
The Time and Duration timecode fields of marker dialogs can now be manually edited, to
numerically move a marker, or to create a marker with a specific duration. Furthermore, the
timecode in these fields can be copied from or pasted to.
Clip Markers Show Overlays in the Timeline Viewer
Clip markers and Timeline markers both appear as Timeline Viewer overlays when
ShowMarker Overlays is enabled in the Timeline Viewer option menu. Pressing Shift‑Up
orDown Arrow moves the playhead back and forth among both Timeline and Clip markers in
the currently open Timeline.
1-22Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Command to Turn Markers With
Duration into In and Out Points
Two commands, in the contextual menu of the Source Viewer Jog Bar, work together to let you
turn In and Out points into Markers with Duration, and vice versa:
Convert In and Out to Duration Marker: Turns a pair of In and Out points into a marker
with duration. By default, no key shortcut is mapped to this command, but you can map
one if you like.
Convert Duration Marker to In and Out: Turns a marker with duration into a pair of In
and Out points, while retaining the marker. By default, no key shortcut is mapped to this
command, but you can map one if you like.
Using these two commands, you can easily use markers with duration to mark regions of
clipsthat you want to log for future use, turning each region into an In and Out point when
necessary for editing.
Editing Enhancements
Quite a few enhancements improve the editing experience in the Edit page.
Tabbed and Stacked Timelines
The Timeline now supports the option to have tabs that let you browse multiple timelines
quickly. With tabbed timeline browsing enabled, a second option lets you open up stacked
timelines to simultaneously display two (or more) timelines one on top of another.
Tabbed Timelines
The Timeline View Options menu in the toolbar has a button that lets you enable tabbed
browsing and the stacking of timelines.
A button in the Timeline View Options
enables tabbed timelines
When you first turn this on, a Timeline tab bar appears above the Timeline, displaying a tab for
the currently open timeline that contains a Close button and a Timeline pop‑up menu. Once you
enable Tab mode, opening another timeline from the Media Pool opens it into a new tab.
1-23Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
To the right of the currently existing tabs, an Add Tab button lets you create additional tabs that
default to “Select Timeline.” Click any tab’s pop‑up menu to choose which timeline to display in
that tab.
Tabs above the timeline editor let you switch among multiple timelines quickly
Methods of working with tabbed timelines:
Click any tab to switch to that timeline.
Use the pop‑up menu within any tab to switch that tab to display another timeline from
the Media Pool. Each tab’s pop‑up menu shows all timelines within that project, in
alphabetical order, but a timeline can only be open in one tab or stack at a time.
Drag any tab left or right to rearrange the order of timeline tabs.
Click any tab’s Close button to close that timeline and remove that tab.
Stacked Timelines
While tabbed browsing is turned on, an Add Timeline button appears to the right that enables
you to stack two (or more) timelines one on top of another. This lets you have two (or more)
timelines open at the same time, making it easy to edit clips from one timeline to another.
A good example of when this is useful is when you’ve created a timeline that contains a
stringout of selects from a particular interview. You can stack two Timeline Editors, one on top
of another, and then open the Selects Timeline at the top and the Timeline you’re editing into at
the bottom. With this arrangement, it’s easy to play through the top timeline to find clips you
want to use, to drag and drop into the bottom timeline to edit into your program.
Two timelines stacked on top of one another
1-24Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
To enable or disable stacked timelines:
Click the Add Timeline button at the right of the Timeline tab bar.
The button for adding a stacked timeline
Once you’ve enabled stacked timelines, each timeline has its own tab bar and an
orange underline shows which timeline is currently selected.
At the right of each Timeline tab bar, a Close Timeline button appears next to the
AddTimeline button, which lets you close any timeline and remove that timeline
browsing area from the stack.
The button for closing a stacked timeline
Improved Dynamic Trim Behaviors
The Dynamic Trim mode that lets you use JKL playback behaviors to do resize or ripple
trimming to one or more selected edits has been improved in a number of key ways.
Pressing W to Enable Dynamic Trimming Automatically Selects the Nearest Edit
If no edit is currently selected in the Timeline, then pressing W to enable Dynamic Trim
automatically selects the nearest edit, similarly to if you pressed V to initiate the Select Nearest
Edit Point command. If you’ve already selected an edit, or made a multiple‑edit‑point selection,
nothing changes and the edit points you’ve selected will be used for dynamic trimming.
By default, the entire edit is selected, positioning you to perform a dynamic Roll edit. However,
you can press the U key (Edit Point Type) to toggle the edit selection among three positions, in
order to trim the outgoing half or incoming half of the selected edit point.
Also by default, both the Video and Audio of the current edit are selected if Linked Selection is
enabled. Pressing Option‑U (Toggle V+A/V/A) lets you toggle the edit selection to include both
Video+Audio, Video only, or Audio only.
When you’re finished trimming, whatever edit point type and A/V toggle you used last is
remembered by DaVinci Resolve, and will be selected the next time you enable
DynamicTrimming.
You Can Use the Next and Previous Edit Commands While in Dynamic Trim Mode
Previously, you were unable to use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move the selected edit
from one edit point to another. This has been fixed so you can now move the selected edit
forward and back in your timeline, using Dynamic Trim to adjust as many edits as you like.
1-25Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Ability to Modify Clip Duration Via Timecode
You can change a clip’s duration numerically in one of two ways.
To change a selected clip’s duration:
1 Decide if you want to ripple the Timeline or overwrite neighboring clips when you
change a clip’s duration. If you want to ripple the Timeline, choose the Trim tool. If you
want to overwrite neighboring clips or leave a gap, choose the Selection tool.
2 Do one of the following:
Select a clip and choose Clip > Change Clip Duration
Right‑click any clip in the Timeline and choose Change Clip Duration from the
contextual menu
3 When the Edit Duration Change dialog appears, enter a new duration in the Timecode
field, and click Change.
A window for changing the duration
of a clip in the Timeline
Ability to Delete Multiple Timeline Gaps at Once
You can now ripple‑delete video and audio gaps in the Timeline all at once using the
Edit>Delete Gaps command. This removes gaps among consecutive clips in the Timeline on
allAuto Select enabled tracks. Each segment of the Timeline with a gap is rippled, in order to
move clips that are to the right of each gap left to close that gap.
All gaps are defined for purposes of this command as empty spaces between clips that span
alltracks in the Timeline. In the following example, various audio/video, audio‑only, and
video‑only clips have gaps between them. Using Remove Gaps causes the Timeline to be
rippled such thatthese clips abut one another as a continuous sequence, without any of them
overlappinganyothers.
Before removing gaps
1-26Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
After removing gaps
This is an extremely powerful and wide‑ranging command. However, it’s made safer
byfollowing strict rules in order to maintain overall A/V sync in timelines:
Gaps will not be removed past the point where video and/or audio clips will
overlapone another
Gaps will not be removed if they’re under superimposed video clips that bridge the gap
Gaps will not be removed if one or more continuous audio clips bridge the gap
If a linked set of Video and Audio items has a gap that includes an L or J split edit, it will
be closed to the point that the audio or video, whichever extends the farthest, abuts
the nearest clip to it
Disabling a track’s Auto Select Control omits that track from consideration when
following the above rules. This lets gaps on other tracks be closed so clips overlap
those on the Auto Select‑disabled track
Improved Separation Between the Video and Audio Tracks
The separator between the video and audio tracks in the Timeline has been made thicker and
easier to drag.
Improved Ripple Cut and Ripple Delete Behavior
Performing a Ripple Cut or Ripple Delete upon multiple tracks using In and Out points ripples all
Auto Select enabled tracks.
WARNING: Performing Remove Gaps with Auto Select disabled on one or more tracks
could result in massive loss of video/audio sync if you’re not careful. To avoid this,
Shift‑click one video Auto Select Control (or press Option‑F9) and one audio Auto
Select control (or press Command‑Option‑F9) to toggle all video and all audio
AutoSelect Controls until they’re all turned on at once.
1-27Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Improved Automatic Audio Track Creation
When dragging an audio clip to the undefined gray area of the Timeline below currently
existing audio tracks in order to create a new track, the new track is set to a channel mapping
that reflects the number of channels of the audio clip you’re dragging.
This also means that if you’ve used Clip Attributes to map a clip’s audio to consist of multiple
tracks where each track has a different channel mapping, for example, one 5.1 track, one stereo
track, and six mono tracks, then editing that clip into the Timeline so that the audio portion
creates new tracks will automatically create eight tracks, one that’s 5.1, one that’s stereo, and six
that are mono.
New Play Again Command
The Play Again command (Option‑L) lets you restart playback from where the playhead began
without stopping, for instances where you quickly want to replay the beginning of what you’re
listening to.
Option to “Stop and Go To Last Position”
A new option, Playback > Stop and go to last position, lets you choose whether or not to have
the playhead return to where playback began whenever you stop. This option is most useful
when editing audio, although it’s available any time.
This option is also available when you right‑click on the Stop button in the transport controls of
any viewer. A contextual menu appears where you can turn “Stop and go to last position” on or
off as the default behavior.
Single Viewer Mode is Available in Dual Screen Layout
The Single Viewer mode is now available when using the dual screen Edit page layout.
Copy and Paste Timecode in Viewer Timecode Fields
You can right‑click on most Viewer timecode fields in the Media, Edit, and Color pages to
choose Copy and Paste commands from a contextual menu for copying and pasting timecode
values. The timecode value you’re pasting must be valid timecode, for example you can’t paste
0 hour timecode onto a 1 hour timeline.
Right‑clicking on a timecode field to use the
Copy Timecode command
1-28Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Improved Timecode Entry
When typing a combination of numbers and periods to enter a timecode value in the Edit page,
whether to move the playhead or trim selected clips, the numbers you type are not converted
into actual timecode until you press the Return or Enter key, making it easier to see what
you’reentering.
(Top) Entering timecode, (Bottom) The result
Replace Edit Using Clips Already in the Timeline
To facilitate workflows where multiple clips are stacked in the Timeline to manually track
different takes or versions of stock footage, VFX clips, or other versionable media, there’s a
method of drag‑and‑drop replace editing that copies the grade of the clip being replaced to the
clip you’re replacing it with at the same time, so that newer versions of effects can inherit the
same grade as the previous version of the effect being replaced. This only works for clips that
have already been edited into the Timeline and that are superimposed (over or under) other
clips in the Timeline, such as in the following screenshot. Be aware that this technique can also
be used for multiple selected clips on the Timeline, to do several replace edits all at once.
(Left) Before replace editing a clip in the Timeline, (Right) After
Command‑dragging a clip over one under it in the Timeline to
replace edit the one below with the one above
1-29Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
To replace edit one clip that’s stacked on the Timeline into another:
1 Select one or more clips that are already on the Timeline. Typically these will be clips
that are superimposed over other clips.
2 Hold the command key down while dragging one superimposed clip on top of another
to overwrite a clip and copy its grade to the clip you’re overwriting it with.
Option to Ripple the Timeline in Paste Attributes
When using Paste Attributes to copy speed effects from one clip to another, a checkbox lets
you choose whether or not the pasted speed effect will ripple the Timeline.
Transition Categories in the Effects Library
Transitions have been organized into logical categories to make it easier to find what you need.
Categories include Dissolve, Iris, Motion, Shape, and Wipes.
Linked Move Across Tracks
The Timeline > Linked Move Across Tracks setting lets you change how linked video and audio
items move in the Timeline when you drag them up and down to reorganize clips from track to
track. Depending on the task at hand, one or the other behaviors might be more convenient,
but no matter how you have this mode set, video/audio sync is always maintained when you
move clips left and right.
When Linked Move Across Tracks is enabled: (On by default) Dragging one of a linked
pair of video and audio items up or down in the Timeline moves the linked item up or
down as well. So, moving a video clip from track V1 to V2 results in its linked audio clip
moving from track A1 to A2 as well.
(Left) Before dragging video up one track, (Right) After
NOTE: This won’t work with clips you’re editing into the Timeline from the Media Pool or
Source Viewer.
1-30Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
When Linked Move Across Tracks is disabled: Dragging one of a linked pair of video
and audio items up or down to another track in the Timeline only moves that one
item, other linked item(s) remain in the same track. So, moving a video clip from track
V1to V2 leaves the audio clip in track A1, where it was originally. This makes it easy to
reorganize video clips into different tracks while leaving your audio clips organized the
way they were, or vice versa. Keep in mind that in this mode, while you can move one
item of a linked pair up and down freely, moving that item left or right results in all linked
items moving by the same amount, so sync is maintained.
(Left) Before dragging video up one track, (Right) After
Track Destination Keyboard Shortcuts Also Disable Tracks
Pressing any of the Track Destination Selection keyboard shortcuts (Option‑1–8 for video,
Option‑Control‑1–8 for audio) repeatedly toggles the destination control on that track on and off.
Ability to Mark In and Out Points in Cinema Mode
When you’re in the full‑screen playback of Cinema Mode on the Edit page, you can use the Iand
O keys to mark In and Out points on the Timeline. If you move the pointer, you can see marked
timeline In and Out points on the Jog Bar of the onscreen controls, before they fade away again.
Updated Timeline View Options Menu in the Toolbar
The Timeline View Options menu has been updated with new options at the top to enable
tabbed and stacked Timelines and to show and hide the Subtitle and Captions tracks area of
the Timeline, while the third option is the previously available button to show or hide audio
waveforms. The other previously available options are located below.
1-31Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
The new Timeline View Options menu
Edit Page Effects Enhancements
A variety of Edit page effects features have been added and improved in DaVinci Resolve 15.
The Text+ Title Generator in the Edit Page
A new kind of title generator, named TextPlus, is available in the Titles category of the Effects
Library’s Toolbox. This is the exceptionally fully‑featured 2D text generator from Fusion,
available for editing and customizing right in the Edit page.
The new Text+ title generator, along with new Fusion titles below
You can use the TextPlus generator the same way you use any generator in the Edit page.
Simply edit it into a video track of the Timeline, select it, and open the Inspector to edit and
keyframe its numerous properties to create whatever kind of title you need.
1-32Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
In addition to having many more styling origins, the origin of the TextPlus generator in a
compositing tool means that it offers many more panels worth of keyframable parameters, along
with advanced animation controls built‑in. These include keyframable Write On/Write Off controls,
layout and animation using shapes (options include point, frame, circle, and path), character, word,
and line transforms and animation, advanced shading, and full interlacingsupport.
Four panels of the Text+ title generator, including Text, Layout, Transform, and Shading
1-33Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Better yet, with the playhead parked on your new TextPlus “Fusion Title,” you can open the
Fusion page and access its parameters there too, if you want to start building upon this single
generator to create a multi‑layered motion graphics extravaganza.
Opening the Text+ node in the Fusion page reveals it as an actual Fusion page operation
Fusion Titles and Fusion Templates
The abundance of other Fusion Titles in the Effects Library are custom‑built text compositions
with built‑in animation that expose custom controls in the Inspector.
A Fusion Title creating an animated lower third, with controls open in the Inspector
In actuality, these text generators are Fusion templates, which are Fusion compositions that
have been turned into macros and come installed with DaVinci Resolve to be used from within
the Edit page like any other generator.
It’s possible to make all kinds of Fusion title compositions in the Fusion page, and save them for
use in the Edit page by creating a macro and placing it within the /Library/Application Support/
Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve/Fusion/Templates/Edit/Titles directory, but this is a topic
for another day.
There’s one other benefit to TextPlus generators, and that is they can be graded like any other
clip, without needing to create a compound clip first.
1-34Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Support for Caching of Titles and Generators
You can now enable Clip caching for titles and generators, in case you’re using processor
intensive effects.
Position Curves in the Timeline Curve Editor
You can now expose Position X and Position Y curves in the Edit page clip Curve Editor. This
makes it possible to edit X and Y position keyframes independently, as well as to adjust the arc
of geometric curves of the motion path in the Timeline Viewer by selecting one or more control
points and making them into Bezier control points.
Position X and Y curves in the Edit page Curve Editor
Keyframable OpenFX and ResolveFX
The parameters of OpenFX and ResolveFX have keyframe controls to the right of each
parameter’s numeric field in the Inspector of the Edit and Color pages, so you can animate
effects that you add to clips and grades.
ResolveFX can now be animated in the Edit page
using keyframe controls in the Inspector
1-35Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Compound Clips Support Alpha Transparency
Creating compound clips preserves transparency of clips with alpha channels. For example,
ifyou edit a series of title generators into the Timeline and turn them into a compound clip, the
resulting compound clip will have the same transparency as the original generators.
Improved Smooth Cut
The Smooth Cut transition lets you seamlessly remove certain kinds of small jump cuts in
interview clips. This transition has been updated with a Mode pop‑up menu giving two options:
Faster and Better. The Faster option is the original Smooth Cut method, which morphs between
stills of the outgoing and incoming frames.
The Better option is the new default, with improved quality and the capability of preserving the
motion of subjects over the life of the transition. In most practical circumstances, the Better
mode will give you a superior result, but certain cuts or effects may be better addressed with
the Faster option.
Improved Optical Flow for Speed Effects
There are additional “Enhanced” Optical Flow settings available in the “Motion estimation
mode” pop‑up in the Master Settings panel of the Project Settings. These new settings provide
better quality for slow motion and frame rate retiming effects, at the expense of being more
processor intensive to play and render.
The “Standard Faster” and “Standard Better” settings are the same options that have been
available in previous versions of DaVinci Resolve. They’re more processor‑efficient, and yield
good quality that are suitable for most situations. However, “Enhanced Faster” and
“EnhancedBetter” should yield superior results in nearly every case where the standard
options exhibit artifacts, at the expense of being more computationally intensive, and thus
slower on most systems.
NOTE: There are no keyframe tracks in the Keyframe Editors of the Edit page or
Colorpage at this time, so keyframes added to OpenFX or ResolveFX can only
beedited in the Inspector.
1-36Chapter – 2 Edit Page Improvements
Chapter 3
Subtitles and
Closed Captioning
DaVinci Resolve 15 adds new features to support subtitles and closed
captioning in sophisticated ways. With dedicated subtitle/closed caption
tracks that can be shown or hidden, subtitle file import and export,
sophisticated subtitle editing and styling at the track and clip level, and
comprehensive export options, adding subtitles and closed captions to
finish your project is a clear and straightforward workflow.
1-37Chapter – 3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning
Contents
Subtitles and Closed Captioning Support 1-39
Viewing Subtitle/Caption Tracks 1-39
Importing Subtitles and Captions 1-40
Adding Subtitles and Captions Manually 1-42
Editing Subtitles and Captions 1-44
Styling Subtitles and Captions 1-44
Linking Subtitles to Clips 1-45
Exporting Subtitles and Closed Captions 1-46
Naming Subtitle Tracks 1-47
1-38Chapter – 3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning
Subtitles and Closed Captioning Support
Subtitles are supported in DaVinci Resolve using specially typed subtitle tracks containing
specifically designed subtitle generators to add and edit subtitles for a program. Typically each
subtitle track corresponds to a single language or use, and you can change the name of a
subtitle track to reflect its contents.
Subtitle tracks can be locked, have auto select controls, and can be enabled or disabled like
any other track. Additionally, a special subtitle‑only destination control lets you choose which
subtitle track to edit subtitle clips into. Furthermore, subtitle generator clips can be resized,
moved, edited, and overwritten like most other clips.
A subtitle track in the timeline
Viewing Subtitle/Caption Tracks
One important difference between subtitle tracks and other kinds of tracks is that only one
subtitle track can be visible at any given time. That means if you have multiple subtitle tracks,
each for a different language, clicking the Enable control for one subtitle track disables
allothers.
Viewing one subtitle track at a time
1-39Chapter – 3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning
Importing Subtitles and Captions
Oftentimes, adding subtitles or closed captions to a DaVinci Resolve timeline will involve
importing a subtitle file that’s been prepared elsewhere. Currently, DaVinci Resolve supports
subtitle files in the .srt SubRip format.
To import an .SRT-formatted subtitle or closed captioning file:
1 Open the Media Pool.
2 Right‑click on any bin in the Bin list, or anywhere in the background of the
MediaPoolbrowser, and choose Import Subtitle.
3 In the resulting file dialog, find and select the subtitle file you want to import,
andclickOpen.
4 The subtitle file appears as a subtitle clip in the Media Pool, ready for editing into
asubtitle track. An “ST” badge indicates that it’s a subtitle clip.
An imported .srt subtitle file
5 To add a subtitle clip to a timeline, do one of the following:
Drag a subtitle file you’ve imported into the unused gray area at the top of your video
tracks, and a subtitle track will automatically be created for adding those subtitles into
Drag a subtitle file you’ve imported into a pre‑existing subtitle track
As you drag the subtitle clip, it’ll immediately be decomposed so that each title is
added to the Timeline as an individual subtitle clip, with its timing offset relative to the
position of the first frame of the first subtitle in that file.
(Top) The original timeline, (Bottom) The timeline after
dragging a subtitle file has created a new subtitle track
1-40Chapter – 3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning
6 Position the imported subtitles so that they align with the first frame of your program
that they’re supposed to, and drop the titles into the track. If you inadvertently misplace
the subtitles, don’t worry, you can always select them all and slide them earlier or later,
just like any other clips.
7 If you’ve added a new subtitle track, you can rename it to identify what language and
country that track corresponds to. Please note that subtitle track names are used
when exporting or encoding subtitles, so please make sure your tracks are named
appropriately prior to export/delivery.
8 If you want to restyle all of the subtitles you’ve just added, for example to make them
smaller or change the font, then click on the header of the subtitle track you’ll be
working on, open the Track Style panel of the Inspector, and select the formatting you
want that track to use.
To see a list of every subtitle clip you’ve added, you can select the header of the subtitle track
you’ve just added and open the Captions panel in the Inspector. A list at the bottom of the
Captions panel gives you a convenient way of navigating the subtitles in a given track (using the
Prev and Next buttons) and making selections. If you set the Inspector to be full height, you’ll
have even more room for browsing the subtitle list.
The Captions list shows you every caption or subtitle on a
track, for selecting, editing, deleting, or navigating
1-41Chapter – 3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning
Adding Subtitles and Captions Manually
Other times, you may need to create subtitles on your own. Before doing so, you’ll need to add
one or more subtitle tracks. Once those tracks are created, you can add subtitle generators to
them in a variety of ways. You can add as many subtitle tracks as you need, one for each
language you require.
To add new subtitle tracks:
Right‑click in any track header of the currently open timeline, and choose Add Subtitle
Track. An empty subtitle track will appear at the top of the Timeline, named “Subtitle 1.”
Once you’ve added a new subtitle track, you can rename it to identify what language
and country that track corresponds to. Please note that subtitle track names are used
when exporting or encoding subtitles, so please make sure your tracks are named
appropriately prior to export/delivery.
Showing and hiding subtitles tracks:
Open the Timeline View options, and click on the Subtitle button to toggle the visibility
of subtitles tracks on and off.
The show/hide subtitle tracks button in the Timeline View Options
To add individual subtitles to a subtitle track:
1 If you want to adjust the default style of a particular subtitle track before you start
adding subtitles, then click on the header of the subtitle track you’ll be working on,
open the Track Style panel of the Inspector, and select the formatting you want that
track to use.
2 If you have multiple subtitle tracks, click the destination control of the subtitle track you
want to add titles to. They’re labeled ST1, ST2, ST3, etc.
3 Move the playhead to the frame where you want the new subtitle to begin.
Positioning the playhead where you want a new subtitle to begin
1-42Chapter – 3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning
4 To add a new subtitle clip, do one of the following:
Open the Inspector and click Create Caption in the Captions panel of the Inspector. If
there’s already one or more captions in that subtitle track, click the Add New button
above the caption list, instead.
Right‑click anywhere on the subtitle track and choose Add Subtitle to add a subtitle clip
starting at the position of the playhead
Open the Effects Library, click the Titles category, and drag a Subtitle generator to the
Subtitle track you want it to appear on.
Manually adding a subtitle
5 If necessary, you can now edit the clip to better fit the dialog that’s being spoken or the
sound that’s being described, by dragging the clip to the left or right, or dragging the
beginning or end of the clip to resize it.
6 While the new subtitle clip you’ve created is selected, use the Captions panel in the
Inspector to type the text for that particular subtitle. The text appears on the subtitle
clip as you type it.
Editing the text of the subtitle we just created
Every time you add a subtitle, an entry is added to the subtitle list at the bottom of the Captions
panel in the Inspector. This list gives you another convenient way of navigating the subtitles in a
given track (using the Prev and Next buttons) and making selections.
1-43Chapter – 3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning
Editing Subtitles and Captions
Subtitle clips can be selected singly or together, and slipped, slid, resized, rolled, and rippled
just like any other clip in the Timeline, using the mouse or using keyboard commands, with
either the Selection, Trim, or Razor tools. You can select subtitle clips in their entirety, or just
their edit points, in preparation for nudging or dynamic trimming. In short, subtitle clips can be
edited, in most ways, just like any other clips.
Styling Subtitles and Captions
When it comes to styling subtitle text, there are a wealth of styling controls in the Track Style
panel of the Inspector.
To modify the styling of all titles on a particular subtitle track:
1 Click on the header of the subtitle track you’ll be working on, or select a clip on a
particular subtitle track either in the subtitle track or in the subtitle list of the Captions
panel in the Inspector.
2 Open the Inspector, and then open the Track Style panel that appears within.
3 Edit whatever parameters you need to set the default style of all subtitles and closed
captions that appear on that track. The Track Style panel has many more options than
the Captions panel, including a group of Style and Position controls over Font and Font
Face, Color, Size, Line Spacing, and Kerning, Alignment, Position X and Y, Zoom X and
Y, Opacity, and Text Anchoring.
The Track Style panel of the Inspector sets styling for
every subtitle on that track
Keep in mind that there are additional groups of controls that let you add a Drop
Shadow, Stroke, and/or Background to all text on that track, which can be found at the
bottom of the Track Style panel of the Inspector.
1-44Chapter – 3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning
Linking Subtitles to Clips
If you like, you can link one or more subtitles to their accompanying clip, so that if you re‑edit a
subtitled scene, each clip’s subtitles move along with the clips. This arrangement doesn’t always
work the way you’d expect when trimming, but it works great when you’re rearranging clips.
To link a subtitle to another clip:
1 Select a clip and its subtitles all at once.
Selecting a video clip and its
accompanying subtitle to link them
2 Choose Clip > Linked Clips (Option‑Command‑L). A Link icon appears to show that the
subtitle clips are linked to the video/audio clip.
The now linked clip and subtitle have link
badges to show their state
1-45Chapter – 3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning
Exporting Subtitles and Closed Captions
Once you’ve set up one or more subtitle tracks in a program, the Deliver page exposes a group
of Subtitle Settings at the bottom of the Video panel of the Render Settings that control if and
how subtitles or closed captions are output along with that timeline.
Available options for exporting subtitles can be found
at the bottom of the Video panel of the Render Settings
This panel has the following controls:
Export Subtitle checkbox: Lets you enable or disable subtitle/closed caption output.
Format pop-up: Provides four options for outputting subtitles/closed captions.
–As a separate file: Outputs each subtitle track you select as a separate file using
the format specified by the Export As pop‑up. A set of checkboxes lets you choose
which subtitle tracks you want to output.
–Burn into video: Renders all video with the currently selected subtitle track burned
into the video.
–As embedded captions: Outputs the currently selected subtitle track as an
embedded metadata layer within supported media formats. There is currently
support for CEA‑608 closed captions within MXF OP1A and QuickTime files. You can
choose the subtitle format from the Codec pop‑up that appears.
Export As: (only available when Format is set to “As a separate file”) Lets you choose
the subtitle/closed captioning format to output to. Options include SRT and WebVTT.
Include the following subtitle tracks in the export: (only available when Format is set
to “As a separate file”) A series of checkboxes lets you turn on which subtitle tracks to
output.
Codec: (only available when Format is set to “As embedded captions”) Lets you choose
how to format embedded closed captions; choices include Text and CEA‑608.
NOTE: Neither analog (Line 21) nor digital (CEA‑708) closed caption output via
Decklinkor UltraStudio is supported at this time.
1-46Chapter – 3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning
Naming Subtitle Tracks
If necessary, you can double‑click the name of any subtitle track to rename it to something
more descriptive of what that subtitle track will contain, such as the language, and whether a
particular track is for subtitles or closed captions.
Depending on your workflow and delivery specifications, there are existing conventions for
identifying languages, such as ISO‑639‑1 (governing 2‑letter codes) or ISO‑639‑2/B (governing
3‑letter codes). These codes can be found at the International Organization for Standardization
website, at http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639‑2/php/code_list.php.
Some naming conventions require both language code and country code. For example,
Facebook requires SubRip (.srt) files with the naming format “VideoFilename.[language code]_
[country code].srt” for proper embedding.
If you want to use these codes for subtitle track identification and output, here’s a
representative list of standardized language and country codes from around the world, in
alphabetical order:
Country
ISO 639-1
Language Code
ISO 639-2
Language Code
ISO 3166-1
Country Code
Amharic am amh ET (Ethiopia)
Arabic ar ara
EG (Egypt)
AE (United Arab Emirates)
LB (Lebanon)
Bengali bn ben IN (India)
Chinese zh chi (B)
zho (T)
CN (China)
HK (Hong Kong)
TW (Taiwan)
Danish da dan DK (Denmark)
Dutch nl dut (B)
nld (T) NL (Netherlands)
English en eng
GB (UK)
IN (India)
US (US)
Finnish fi fin FI (Finland)
French fr fre (B)
fra (T)
CA (Canada)
FR (France)
German de ger (B)
deu (T) DE (Germany)
Greek Modern el gre (B)
ell (T) GR (Greece)
Hausa ha hau NG (Nigeria)
TD (Chad)
Hebrew he heb IL (Israel)
Hindi hi hin IN (India)
1-47Chapter – 3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning
Country
ISO 639-1
Language Code
ISO 639-2
Language Code
ISO 3166-1
Country Code
Indonesian id ind ID (Indonesia)
Italian it ita IT (Italy)
Japanese ja jpn JP (Japan)
Malay ms may (B)
msa (T) MY (Malaysia)
Maori mi mao (B)
mri (T) NZ (New Zealand)
Norwegian no nor NO (Norway)
Polish pl pol PL (Poland)
Portuguese pt por BR (Brazil)
PT (Portugal)
Punjabi pa pan IN (India)
Russian ru rus RU (Russia)
Spanish Castilian es spa
CO (Columbia)
ES (Spain)
MX (Mexico)
Swahili sw swa KE (Kenya)
Swedish sv swe SE (Sweden)
Tagalog tl tgl PH (Philippines)
Thai tl tgl TH (Thailand)
Turkish tr tur TR (Turkey)
Urdu ur urd PK (Pakistan)
Vietnamese vi vie VN (Vietnam)
1-48Chapter – 3 Subtitles and Closed Captioning
Chapter 4
Color Page
Improvements
DaVinci Resolve 15 is a great release for colorists. Timesaving new
workflow features such as multiple playheads, the LUT browser, Timeline
Grades browsers, and Shared Nodes make grade management faster than
it’s ever been. New Matte Finesse controls, improved noise reduction, and
camera raw controls for additional formats give you even more control and
quality in everyday operations. Numerous Node Editor enhancements
make it easier to see what’s happening in your grade. And finally,
additional HDR tools supporting Dolby Vision and HDR10+ keep you at the
cutting edge of grading and finishing.
1-49Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
Contents
Clip, LUT, and Grade Browsing Features 1-51
Media Pool in Color Page 1-51
Dedicated LUT Browser 1-51
New Split Screen Modes to Preview Selected LUTs, Albums 1-53
Live Previews of Gallery Stills and LUTs 1-53
Live Previews of Composite Modes in the Layer Mixer 1-54
Live Previews of LUTs in the Node Editor 1-54
Favorite LUTs Submenu in Node Editor 1-54
Browse All Timeline Grades From theCurrent Project in the Gallery 1-54
Browse and Import Timeline Grades From Other Projects 1-55
RED SDK‑Based RED IPP2 Setting in RCM Gamut Mapping 1-55
New Color Page Features 1-55
Multiple Timeline Playheads 1-55
Batch Version Management 1-56
Draggable Qualifier Controls 1-56
Additional Matte Finesse Controls 1-57
Node‑Specific Color Space and Gamma Settings 1-57
Timeline Wipe Ganging to Current Clip 1-58
Camera RAW Palette for Canon RAW, Panasonic RAW Clips 1-58
Stereoscopic Convergence Support for Power Windows 1-58
Marker Overlays Visible in the Color Page Viewer 1-59
Timeline Marker List Available in ColorPage Viewer Option Menu 1-59
Improved Noise Reduction 1-60
Improved Face Refinement 1-60
Node Editor Enhancements 1-60
Shared nodes for Group Management 1-60
Single‑Click Node Selection in the Color Page 1-62
Ability to Disable/Enable Multiple Selected Nodes All at Once 1-62
Ability to Drag Connections From One Input to Another 1-63
Single‑Click Connection Deletion 1-63
Edit Node Label Text by Double‑Clicking 1-63
Dynamic Keyframe Indicator in the Node Graph 1-63
Improved Node Graph Interface 1-63
Thumbnail‑Optional Nodes 1-64
Ability to Open Compound Nodes in “Display Node Graph” 1-64
HDR Enhancements 1-65
GPU‑Accelerated Dolby Vision™ CMU Built‑In (Studio Only) 1-65
Optional HDR10+™ Palette (Studio Only) 1-66
1-50Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
Clip, LUT, and Grade Browsing Features
A family of major new features let you work more efficiently with clips you want to use as
external mattes, LUTs, and grades in the Gallery and in timelines of the current project or
others.
Media Pool in Color Page
The Media Pool is available in the Color page, making it easy to drag and drop clips you want to
use as External Mattes right into the Node Editor, for easy and fast connection to create various
Color page effects. When opened, the Media Pool replaces the Gallery, fitting into the same
area. In most respects, the Media Pool in the Color page works the same as the Media Pool on
nearly every other page of DaVinci Resolve.
The Media Pool now appears in the Color page
When you drag a clip from the Color page Media Pool to the Node Editor, two things happen:
That clip is turned into an External Matte in the current grade, which you can use as
a Matte for secondary adjustments, or as a compositing layer (in conjunction with the
Layer mixer) for mixing textures or images with your grade.
That clip is also automatically attached to the Media Pool clip that corresponds to the
clip you’re grading as a clip matte, to help you keep track of which clips are using other
clips as mattes.
Dedicated LUT Browser
The LUT Browser provides a centralized area for browsing and previewing all of the LUTs
installed on your workstation. All LUTs appear in the sidebar, by category.
1-51Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
The LUT Browser
By default, all LUTs appear with a test thumbnail that give a preview of that LUT’s effect, but you
can also get a Live Preview of how the current clip looks with that LUT by hover scrubbing with
the pointer over a particular LUT’s thumbnail (this is described in more detail below).
To open the LUT Browser:
Click the LUT Browser button in the UI Toolbar at the top of the Color page.
Methods of working with the LUT Browser:
To see the LUTs in any category: Click on a LUT category to select it in the sidebar,
and its LUTs will appear in the browser area.
To make a LUT a favorite: Hover the mouse over a LUT and click the star badge that
appears at the upper right‑hand corner, or right‑click any LUT and choose Add to
Favorites. That LUT will then appear when you select the Favorites category.
To search or filter for specific LUTs: Open a bin that has the LUT you’re looking for,
then click the magnifying glass icon to open the search field, and type text that will
identify the LUTs you’re looking for.
To see LUTs in Column or Thumbnail view: Click the Column or Thumbnail buttons at
the top right of the LUT Browser to choose how to view LUTs in the browser area.
To sort LUTs in Thumbnail view: Click the Thumbnail Sort pop‑up menu and choose
which criteria you want to sort LUTs by. The options are Filename, Type, Relative Path,
File Path, Usage, Date Modified. There are also options for Ascending and Descending
sort modes.
To sort LUTs in Column view: Click the column header to sort by that column. Click a
header repeatedly to toggle between Ascending and Descending modes.
To update the thumbnail of a LUT with an image from a clip: Choose a clip and frame
that you want to use as the new thumbnail for a particular LUT, then right‑click that LUT
and choose Update Thumbnail With Timeline Frame.
To reset the thumbnail of a LUT to use the standard thumbnail: Right‑click a LUT and
choose Reset Thumbnail to go back to using the standard test image.
To refresh a LUT category with new LUTs that may have been installed: Select a LUT
category, then right‑click anywhere within the browser area and choose Refresh to
refresh the contents of that category from disk.
1-52Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
Methods of adding LUTs to a grade from the LUT Browser:
To apply a LUT to a clip: Select a clip in the Thumbnail timeline, then right‑click a LUT
and choose Apply LUT to Clip from the contextual menu. That LUT is added to the
source clip, not the grade.
To Append a LUT to the end of the node tree: Right‑click a LUT and choose Append
to Node Graph. A new node will be appended to the end of the current node tree with
that LUT applied to it.
To apply a LUT to a specific node: Drag a LUT from the LUT Browser and drop it onto
the node you want to apply a LUT to. If you drag a LUT onto a node that already has a
LUT, the previous LUT will be overwritten by the new one.
New Split Screen Modes to Preview Selected LUTs, Albums
A new Split Screen mode lets you simultaneously display previews of different LUTs as a split
screen in the Viewer. To use this, turn Split Screen on, set the mode pop‑up menu to LUTs, and
then use the LUTs browser to Command‑click up to 16 LUTs to preview in a grid.
The Selected LUTs split screen option lets you preview a bunch of LUT looks at once
Another new Split Screen mode lets you display every still within an album in the Gallery as a
split screen in the Viewer. To use this, turn Split Screen on, set the mode pop‑up menu to
Album, and then open the Gallery and select an album. Only up to 16 stills will be displayed.
Live Previews of Gallery Stills and LUTs
The Live Preview option, found in both the Gallery and LUTs browser option menu, lets you
preview how the current clip would look with any Gallery Still’s grade, or with any LUT applied
to it, simply by moving the pointer over the still or LUT you want to preview. By default, the
preview shows how the current clip would look if the scrubbed still or LUT replaced the grade
currently applied to that still.
The Live Preview option for the Gallery and LUT
browser lets you hover over a LUT or saved grade
to preview it on the current clip in the Viewe
1-53Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
Live Previews of Composite Modes in the Layer Mixer
Scrolling through the submenu of Composite modes in a Layer Mixer node’s contextual menu
now gives you a live update in the Viewer of how each transfer node affects the image.
Live Previews of LUTs in the Node Editor
If you hold down the Option key while scrolling through the submenu of LUTs in a
Correctornode’s contextual menu, you’ll get a live update in the Viewer of how each LUT
affects the image.
Favorite LUTs Submenu in Node Editor
When you label a LUT as a favorite in the LUT Browser, those favorite LUTs appear in a
submenu of the contextual menu that appears when you right‑click on a node in the Node
Editor. This makes it easy to create a shortlist of your go‑to LUTs for various situations, for rapid
application right in the Node Editor.
A Favorite LUTs submenu in the Node Editor contextual menu gives you a short list
Browse All Timeline Grades From
theCurrent Project in the Gallery
The Gallery has a Timelines Album, available at the bottom of the Album list, that lets you
browse all the grades in the current timeline, or in other timelines of the current project (using
apop‑up menu that appears at the top of the Gallery browser area), making it easy to copy
grades from earlier or later in your timeline, or from other timelines that share the same media.
This is particularly useful for reality shows or documentaries where the same clips can appear
multiple times in different parts of a program. Being able to simply show all existing grades in
the Gallery frees you from having to save a still for every grade you think you might
eventuallyreuse.
The Timelines grade browser in the Gallery automatically
shows all grades in the current timeline
1-54Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
Browse and Import Timeline Grades From Other Projects
The Gallery Window lets you see and import grades in the timelines of other projects, even if
they weren’t saved as stills first. When you open the Gallery Window and use the hierarchical
disclosure controls of the Stills panel to open up and select a specific Database > User > Project
> Timeline, you’ll see at least three browsable albums to the right, the Stills galleries that were
created, the Memories, and at the bottom an album called Timeline Media. The Timeline Media
album lets you browse the currently used grades for every clip in that timeline, making it easy to
copy the ones you need to the current project’s Stills album or Memories.
This is particularly useful if you’re working on a series where and you find that you want to
re‑use different grades, looks, adjustments, or fixes from previous episodes in the current one.
Previously, you’d have to remember to save every clip as a still to be able to browse the grades
in this way. Now you can simply browse the clips in the Timeline directly.
Browsing the timeline grades for another project in the database
RED SDK-Based RED IPP2 Setting in RCM Gamut Mapping
RED WideGamutRGB and Log3G10 are now options in Resolve Color Management workflows
using gamut mapping, and in the Gamut Mapping ResolveFX plug‑in, to better support RED
IPP2 workflows.
New Color Page Features
Many, many new general Color page features have been added to improve a wide
varietyofworkflows
Multiple Timeline Playheads
DaVinci Resolve supports creating up to four separate playheads in the Mini‑Timeline, that you
can use to jump back and forth among different parts of your timeline. Only one playhead can be
selected at any given time, and the currently selected playhead corresponds to the current clip,
highlighted in orange. Each playhead in the Mini‑Timeline is labeled with a letter, A throughD.
1-55Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
Multiple playheads in the Mini Timeline for multi‑region navigation
To add a new playhead to the Mini-Timeline:
Choose a playhead from the Color > Active Playheads submenu. That playhead will
be placed at the same position as the original playhead, but it is now the one that is
selected, so dragging the new playhead to a new position of the Mini‑Timeline will
reveal the original playhead you were using.
To select another playhead to view:
Click on the top handle of any playhead to select it, making that the currently active
playhead controlled by the transport controls. By default, no keyboard shortcuts are
mapped to the four playheads that are available, but you can create a custom keyboard
mapping that you can use to quickly switch among them.
Using the DaVinci Advanced Control Panel, you can use the A, B, C, and D buttons on
the Jog/Shuttle panel to switch to the playhead you want to control.
To eliminate all additional playheads from the Mini-Timeline:
Choose Color > Active Playheads > Reset Playheads.
Batch Version Management
You can select multiple clips in the Thumbnail timeline and change them all to use a different
Local or Remote version at once by right‑clicking one of the selected thumbnails and choosing
Load from the submenu of the Local or Remote version you want to switch to.
Draggable Qualifier Controls
The Qualifier controls now have draggable overlays, for more direct adjustment by mouse and
tablet users. Drag the left and right edges of any qualifier control overlay to adjust the Low and
High values (or the Width value of the Hue control). Drag the center of any qualifier control to
change the center or to simultaneously change the Low and High parameters together. Option‑
drag the left and right edges of any qualifier overlay to adjust softness.
Draggable qualifier controls
1-56Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
Additional Matte Finesse Controls
Denoise has been re‑added to the Matte Finesse controls, providing a distinct way to post‑
process extracted keys to selectively reduce the noise in a key, getting rid of stray areas of
qualification and softly filling “holes” in a matte.
Denoise in page 1 of the Matte Finesse controls
An additional page of Matte Finesse controls expose controls for Shrink, Grow, Opening, and
Closing functionality, with control over the Shape of the operation, the Radius, and Iterations.
The previously available Black Clip and White Clip controls have also been moved into this
second page.
Shrink/Grow controls in page 2 of the
Matte Finesse controls
Node-Specific Color Space and Gamma Settings
While the ability to change the color space a particular node works within has been available
for several versions, the list of available color spaces has been greatly expanded (all the
previous options such as Lab, HSL, and YUV are still there). Additionally, you have the option of
choosing the gamma that node works with as well, with a similarly long list of options.
Choosing a node‑specific color space and gamma does not directly alter the image, as with the
Color Space Transform ResolveFX plug‑in. Instead, changing a node’s Color Space and Gamma
alters what kind of channels the red, green, and blue controls affect, and how the adjustments
you make within that node are applied. For example, this lets you apply OFX with Gamma set to
Linear, which in some instances may be advantageous
1-57Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
.
Expanded submenus for choosing a color space
and gamma for image processing within a node
Timeline Wipe Ganging to Current Clip
The “Gang timeline wipe with current clip” option, available from the Viewer option menu, lets
you maintain the offset between the current clip and a timeline clip you’re wiping against when
you move the current clip selection to other clips.
If you’re not sure what a Timeline wipe is, it’s when you use the Wipe Timeline Clip command in
the Thumbnail timeline (it’s found in the contextual menu when you right‑click a clip other than
the current clip) to wipe the current clip against another clip in the timeline, without needing to
save a still first. When you turn a Timeline wipe on, the timeline wiped clip is outlined in blue.
With this new option enabled, the offset between the timeline wiped clip and the current clip is
maintained when you move the clip selection. When this option is disabled, the timeline wiped
clip stays where it is regardless of what clip you select.
Camera RAW Palette for Canon RAW, Panasonic RAW Clips
Canon RAW and Panasonic Varicam RAW media now expose dedicated controls in the Camera
RAW panel of the Project Settings, and in the Camera RAW palette of the Color page when
Canon or Panasonic raw media is present in the Timeline.
Stereoscopic Convergence Support for Power Windows
The Color group of the General Options panel of the Project Settings has a new checkbox
called “Apply stereoscopic convergence to windows and effects” that correctly maintains the
position of a window that’s been properly placed over each eye when convergence is adjusted.
You must turn on a checkbox in the Project Settings to
enable stereo convergence for windows
When this option is enabled, the Window palette displays an additional Transform parameter,
“Convergence,” that lets you create properly aligned convergence for a window placed onto a
stereoscopic 3D clip.
1-58Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
The Convergence control in the Transform
section of the Window palette
After placing a window over a feature within the image while monitoring one eye, you can
enable Stereo output in the stereo 3D palette and use the Pan and Convergence controls to
make sure that window is properly stereo‑aligned over the same feature in both eyes. At that
point, adjusting the Convergence control in the Stereo 3D palette correctly maintains the
position of the window within the grade of each eye.
A convergence‑adjusted window in stereo
Marker Overlays Visible in the Color Page Viewer
If you part the playhead on top of a marker in the timeline of the Color page, that marker’s
information now appears in a Viewer overlay, just like in the Edit page, making it easier to read
notes and see .
Timeline Marker List Available in
ColorPage Viewer Option Menu
The Option menu of the Color page Viewer has a submenu that lists all Timeline Markers in the
currently open timeline. This makes it easy to run down client notes
Timeline markers list available for quick access in the Viewer’s Option menu
1-59Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
Improved Noise Reduction
A significantly improved new “Best” option has been added to the Mode pop‑up of the Spatial
NR controls, that does a much better job of preserving image sharpness and detail when raising
the Spatial Threshold sliders to eliminate noise. The improvement is particularly apparent when
the Spatial Threshold sliders are raised to high values of 40 or above (although this varies with
the image). At lower values, the improvement may be more subtle when compared to the “Better”
mode, which is less processor intensive than the computationally expensive “Best”setting.
The new “Best” mode also allows you to decouple the Luma and Chroma Threshold sliders for
individual adjustment, something you can’t do in “Better” mode.
Improved Face Refinement
Instances of face keyer chatter and flickering eyebag removal have been improved when using
the Face Refinement plug‑in.
Node Editor Enhancements
A variety of improvements to node editing have been added to DaVinci Resolve 15, starting with
powerful new Shared nodes for making linked adjustments within clip grades, and continuing
with multiple visual upgrades to nodes in the Node Editor.
Shared nodes for Group Management
This is probably one of the biggest improvements added for working colorists. You can now
turn individual Corrector nodes into “Shared nodes,” which can then be copied to multiple clips
to enable linked adjustments right from within the clip grade. This means that the clip grade can
freely mix both clip‑specific nodes and Shared nodes all within the same node tree. This makes
Shared nodes fast to use as there’s no need to create groups or switch to a group node tree to
reap the benefits of linked adjustments among multiple clips.
A grade with an unshared (at left) and shared node (at right),
a badge indicates the shared node, which is also locked
What Are Shared Nodes Good For?
Shared nodes are similar to group grades, except that they don’t require grouping and can be
added to any normal grade. Changes made to a Shared node are automatically rippled to all
other instances of that node in the grades of other clips. Furthermore, you can add as many
Shared nodes to a grade as you like, and you can arrange them in any order to control the order
of the operations they apply. And, of course, you can intersperse them with ordinary
Correctornodes
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Shared nodes are extremely flexible. For example, you can use Shared nodes to:
Add a Color Space Transform Resolve FX or a LUT to the beginning of every clip from a
particular source
Add a base correction to every talking head shot of a particular interviewee
Add a shot matching adjustment to each clip from a particular angle of coverage within
a scene
Add a stylistic adjustment to every clip in a specific scene
Use Shared nodes to make your base adjustments when grading with Remote
Versions, so those adjustments remain linked when you copy your Remote Versions to
Local Versions for fine tuning
In fact, you can mix and match Shared nodes among differently overlapping sets of clips to
accomplish any or all of the above at once. For example, you can add one Shared node to make
an adjustment to every clip from a particular camera, add a second Shared node to each of
those clips that are in a particular scene, and then add a third Shared node to whichever of
those clips happen to be a closeup of the lead actress, before adding one or two regular
Corrector nodes that aren’t shared to make clip‑specific tweaks.
Creating Shared Nodes
Creating a shared node is easy, assuming you’ve created a node that has an adjustment you’d
like to share among multiple clips.
To create a Shared node:
Right‑click any Corrector node and choose “Save as Shared node.”
Locking Shared Nodes
Once you turn a node into a Shared node, that node is automatically locked, preventing you
from accidentally making adjustments to it that would affect all other grades using that same
Shared node.
To toggle the locked status of a Shared node, do one of the following:
Right‑click any shared node and choose Lock Node from the contextual menu.
Open the Keyframe Editor, and click the Lock icon in the track header of that node’s
keyframe track.
Copying Shared Nodes
Because shared nodes are essentially Corrector nodes within of clip grades, they’re easy to
work with. Once you’ve created one or more Shared nodes, there are a variety of ways you can
copy them to the grades of other clips in your program to take advantage of the linked
adjustments they let you make.
IMPORTANT: At the time of this writing, there are two limitations when using Shared
nodes. Grades using Shared nodes cannot use the Smart or User cache, and Shared
nodes cannot be used in collaborative workflows. It is hoped that these limitations
aretemporary.
1-61Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
Ways of copying Shared nodes among multiple clips:
Add a Shared node to another clip’s grade using the Node Editor contextual menu:
Once you save a node as a Shared node, it becomes available from the bottom of the
Add Node submenu of the Node Editor contextual menu, making it easy to add any
Shared node to any clip. If you customize the label of the Shared node, that custom
label appears in the contextual menu, making it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Add Shared nodes to a basic grade you’ll be copying to other clips: If you create one
or more Shared nodes when you initially build a grade, copying that grade to other clips
naturally copies the Shared nodes as well.
Save a Shared node as a Gallery still and apply it to other clips: If you save a grade
with a Shared node in it to the Gallery, then every time you copy that Gallery still to
another clip, you copy its Shared nodes.
Create a Shared node and append it to a selection of additional clips: If you’ve
already graded several clips in a scene, you can add a Shared node to the end of one
of the clips grades and make sure it’s selected, then select all of the other clips in the
scene and choose Append Node to Selected Clips.
Use Shared nodes to preserve linked adjustments when copying Remote grades to
Local grades: If you use Shared nodes to make your base adjustments when you grade
using Remote Versions to automatically copy those grades to other clips that come
from the same source media, those adjustments will remain linked when you copy your
Remote Versions to Local Versions for fine tuning.
Deleting Shared Nodes
If you’ve created a Shared node that’s being used in multiple clips, and you decide you want to
eliminate the linked relationship among these nodes so they all work independently, you can
“delete” a specific shared node. This leaves the now unlinked nodes intact within each node tree
in which they appear. Additionally, that Shared node is removed from the Add Node submenu.
To Delete a Shared node:
Right‑click any Shared node, and choose a node to “un‑share” from the Delete Shared
Node submenu.
Single-Click Node Selection in the Color Page
You need only click once to select the current node in the Color page Node Editor, saving you
years of wear and tear on your index finger.
Ability to Disable/Enable Multiple
Selected Nodes All at Once
If you select more than one node in the node tree, using any of the available methods of turning
nodes off and on (including Command‑D) will toggle Enable/Disable Selected Nodes. This
makes it easy to do before/after comparisons of any combination of nodes doing complicated
adjustments by selecting them, while leaving un‑selected nodes doing base adjustments that
you want to leave enabled alone.
Please note that the current node outlined in orange is always considered to be part of
theselection.
1-62Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
Ability to Drag Connections From One Input to Another
If you move the pointer over the second half of any connection line between two nodes, it
highlights blue and you can click‑and‑drag it to reconnect it to another input.
Single-Click Connection Deletion
If you move the pointer over the second half of any connection line between two nodes so that
it highlights blue, clicking once on the blue part of the connection deletes it.
Edit Node Label Text by Double-Clicking
Double‑clicking the label of any node selects that label text for editing. This will only work if a
node has a label already.
Dynamic Keyframe Indicator in the Node Graph
Nodes with keyframed parameters now display a keyframe badge in the Node Editor.
Keyframed nodes now display a badge
Improved Node Graph Interface
The look and feel of nodes in the Node Graph has been updated for compatibility with the
Fusion page Node Editor. Also, Mixer nodes have new icons to help identify them.
Updated look and feel for Color page node trees
1-63Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
Thumbnail-Optional Nodes
The Node Editor option menu provides a Show Thumbnails option that lets you disable or
enable the thumbnails attached to each Corrector node.
Disabling thumbnails in the Node Editor option menu makes nodes shorter
Ability to Open Compound Nodes in “Display Node Graph”
When you right‑click a Gallery still or a thumbnail and choose Display Node Graph, you can now
right‑click compound nodes and choose “Show compound node,” or Command‑double‑click
compound nodes to open them and see their individual nodes.
Opening a compound node in a floating Node Graph window
1-64Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
HDR Enhancements
DaVinci Resolve 15 adds support for the latest developments in HDR workflows.
GPU-Accelerated Dolby Vision™ CMU Built-In (Studio Only)
DaVinci Resolve 15 includes a GPU‑accelerated software version of the Dolby Vision CMU
(Content Mapping Unit) box for doing Dolby Vision grading and finishing workflows right in
DaVinci Resolve. This is enabled and set up in the Color Management panel of the Project
Settings with the Enable Dolby Vision checkbox. Turning Dolby Vision on enables the
DolbyVision palette in the Color page.
Dolby Vision settings in the Color Management panel of the Project Settings
Auto Analysis Available to All Studio Users
Resolve Studio enables anyone to generate Dolby Vision analysis metadata automatically.
Thismetadata can be used to deliver Dolby Vision content and to render other HDR and
SDRdeliverables from the HDR grade that you’ve made.
Dolby Vision has two levels of metadata: i) Analysis metadata (Level 1), which is generated
automatically by the project and image parameters; and ii) Artistic trim metadata (Level 2), which
is set by the colorist to adjust the Dolby Vision mapped image to a target that is different from
the mastering display (Rec. 709 as an example). Generating Dolby Vision with L1 analysis
metadata is available without additional licensing from Dolby. Artistic trim metadata is created
with the Dolby vision palette in DaVinci Resolve. The Dolby Vision Palette requires a separate
license from Dolby.
The Dolby Vision palette in the Color page
1-65Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
The commands governing Dolby Vision auto‑analysis are in the Color > Dolby Vision™ submenu,
and consist of the following commands:
Analyze All Shots: Automatically analyzes each clip in the Timeline and stores the
results individually.
Analyze Selected Shot(s): Only analyzes selected shots in the Timeline.
Analyze Selected And Blend: Analyzed multiple selected shots and averages the
result, which is saved to each clip. Useful to save time when analyzing multiple clips
that have identical content.
Analyze Current Frame: A fast way to analyze clips where a single frame is
representative of the entire shot.
Analyze All Frames: A fast way to convert an entire HDR deliverable to a Dolby Vision
deliverable without dealing with shot cuts.
Manual Trimming Available Only to Licensees
However, if you want to be able to make manual trims on top of this automatic analysis, email
dolbyvisionmastering@dolby.com to obtain a license. Once you’ve obtained a license file from
Dolby, you can import it by choosing File > Dolby Vision > Load License, and its successful
installation will enable the Dolby Vision palette to be displayed in the Color page.
Dolby Vision Metadata Export
Additionally, DaVinci Resolve now has the ability to render MXF files with embedded Dolby
Vision trim metadata.
Optional HDR10+™ Palette (Studio Only)
DaVinci Resolve 15 supports the new HDR10+ HDR format by Samsung. Please note that this
support is a work in progress as this is a new standard. When enabled, an HDR10+ palette
exposes trimming parameters that let you trim an automated downconversion of HDR to SDR,
creating metadata to control how HDR‑strength highlights look on a variety of supported
televisions and displays. This is enabled and set up in the Color Management panel of the
Project Settings with the Enable HDR10+ checkbox. Turning HDR10+ on enables the Dolby
Vision palette in the Color page.
Dolby Vision settings in the Color Management panel of the Project Settings
HDR10+ Auto Analysis Commands
HDR10+ has its own scheme for auto‑analyzing HDR to SDR downconversion metadata, and the
controls are available in the Color > HDR10+ submenu, consisting of the following commands:
Analyze All Shots: Automatically analyzes each clip in the Timeline and stores the
results individually.
Analyze Selected Shot(s): Only analyzes selected shots in the Timeline.
Analyze Selected And Blend: Analyzed multiple selected shots and averages the
result, which is saved to each clip. Useful to save time when analyzing multiple clips
that have identical content.
Analyze Current Frame: A fast way to analyze clips where a single frame is
representative of the entire shot.
1-66Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
HDR10+ Palette
An HDR trim palette is available to all Resolve Studio users, that provides controls for manually
trimming the auto‑analyzed trim metadata. At the time of this writing, nine sliders control the
bezier handles and control points of a custom curve that can be used to shape the luminance
mapping curve, including Knee X and Y sliders.
The Dolby Vision palette in the Color page
HDR10+ Metadata Export
The resulting metadata is saved per clip, in a JSON sidecar file.
1-67Chapter – 4 Color Page Improvements
Chapter 5
New ResolveFX
DaVinci Resolve 15 adds seven new ResolveFX that will give colorists and
finishing artists significant new image restoration tools, as well as
sophisticated new lighting and stylistic effects with wide‑ranging uses.
Two exciting new plug‑ins have been added to the “ResolveFX Light”
category that simulate different types of optical glows and flares.
Additionally, the ResolveFX category formerly called “Repair” has been
renamed “ResolveFX Revival,” because of three powerful new restoration
effects that have been added. On the other end of the spectrum, two new
plug‑ins that create stylistic degradation have been added to the
“ResolveFX Texture” and “ResolveFX Transform” categories.
1-68Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
Contents
Aperture Diffraction (Studio Only) 1-70
Lens Reflections (Studio Only) 1-71
Patch Replacer (Studio Only) 1-73
Automatic Dirt Removal (Studio Only) 1-75
Dust Buster (Studio Only) 1-76
Deflicker (Studio Only) 1-77
Flicker Addition 1-79
Film Damage 1-79
1-69Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
Aperture Diffraction (Studio Only)
Found in the “ResolveFX Light” category, Aperture Diffraction models the starburst effect
usually seen when shooting bright lights with small apertures, the physical cause of which is
light‑diffraction on the aperture blades of a lens. This plug‑in simulates this, with the result
being automatically applied to scene highlights that you can isolate and refine, with
customizable virtual apertures.
Small regions of brightness exhibit a star pattern glow, as seen in the following image.
(Left) Original image, (Right) Applying Aperture Diffraction
Large regions of brightness exhibit a more even glow with shaping and texture that look like a
natural optical effect. It can be used to create a different type of glow effect with a more
realistic look in some situations than the Glow plug‑in, though it’s more processor intensive. In
other situations, this plug‑in opens up many different stylistic possibilities for glowing effects.
(Left) Original image, (Right) Applying Aperture Diffraction
Output
Select Output lets you preview the image with different stages of the Aperture Diffraction effect
applied, viewing the Isolated Source (to help when adjusting the Isolation Controls), Preview
Aperture (to help when adjusting the Aperture Controls), Preview Diffraction Pattern (showing
you the resulting diffraction pattern based on the aperture control settings), Diffraction Patterns
Alone (showing you the glow effect that will be applied to the image by itself), and the
FinalComposite.
Isolation Controls
The Isolation Controls control which highlights in the scene generate visible glow and patterns.
The effect of these controls can be directly monitored by setting Select Output to
IsolatedSource.
Color Mode is a pop‑up menu that lets you either choose to keep the colors of the different
highlight regions that generate glow, or treat them all as greyscale brightness only (color
controls later can change the effect). Greyscale is faster to process, but Color can result in some
brilliant effects.
1-70Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
Brightness sets the threshold at which highlights are isolated. Gamma lets you shape the
isolated highlights, while Smooth lets you blur details in the highlights that you don’t want to be
pronounced. Color Filter lets you choose a particular color of highlight to isolate (an eyedropper
lets you select a value from the Viewer). The Operation controls let you adjust the resulting
Isolation matte (options include Shrink, Grow, Opening, Closing) with a slider to define howmuch.
Aperture Controls
The Aperture Controls let you define the shape and texture of the resulting glow this
plug‑increates.
Iris Shape lets you choose a shape that determines how many arms the star pattern will have.
Aperture size lets you alter the resulting diffraction pattern alternating between more of a star
shape at higher values and a stippled wave pattern at lower values. Result Gamma lets you
adjust how pronounced will be the glow that appears between the arms of the star patterns
thatappear. Result Scale lets you alternate between pronounced star patterns at high values
and more diffuse glows at low values. Blade Curvature and Rotation let you alter the softness
and orientation of the arms of each star. Chroma Shift lets you introduce some RGB “bleed”
intotheglow.
Compositing Controls
These controls let you adjust how to composite the glow effect against the original image.
The Normalize Brightness checkbox scales the brightness of the glow to a naturalistic range for
the image. Also, when Normalize Brightness is enabled, the Aperture Diffraction effect will keep
to a consistent overall brightness as the scene changes. Brightness lets you adjust the intensity
of the glow effect. Colorize lets you tint the glow effect using a Color control that appears when
Colorize is raised above 0.
Lens Reflections (Studio Only)
Found in the “ResolveFX Light” category, Lens Reflections simulates intense highlights
reflecting off of the various optical elements within a lens to create flaring and scattering effects
based on the shape and motion of highlights you isolate in the scene. It’s an effective simulation
that works best when there are light sources or specular reflections in the scene such as the
sun, car headlights, light fixtures, fire and flame, or other lighting elements that are plausibly
bright enough to cause such flaring.
Also, this plug‑in really shines when these light sources move, as each layer of simulated
reflections moves according to that element’s position within the virtual lens being simulated,
creating organic motion that you don’t have to keyframe. Without intense highlights, the results
of this filter will be somewhat abstract.
(Left) Original image, (Right) Applying Lens Reflections
1-71Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
Output
Select Output lets you preview the image with different stages of the Lens Reflections effect
applied, viewing the Isolated Source (to help when adjusting the Isolation Controls), Reflections
Alone (showing you the flaring effect that will be applied to the image by itself), and the
FinalComposite.
A Quality pop‑up lets you choose how to render the effect. Options are Full, Half (Faster), and
Quarter (Fast). The tradeoff is between quality and speed.
Isolation Controls
The Isolation Controls control which highlights in the scene generate lens reflections. The
effect of these controls can be directly monitored by setting Select Output to Isolated Source.
It’s highly recommended to customize the Isolation controls for the image at hand when using
this plug‑in, as even more so than other plug‑ins, the particular highlights used will have a huge
impact on the resulting effect.
Color Mode is a pop‑up menu that lets you either choose to keep the colors of the different
highlight regions that generate lens reflections, or treat them all as grayscale brightness only
(color controls later can change the effect). Grayscale is faster to process, but Color can result
in some brilliant effects.
Brightness sets the threshold at which highlights are isolated. Gamma lets you shape the
isolated highlights, while Smooth lets you blur details in the highlights that you don’t want to be
pronounced. Color Filter lets you choose a particular color of highlight to isolate (an eyedropper
lets you select a value from the Viewer). The Operation controls let you adjust the resulting
Isolation matte (options include Shrink, Grow, Opening, Closing) with a slider to define howmuch.
Global Controls
The Global Controls let you quickly adjust the overall quality of the Lens Reflections effect.
Global Brightness lets you raise and lower the level of all reflections. Global Blur lets you
defocus all reflections. Anamorphism lets you deform the reflection elements to simulate an
anamorphic lens’ stretching effect. Global Colorize lets you adjust the color intensity of the
reflections, either intensifying the color of all reflections or desaturating it.
Presets
A Presets pop‑up provides a number of different settings to get you started. Selecting a preset
populates the Reflecting Elements parameters below, at which point you can customize the
effect to work best with the image at hand. It’s highly recommended to customize these effects
to suit the type of highlights in your image, in order to get the best results.
1-72Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
Reflecting Elements
There are four groups of Reflecting elements, each with identical controls. This lets you create
interactions combining up to four sets of reflections. The controls found within each group are
as follows.
Brightness: Lets you adjust the intensity of that reflection.
Position in Optical Path: Lets you shift the reflection according to an element’s position
in the lens. Practically, this means that positive values will enlarge an inverted reflection
based on the highlights, while reducing values towards 0 will shrink the reflection, and
pushing this into negative values will invert the reflection and pull it into the opposite
direction as it begins to enlarge again. A value of –1 positions the reflection right over
the highlight that creates it.
Defocus type: Lets you choose what kind of blur to use, choices include Box Blur,
Triangular Blur, Lens Blur (the most processor intensive), and Gaussian Blur (the default).
Defocus lets you choose how much to blur that element.
Stretch: Lets you give the flare an anamorphic widescreen look, while Stretch Falloff
lets you taper the edges.
Lens Coating: A pop‑up lets you choose common colors such as purple, green, and
yellow that correspond to different anti‑reflective lens coatings, as well as a selection
of other vibrant colors. A color control and eyedropper let you manually choose a
color or pick one from the image. A Colorize slider lets you vary how much to tint the
reflection by the selected color, although setting Colorize to 0 lets the flare take its
color from the source highlights of the image, which can sometimes give you the most
interestinglook.
Patch Replacer (Studio Only)
Found in the new “ResolveFX Revival” category, the Patch Replacer is a quick fix when you
need to “paint out” an unwanted feature from the image. For those of you who’ve been using
windows and Node Sizing to do small digital paint jobs, this plug‑in offers more options and a
streamlined workflow.
On adding the plug‑in, an onscreen control consisting of two oval patches appears, with an
arrow connecting them indicating which patch is being copied into the other. The oval to the left
is the “source” patch, used to sample part of the image, and the oval to the right is the “target”
patch, used to cover up the unwanted feature using pixels from the source patch.
To use the Patch Replacer, simply drag the target patch over the feature you want to obscure,
resize it to fit using the corner controls (the source patch is automatically resized to match), and
then drag the source patch to an area of the image that can convincingly be used to fill the
target patch.
(Left) Original image, (Right) Removing the thermostat with the Patch Replacer
1-73Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
The source and target patches can be motion tracked using the FX tracker, so this tool is
effective even if the subject or camera is moving.
Main Controls
The “Fill‑in method” pop‑up menu is arguably the most important, as it defines what method to
use to fill the destination patch with whatever is in the source patch. The rest of the primary
controls work differently depending on which fill‑in method you choose.
Clone: Simply copies the source patch into the target patch. When clone is selected,
the Replacement Detail slider (which defaults to 1) lets you fade out the source patch,
while Region Shape lets you choose a different kind of shape to use, and Blur Shape
Edges lets you feather the edge of this operation, to more convincingly blend the
source with the target area.
Adaptive Blend: A much more sophisticated method of obscuring the target area
using pixels from the source patch, and in many cases will yield better results more
quickly than cloning. The source patch is copied into the target patch in such a way as
to combine the source detail with the lighting found inside of the target area, creating
in most instances a fast, seamless match. The Keep Original Detail checkbox, when
turned on, merges detail from the source and target patches to create a composite,
rather than a fill. The Blur Shape Edges slider works a bit differently with Adaptive
Blend selected, but the idea is the same, feathering the effect from the outside in to
obscure instances where there’s a noticeable border around the target area.
Fast Mask: Eliminates the source patch, doing instead a quick neighboring pixel blend
that works well with small patches, but can betray a grid pattern on larger patches.
Region Shape and Blur Shape Edges are both adjustable.
Patch Positions
Source X and Y, Target X and Y, and Target Width and Height are provided as explicit controls
both for numeric adjustment, should that be necessary, and also to allow for keyframing in case
you need to change the position and/or size of the source and fill patches over time.
Keep in mind that the source and target patches can be motion tracked using the FX tracker,
although two checkboxes, Source Follows Track and Target Follows Track, let you disable FX
tracker match moving when necessary.
On-Screen Controls
The Control Visibility pop‑up menu lets you choose whether the source and target onscreen
controls are visible as you work. Show (the default) leaves all onscreen controls visible all the
time. Auto Hide hides all onscreen controls whenever you’re dragging one, letting you see the
image as you adjust it without having these controls in the way. Hide makes all onscreen
controls invisible, so you can see a clean version of the image with the effect, however you can
still edit the effect if you remember where the controls are.
1-74Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
Automatic Dirt Removal (Studio Only)
Found in the new “ResolveFX Revival” category, the Automatic Dirt Removal plug‑in uses
optical flow technology to target and repair temporally unstable bits of dust, dirt, hair, tape hits,
and other unwanted artifacts that last for one or two‑frames and then disappear. All repairs are
made while maintaining structurally consistent detail in the underlying frame, resulting in a
high‑quality restoration of the image. Fortunately, despite its sophistication, this is a relatively
easy plug‑in to use; just drop the plug‑in on a shot, adjust the parameters for the best results,
and watch it go.
(Left) Original image, (Right) Using Automatic Dirt Removal
Main Controls
Motion Estimation Type lets you choose from among None, Faster, Normal, and Better. This
tunes the tradeoff between performance and quality. Neighbor Frames lets you choose how
many frames to compare when detecting dirt. Choosing more frames of comparison take longer
to process, but usually results in finding more dirt and artifacts.
Repair Strength slider lets you choose how aggressively to repair dirt and artifacts that are
found. Lower settings may let small bits through that may or may not be actual dirt, while higher
settings eliminate everything that’s found. The Show Repair Mask checkbox lets you see the
dirt and artifacts that are detected by themselves, so you can see the effectiveness of the
results as you fine tune this filter.
Fine Controls
The Motion Threshold slider lets you choose the threshold at which pixels in motion are
considered to be dirt and artifacts. At lower values more dirt may escape correction, but you’ll
experience fewer motion artifacts. At higher values, more dirt will be eliminated, but you may
experience more motion artifacts in footage with camera or subject motion.
The Edge Ignore slider lets you exclude hard edges in the picture from being affected by dirt or
artifacts that are removed. Higher values omit more edges from being affected.
NOTE: This plug‑in is less successful with vertical scratches that remain in the same
position for multiple frames, and is completely ineffective for dirt on the lens which
remains for the entire shot.
1-75Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
Dust Buster (Studio Only)
Found in the new “ResolveFX Revival” category, this plug‑in is also designed to eliminate dust,
dirt, and other imperfections and artifacts from clips, but it does so only with user guidance, for
clips where the Automatic Dirt Removal plug‑in yields unsatisfactory results. This guidance
consists of moving through the clip frame by frame and drawing boxes around imperfections
you want to eliminate. Once you’ve drawn a box, the offending imperfection is auto‑magically
eliminated in the most seamless way possible. This works well for dirt and dust, but it also works
for really big stains and blotches, as seen below.
(Left) Drawing a box around dirt in the original image, (Right) Result in the Dust Buster plug‑inn
This plug‑in works similarly to, but supersedes the legacy Dust Removal feature, which only
worked on select image sequence formats, and wrote new media files on disk. The Dust Buster
plug‑in works on any format of movie clip, and works non‑destructively, storing all image repairs
within the plug‑in without creating new media. Best of all, this plug‑in is able to do its magic with
only three controls.
Mode: Selects how imperfections within the bounding box you draw are fixed. By
default, Auto just takes care of things without you needing to think about this. However,
if you’re not satisfied with the result, you can undo, and choose a different method from
this pop‑up method. Here are all the options that are available to you.
–Auto: The default method. Once you’ve drawn a bounding box, the two frames
prior to and the two frames after the current clip will be analyzed and compared to
the current image. The best of these 5 frames will be drawn upon to remove the
imperfection in the current frame. Images two frames away are prioritized since that
will avoid the appearance of frozen grain, but only if they’re suitable.
–Prev/Next Frame: If you draw a bounding box from left to right, the next frame will
be drawn upon to remove the imperfection. If you draw a bounding box from right to
left, the previous frame will be used.
–Prev–1/Next+1 Frame: If you draw a bounding box from left to right, the image
two frames forward will be drawn upon to remove the imperfection. If you draw a
bounding box from right to left, the image two frames back will be used.
–Spatial Fill: In cases where the other two modes yield unsatisfactory results, such as
when the underlying image has fast or blurred motion, this mode uses surrounding
information in the current frame to remove the imperfection.
Show Patches: Off by default. Turning this checkbox on lets you see every bounding
box you’ve drawn to eliminate imperfections. While the patches are shown, you can
Shift‑click to select individual patches, group select patches by Command‑dragging a
bounding box, and delete unwanted patches individually by Option‑clicking them.
Reset Frame: Resets all of the bounding boxes drawn on the current frame, so you can
start over.
1-76Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
Deflicker (Studio Only)
Found in the new “ResolveFX Revival” category, this brand new plug‑in replaces the previous
“Timelapse Deflicker” filter, and solves a far broader variety of problems in a much more
automatic way. The new Deflicker plug‑in handles such diverse issues as flickering exposure in
timelapse clips, flickering fluorescent lighting, flickering in archival film sources, and in certain
subtle cases even the “rolling bars” found on video screens shot with cameras having
mismatched shutter speeds. Two key aspects to this filter are that it only targets rapid,
temporally unstable variations in lightness, and that it’s able to target only the areas of an
imagewhere flickering appears, leaving all other parts of the image untouched. As a result,
thisplug‑in can often repair problems once considered “unfixable.”
(Left) Original image with flicker, (Right) Result setting Deflicker to Fluro Light, (clip courtesy Redline Films)
Main Settings
By default, the top section of this plug‑in exposes a single control, which in many cases may be
all you need.
Deflicker Setting pop-up menu: The top two options, Timelapse and Fluoro Light,
are presets that effectively eliminate two different categories of flickering artifacts. If
neither of these presets is quite as effective as you’d hoped, a third option, Advanced
Controls, opens up the Isolate Flicker controls at the heart of this plug‑in to let you tailor
it further to your needs.
Isolate Flicker
Hidden by default, these controls only appear when you set “Deflicker Setting” to
AdvancedControls, and let you choose how to detect motion in the scene so that flickering
may be correctly addressed relative to the motion of subjects and items within the frame
whereitappears.
Mo.Est. Type: Picks the method DaVinci Resolve uses to analyze the image to detect
motion. Despite the names of the available options, which options will work best is
highly scene dependent. The default, Faster, is less processor intensive, but less
accurate, however this can be an advantage and actually do a better job with high‑
detail images that would confuse the Better option. Choosing Better is more accurate,
but more processor intensive, and Better will try harder to match fine details which can
sometimes cause problems. None lets you disable motion analysis altogether, which
can work well (and will be considerably faster) in situations where there’s no motion in
the scene at all. The default is Better.
Frames Either Side: Specifies the number of frames to analyze to determine what’s
in motion. Higher values are not always better, the best setting is, again, scene
dependent. The default is 3.
1-77Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
Motion Range: Three settings, Small, Medium, and Large, let you choose the speed of
the motion in the frame that should be detected.
Gang Luma Chroma: Lets you choose whether to gang the Luma and Chroma
Threshold sliders or not.
Luma Threshold: Determines the threshold above which changes in luma will not be
considered flicker. The range is 0‑100, 0 deflickers nothing, 100 applies deflickering to
everything. The default is 100.
Chroma Threshold: Determines the threshold above which changes in chroma will not
be considered flicker. The range is 0‑100, 0 deflickers nothing, 100 applies deflickering
to everything. The default is 100.
Motion Threshold: Defines the threshold above which motion will not be
consideredflicker.
Speed Optimization Options
Closed by default, opening this control group reveals two controls:
Reduced-Detail Motion checkbox: On by default, reduces the amount of detail that’s
analyzed to detect flicker. In many cases, this setting makes no visible difference, but
increases processing speed. Disable this setting if your clip has fine detail which is
being smoothed too aggressively.
Limit Analysis Area checkbox: Turning this on reveals controls over a sample box that
you can use to limit deflickering to a specific region of the image. This option is useful
when (a) only one part of the image is flickering, so focusing on just that area speeds
the operation considerably, or (b) part of the image is being smoothed too much by
deflickering that’s fixing another part of the image very well.
Restore Original Detail After Deflicker
Closed by default, opening this control group reveals two controls:
Detail to Restore slider: Lets you quickly isolate grain, fine detail, and sharp
edgeswhich should not be affected by the deflicker operation, preserving those fine
detailsexactly.
Show Detail Restored checkbox: Turning this checkbox on lets you see the edges that
are detected and used by the Detail to Restore slider, to help you tune this operation.
Output
The output pop‑up menu lets you choose what Deflicker outputs, with options to help you
troubleshoot problem clips. Here are the available options:
Deflickered Result: The final, repaired result. This is the default setting.
Detected Flicker: This option shows you a mask that highlights the parts of the image
that are being detected as having flickering, to help you evaluate whether the correct
parts of the image are being targeted. This mask can be very subtle, however.
Magnified Flicker: This options shows you an exaggerated version of the Detected
Flicker mask, to make it easier to see what the Deflicker plug‑in is doing.
1-78Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
Flicker Addition
On the other hand, why remove flicker when you can add it instead? Found in the “ResolveFX
Transform” category, the Flicker Addition plug‑in adds rapidly animated exposure changes to
make the image appear to flicker, creating animated effects that would be difficult to keyframe
manually. When applied to an image in different ways, this plug‑in can be used to simulate
torchlight, firelight, light fixtures with old ballasts or frayed wiring, or any temporally unstable
light source. For example, you could key only the highlights of a night‑time image, and use
Flicker Addition to affect those isolated highlights.
Two groups of controls let you control the quality of this flickering.
Main Controls
The Flicker Type pop‑up menu lets you apply the flicker as a Lift, Gamma, Gain, or
Vignetteadjustment.
The Range slider lets you set how widely the flickering will vary. Speed lets you adjust how
quickly the flickering is animated. The Smoothness slider lets you adjust the temporal quality of
the flickering, whether it changes abruptly from one value to another (at lower settings) or
whether it makes more continuous transitions from one value to another (at higher settings).
Three checkboxes let you choose which color channels are affected by this flickering.
Flicker Quality
These controls let you adjust the details of how the flickering animates.
The Randomness Scale slider lets you introduce irregularity to the Horizontal, Vertical, and
Rotational motion of the camera shake. The greater this value, the more irregularity will be
introduced. The Randomness Speed slider lets you choose between smoothly erratic motion (at
lower values) or more jagged motion (at higher values).
The Pause Length slider lets you adjust the frequency of intermittent pauses that break up the
random motion added by this filter. The Pause Interval slider lets you adjust the duration of
intermittent pauses that break up the random motion added by this filter. The Pause
Randomness lets you add a degree of randomness to the intervals that happen.
The Random Seed slider lets you alter the value that sets what random values are being 1038
produced. Identical values result in identical randomness.
Film Damage
Found in the “ResolveFX Texture” category. After you’ve used the new ResolveFX Revival
plug‑ins to fix damage in archival footage, you can turn around and use the Film Damage
plug‑in to make brand new digital clips look worn, dirty, and scratched instead. When used in
conjunction with the Film Grain and Flicker Addition plug‑ins, you can convincingly recreate the
feel of poorly kept vintage archival footage.
(Left) Original image, (Right) Result with Film Damage
1-79Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
Blur and Shift Controls
The three parameters at the top let you alter the foundation of the image to begin creating the
look of an older film. Film Blur lets you add just a bit of targeted defocusing to knock the digital
sharpness out of the image. Temp Shift defaults to warming the image just a bit to simulate the
warmer bulb of a film projector, although you can use it to cool or warm the image in varying
amounts. Tint Shift defaults to yellowing the image to simulate damage to the film dyes, but you
could move the slider in the other direction to add a bit of magenta, simulating a different kind
of dye failure.
Add Dirt
These parameters let you simulate dirt particles (not dust) that have adhered to the film.
Theseare larger specks, although there’s several ways you can customize these.
The Dirt Color control lets you choose what color you want the dirt particles to be
(blacksimulates dirt on a print, while white simulates dirt on a negative). The Changing Dirt
checkbox lets you alternate between simulating temporally unstable dirt on the film
(checkboxon), and dirt on the lens that doesn’t move (checkbox off). Dirt Density lets you
choose more or less dirt particles appearing over time. Dirt Size lets you choose the average
size of dirt particles to appear. Dirt Blur lets you defocus the dirt so it’s not so sharp. Dirt Seed
changes the random distribution of dirt when you change this value, but for any given value,
theresults for any given set of control adjustments remain consistent.
Add Scratch
These parameters add a single scratch to the image, simulating something scratching the
emulsion while the film played.
Scratch Color lets you choose the color you want the scratch to be (scratches can be a variety
of colors depending on the depth of the scratch, type of film, and method of printing). Scratch
Position lets you adjust the scratch’s horizontal position on the image. Scratch Width and
Scratch Strength let you adjust the scratch’s severity, while Scratch Blur lets you defocus it.
The Moving Scratch checkbox lets you choose whether the scratch is jittering around or not.
Moving amplitude determines how far it moves. Moving Speed determines how fast it moves.
Moving Randomness determines how it meanders about, and Flickering Speed determines how
much the scratch flickers lighter and darker in severity.
Add Vignetting
These parameters simulate lens vignetting darkening the edges of the image.
Focal Factor adjusts how far the vignetting extends into the image. Geometry Factor affects
how dark the vignetting is, and how pronounced the edges are. Tilt Amount affects how
balanced the vignetting at the top of the image is versus the bottom of the image, while
TiltAngle affects how balanced the vignetting left of the image is versus the right, but only
when Tilt Amount is set to something other than 0.
1-80Chapter – 5 New ResolveFX
Chapter 6
Fairlight Page
Improvements
The Fairlight Page is full of big new features and small refinements, making
this an even more professional tool for audio postproduction, whether
you’re doing dialog editing, sound design, audio cleanup, or mixing.
Withnew tools for automated dialog replacement, sound effects searching
and auditioning, VSTi support for samplers to do MIDI controller‑driven
foley, 3D audio panning, clip and track bouncing, and numerous new
UIrefinements, controls, and commands for audio playback and editing,
there’s something for every kind of audio professional.
1-81Chapter – 6 Fairlight Page Improvements
Contents
New Fairlight Page Features 1-83
ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement) 1-83
Fixed Playhead Mode 1-90
Video and Audio Scrollers 1-90
3D Audio Pan Window 1-91
Visible Video Tracks 1-92
User‑Selectable Input Monitoring Options 1-93
Commands For Bouncing Audio 1-93
Sound Library Browser 1-94
VSTi Support For Recording Instrument Output 1-96
General Fairlight Page Enhancements 1-99
Normalize Audio Levels Command 1-99
Clip Pitch Control 1-99
Support for Mixed Audio Track Formats from Source Clips 1-100
Oscillator for Generating Tone, Noise, and Beeps 1-100
Compound Clips Breadcrumb ControlsBelow Fairlight Timeline 1-101
Level and Eects Appear in Inspector for Selected Bus 1-101
Audio Waveform Display While Recording 1-101
Audio Playback for Variable Speed Clips 1-101
Paste and Remove Attributes for Clips, Audio Tracks 1-102
Loop Jog Scrubbing 1-102
Improved Speaker Selection Includes Multiple I/O Devices 1-102
Fairlight Page Editing Enhancements 1-103
Media Pool Preview Player 1-103
Edit Page—Compatible Navigation and Selection Keyboard Shortcuts 1-103
Trim Start/End to Playhead Works in the Fairlight Timeline 1-104
New Fade In and Out to Playhead Trim Commands 1-104
Sync Oset Indicator 1-104
1-82Chapter – 6 Fairlight Page Improvements
New Fairlight Page Features
This section describes some of the biggest new features added to the Fairlight page in
DaVinciResolve 15.
ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement)
Clicking the ADR button on the Interface Toolbar opens up the celebrated Fairlight ADR panel,
which provides a thoroughly professional workflow for doing automated dialog replacement.
Dialog replacement, for those who don’t know, is the process whereby audio professionals
bring in actors to re‑record unsalvageably bad dialog recordings from the comfort of their
recording studios, line by line and with a great deal of patience.
The ADR panel on the Fairlight page
It’s an old joke is that ADR isn’t really automatic, but the Fairlight page aims to give you all the
help it can to make this a structured and straightforward process. Simple yet powerful cue list
management lets you efficiently assemble a re‑recording plan. Industry‑standard audio beeps
and visual cues via your BMD video output device help the actors in the booth nail their timings
and their lines. Then, sophisticated take management with star ratings and layered take
organization in the Timeline help you manage the resulting recordings to pick and choose the
best parts of each take when you edit the results.
The ADR Interface
When open, the ADR interface consists of three panels to the left of the Timeline, a Record
panel, a List panel, and a Setup panel. The controls of these panels are described in the order
in which they’re used.
The Setup Panel
As its name implies, the Setup panel is where you configure your ADR session.
1-83Chapter – 6 Fairlight Page Improvements
The Setup panel of the ADR interface
This panel presents the following controls:
Pre Roll and Post Roll: Specifies how many seconds to play before and af