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As a good place to start, let’s mention that DaVinci Resolve presently holds the #1 rank in our list of the best free video editing software. Therefore, if your goal is to determine whether Blackmagic Design’s editing tool is worth the download time, the answer is yes. If you don’t mind a challenging programme, that is.
DaVinci Resolve began as just a colour grading tool, but it gradually developed into a potent all-in-one editing software with features for editing video, adding effects, adjusting sound, and, of course, grading colour.
DaVinci Resolve stands its head high against other prominent competitors in the industry, such as Adobe’s Premiere Pro and Apple’s Final Cut Pro, and notably against many other free alternatives, despite its extremely low price of zero.
With the most recent update, DaVinci Resolve 18, released in April 2022, cloud collaboration has been much improved, making it simpler than ever to edit with others on the same project simultaneously. In order to work on a video simultaneously, you can have a sound mixer, colour grader, and visual effects expert.
This review of DaVinci Resolve will expand upon those we’ve already written about it, taking into account both new and old features.
DaVinci Resolve: All in one
DaVinci Resolve was initially developed as colour correcting software, but it has since developed and now includes all the post-production tools required to complete a film. Editing, colour grading, visual effects, motion graphics, and audio post-production are all supported.
DaVinci Resolve is divided into specialised workspaces known as pages to prevent users from becoming overwhelmed by the full range of high-end tools. You can use the tools on each page to do particular post-production activities. On the Cut and Edit pages, you can discover editing; on the Color page, colour correction; on the Fusion page, motion graphics and visual effects; on the Fairlight page, audio; and on the Media and Deliver sites, media organisation and output. Everything is organised properly, and switching between workstations only requires a single click.
A skilled editor working on a challenging project including numerous post-production tasks will find this one-stop solution interesting.
Some of these features are top-of-the-line; colour graders from all over the world confirm that DaVinci is among the greatest colour correction tools available, whether they are purchased or not. But not all of these features are the same; for instance, Fusion won’t exactly provide you with effects comparable to those in Adobe’s After Effects.
DaVinci Resolve: Audio powerhouse
DaVinci Resolve’s Fairlight page is crammed with a tonne of cutting-edge audio features. Its layout makes it simple for beginners to get started, but professionals can work on enormous projects with it quickly, editing up to 2,000 tracks at once with realtime effects and EQ. If you’re coming from another system, it’s easy to work with because it has well-known keyboard-based editing capabilities.
The Transient detection tool, which automatically identifies words and beats and inserts marks across the clip, is a fantastic feature that makes it simple to delete undesired segments.
Dolby Atmos, MPEG-H, and Auro 3D are among the updated audio standards and codecs that DaVinci Resolve supports. You may also view a spatial map of your audio mix to see where various sounds are distributed across the mix.
DaVinci Resolve: Fusion
Several 2D and 3D tools are available on the Fusion website for the creation of visual effects and motion graphics. With this, you may remove extraneous elements from the frame, insert actors into 3D environments, and even make animated titles.
Although the VFX won’t be at After Effects standards, it’s a good, more affordable option.
While DaVinci Resolve 18 didn’t make many modifications to Fusion, it did make several adjustments to enhance text and shape performance.
DaVinci Resolve: Targeted grading
A fantastic tool that allows you to colour correct only particular segments of a video is called targeted grading. Magic Mask tracks and isolates objects using the DaVinci Neural Engine. It automatically makes a mask for a person’s full face or for particular characteristics like the hands or the face. In addition to tools for adding and removing strokes, you also have matte finesse tools.
This is improved in DaVinci Resolve 18 so you may track particular items, animals, cars, or people in your film, giving you a lot of control over your grade (Blackmagic Design gives the example of a t-shirt logo as an example).
DaVinci Resolve: Multicam editing
To edit complex material from numerous cameras, the edit page offers a sophisticated multicam interface. You may examine footage from all the cameras playing back at once and find support for editing projects with four, eight, sixteen, or more cameras. You can choose between separate audio or video only options, sync audio and video with great accuracy, and even individually trim and color-correct angles.
DaVinci Resolve: Scene cut detection
You may analyse photos, locate edit points, and split lengthy footage into several shots with the aid of the DaVinci Neural Engine so that you can color-correct or re-edit them. This function can save you a tonne of time if you don’t have access to the original source files because you won’t need to manually look for edit spots.
DaVinci Resolve: Multi-user collaboration
The post-production pipeline is normally linear, with each department contributing to the project before passing it on to the one after that. Multiple people can collaborate on the same project at once with DaVinci Resolve. Each artist has an own workspace with the equipment they need.
A strong multi-user database, global chronology, and cutting-edge sound and image processing engines bind and control the entire workflow. Editors, colorists, VFX artists, and even sound engineers can all collaborate on a single project at the same time. This post-production approach makes it easier to prepare the project quickly, especially when team members are located remotely.
DaVinci Resolve version 18 makes many advances in this area, and cloud hosting simplifies the joint editing process (though you do need to pay for the servers). This allows you to remotely see the work of other editors and exchange asset libraries.
DaVinci Resolve: Should I use it?
Version 17 of the potent video editing software DaVinci Resolve is much simpler to use and more streamlined. It is geared to handle all of your editing demands thanks to its all-in-one post-production solution, extensive selection of audio, video, and color-correcting tools, and multi-user collaboration capability.
Although it is free and accessible to beginners, this complicated software has hundreds of strong tools and features that could be overwhelming for a novice. There is easier software available if you only need to perform basic editing, such as Filmora9 or VSDC.
The paid version, DaVinci Resolve Studio, is offered for a one-time cost of $295. You may use it to gain access to even more sophisticated capabilities, including 3D audio production support, the DaVinci Neural Engine to make editing easier, and many more. The steep learning curve of DaVinci Resolve Studio makes it perfect for professionals working on complicated projects or individuals who are thinking seriously about getting into video editing and other post-production techniques.
DaVinci Resolve 17: System requirements
Minimum system requirements for macOS:
- Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7
- macOS 10.14.6 Mojave or later
- 16GB of RAM. 32GB if using Fusion
- 2GB of GPU VRAM
Minimum system requirements for Windows:
- Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7
- Windows 10 Creators Update
- 16GB of RAM. 32GB if using Fusion
- 2GB of GPU VRAM
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