DaVinci Resolve Cut and Edit Basics on the Edit Page

Objective

You will be able to build a simple sequence on the Edit page: place clips, cut them, trim edges, remove gaps and add a basic transition.

Before you start

• A Resolve project with footage already in the Media Pool
• A timeline created with the right resolution and frame rate
• Basic idea of what a timeline is

Overview

Editing is mostly a small set of moves repeated many times: put a clip down, cut away what you do not need, adjust where a clip begins and ends, and close the gaps. If you can do these five things smoothly, you can make a complete video.

Resolve's Edit page lays these tools out in a traditional way. The Media Pool sits on the upper left, two viewers share the top, and the timeline fills the bottom. The tools you need sit in the toolbar just above the timeline.

This guide uses plain descriptions of tools wherever a label might differ by release. If an icon is not where you expect, hover over the toolbar buttons and read the tooltips.

Step-by-step

1. Preview a clip and choose the part you want

   Double-click a clip in the Media Pool to load it into the source viewer. Play it with the Space bar. To mark the section you want, move the playhead to the start and press I for an in point, then move to the end and press O for an out point.

   Marking before you place a clip means only the good part reaches the timeline. This is faster than placing a whole clip and trimming it later, especially for long recordings.

   In other editors: Almost every editor has a source viewer with in and out points. Look for a viewer for the raw clip, separate from the timeline viewer.

2. Place the clip with Insert or Overwrite

   Look at the toolbar above the timeline for the buttons that place clips. Two matter most. Insert puts the clip at the playhead and pushes everything after it to the right. Overwrite puts the clip at the playhead and replaces whatever is underneath, without moving anything else.

   Use Insert when you are building a sequence from left to right. Use Overwrite when you want to cover part of an existing clip, such as laying b-roll over a talking section. You can also drag a clip from the pool onto the timeline, but the buttons give more control over placement.

   If you are unsure which one you used, press Ctrl + Z and try the other.

   In other editors: Insert and overwrite exist in every major editor, sometimes called ripple insert and replace. The difference is whether later clips move.

3. Understand tracks and the playhead

   The timeline has video tracks stacked up and audio tracks below. Video on a higher track shows over video on a lower track. Your main footage usually sits on the first video track, and overlays or b-roll go above it.

   The playhead is the vertical line that marks the current frame. Click in the ruler at the top of the timeline to move it. Most edit commands act at the playhead, so get used to placing it with care.

   Play forward with L, pause with K, and play backward with J. Tapping L or J more than once usually plays faster.

   In other editors: Tracks and playheads are universal. In most editors a clip on a higher video track covers the one below.

4. Split a clip at the playhead

   To cut a clip into two pieces, move the playhead to the exact frame where you want the cut. Then use the split command. In Resolve, Ctrl + \ splits clips at the playhead. You can also switch to the blade tool and click the clip. Look for the blade icon in the toolbar, or press B to select it. Press A to go back to the normal selection tool.

   Split at the moment a sentence ends or an action finishes. If you are cutting speech, listen to the breath and the pause, not only the picture.

   After splitting, you have two separate clips. Nothing has been deleted yet. The original source file is not changed.

   In other editors: The tool may be called razor, blade, cut or split. Look for a scissors or blade icon.

5. Delete a section and close the gap

   Click the unwanted piece to select it. If you press the plain Delete key, the clip is removed and a gap stays where it was. A gap shows as empty space on the track, and it plays as black. To remove the piece and pull later clips left in one move, use the ripple delete command. Look in the Edit menu or the timeline right-click menu for an option with ripple in its name.

   You can also delete a gap on its own. Click the empty space and delete it using the same ripple option so the clips on either side join.

   Always play across the cut after removing material. Check for a tiny leftover of the last word or a jump in sound.

   In other editors: Ripple delete, lift and extract are the names in various editors. One leaves a gap and one closes it.

6. Trim the edges of a clip

   Trimming changes where a clip starts or ends. Hover over the left or right edge of a clip until the cursor changes, then drag. The clip becomes shorter or longer, as long as the source file has more footage available beyond that edge.

   Small changes are easier when you zoom in. Use the zoom slider or the zoom keys in the timeline. Resolve also has a trim edit mode, which you can try from the toolbar. In that mode you can adjust the cut point between two clips and see both sides. Explore it once you are comfortable with the basics.

   Do not trim only by eye. Play the cut each time you adjust it.

   In other editors: Trim handles on clip edges are universal. Advanced modes like roll, slip and slide exist in many editors too.

7. Use snapping and linked selection wisely

   Snapping makes clips and the playhead jump to nearby edges, which keeps clips aligned with no gaps. Press N to turn snapping on or off. If clips will not move to the exact spot you want, snapping may be the reason.

   Linked selection controls whether a video clip and its audio move together. It is useful most of the time, but you will turn it off when you want to move audio without moving picture. Look for the linked selection icon in the timeline toolbar.

   If a clip behaves strangely when you drag it, check these two settings before assuming something is broken.

   In other editors: Snapping and linked audio or video exist in every editor. They are often a magnet icon and a chain icon.

8. Add a simple transition

   A cut is the default transition, and it is right most of the time. When you need a soft change, open the Effects Library, find the transitions section and look for a dissolve. Drag it onto the point between two clips.

   Transitions need extra footage on both sides of the cut, known as handles. If a clip has no extra media at its end, Resolve may not be able to apply the transition fully. Click the transition on the timeline to see its length and adjust it by dragging its edges.

   Use a transition for a reason: a change of time, place or mood. Using one on every cut makes the video feel busy.

   In other editors: Dissolve or cross-fade is available in every editor, and each needs extra frames on both sides of the cut.

9. Play the whole sequence and fix rough spots

   Go back to the start and play the timeline from beginning to end without stopping. Write down every place where something feels slow, abrupt or confusing. Then fix them one by one.

   Save your work with Ctrl + S. Watching straight through finds more problems than polishing one section at a time.

Examples

Common mistakes

• Using Insert when you meant Overwrite. Insert pushes later clips along and can break sync with music or other tracks. If clips move unexpectedly, undo and use Overwrite.
• Leaving small gaps on the timeline. A short gap plays as a black flash. Zoom in and scan the track, or use ripple delete to close gaps as you work.
• Cutting without listening. A cut that looks right can chop off a word or leave a click. Play every cut with sound on.
• Forgetting to turn snapping back on. Without it, clips can land a frame apart and leave tiny gaps. Press N to check.
• Adding transitions to every cut. Effects lose meaning when overused. Keep most edits as plain cuts.

Shortcuts

Windows shortcuts for DaVinci Resolve 19 with default settings. They can change if you use custom shortcuts or another version.

Best practices

• Learn J, K and L first. They speed up reviewing more than any other key.
• Rough cut first, polish later. See the rough cut guide for the order of passes.
• Zoom in when making fine adjustments and zoom out to judge the whole shape.
• Duplicate your timeline before big changes so you can go back.
• Check the tooltips in the toolbar if a label differs on your version.