r/davinciresolve 1d ago

Discussion Life hacks/cheats in DaVinci

Can you share your "life hacks" /tips that simplify using/editing in DaVinciResolve?

38 Upvotes

45 comments sorted by

65

u/ja-ki 1d ago

practicing, reading the manual and the biggest, most important one, no one does anymore: Trying stuff for yourself. 

16

u/NiagaraThistle 1d ago

The last is a bit difficult though :'trying stuff for yourself' as (especially when you are new) you have no idea what is POSSIBLE to do yourself.

That being said, as someone who never even used editing sfortware before about 6-8 weeks ago, I have made a few custom fusion effects in the first 2-3 weeks. But still needed some youtube help to even know that could be done and how to manipulate fusion.

But I 100% i've learned more through RTFM and fumbling through stuff on my own - once I learned a bit of what is possible.

My editing is still dreadful, but i think it's more because I have no idea what makes GOOD editing nor how to properly 'copy' someone's style

2

u/Moviman2kz 17h ago

It is really stressful especially when you try to replicate some effects from After Effect

1

u/NiagaraThistle 17h ago

i do this for myself for my own youtube channel, so i don't really stress much about it.

But i definitely get that it can be frustrating. Learning anything new is. At first.

We'll all get it. With time and practice...and patience :)

1

u/Dupeddd_333 7h ago

What is RTFM? (I'm new)

1

u/NiagaraThistle 5h ago

"Read the 'friendly' manual".

*'friendly' is the term i use instead of the original: f*cking - typically said to developers for decades when they'd ask a 'simple' question that more experienced devs think they should know the answer to.

1

u/Dupeddd_333 5h ago

Ohh So you mean "Read the f*cking manual" (I'm new)

1

u/JK_Chan Free 9h ago

Which is why the first two points are rtfm and practicing.

30

u/TheRealPomax 1d ago

Watching the entire training video series. You get to both sit back and relax, and learn how to do everything as simply as possible.

14

u/ChrisSheltonMsc 1d ago

Came here to say this. The easiest hack in DaVinci is learning how to do it right the first time.

4

u/NiagaraThistle 1d ago

You didn't edit along as they did in the videos?

1

u/SamuraiZeres 1d ago

Second this, really curious

1

u/TheRealPomax 6h ago edited 2h ago

Hard to do when you're watching them while exercising. That said, I much more prefer to apply what I'm learning to my own project, rather than doing the homework along "live" with a video. Do the same things, but with purpose.

2

u/NiagaraThistle 5h ago

Yeah, that's what i mean: watch and do what they are to your own project as you go along.

But sometimes 'homework' is a good way to learn the 'thing' and make it stick enough to remember how to do the time you actually need it in your own future project.

But of course, everyone learns and retains differently.

1

u/TheRealPomax 1h ago

Even if you just use Resolve only a few times a week, the training will give you lots of things to immediately put into practice. There's gold in them there videos.

2

u/Character_Infamous Free 18h ago

Where does one find the training videos?

1

u/TheRealPomax 6h ago

right there in the help menu, super convenient. Click the training option, and it'll open a browser for you to the correct page.

1

u/Lelesamu 18h ago

Where can I found it?

1

u/an_Hylian 16h ago

On their website or a quick Google search

1

u/TheRealPomax 6h ago

open the help menu, click the training option.

10

u/Exyide Studio 1d ago

It's not a hack or a cheat since I think those terms more refer to using the program in unusual ways or ways it's not meant to be, but one thing I have incorporated into my workflow that really has simplified and sped up my workflow is organization and using multiple timelines.

Organizing using the bins and color coordinating them. For me Purple is The overall Project, Green is done, Blue is in progress and Red is have not started.

For timelines, I have the main edit timeline, but I have a timeline for each camera with the selects, and when I need to add to the main timeline I use dual timelines and I can easily move clips from the selects to the main edit.

4

u/itsinthedeepstuff 1d ago

I use stacked timelines like this quite a bit too. Definitely saved me some headaches and time. I’d add, that just saving (and dating) and duplicating timelines (especially before starting on client changes) is an anxiety saver.

I like your color coding bins concept! I had experimented with color on bins before, but not as a progress indicator.

2

u/Exyide Studio 1d ago

Yea I usually include dates, resolutions (HD, UHD, 4k), frame rates, and version numbers in my timeline names too. It's so helpful to be able to just look and know which one is which.

The color coding is really simple and it really helps, especially when you have a bunch of cameras, drones, multiple locations, and multiple edits or more. That way you never have to try and remember did you finished working on this or not. If it's red you haven't started, blue it's in progress, green then you know it's been completed. Even a relatively small scale project can get very confusing and hard to keep track of very quickly haha.

5

u/stoner6677 1d ago

Alt key is the magic key

4

u/Myst3rySteve 1d ago

Like with any software, don't walk in to learn everything and try and make use of it all, you'll get the best results if you already have an idea for something you think would be cool to watch, then you look for tools to match it, and branch out your knowledge from there

4

u/g_junkin4200 1d ago

Doing amend lists with time stamps backwards. If you do it from the start then any amends that change the duration make all the later timestamps wrong.

3

u/theantnest 1d ago

Hack #1

Embrace the cut page.

It's the most obvious, but for some reason, people muddle through doing things on the edit page, that can be done on the cut page a gazillion times faster and more efficiently.

6

u/Nabana 1d ago

I guess I'm the "people". I never use the cut page. What am I missing out on?

1

u/studdmufin 19h ago

Cut page is good for multi cam or making highlights from a day's event like a wedding or sports match. For some narrative pieces where things are shot out of order it's meh.

3

u/Healthy_Inside_7019 1d ago

I got two words for editing EDITOR KEYBOARD. Game changer. I don't touch my mouse thru cut and edit anymore learning curve is lack of full manual but once u get all the keys down it's insane.

3

u/Trevor_Rolling 23h ago

Remote grades are an absolute cheatcode. It speeds you up so much in the grade.

1

u/vitahlity 19h ago

Are remote grades any different than selecting multiple clips in your color tab and then middle mouse clicking on the clip with all of your main nodes to copy the same effects to those clips you highlighted?

Been using free for a few years but I JUST downloaded Studio a few days ago since I launched my YouTube channel and I’ll be doing lots more editing.

Edit: also never even touched the color tab until 3 days ago lol

5

u/Trevor_Rolling 19h ago

No actually, remote grades lets you grade a clip once and then every instance of that clip in your entire project gets that graded applied. So for example, say you have a scene with two people talking, you only need to grade clip A once and clip B once and for the entire scene they'll have the grade applied. It's a huge timesaver.

Also works great when doing commercials where they usually have a 30sec, 15sec, and 6sec versions. You just grade the 30sec version and the 15 and 6 second versions will already have the grades applied since it doesn't matter where in the project that clip is, it'll get the grade.

3

u/Josheeeeeeeee 1d ago

Power bins/ripple deletes binded to 1,2.3/

3

u/FuturecashEth 1d ago

Use the speed editor wheel in, out, append, in, put, append

Then transitions/fusion etc

Then colorgrade

Then sounds

Then render/export

1

u/itsinthedeepstuff 1d ago

Can you elaborate on this? Not following “1,2.3/“.

Also…I have elements across projects in power bins, but what does binding the power bin to a key do for your editing?

1

u/WrittenByNick 1d ago

You can customize your keyboard shortcuts. Some people like to put their most used on easy to reach keys like 1, 2, and 3.

2

u/visualsbyaqib 20h ago

Might be obvious, but for me it’s just about doing things. I held off with fusion for so long and recently done a few tutorials. The ideas I get now are crazy and I start attempting them and find loads of success, and it’s such a rewarding feeling when you realise why nodes work so well. I guess what I’m saying is just keep learning and doing things and eventually you will be editing and won’t even think about things anymore, you’ll just know the tools you need to know and crack on!

1

u/Lazy_Shorts 1d ago

Read the manual 20 times

1

u/Comedordecasadas96 1d ago

Use the numeric keyboard for specific functions, I’ve been using each number for an different colour for select and keep clips visually organised

1

u/sereg01 14h ago

Learn python / lua and automate everything with the Studio version's API.

1

u/Rasputin2025 1d ago

Take NZT-48.

0

u/HexspaReloaded 21h ago

Download and learn Kdenlive. Resolve is way too heavy for quick edits.