🎬 Editing In Resolve
Though Resolve has many features, editing is at the core of creating a message using video, so we’ll start here.
Editing, at its heart, means you have a lot of source material from which you need to pull small pieces and assemble into something that conveys a message. Many programs feature a two-window interface with a “source” preview on the left (your original ‘source’ material) and a “timeline” or “output” window on the right (the cut version). Basic editing is as simple as setting an “in” point, an “out” point, and then placing the section of material intelligently into the timeline/sequence.
Resolve
Check out the video below, an excellent primer on the basics of video editing in Resolve, made by the creators of the software.
Resolve-Specific Features
Resolve’s Process
Media>Edit>Effects>Color>Sound>Deliver
As mentioned, Resolve does much more than edit. The process is pretty linear, from right to left and accessed via buttons at the bottom of the screen. The basic flow is this: you ingest media in Resolve’s first “page”, then edit, add visual effects in Fusion, finalize color, perfect sound, and then deliver the final product. There are many benefits to having every phase available in one piece of software, and you can jump between the pages at any time.
Metadata Entry
Non-standardized video metadata is a travesty of the video industry.Third-party solutions seem to be the only option.Software-specific metadata input works well in a predetermined and closed workflow. iXML audio metadata from a sound recordists file means track labeling. This is important
Bins
- Bins – Manually populated, project specific.
- Power Bins – Manually populated, universal across projects.
- Smart Bins – Auto populated, project specific.
Basic Editing Mechanics
- You’re likely familiar with these by now, but you should, at the very least, have a handle on performing these operations:
- In/Out
- Insert vs. Overwrite
- Destination Track
- Trim mode and rippling
- Dynamic Trim
- Auto-select indicator on tracks
- Speed Changes
- Stacked Timelines
- Timeline comparison
Keyboard Shortcuts
Use the interactive keyboard database below to learn my recommended set of keyboard shortcuts. Priority indicates how essential they are to know (1 being highest priority). The table will default to sort by 1st priority shortcuts, but feel free to use the search feature to find a specific shortcut or filter the table in any way you’d like. You can print the results (or save them to an eco-friendly PDF) as well.
⌃Control ⇧Shift ⌥Alt ⌘Cmd ⇕Scroll MMB (Middle Mouse Button) *Fenn Custom Key
Type | Operation | Keys | Notes | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Editing | Set In and Out points | I & O | 1 | |
| Editing | JKL Shuttle | JKL | J goes backwards; K stops; L goes forward. Press more times to increase speed. | 1 |
| Editing | Match frame in timeline with source media | F | 1 | |
| Editing | Cut and Ripple Clip | ⇧⌘X | Adding "Shift" ripples with cutting and pasting operations in Resolve. | 1 |
| Editing | Insert | F9 | This inserts source media and shuffles the timeline for it to fit | 1 |
| Editing | Overwrite | F10 | This overwrites the timeline with the source clip. You can enable 'preview marks' to see where 3-pt edit will fall in timeline. Cool thing is, you can drag the preview marks to change source I/O. | 1 |
| Editing | Ripple Overwrite | ⇧F10 | Replace timeline clip w/ viewer clip of different length rippling timeline to accomodate | 1 |
| Editing | Replace | F11 | Replaces the timeline clip with the source clip | 2 |
| Editing | Replace | ⇧F11 | "Fit to Fill" (retime) inside I/O points or the clip beneath the playhead on the timeline | 2 |
| Editing | Place on Top | F12 | Places source clip atop highest video track | 2 |
| Editing | Append at end | ⇧F12 | Places source clip at the end of the timeline's content | 2 |
| Interface | New Bin | ⌘⇧N | 1 | |
| Interface | Reveal Timeline Clip in Bin | ⌥ Double Click | 1 | |
| Navigation | Pan around viewer window and timeline | MMB Click & Drag | 1 | |
| Navigation | Zoom to fit (viewer&timeline) | ⇧Z | Don't forget this is a toggle to go in and out | 1 |
| Navigation | Horizontal Timeline Zoom | ⌘+ or ⌘ - | 1 | |
| Navigation | Jump to first/last frame | ; or ' | Add ⇧ for keyframe navigation | 1 |
| Navigation | Navigates between clips (I and O) on selected tracks (after ‘v’ too) | ↑↓ | 1 | |
| Navigation | Delete | Del | Backspace delete won't ripple. Delete by "home" key will. Add Fn for ripple delete on laptop. | 1 |
| Timeline | Shows curve editor | ⇧C | 3 | |
| Timeline | Shows keyframe editor | ⇧⌘C | 3 | |
| Timeline | Navigate keyframes | [ or ] | 2 | |
| Interface | *Duplicate Item | ⌥ D | (CURRENT TIMELINE or MEDIA POOL CLIP) | 1 |
| Navigation | Moves active area between source, program and timeline, etc. | ⌘1,2,3... | 2 | |
| Navigation | Switch between source and timeline viewer | Q | 2 | |
| Timeline | Destination Track | ⌥ Track# | Add ⌘ for audio track selection. It's also a toggle turning on/off if you press same number twice. Add ⇧ to toggle track lock. | 1 |
| Timeline | Audio track destination | ⌘⌥↑↓ | 2 | |
| Timeline | Video track destination | ⌘⇧↑↓ | 2 | |
| Timeline | Toggle 'auto-select' track | ⌥ Fn | Fn means functino keys (e.g. F1, F2). Add cmd for audio, just like with target tracks | 2 |
| Timeline | All video auto select on/off (add cmd for audio) | ⌥F9 | 2 | |
| Timeline | Solo the auto-select track | ⌥ Click | 2 | |
| Timeline | Toggle auto-select for video tracks on/off (or shift+click the icon) | ⌥8 | 2 | |
| Timeline | Add Default Transition | ⌘ T | 1 | |
| Timeline | Mark Clip with In/Out points | X | 1 | |
| Timeline | Mark selection with I/O points (you can select multiple clips) | ⇧A | 2 | |
| Timeline | Clear In/Out | ⌥ X | ⌥I clears only in while ⌥O clears out point | 1 |
| Timeline | Add marker | M | ⇧M modifies and ⌥M deletes.⇧↑↓ for marker navigation. | 1 |
| Timeline | Clip enable | D | Use it all the time. I don't miss Premiere's convoluted shortcut for this one 🙂 | 1 |
| Timeline | Toggle Link/Unlink audio and video | ⌘ ⌥ L | The manual is wrong on this one 🙂 It's much easier to just ⌥ Click anyway. | 3 |
| Timeline | Turn linking on/off | ⌘⇧L | 2 | |
| Editing | Swap Edit feature | ⌘⇧ | (no need for ripple paste) (drag clip and hold). You can select multiple clips at the same time. | |
| Editing | Insert edit | ⌘⌥ | (same as swap edit but inserts when you drag clip) | |
| Editing | Trim Start | ⇧[ | Add ⌘ to ripple or use “T”rim mode. Cuts what's selected, or cuts everything with no selection made. | 1 |
| Editing | Trim End | ⇧] | Add cmd to ripple! | 1 |
| Editing | Extend Edit | E | (requires selection) | 2 |
| Editing | Nudge edit | , or . | Hold ⇧ for larger increments | 1 |
| Editing | Select nearest video edit | ⌥E | (the <> symbol in the track header excludes tracks from operations like the above-remember alt+F keys) | 1 |
| Editing | Select nearest audio edit | ⇧E | (the <> symbol in the track header excludes tracks from operations like the above-remember alt+F keys) | 1 |
| Tools | Blade Tool | B | 2 | |
| Editing | Razor split at playhead | ⌘B or ⌘\ | Use ⌘+\ if you have a selection | 1 |
| Editing | Join a "through edit" AKA "split edit" | ⌥ \ or Delete | 1 | |
| Timeline | Navigate to Previous Gap | ⌥ ⌘ ; | ⌥⌘' should go to Next Gap but doesn't work for me unless triggered via menu | 2 |
| Playback | Plays in to out | ⌥ / | Consider ⌘/ beforehand to turn on/off loop | 1 |
| Playback | Play around current frame | / | 1 | |
| Timeline | Toggle Snapping | N | 1 | |
| Timeline | Audio Scrubbing | ⇧S | 2 | |
| Editing | Retime | ⌘R | 1 | |
| Editing | Select Clips Forward of Playhead on current track | Y | 2 | |
| Editing | Select all clips forward | ⌥Y | 2 | |
| Editing | Select all clips backward | ⌘Y | 3 | |
| Editing | Select Clips backward of playhead on current track | ⌘⌥Y | 3 | |
| Editing | “Trim" Edit Mode | T | Toggles a ripple/insert mode for editing operations as well as behavior where clicking top of the clip selects for ‘slipping’ and the bottom of the clip for ‘sliding’. You can also press ‘S’ to use , and . on keyboard which toggles “slide mode” on/off. Enter trim mode to drag marquee to select edits. Add "W" key to trim with JKL keys. | 1 |
| Editing | Dynamic trim with a point selected | ⌘ J/K/L | 2 | |
| Editing | Select nearest edit point (playhead moves) (use up/down nav) | V | 1 | |
| Editing | Specify selection of nearest audio or video clip edit? | ⌥⇧C | (requires selection) | 3 |
| Editing | Select nearest clip/gap | ⇧V | 2 | |
| Editing | Select which side of edit to modify | U | ⌥U toggles audio and/nor video | 1 |
| Editing | *Select nearest edit for ripple trim in/out | ⌘U or ⌃U | 1 | |
| Editing | *Convert In and Out to Duration Marker | ⌃⌥ X | I like to use this to highlight sections of a clip with potential. It's a more modern form of creating "selects". Hit ⇧M immediately after to name the marker. The duration marker created can be used exacly as a subclip in a timeline, or even dragged to any bin and made into a subclip. | 2 |
| Editing | Modify Marker | ⇧M | This acts upon the CURRENTLY SELECTED marker instead of the one at the playhead like all other marker commands do | |
| Editing | *Set In and Out from Duration Marker= Ctrl+Alt+Cmd+X | ⌃⌥⌘X | 2 | |
| Interface | Show Viewer Overlay = Shift+` | ⇧` | 2 |
These shortcuts can be customized if you prefer the conventions of another NLE or wish to add your own. Either way, get used to keyboard editing. Here are what I consider the top keyboard shortcuts to memorize: