Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/462877
56 CINEMONTAGE / WINTER 2015 56 CINEMONTAGE / WINTER 2015 TECH TIPS As in most professional NLEs, there is a source viewer in which you can set in and out points for your clips and a program viewer (see Figure 4). Video and audio clips can easily be dragged into the timeline in any existing track or blank area above to create a new track. Tracks can also be targeted by clicking a button on the left of a track. Each audio and video clip can be faded up and down over any number of frames from either end. On audio tracks, a horizontal line can be raised, lowered and key- framed to vary the audio level over time. Resolve 11 also contains a multi-channel stereo mixer. Dragging a clip into the program window instead of directly into the timeline will cause a menu overlay to conveniently pop up, from which you can choose the kind of edit you want to perform: Insert, Overwrite, Replace, Fit-to-Fill or Place on Top. That's a nice touch. As in other pro NLEs, three-point editing is supported. It's also easy to remove gaps between clips on the timeline. Simply click on gaps to select them and press delete. Adding transitions between clips is done by dragging a transition from the Effects Library to the top of the edit point. Transition parameters such as duration, border, edge color and feather can be modified in an inspector window, which is brought up by double-clicking on the transition. The parameters can also be key-framed. For added finesse, key frames can be given Bezier handles in the timeline. There is a collection of standard transitions that come with Resolve, such as cross-dissolves, dip-to- color and various wipes. More transitions and effects that adhere to the OpenFX standard can be purchased, installed and used in Resolve 11 (such as Gen Arts' Sapphire plug-ins). Also contained in the Toolbox are Titling tools, which create text, scrolls and lower thirds with parameters such as font, size, color, rotation, drop shadow, stroke, background color and transfer modes. The Toolbox also contains Generators to create grey-scale ramps, color bars and solids. Trimming is well thought out and implemented in Resolve 11. You can create ripple edits, rolls, slips or slides based upon where you click. For example, clicking and dragging on an edit point allows you to create a slide edit. Clicking and dragging to the right or left of the edit allows for ripple edits (tracks can be excluded if desired). When slipping or sliding, a four-up display appears. Multiple edit points can also be selected and edited at the same time. There is a razor tool to cut up a clip, and clip snapping can be turned on or off in the timeline. Trimming can also be done with the keyboard, which is important to some editors who don't like to take their fingers off of it. Clips can be nudged with the comma and period keys (the shift key can be added for ten-frame increments) and the nearest edit point can be selected by pressing the V key. In addition, the industry standard JKL keys can be used to move forwards and backwards and to stop playback. Clip speed can be changed simply by right-clicking on a clip and choosing Change Clip Speed. For more advanced time changes, such as variable speed effects or freeze frames, click on a clip and choose Retime Clip from the Edit menu. CONCLUSION Resolve 11's editing environment provides practically all the tools you need to edit complex productions and has the features you would expect in a professional NLE. However, Resolve is much more than that. It is a complete system for managing media, editing, grading, finishing and delivery. You can download the Lite version right now and try it for yourself (as well as the manual, which is very well designed). Incidentally, for those who wish to learn DaVinci Resolve 11, be sure to take a look at Patrick Inhofer's Colorist Flight School at http://training. taoofcolor.com. It's an extremely comprehensive online course that covers every facet of Resolve from editing to color with an impressive attention to detail. To be able to edit and color grade clips in one state- of-the-art environment is game-changing. Blackmagic Design has delivered a system that does just this with characteristic elegance and sophistication. With its recent acquisition of Eyeon Fusion — a highly capable compositing and visual effects program — Blackmagic looks poised to become a one-stop shop for visual effects, editing and color grading, not to speak of acquisition (cameras) as well as a plethora of hardware for all things video — including switchers, capture and playback, film scanning, converters and encoding. This should give companies such as The Foundry and Adobe a run for their money. It will be interesting to see what develops next. For more information, visit www. blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve. f Figure 4: DaVinci Resolve also contains a full- featured media management system, found on the Media Page.