If you are looking for a great, free video editor, look no further than DaVinci Resolve. This powerful editor has just about everything you need to create and edit professional-quality videos on Windows, Mac OS, and even Linux systems. And did we mention it was free? If you don’t already have it, download it here.
The DaVinci Resolve Studio contains many features that can help you customize videos to your liking, but if you are a complete beginner who just wants to know how to do the absolute basics, then this DaVinci Resolve tutorial is for you!
So, wondering how to use DaVinci Resolve? Follow along for our beginner editing guide.
Wait! We will be doing a very basic overview today, so if you want something with a little more detail, check out our YouTube video covering DaVinci Resolve 17 (this is where our screenshots are from).
How to Use DaVinci Resolve: Beginner Editing Guide
How to Create a New Project in DaVinci Resolve
The first thing you will need to do is open up DaVinci Resolve and look for the “New Project” button at the bottom of the window. Click it, and the “Create New Project” window will pop up. Next, name your project and click “Create.”
How to Import Media in DaVinci Resolve
Now you can take a lot at the Workstation. Here we will be working in the “Media” tab at the bottom of the window by the arrow. This can be used for videos, images, and audio. You can drag and drop your media from the list of folders on your computer in the upper left corner or open a folder on your computer and drag and drop from there.
How to Edit Clips in Black Magic Design’s DaVinci Resolve
Now that you have your clips, you are ready to begin editing. Click the “Edit” tab at the bottom of the page by the arrow and then drag and drop your clips from the upper left side onto the timeline as shown below.
If you are looking to trim your clips, the easiest way to do it is by dragging the lines at the side of your clips in the edit page. For example, you can drag the left side of your clip to trim the beginning as we are doing in that yellow circle below or the right side to trim the end.
Trim too much? Don’t worry – you can easily drag the sides back.
What if you want to trim something in the middle? You can use the blade tool indicated by the arrow below. Select it, and then click the point in your video with the cut page you want. It will split the video into two pieces. You can do this as many times as you need to get that part you want to cut out, then delete it.
How to Change Video Clip Speed in DaVinci Resolve
If you want to speed up or slow down your video speed, right-click on the clip you want to change and select “Change Clip Speed.”
You will get a popup window in the video editor that shows you the different options. You can drag the double-ended arrow in the yellow circle left and right to either decrease or increase your speed, or you can enter the numbers manually.
Notice that as you change the speed, your frames per second and duration also change. This is perfect if you need an adjustment clip to take up only a certain amount of time.
Hit the “Change” button at the bottom when done.
How to Unlink Audio and Video in DaVinci Resolve
Notice on the timeline below that the clips are separated into blue and green bars in the editing software. The blue is your video, and the green is your audio. If you want to separate these, right-click your clip, and look for the “Link Clips” option at the bottom of the menu, where we have the yellow circle. Uncheck that to unlink your audio and video.
Alternatively, if you’re just looking to mute your audio, look for the “M” button to the left of your audio clip, as indicated by the arrow below.
How to Resize and Crop Video Clips in DaVinci Resolve
If you want to resize your video, click the little drop-down arrow indicated by the yellow circle, then click “Transform.” Note that under “Transform,” there is also an option to “Crop” your video too, and it works similarly to “Transform.”
Notice the little handles that have popped up on and around the video clip? You can drag the sides to resize your video, or if you choose “Crop” instead of “Transform,” you can crop your video in basically the same way.
How to Add Transitions in DaVinci Resolve
Click “Effects Library” indicated by the arrow. From the visual effects library, you can look down at the left side for the yellow circle where it says, “Video Transitions.”
Also, note the “Inspector” tab at the top indicated by the arrow. This is where you will be able to edit your transition or motion graphics with the video editing software.
Choose your transition feature and visual effects and drag and drop them to where you want them to go in your video. It’ll put a little white box on your clip where you added the transition.
How to Add Titles to Your Video in DaVinci Resolve
If you look down the list under “Video Transitions,” you will see “Titles.” Click that, choose your title format, and drag and drop where you want it, just like when you added a transition.
You can edit your title with the “Inspector” button at the top right corner of the window.
How to Export Your Final Project in DaVinci Resolve
Once your video is complete, click “Deliver,” as indicated by the yellow circle at the bottom.
Make sure the gray bar by the yellow circle is all selected if you want the whole video.
Now check out the “Render” settings at the top left. Here you can adjust file format and choose to save your video to your computer or upload it to different platforms. Then, click “Add to Render Queue” by the arrow.
Now go over to the right side and click “Render All” at the yellow circle.
We hope this brief DaVinci Resolve tutorial was helpful! Also, remember to check out our YouTube video for more on how to use DaVinci Resolve!
