This is a brief introduction into DaVinci Resolve. In the following you will find a few short videos that will always cover one single task. While working on it, you will learn different tools of the software and editing techniques.

The idea behind these tutorials is that you edit your video abstract at the same time. If you are uncertain about tools we covered in previous videos, feel free to go back and watch these videos again or have a look at the glossary step. If you are interested in deepening your knowledge you will find many in-depth tutorials on the official training website from Blackmagic Design or on YouTube.

Basic Overview

Bins are like folders in your editing software. You can create bins in your Media Pool by rightclicking on an empty spot and select new bin. Creating a bin does not create a folder on your harddrive – it is just a virtual structure in your editing software that is not related to the actual folder structure where the files are stored. You can move bins or media freely around within your Media Pool. Media items can be imported by dragging them from your finder/explorer directly into the Media Pool. You can also drag a whole folder structure into your media pool: DaVinci will automatically create bins for every (sub)folder it can find within that structure.

Our Media Pool looks like that:

Yours might look different, but this is not a problem at all.

A-Roll Editing 1: Media Selection

After creating bins it is time to implement the footage. Make a rough selection with In and Out points and drag the footage into your timeline. Don’t worry too much if some clips contain parts you want to replace. In the following we will get into cutting the media and replacing certain elements. But for this, we need one setting to be switched on: go to your Timeline Options (on the right side above your track control section) and turn on Stacked Timelines. Now your timeline name will appear above the editing section and you can also open multiple timelines at once.

A-Roll Editing 2: Cutting Media

Duplicating timelines is a good way to save an edit. Especially if you want to try something out it is a way to save a current state of an edit. Now you can cut your material and bring it into the correct order. Cut out elements you don’t want and replace them with other clips. Close all gaps, too. Now your timeline should represent the text of your script.

A-Roll Editing 3: Finetune

Now finish your A-Roll edit. Use your script as guide. You don’t have to fix all jump cuts, just the ones that are visible and not covered by B-Roll. After that fix possible timing issues. Always remember, if you need more space between clips, press [ALT/OPT] + y to select everything after the cursor position and move it back. Because your clips are all in a row without gaps, moving one clip alone might lead to overwriting following clips.