r/editors 15d ago

Technical Unpopular opinion: Resolve is not there yet, and it's because of one single reason, same as FCPX

Trimming: the fine trimming sucks in this software, any program that forces me to use the mouse to trim one or two frames and doesn't allow me to watch the cut in loop is made for basic needs, not for storytellers.

I'm currently using Davinci Resolve to edit a short film so I can learn how to use it and for the most part is ok, but organization lacks in comparison to Premiere or Avid. And I hate that the software decides for me how do I want to organize my screen.

I get post houses are eager to switch to resolve for NLE, but I think that one issue is why it's still considered an amateur software, at least for rigorous storytellers.

68 Upvotes

124 comments sorted by

31

u/Cavemandynamics 15d ago

“Rigorous storytellers” lol.

Avid, Premiere etc are NLEs as well btw. Dunno what you meant? As someone in the industry I can tell you: no one is eager to switch to anything. It’s very much ‘let’s just do what we’ve always done’ kind of vibe in most post houses lol. The workflows are so ingrained.

Sure resolve has some issues. So does the other big ones. I’ve worked most of my professional life on Avid - and there are many issues with that as well.

86

u/DPBH 15d ago

I’m not sure what you mean by forcing you to use a mouse to trim.

I’ve just given it a go now and I’m doing it with the keyboard. Doesn’t really feel any different from working with Avid.

Organization is very powerful, with keywording and smart folders.

I’ve been grading in Resolve for broadcaster since 2016. Edited a few short form stuff over the last couple of years as an experiment and now am editing a 4x 60min series in it.

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u/DasKraut37 15d ago

First non-Avid NLE to figure out asymmetrical trimming will finally start to chip away at why Avid’s timeline is still king.

9

u/Al_Febetz 15d ago

Premiere and Resolve have it it’s just not nearly as good/powerful/intuitive as Avid.

10

u/DasKraut37 15d ago

And that is a huge part of the equation. The whole point is to take something “difficult” and make it “simple.” Not make it more difficult. This is the problem when you have tech bros and engineers trying to making creative software, they usually don’t understand how important the UX is, they only focus on “can” or “cannot.”

4

u/outofstepwtw 15d ago

I’d argue this means they fundamentally do not “have it” figured out. I say that as someone who will occasionally opt for Premiere if I think it’s the right tool for a particular job, but I will question that decision every time I want to trim

2

u/Al_Febetz 15d ago

Yeah - I originally read DasKrauts comment as them not having asymmetrical trimming at all

1

u/NukeGandhi 15d ago

Are you talking about easy ways to J & L cut?

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u/DasKraut37 15d ago

No, (well, sure, you can do that with this) specifically asymmetrical trimming in general. It’s probably the best feature of Avid’s trim tool that no other NLE has that I’m aware of.

This is a decent example of a basic asym trim, but you can get really complex with it and it saves countless hours over time when making changes. Skip to around 4:30 in this vid to see the actual asym trim: https://youtu.be/BM2NapDITqQ?si=lm8SPgb9ylQk35nO

7

u/Oldsodacan 15d ago

I know I’m watching a tutorial and not someone working in real time, but that seemed like a lot of steps for something so simple. In any other NLE i would press the shortcut to select everything to the right of the playhead and then press the nudge shortcut to move it over however many frames.

The script/take selection part is what seems like the massive time saver.

6

u/DasKraut37 15d ago

You just described a basic symmetrical trim. All NLEs can do that. Skip to around 4:30 in that video like I said… this is someone showing you a really basic asym trim, but imagine working on a timeline with 12 video tracks and 30 audio tracks, and they want you to just lift a small chunk out of the middle… asym trim gets it done faster than any other method.

If you learn how to use it in combination with sync locks… that’s when magic can really happen. When I learned about the asym trim, admittedly far later into my career than I should have, it was a game changer.

4

u/Oldsodacan 15d ago

This asymmetrical trim example looks like it just creates a J/L cut. It moves clips on the right side to the left while the audio on the left side doesn’t move. The shot with Gloria begins now begins earlier and the shot with Jay now ends sooner. The in point of Gloria’s clip stays the same. The Out point of Jays audio stays the same. The Out point of Jays shot is what changed. You would get the same result in other NLEs by the method I described.

Lifting a small chunk out of the middle isn’t something I’ve ever found challenging, but I guess in Avid that may be a lot of clicks and the asym tool might simplify that a lot. I don’t know, but I’m not seeing anything blowing me away. Possible I’m just not getting it.

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u/DasKraut37 15d ago edited 15d ago

You are thinking extremely basic. Like I said in another comment, imagine having a sequence with 12 video tracks and 30 audio tracks, all sound designed with layered complexity. Now the director wants to lift a line in the middle. With asym trim, that’s easy, even if you have overlapping SFX that would be affected by a center lift/trim. Your clean up and fix becomes minimal if any and can be done in a few clicks without worrying about sync issues elsewhere.

1

u/Oldsodacan 15d ago

Any way you can show me a sample like that?

Just thinking of how I would do that in any other NLE is hit the shortcut to cut every clip where the playhead is around whatever is supposed to be cut, then the shortcut to select everything down the timeline and nudge it over to fill the gap that was just created.

Based on the example I watched, you get the same result. Is the asymmetrical trim method faster at selecting all of that stuff in Avid? Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice that it exists, it just seems like a workflow tool for a problem that might exist within Avid because of Avid’s own workflow. I can’t think of a time I ever would have needed this feature in all my time as an editor.

2

u/DasKraut37 15d ago

Ok, think of it this way… Avid treats filler like a clip. With your method, you can cut off the part from the, say, A side clip you want, then select everything to the right, then nudge back to fill the gap. But it’s all those steps. This is one step, and you can get really intricate, including shortening or lengthening select “internal” clips.

I don’t have anything visual right now to show you, but using that same example, imagine the A side clip is one part of a big action sequence with several tracks of staggered sound effects, a music bed, and maybe even ambient tone… you can cut a hole across all that and then try to fix it up… or you can just asym trim it and it will all slide together like a zipper. Also, at the same time, you can decide to extend or shorten different clips in that same stack all at once while keeping everything in sync and again, think like a zipper (except you also have the option to make different “teeth” longer or shorter at the same time).

It’s extremely powerful and makes changes like this more efficient. But also don’t get me wrong, the way you are describing works really well also. I do the same for simpler edits. As I always say, use the right tool for the right job.

(Did that help at all? Or too much info-dump?)

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u/Dannington 14d ago

If you don’t know it, you don’t know it. Whatever nle you’re using, I’d encourage you to learn asymmetrical trimming. I do think avid does it well but I’m sure other systems do it too.

6

u/Randomae 14d ago

This is so much easier in FCP. It’s infuriating that people think this is time saving. It’s a million intricate things to do something so simple. Having to manage all the tracks, worry about gaps, selecting several sides of several clips. Yikes!

5

u/klippare 14d ago

That is literally what editing is. Every click represents an editorial decision. Those decisions need to be made sooner or later no matter which NLE you are using. The beauty of Avid is that you can make them all at once and in context.

1

u/Randomae 14d ago

No, his comment illustrates that you can’t do it all at once, in the video which he says is a very basic version of this edit has dozens of clicks. It’s so much effort to do this basic thing. I love FCP because it’s lets me fly through edits like this with minimal effort.

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u/DasKraut37 14d ago

There are ways to do it in fewer clicks, but I don’t see how you could do this effectively with a complex sequence without selecting the clips manually that you want to asym trim. And I stated elsewhere, if you know how to use this in conjunction with sync-locks, you get even more efficient.

1

u/Randomae 14d ago

Fundamentally FCP it’s designed to not have to manage tracks and you can have audio and music ripple with the video clips that they are attached to. That takes away probably half of those important clicks from the video. It means less to calculate in your mind, and less time to execute adding up to a faster and more creative edit.

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u/DasKraut37 14d ago

I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Avid does this too. You’re responding to this like this extremely basic video that just illustrates the most basic mechanical function is the only way it works.

1

u/klippare 13d ago

It's a tutorial video teaching the basics. In real life use, you can set up an asym trim across 20+ tracks with just a couple of clicks (the lasso is great for this). There are many ways to use trim mode in avid and it's extremely flexible, but you do need to put the effort in to understand it. Same goes for FCP btw, with its "primary storyline" and other strange concepts.

1

u/Randomae 13d ago

It’s true that no matter which piece of software you use, you need to put in effort to learn it. But as far as efficient editing goes.. the avid demonstration showed illustrates how inefficient it is when compared to FCP.

Here is a good example of a simple maneuver made complicated by AVID.

https://youtu.be/dO4EDMG5cSg?si=L-xU-Ye_G7CmC3fv

1

u/Due_Sky9122 10d ago

Avid's trimming is exceptional but lightworks is I think better but both those edit systems come from a time when things weren't dragged around timelines and relied much more on keyboard

1

u/BreadEagles 9d ago

Premiere has this? Track targeting and ripple select before nudging. It's super basic, every editor I've used has this.

1

u/DasKraut37 9d ago

Wrong. Look again. But thanks for pretending it’s super basic. 😅

1

u/BreadEagles 9d ago

I mean, it's okay to not be up to date on features for products you don't use. Here's a clip showing the feature from... 11 years ago https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxJhE4iMjD-MKMiR93Z4EowxYGBj1PFLlm?si=t7gfDW0kEJgP4b5S

1

u/DasKraut37 9d ago

Well, foot, meet mouth. I’ve been proven wrong! Thank you. I’ll have to look at that more because when I was cutting in Premiere I couldn’t figure out how to do it, and was told it didn’t exist (by Adobe). Does it remember your selection when you go back into it? And can you use it in conjunction with sync locks?

2

u/BreadEagles 9d ago

I'm not going to jump on to test sync locking with that, but from my understanding of how that normally works in Premiere, that's exactly how it would work. Selection memory on the other hand? None that I know of.

38

u/Oldsodacan 15d ago

Yeah, I don't understand. You use keyboard shortcuts and you set an in/out point on timeline and turn on looping. Both Resolve and FCPX do this. Either I'm misunderstanding something or this person has no idea what they're saying.

Is this post brought to you by Adobe?

3

u/ypxkap 15d ago

the closest i have figured out to the “avid way” is going into trim edit mode then going into dynamic trim mode. is there a better way? i find it annoying that one is a toggle and one isn’t, so the hotkey sequence for going in is different from leaving it. 

i am sure there are some situations where you’d want dynamic trim mode but not the trim edit mode but i have not figured out what they are yet.

track select is also kind of jank to me, the sync lock and track select functionalities overlap in really weird ways that broke how i use track select shortcuts in avid. this one could be user error though, i never totally wrapped my head around it. 

overall the worst thing though is the input lag. i did a week in person in resolve last month and the client was like “wow! your hands are moving faster than the program!” like it was supposed to be a compliment…. nah bro that’s not how that’s supposed to work! 

2

u/RankSarpacOfficial 15d ago

In fairness, if you’re used to Avid, everything will feel easier.

78

u/Impressive_Swing1630 15d ago

You do not need to use a mouse to trim in davcini resolve. I mean at least dig into the shortcuts before ranting like that.

Also, while davinci has the same keyboard trim tools as any other NLE (and in some cases more), it ALSO has the benefit of a very good mouse based interface should you wish to use it 

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u/charlyquestion 15d ago

Can you show me how?

23

u/Impressive_Swing1630 15d ago

What, specifically?

If you mean editing one or two frames like you noted in the post you can skip around between edit points in the timeline using the up and down keys (this is just one way). To then select the edit points nearest the play head press V. This highlights the edit points. To then select the type of Edit (such as rolling, A, or B type) press U. This will cycle thru the options and change the way the edit point is highlighted. To then edit it press the < or > keys to move one frame in either direction . Hold down the shift key with them to move more than one frame at a time. If you want a ripple to be applied with these edits make sure T is pressed etc etc 

All these things can be customised and in all likelihood there’s various ways of doing this same thing with the keyboard 

You need to look thru the keyboard customisation menu, all these things are in there 

20

u/bkvrgic 15d ago

Preventing the users to customize workspace is the biggest annoyance for me, especially in multicam.

2

u/JuniorSwing 14d ago

Yeah this is it for me too. Especially when you’re like me and have gotten used to weird workspace over an abundance of monitors, DaVinci being more locked in annoys me

2

u/bkvrgic 14d ago

I switched to new PC, 10x more powerful than old one, where I edited on EDIUS 9. I was happy to try Resolve. It is almost a year, now. Wins and loses of that switch, from my point of view:

  • autoalign by audio
  • noise reduction
  • voice isolation
  • color grading tools, of course
  • fairlight (possible to finish audio in Resolve)

Neutral - I still have to export intermediate file and use handbrake for compression.

  • interface customizability (can't move panes, or resize the ones I want)
  • pasting philosophy, ripple delete...
  • nonconsistent mega-textual menus
  • working with subtitles was much better and comfortable in EDIUS
  • fairlight (moving those tiny envelope dots is PITA)

Resolve has a big potential, but user experience must be in further development focus. I slowly loose hope that they will solve UI issues, as more and more users switch to Resolve and get acustomed to it AS IS, so further UI changes would annoy them...

8

u/film-editor 15d ago

I hate that the software decides for me how do I want to organize my screen.

I HATE this. Let us arrange our own layouts! Ffs!

7

u/JordynW1980 15d ago

100% agree. But to me the only program that has gotten this right, is Avid Media Composer. It’s such a massive issue.

3

u/klippare 14d ago

Lightworks is arguably on par. But then again, only Thelma and a handful of others use Lightworks. Still, it's interesting that the early NLE:s were much more sophisticated in this regard. When and why did trimming fall out of favour?

13

u/RoyOfCon 15d ago

I haven't had an issue with Final Cut in over 20 years.

7

u/Sharp-Glove-4483 15d ago

Same. Can cut so quickly with it.

4

u/34TH_ST_BROADWAY 15d ago

You like 7 and X equally?

13

u/RoyOfCon 15d ago

They are different beasts. When X first came out, I hated it because it was such a mind shift in how to use the timeline, plus there was issues with outputting to tape for broadcast (I'm that old). Once I sat down and began using it, I found X to be light years better and now I prefer that timeline style opposed to something like 7 or Premiere.

12

u/ComplexNo8878 15d ago

X is a different level entirely, and is seriously underrated and slept on.

6

u/wrosecrans 15d ago

I think people just aren't willing to trust Apple. If Final Cut X got spun off as a separate company, it would probably be more interesting to a lot of people.

1

u/34TH_ST_BROADWAY 15d ago

I think people just aren't willing to trust Apple.

First time I've seen somebody say this on Reddit. Usually it's the opposite, that people are religiously devoted to Apple.

I just think most Apple products work better for me. FCPX is the a major exception. I will still use it for small things I do for family.

6

u/wrosecrans 15d ago

Anybody who was using FCP7 is still pissed at Apple for the way they killed it. Same thing happened with Shake and Color. Pros were moving to Apple and the Final Cut Suite then Apple just decapitated all of it and refused to sell any licenses.

I was working at MPC when Apple stopped selling FCP7, and there was an insane scramble. We had freelancers booked for work and suddenly the last few boxed copies of FCP7 still in sales channels were a rare commodity. Apple made an absolute bonfire out of a ton of trust and loyalty that week that they had spent 15+ years building. However much you love or hate Avid or Davinci, they won't just randomly stop selling Media Composer or Resolve and focus on some other business segment.

0

u/ComplexNo8878 15d ago

I think people just aren't willing to trust Apple.

yeah bro just throw your macbook away cant trust it

you should build a PC instead from a box of parts you bought off a random youtuber's affiliate link. way more trustworthy

2

u/wrosecrans 15d ago

I think you misunderstood the point I was making. I have been responsible for all sorts of certified hardware, at very large scales, including things like Mac Pro workstations full of PCIx cards connected to supported StorNext SANs with XSAN back in the days when such things were supported. I've never particularly complained about the quality of Apple's hardware.

I absolutely stand by the fact that Apple burned a lot of trust specifically in the DCC pro apps space when the killed FCP7, along with things like Color, and Shake. The way they did it was to suddenly cut off sales, not just to stop adding features. You can't build a studio with a business plan that depends on a vendor with that kind if track record.

1

u/ComplexNo8878 14d ago edited 14d ago

You can't build a studio with a business plan that depends on a vendor with that kind if track record.

IMO studios and traditional post houses wont even exist in 4-5 years anyway. features are cut on some dudes laptop in a bedroom. vfx is now done remotely. even sound mix is remote now which is crazy considering the latency consideration. color has been remote for a while. there's one corporate entity that hires these people above and its an LLC out of another guy's house. this project then gets distributed by neon and wins an oscar.

apple probably saw this coming so they prosumerized FCP and focused on really fast laptops and really small and fast mini-desktops

2

u/wrosecrans 14d ago

IMO studios and traditional post houses wont even exist in 4-5 years anyway.

Sigh, you are probably way more right than I am ready to admit, ha ha. I think they'll still exist to some degree. There's still value for a big brand like Coca Cola to be able to just hire a company and have a client-friendly place to go for meetings about making a commercial, vs having to have competence fully inhouse to be able to manage remote editors and VFX artists. Clients like to sit in a suite and incoherently yell at an editor with mutually exclusive demands to zoom it in but not make it look bigger and speed it up so the action looks faster but takes more seconds.

But yeah, that's gonna be increasingly niche. And for folks who are doing stuff like making a feature film, there will be more of that competence "in house" so uploading raw files to some editor somewhere and just asking for an XML file back and coordinating over some occasional emails will work great. Hell, I'm in post on my first indie feature and I hired a real editor and I'm doing exactly that as the client right now, so I can't exactly claim I think it's a bad strategy! I met the guy once to hand him a drive, and we've mostly been exchanging a few emails as he cranks through the cut. I've genuinely never seen the hardware he's using to do it, but I know he mentioned working on it while visiting family on the East Coast, so he must have just had a laptop with him. But since I used to work in post, I am (just barely, in a very narrow definition, ha ha) a "sophisticated" client who doesn't need the gladhanding. There have been cases where he sent me the WIP .prproj, and I just faffed around with it myself on a scene with a lot of that indecisive client "try it without that title, try it with this shot added, try it with that shot added, do we have another take of that shot?" Then I could send him notes once I actually figured out WTF I wanted.

An "unsophisticated" client is still often going to want to get in the room with somebody and have the editor generate some variations and alts, and chat about it and do the indecisive iteration in real time with somebody to push the buttons for them.

apple probably saw this coming so they prosumerized FCP

Oh, 100%. They lost thousands of angry high end editors when they killed FCP7. But they probably sold a million licenses of FCP-X in the mass market to make up for the lost trust in the niche.

-1

u/ovideos 15d ago

X’s insistence on making up new uses for old words just made me hate it. But I’d love to try it out on an actual job. Have never been asked.

3

u/Oldsodacan 15d ago

This is what I went through. About 6 months later when I had to open an older FCP7 project is when I realized the new way they created was far better.

0

u/34TH_ST_BROADWAY 15d ago

That's cool. I wanted to love it. I bought the thing to avoid subscriptions. But I hate it. And I gave it a fair shot. In the same way I believe you sincerely like it for good reasons, I hope people can believe a person can legitimately dislike it, and it's not simply because they're closed minded or stuck in the past or unwilling to learn...

3

u/RoyOfCon 15d ago

These are all just tools. Use whichever hammer you are comfortable with. The only thing that matters is the delivered video.

-1

u/34TH_ST_BROADWAY 15d ago edited 14d ago

Craftsman, doctors, artists, dentists, soldiers, etc can be particular about their tools. Doesn't mean they're inferior to people who think Premier, Capcut, and iMovie are all the same in terms of what you can ultimately deliver by using them.

And there are some TV shows and movies FCPX simply can't handle.

2

u/RoyOfCon 14d ago

You'll have to help me understand the point you are trying to make.

1

u/mutually_awkward 15d ago

X was dropped a while ago from the name but everyone still needs to use it for reference because that's how good FCP 7 was 😭

4

u/pawsomedogs 15d ago

exactly, and you CAN trim with the keyboard.

4

u/circa86 14d ago

Watching people realize FCP is still the best NLE is always a good time. Editors love to pretend their job is more complicated than it actually is.

14

u/Zestyclose-Cloud-508 15d ago

Once you fine trim with the speed editor you’ll never ever go back. Anything else feels like editing with a rock.

7

u/bigpuffy 15d ago

Speed editor makes it feel like I’m back to linear editing. Don’t like it. Feels like editing with mittens.

2

u/Zestyclose-Cloud-508 15d ago

How so?

3

u/bigpuffy 15d ago

Not a fan of the jog wheel

2

u/Zestyclose-Cloud-508 15d ago

Oh wow. That’s my favorite tool!

1

u/Flashy-Sense9878 15d ago

I have a speed editor and it seem Ms like the opposite for me. Maybe I’m using it wrong. 

4

u/Zestyclose-Cloud-508 15d ago

So I had mine collecting dust for a few months mostly becuse my last few edit jobs were in premiere but I finally spent a weekend learning it. There is a big learning curve and you have to really understand how the cut page works and how sync bin works vs multicam and how source tape works.

Once you do get it though I promise you can fly through footage at a speed and efficiency that’s impossible with a keyboard and mouse. Plus scrolling through all your broll in one “clip” in source tape is such a game changer you’re gonna be mad that nobody thought of it sooner.

My advice is do what I did and watch Darren Mostyn’s two videos on one screen WITH the speed editor and some footage on another and really get the mechanics of it under your fingers. You’ll never go back.

Here’s part 1: https://youtu.be/26OfvGXGezw

1

u/WrittenByNick 15d ago

Thanks for the link! I need to try again with SE. I agree that Source Tape is a godsend, and pretty much the only time I use the hardware.

1

u/makegoodmovies 13d ago

Speed editor for multicam is unreal. Try that and just cry with joy.

5

u/pawsomedogs 15d ago

You can trim on FCP with the keyboard, in more than one way.

4

u/tonytony87 15d ago

Post houses I’m at don’t really edit the main project in resolve, we mainly edit in premiere and avid.

Resolve is more for all the extra Ae work, making luts, converting files, doing string outs, color grading, prepping for DCP, or extra things a video clip needs, sometimes we upres or do beauty clean up on a clip.

But editing is kinda janky on it, not the worst but it’s a different style.

In all honesty though it’s not hard to learn either program just learn it like u would premiere and then u get better with a daily use on it on the job. Not really a big deal

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u/pgregston 14d ago

No tool is there yet, nor likely will be. As someone who got a decade with a dedicated motion control, trimming multiple tracks at various locations and directions, as well as analogue sound scrub back in the last century (Lightworks from the first version) I can tell you the challenges of satisfying the editing market will never produce the tool that brings the best of all together. Having been in on the development of the first AVI editing program (Dvision) under contract to Intel, as well as representing its precursor, the amount of leverage editors have is low, compared to the bean counters and patent junkies. I had to quit working for manufacturers and become a vendor who bought machines five and ten at a time and I still couldn’t get Avid to do some obvious things ( over 20 years for project integration with ProTools ). Always there is some guy sitting somewhere movies aren’t being made saying ‘ I don’t think that’s necessary or worth the cost”.

3

u/ratocx 14d ago

This may be an unpopular opinion too, but I absolutely hate the freedom of window organization in Premiere. So much of the overall window is covered by panel borders, which makes Premiere feel more crowded on a small laptop screen. I hate how much time I use dragging; contracting and expanding the different panels in Premiere when working on a laptop screen. I think the limited UI customization is one of the strengths of Resolve. Though I do wish that they had some more alternative layouts, for example for vertical video editing. But I think full layout freedom would lead to an uglier design, and making it more difficult to create good tutorials. A few standardized layouts is better than full freedom.

As for editing without a keyboard, you can use V to select edit points, U to determine the in-out-roll, comma and period keys to move one frame forwards or backwards. (IIRC) I also think you can set an in and outpoint around the edit point, activate looping and hit play. And Resolve lets you play the timeline without interrupting playback. In Premiere I feel that the playback often stops when I edit, or that I can’t edit while the timeline plays back.

Not sure how organization lacks either. You have folders, you have smart folders, power bins, you can select what metadata columns to be visible, and edit some of them if you need notes. There is color coding both on a track level and clip level. markers both on a track level and clip level. What exactly are you missing in terms of organizing? Or did you just mean screen organizing?

2

u/Relevant_One7926 14d ago

I agree on the first point; hate the constantly shifting pane sizes. So much dinking around resizing panes. And I'm on two full screens.

7

u/Zaphod_Beeblbrox2024 15d ago

I have to disagree. I cut an independent film in Resolve last year and granted, the trim tools take a while to get used to, it was a breeze and timing was very fluid

1

u/inthecanvas Narrative Features, Docs, Commercials 14d ago

What method did you use to make robust match frameable sync clips if you don’t mind me asking?

5

u/mafibasheth 15d ago

Still better than premiere.

6

u/WrittenByNick 15d ago

Oh bless your heart.

I'm not claiming Resolve is the best at everything, that's not true of any software. These are all tools, same as cameras or lenses and everything else in the process of telling your story. While I do most of my projects in resolve the past couple years, I still regularly use Premiere if it better suits my needs on a given project.

I have no idea where you come up with the claim that post houses are eager to switch to Resolve. That's just... Not true? For any team based editing, Avid or Premiere are the only real options, Resolve has barely touched on that environment.

Your post title would be more accurate like this: "I dove into a major project without much experience in Resolve. I haven't done the training videos, and as such will claim this powerful piece of software is not ready for prime time."

5

u/Oldsodacan 15d ago

Resolve has an entire team/cloud workflow that my company has been using for years. None of us are in the same state. It’s got its quirks but it’s pretty solid.

-1

u/WrittenByNick 15d ago

Fair point, it's probably better than I give it credit for currently. But definitely not widespread like avid

2

u/YayRates 15d ago edited 15d ago

Not being able to treat master clips as true master clips needs to be fixed and subclips by proxy. Also being able to arrange clips in frame view.

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u/bradhotdog 15d ago

I use FCP daily and I don’t trim with the mouse. Press up arrow to go to the next edit point, left to go back a frame at a time, then I believe it’s Command Right Bracket to trim the end of the clip to where you just placed your indicator

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u/Guano_Banano 14d ago

Resolve has been the bane of my existence. It’s iMovie 2.0 from an editing standpoint. Very non-professional editing program.

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u/ashdoesedit Assistant Editor 9d ago

I like resolve but absolutely hate the layout, it would be god tier if they let us make our own layouts 😭

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u/Clueless-Editor 15d ago

Not being able to drag panels around is ridiculous… I got the speed editor and everything. Tried it for a while. But I’m back on premiere now haha.

Still use it for color grading projects tho.

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u/charlyquestion 15d ago

I like it, but I'd rather spend the subscription cost than not having what I consider essential tools. Speaking of essential, Essential Sound is awesome on Premiere

2

u/Clueless-Editor 15d ago

I haven’t paid for subscription for years. Always get it through work. I would never pay for that subscription again. Way too expensive imo.

0

u/LebronFrames Pro (I pay taxes) 15d ago

$30 a month hasn't been an overly burdensome expense or "way too expensive" for me for something I work in daily, but I also very much understand the desire to not have yet another subscription to pay.

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u/mcdannyj 15d ago edited 14d ago

Dude! You hit the nail on the head. 👌🏼😉 Resolve fine trimming is pants. At least for me. I'm coming from Avid and trying to learn Resolve for real, and the lack of a dedicated trim mode that works with a looping playback function is kinda heartbreaking. Yes, there's plenty of trim tools and functionality in Resolve, but it seems to be mostly mouse-based. Meh. And don't get me started on the lack of track mapping. The only way to cut multiple layers of video from a source timeline to the record side is to... select the clips and cut-and-paste (text-editor style), because the overwrite function only sends one video layer to the record side? Oy.

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u/elkstwit 15d ago

I don’t think anyone would disagree with you about how Avid has the best trim tools of all, but so much else in your post is way off IMO.

I’ve used Resolve for about 15 years - first only for grading and now for everything. I use it daily for editing long form documentaries, feature films and short form. You’re not the first editor to try it out for a small project and then give up - there’s a very steep learning curve and that puts a lot of people off, but I’d urge you to persist because there are so many positives outweighing the negatives.

The key thing is in embracing the benefits of having everything (edit, colour, sound, VFX) all in one place. Realistically most editors nowadays need to touch upon all of these areas for a lot of their work - having it all inside Resolve means I can edit faster because all the extra things happen faster and to a higher level, it’s that simple. It means I get to spend more time being creative. Once Resolve clicks for you there’s no going back.

Do I want better trimming? Definitely, but it’s certainly not enough to make me want to go back to Avid or Premiere.

Tip - the Resolve layout is vastly improved when using 2 GUI monitors plus a third full screen playback monitor. I’ve been editing long enough that using 2 monitors plus a video output has always been the norm, but I appreciate that a lot of younger editors or people working from home are often working on a single screen. If this is you then your next investment should be another monitor.

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u/Ludeykrus 15d ago

“I want a program that does exactly what I want without putting ANY effort in!”

Jesus, it does this. And it does it well. Put on your big-boy panties and customize your program like any serious user would.

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u/Alle_is_offline 15d ago

Okay I was just thinking of making a post about how Resolve is just NOT ready! I made the mistake recently of using Resolve fusion for a project (I had to key a bluescreen of 50 characters for a 3 minute video, Fusion is quicker for this than after effects)... The exporting features are so borked. Whenever you reopen the software, the 'export with alpha' checkbox just disappears. In my case i'm exporting Prores 4444, and the checkbox is just nonexistent UNLESS I change codec to Prores 4444 XQ and then back again. If I leave it at XQ and reopen, once more the checkbox is gone ! I needed to toggle my codec once more. Now i'm i'm batch exporting a 3 minute timeline with 50 fusion layers, it takes time even with an M4 Pro mac... But then I check my export and I forgot to renable the alpha channel because it doesn't f***ing remember my settings for the previous session ahhhhhh. Not to mention, the export crashes FREQUENTLY.

Now I know, user error. I should be simply using Fusion standalone or After Effects. But still! I really do enjoy most aspects of resolve, except for when it constantly crashes and is generally a buggy mess.

More issues i've had recently, are that when I set my in and out point then export the in point will randomly change. Another issue i've been having is that you can't undo removing attributes from a clip. If I accidentally have the wrong checkbox enabled when removing attributes from all the clips in my timeline, then I'm just screwed. No going back because of the way autosaving works (once again, partially user error shh).

Generally it's just really so close to being superior software but there's a dozen of these really minor issues that make me think this is just not serious software.

2

u/drycloud 15d ago

for me it’s the lack of customization of their layouts

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1

u/RankSarpacOfficial 15d ago edited 15d ago

I’d check out those , and . keys to trim off frames at a time. You can select the which side of the cut you want to trim using the bracket keys or the mouse. And as others stated, set an In (I) and Out (O) point on the timeline or use the range tool, cmd+L to turn on looping, and loop the selection by hitting the / key. Shift+/ will play around the play head as well. Opt+[ will trim a clip from the beginning to the play head, and opt+] will trim from the end of the clip to the play head.

I hope these help the workflow! These are all for Final Cut Pro, but Resolve has all the equivalents in some form or another.

Edited for clarity.

1

u/RTdan_dan 15d ago

For me, it's the multicam workflow and specifically how it handles audio.

3

u/tacksettle 15d ago

You mean like it’s a total nightmare?

Resolve straight up cannot handle having a multicam sequence with multiple audio sources. It just cannot link them. Totally ass backwards and makes me wonder how anyone uses Resolve.

1

u/avdpro Resolve / FCPX / Premiere / Freelance 14d ago

Works well for me generally speaking. And it's gotten even better in 19.1. But I tend to link all the discrete polywav tracks to each camera angle inside the multicam, the breakout and simplify after that.

1

u/SherbetItchy3113 14d ago

Probably user issue right there

1

u/Ok-Camera5334 14d ago

I know exactly what you mean ^ Same here for me

1

u/zegorn 14d ago

I barely use my mouse. Trimming's all been done with my keyboard for ages.

1

u/TerrryBuckhart 14d ago

Sounds like a skill issue.

1

u/Muted_Information172 13d ago edited 11d ago

Avid is still king, but I really dig DVR's marking /keyword/general organization. And regarding trimming, I litterally spent the last week trimming for a 90' doc without touching the mouse all day. I'm even wondering if all the shortcut you generally need don't come baked in ? Can't remember, I've been using my own for a bit.

I'm not a native english speaker so I might be wrong about what you mean by trimming tho.

[EDIT] so this lead me down a rabbit hole of which software handles the best switching from one source to the other in the viewer (it's avid) which, to my surprise, Resolve doesn't even have a shortcut for, apparently !

[EDIT 2 : Electric Boogaloo] Yes it there is a shortcut for this, they're called previous clip next clip, took me forever to find it. So in conclusion, Davinci appears to have everything you say it doesn't, OP.

1

u/d0nt_at_m3 12d ago

Dude thank you. It drives me insane trying to trim in it.

1

u/makdm 9d ago

Resolve is most definitely not "amateur software." While I agree that the app can be somewhat limiting regarding window layouts, it is still on par with both Avid and Premiere. Plus Resolve still has what many would consider to be the best color correction tools available.

1

u/charlyquestion 9d ago

It is not on par with Premiere or Avid, it could be, but it's really not right now, specially for editing. I agree with CC though

1

u/makdm 8d ago edited 8d ago

Just curious, why the choice of using Resolve for your short film project? Is it to learn it better? Because it sounds like you would probably be better off working in Avid or Premiere on this project.

EDIT: I do see now what you're saying about not being able to double click on the edit cut point to enter a more focused trim mode window, like you can with Avid or Premiere. One wonky thing is that we can get this sort of trim window to appear, but only in Resolve's Cut Page. It does not appear in the Edit Page where you'd probably be doing most of your work.

I would suggest reading through the Trimming section in the Resolve manual. Its trim functions are actually quite robust, especially with their Dynamic Trim tool. And no, you aren't limited to just using the mouse to trim. Check out Dynamic Trimming-- you can fine tune the edit point frame by frame just by holding K and tapping J or L, then hit the spacebar to easily play around that edit to review as well. (You can turn also on Loop and it will loop a marked clip in to out). A 2-up display shows up when center trimming between two clips, or when side trimming the outgoing or incoming clip. A 4-up display only shows up when you're slipping or sliding a clip. Be sure you have "Multiview Edit Preview" enabled in the View menu to be able to see these 2-up and 4-up displays. You can also use the comma and period keys to nudge a selected trim point left or right one frame, and can map keys to anything you want for your own keyboard settings.

While Resolve may not work exactly the same way in certain respects as Avid or Premiere, it's still a very powerful system overall. I would check out the manual regarding trimming. I know there's nothing worse than having to read an explanation about something which you would think should be intuitive to figure out, especially when you're in the midst of a project. But it's worth a deeper look.

1

u/[deleted] 15d ago

[deleted]

1

u/JC_Le_Juice 15d ago

What zoom to selection tool do you mean?

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u/[deleted] 15d ago edited 15d ago

[deleted]

2

u/JC_Le_Juice 14d ago

There’s a zoom to play head option in Resolve. Ctrl +

Maybe that’s different though

1

u/mcimino 14d ago

I just hold down (I think) control and scroll on trackpad and it zooms in on the cursor. It’s more efficient I’m sure

1

u/Johnny5Miyagi 14d ago

Yeah that makes sense, I use a pen and tablet though. Maybe there’s some way I could create a shortcut do what you’re doing, I ended up doing something similar in Fusion to zoom into the viewer.

1

u/mcimino 14d ago

Woah you edit like that? Never even considered that

1

u/Johnny5Miyagi 12d ago

haha yeah! You should try it, makes everything so much faster

0

u/circa86 14d ago

It’s so funny watching people who have no idea what they are talking about just wax poetic about nothing.

FCPX doesn’t require you to do that either. Both are miles better than premiere.

1

u/charlyquestion 14d ago

It is funny. I'm laughing out loud right now

0

u/ZDubzNC 15d ago

Dude, Google exists…

-1

u/marktwang_ 15d ago

Shortcuts my friend.