DaVinci Resolve Review: King of Video Editing Software?

Since the inception of DaVinci Resolve in 2004, word made its way around the internet that a new sheriff was in town. While yes, there is plenty of competition for editing software, few are free and even fewer are as remarkable as DaVinci Resolve. The software has undergone many iterations over the years, and in July 2022, the much-anticipated version 18 was released. In this DaVinci Resolve review, we’ll lay out the capabilities of this free video editing software and tell you how to get your hands on it.

DaVinci Resolve Review: Features

Did you know you could have the same video editing software used in post-production for famous movies, shows, commercials, and music videos? It’s true. DaVinci Resolve is one of a select few tools known for its use in Hollywood editing – Everything Everywhere All At Once, Black Widow, and Love and Monsters are just a few examples.

For basic video editing, DaVinci Resolve 18 has more than enough power behind it. The software allows you to add text, create smooth transitions, sync audio to your visuals, create intros/outros, and much more.

Some other features include: 

• automatic mask
• HDR grading
• super resolution
• automatic depth map
• subtitles
• YouTube chapters

Another new feature of DaVinci Resolve 18 is multi-user collaboration. You can have several people working on a video edit together with the help of BlackMagic Cloud. This removes the tedious hassle of translating projects, exporting files, and trying to keep track of changes.

When rendering videos, you won’t have to worry about watermarks. Users can edit any 8‑bit video formats up to 60 frames per second. Resolutions may be as high as ultra HD 3840 x 2160.

Here’s a full list of DaVinci Resolve 18’s new features.

Minimum Requirements for DaVinci Resolve

Perhaps the only catch to using this free video editing software is the system requirements. Needless to say, this is a huge download that uses a lot of RAM. Most sources recommend you have 16 GB (a Mac could squeeze by with 8) along with a 64-bit operating system and at least a quad-core CPU. You’ll know you don’t have the system requirements if the application lags, freezes, or playback continuously skips.

DaVinci Resolve Review: Basics

Assuming you’ve never used editing software in your life, how easy is it to get started? If you’re willing to learn by doing and look up a few quick tutorials, it’s very easy to get started on your first video. 

Once you’ve gone through the entire installation process, click the icon to open the software. Across the bottom of the screen, you’ll see viewing options. For beginners, the best place to start is in the “Edit” view.

In the top left section, you’ll see all the media clips you’re using in a given project – audio, video, and pictures. To add media, simply drag and drop computer files into the media section. In the center, you’ll see the playback screen where you can review your progress. The bottom half of the screen is where you’ll do the actual editing. You can drag and drop video and audio files from the media section into the editing section and get to work.

From here, you can play with the toolbar across the middle of the screen to make cuts and begin editing your media files. Right clicking a video clip also gives you a plethora of options like linking/unlinking audio and video together. In the top right section, you’ll see tools to zoom, crop, change the position of text and images, rotate, and more.

Again, there’s a lot to do in DaVinci Resolve and professional editors can go much deeper than this. But the Black Magic team does a great job of bridging the gap and making the basic tools accessible to beginners.

How to Get DaVinci Resolve for Free

You might think it’s too good to be true that such a sophisticated tool could be free. But alas, DaVinci Resolve is available for download right from the Black Magic Design website. Both Mac and Windows versions are up for grabs – Simply fill out the form and download whatever version you need. Linux users will be happy to know there’s a version for them too.

Once you get comfortable with the basics of video editing, there’s no shortage of DaVinci Resolve plugins to play with. You can up the quality of your motion graphics, mimic classic film stock, and remove video or audio noise. Watch your production value improve in myriad ways.

DaVinci Resolve Studio vs Free

If you think free DaVinci Resolve has a lot of features, you’ll be thoroughly impressed if you opt for the paid version. It includes:

• GPU accelerations
• 30+ Resolve FX
• DaVinci Neural Engine
• Supports 32k at up to 120 frames per second
• Play more formats (AVCHD, AVC-Intra, and popular 10-bit formats)

If you’re unsure whether or not to upgrade, there’s not much to lose. The paid version (DaVinci Resolve Studio) is only $295 for a lifetime license. With that said, the vast majority of video editing projects can be done in the free DaVinci Resolve, especially if you’re not skilled with editing software.

Hopefully this DaVinci Resolve review gave you a little more information so you can make an informed decision. And if you’re wildly overwhelmed by all the features, spend some time browsing these DaVinci Resolve tutorials. Happy editing!