EDIT VIDEOS WITH DAVINCI RESOLVE
Record a voiceover
One way to add a voiceover to your video is to record it separately using a tool like Audacity, then import it into your timeline. However, with Davinci Resolve you can record it directly within the program itself, letting you watch the video playing at the same time so that everything stays in sync, which saves a lot of editing later on.
Make sure you have the timeline in view by clicking Edit at the bottom of the window, then right-click your existing audio track in the column immediately to the left of the timeline. Click Add Tracks followed by Mono (if you don’t see this, make sure you’re right-clicking your existing audio track, not the video track). Now click Fairlight (musical-note icon) on the bottom toolbar, then click the new track you’ve just created.
You’ll see that doing this also selects it in the Mixer pane on the right of the window. Click No Input below its name, followed by ‘Input…’ on the menu that appears. In the floating window, click your microphone on the left-hand side, then your newly created audio track on the right. Now click Patch. Notice that the track name now appears below the microphone, and the microphone name now appears below the audio track to show that they are linked.
Close the patch window, then click the R button below the audio track’s name in the timeline (see screenshot below left) to enable recording. When you’re ready to add your voiceover, click the Play button just above the timeline to start your video, followed by the circular Record button. Press Record a second time to stop your recording.
Stabilise shaky videos
When shooting hand-held video it’s difficult to keep everything perfectly still – or smooth if you’re panning. To fix shaky video in Resolve, click the clip you’re working with on your timeline, select Edit at the bottom, then click Inspector (top right). Scroll down to Stabilization and make sure the slider beside it is to the right (if not, click it). After double-clicking this heading, click the Stabilize button at the top (you’ll need to be patient as it can take Resolve a little while to analyze your video), then review the results.
If this doesn’t improve things sufficiently, increase the Cropping Ratio by dragging its slider to the right. This tells Resolve how much of the edges of the video it can cut off in order to
stabilize the central portion of each video frame. For perfectly still footage, select Camera Lock (see screenshot above), but be aware this may cut a lot off the edges of the video.
Make static shots more dynamic
You may have noticed that documentaries rarely show a static photo for more than a second or two. If they need to keep one on screen longer, they’ll usually zoom or pan it to keep things interesting. This method of creating the illusion of movement is known as the ‘Ken Burns effect’. To apply this in Resolve, drag a photo on to the timeline, then click the Edit button (the timeline icon at the bottom), select your photo, and click Inspector at the top right.
To add a zoom effect, scroll down the Inspector window and click the slider beside Dynamic Zoom. Double-click the heading to open its options. By default, the zoom starts and ends at full speed because the Linear option is pre-selected. However, click the menu beside Dynamic Zoom Ease and you can choose Ease In or Ease Out. The former starts the zoom slowly then speeds it up, the latter does the opposite. The fourth option, ‘Ease In and Out’, zooms more slowly at the start and end of the effect than it does during the middle section.
To shift the focus of your zoom as it happens, click the down arrow beside the far left control under the preview window and select Dynamic Zoom (see screenshot above). This overlays your video with two rectangles – one green, one red. These let you specify what’s shown on screen at the start and end of the transformation. Drag the handles at their corners to specify precisely what’s shown throughout the transition.
Remove boring parts of your video
If you’re producing longer videos, you’ll need to keep your audience’s attention throughout. Resolve’s ‘Boring Detector’ might sound gimmicky, but it’s actually incredibly useful and helps you identify shots that are longer than a specified duration.
Click ‘Cut’ on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, then click the ‘Zzz’ button (top left of the timeline). In the window that opens, you can specify how long a clip should be before it’s deemed ‘boring’ (see screenshot above right). Resolve will then place a grey tone on the timeline above these sections. You can also ask Resolve to warn you if it detects ‘jump cuts’, which are sections where clips only last five frames (again, you can adjust this threshold if you want).
Hide unwanted objects
On occasions you may find you’ve let something creep into a shot that you’d rather wasn’t there. The paid-for version of Resolve has an Object Removal tool, but at £299 it’s an expensive option. Instead, you can use the free version to blur or pixelate objects.
Navigate to the start of the section containing the offending object, then click the Color button at the bottom. Next, click the Window button (a small oval) just below the preview window. Below this, click Circle (or a different shape if you prefer) to add that shape to your video. Now drag the edges so that they cover the area you want to hide
( 1 in our screenshot below left).
Next, we need to get Resolve to track the movement of this object. Click the Tracker button (to the right of the Window button), click the Play button (bottom-left corner) and let it play the whole clip – you’ll notice Resolve tracks the object as it plays.
Now you need to add an effect to hide the object. Make sure Openfx is selected (top right), then select an option from the Resolvefx Blur menu (we’ve chosen Box Blur 2 ) and drag it to the small video window (known as a node) just to the left of it 3 . You can adjust your effects settings (such as increasing the pixel size), before watching the effect in the preview window, top left.