You have decided to deepen your knowledge related to video editing and, to do so, you have decided to use a solid and professional program that does not cost a fortune: precisely for this reason, you have decided to focus on DaVinci Resolve : a multi-platform video editing software also available in a free version but with extremely advanced functions, to the point that it is also used for editing and post-production of films and TV series.
Its completeness makes the learning curve of this program quite steep, especially for those like you who are approaching a solution of this kind for the first time, but there is nothing to fear: following the introductory indications that I am about to give you, by consulting the many tutorials available on the official website and, above all, by practicing daily with the program, you too will be able to understand how to use DaVinci Resolve for your projects.
Courage: put aside all your hesitations and get busy immediately. In this tutorial we will face together all the fundamental steps to use the Blackmagic Design program: we will analyze the minimum and recommended system requirements, and then move on to the actual action with the explanation of the procedures for downloading, installing, editing and exporting projects. . I’m sure that after some experience, you will get a taste for it and will also be able to have fun while editing. I wish you happy reading and I wish you a big good luck for everything!
Index
- Minimum and recommended requirements
- How DaVinci Resolve works
- Download and install
- Creating a project
- Video editing
- Export the project
- For more information
Minimum and recommended requirements
Before using DaVinci Resolve, it is very important to make sure that your computer meets the minimum requirements or, better still, the recommended requirements for the program to work; otherwise the risk is that of not being able to use the software satisfactorily.
If you have a desktop Windows PC , you may also want to consider upgrading components such as RAM , video card and processor (if necessary) to improve DaVinci Resolve performance, or at least cover its minimum requirements. Macs and laptops are far more complex – if not impossible – to upgrade.
Speaking, therefore, of the minimum requirements to use DaVinci Resolve , it is necessary that the operating system ( Windows , macOS or Linux ) is in the 64-bit version , with an Intel Core i7 CPU (or similar), combined with at least 16 GB of RAM . In addition, the GPU must have at least 4GB of VRAM and support Metal, OpenCL 1.2 or CUDA 10 (or CUDA compute 3.0).
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For optimal use of the program it would be better to at least double the RAM memory up to 32 GB and focus on video cards with 6 GB of VRAM , combined with an Intel Core i9 CPU (or others of similar power). Regarding storage space, whether you have a minimum configuration, or a recommended one, it would be better to have a minimum of 500 GB . After all, this also depends on the quality and number of videos to be edited.
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To be honest, if you want to have as few slowdowns as possible and not wait for long loading times for the video editing program, the ideal would be to have a good and large SSD . In this regard, have you already provided it? Would you like to have one but you don’t know how to juggle the purchase? Why don’t you check out my recommendations on the best SSDs ?
If you’re thinking about a hardware upgrade, this is one of the best investments in video editing, especially if you’ve spotted the Achilles heel of your current setup. And if you need help and suggestions on how to assemble the pieces of the PC, you can still rely on my complete guide on the subject.
That said, don’t worry if you don’t feel like updating your setup yet. You can always try using DaVinci Resolve with the components currently mounted on your PC and see how it fares. After all, it costs nothing to try!
How DaVinci Resolve works
Now that you know what requirements your computer has to meet, it’s time to get to the heart of the tutorial and find out how DaVinci Resolve works . The following tips are valid for all operating systems and all versions; you can then follow them whether you want to learn how to use DaVinci Resolve 16 or one of the newer or older versions of this video editor. Good fun!
Download and install
To proceed with the download of DaVinci Resolve , you must connect to the official website of the program and click on the Download button . Then you have to choose the version of the software to download: DaVinci Resolve , which is the free version, or DaVinci Resolve Studio , which is the most complete version of the paid program (available at the recommended price of 255 euros) containing additional functions, such as the use of GPU acceleration for video processing, denoise function (to eliminate “noise” from videos), tools dedicated to 3D graphics, motion blur reduction, advanced video effects, tools for teamwork and support Advanced HDR.
Also, I point out that depending on your needs and the hardware at your disposal, you can download a more or less recent version or a stable or beta version of DaVinci Resolve. Personally I do not recommend downloading the betas, as they are potentially unstable, but clearly the choice is up to you. That said, let’s take action.
In the case of downloads for Windows operating systems, after clicking on the Windows button , fill in the form by entering the necessary data: Name , Surname , Email , Telephone , Country and City . When you’re done, click the Register & Download button below .
Wait, therefore, for the download to start (if it does not happen automatically, click on the DaVinci_Resolve_xx.x.x_Windows.zip button ) and when it is completed, go to the folder where you downloaded the ZIP archive and open it with a program to extract files compressed .
Inside you will find an .exe file : double-click on it and follow the installation process by pressing the Yes , Install and Next buttons , then check the I accept the terms in the License Agreement box and complete the setup by clicking on the Next , Next , Install , Finish and OK buttons .
Seen? Nothing complicated in the end. How do you say? Do you need to download the macOS version ? No problem, Once the download is complete, open the .dmg package you have obtained, launch the executable contained within it and click on the Continue buttons (three times in a row), Accept and Install . Then write the password of your user account on macOS, enter Enter on the keyboard and finish the setup by pressing the Close and Move buttons .
If you have any problems, you can find more details on downloading and installing DaVinci Resolve in my specific guide on the topic.
Creating a project
Well, with DaVinci Resolve installed on your computer, it’s time to learn the basics of how to use it, starting with creating a project .
After opening the program, the user welcome screen is the one called Projects , from which to select the projects already created or to be created. To create a new project, double click on the Untitled Project logo .
You will then find yourself in front of the main interface of the software, which is not so different from that of the other video editors: at the top left there is the imported media box , on the right the video player and at the bottom the classic timeline . The editing and creation tools are placed, instead, in the bar located at the bottom.
First, click on the Media logo located in the bottom bar. Then, from the navigation menu at the top left, navigate through the folders on your PC until you find the multimedia files to import into the editor. When you have reached the files to add, drag them into the workspace below.
The program warns you if the imported video has a different frame rate from that of the project: choose whether to adapt it by clicking on the Change button , or to keep the default one, by clicking on Don’t change . You can always change the settings of your project by clicking on the menu File> Project settings> Master Settings , at the top, and acting on the settings Timeline resolution , for the resolution, and Timeline frame rate , for the frame rate.
You have thus acquired the basics for creating a new project. How do you say? So easy? Yes, you are ready to go to editing by clicking on the Cut or Edit menus . I will be able to talk about it in the next chapters, meanwhile remember to save the editing project by going to the File> Save Project menu , then assigning a name to it and finally clicking on the Save button .
Video editing
To start editing the imported videos in DaVinci Resolve, go to the Cut menu . Then, with a double click on a video , you will be able to see its preview in the player located on the right.
From the timeline located at the bottom, however, you can choose the portion of the movie to import by moving the sliders to the right and left: when you are done, drag the video from the player to the project timeline at the bottom.
You can navigate in the project timeline using the two parts that compose it: the upper one is used to move through the whole project, while using the lower one you can intervene in a more precise moment of the clips being played. Of course, it is also possible to import the entire clip by simply dragging its preview from the imported media menu into the project timeline.
However, you can further refine the editing of clips from the timeline. For example, you can drag the clips left and right to determine when they should start, or you can move the mouse cursor to one end and, when the latter changes shape, drag the edge of the clip to shorten or lengthen it according to your own needs.
If you want to split a clip into two or more parts, choose when to cut by placing the cursor over the clip in the timeline, and click the scissors button to split it. After cutting the clip, you can add a transition effect to the next sequence by clicking on the Dissolve or Smooth Cut buttons , located in the center and at the top of the timeline.
Other effects to be applied to individual clips are found in the Tools menu located just below the preview of the video player and whose icon represents cursors. From here you can click on the buttons for Crop (to crop the video), Speed (to set the playback speed), Camera (to stabilize the video) and Dynamic zoom (to perform a digital zoom on a portion of the clip).
You can continue editing from the Edit menu as well , importing media files with the usual drag and drop from the media menu to the timeline . Feel free to move the clips within the timeline and place them in any order you like. As you can see, the DaVinci Resolve editor separates the video clips from the audio, so you can manage the two tracks separately.
By clicking the Inspector button , top right, you can directly edit the individual clips selected from the timeline. In particular, you can change the range of colors by clicking on the Composite Mode drop-down menu and set a zoom , or change the size and orientation of the image from the Transform menu . From the same menu, but from the Audio tab you can change the volume and tone through the built-in equalizer .
When you are satisfied with the changes made, you can decide whether to add effects to your video clip. To do this, click on the Effects Library button located at the top left and, from the new menu, browse the various categories available: Toolbox for audio and video transitions; Effects for filters and other effects; Title to create writings and titles; OpenFX to add filters etc. To add an effect or filter, drag it from its menu to the timeline.
As you can see, the functions are so many, however I also want to point out that many of the video effects require the purchase of DaVinci Resolve Studio to be used without affixing a watermark (i.e. the impression of the program logo in the video the final).
Export the project
Have you edited your video, added special effects and transitions, but now you need to export the project to create your video? So here’s what you need to know to finalize your video.
Well, first of all I suggest you review the entire project through the same player as the program, just to realize the final result before making it final. Once this is done, click on the Deliver button at the bottom (the one depicting a rocket) to access the export menu.
In the upper left you can consult the Render Settings 8 ( i.e. the video rendering settings), where you can choose the export format from a series of preset templates, including YouTube , Vimeo and H.264 . If, on the other hand, you want to set the resolution, frame rate and video encoding yourself, choose the Custom option .
In this case, after expressing your preferences, write the name of the video to be exported in the box next to the writing Filename and click on the Browse button to choose the path where to export your video. Now you just have to click on the Add to Render Queue button to add the project to the right menu, where you can start processing the movie by clicking on the Start Render button .
Compliments! At the end of the rendering you will find your video in the folder of your choice and you can open it with your favorite video player !
For more information
Have you been extremely impressed by the practically unlimited possibilities of DaVinci Resolve and would you like to learn more about the many functions and its individual editing tools? Well, I can understand that, there is so much to learn and, if I can give you some advice, most of the ideas come with the editing experience.
So, I can only advise you to practice a lot, always experimenting with new features offered by the program. Furthermore, if you chew a little English you can also follow official tutorials available directly from the official website of Blackmagic Design (creator of the program). These tutorials, available both in PDF format and in video streaming (accompanied by tests to verify the skills acquired), are available on the training page .
This is also a great way to learn how to use two other tools included in DaVinci Resolve, namely Fusion and Color , designed to create your own special effects, filters and custom shades.
