DaVinci Resolve 18.1 Released – New Features for Faster Export to Social Media and More

Editing Software

by Jakub HanNovember 11^th, 2022

DaVinci Resolve 18.1 brings new vertical and square resolution options in project settings, enhanced direct upload to social media, a handful of Fairlight page updates, individual timeline locks for multiple user collaboration via the Blackmagic Cloud, and many more new updates.

DaVinci Resolve 18 has been out since April 2022 after Blackmagic Design announced it during the NAB Show in Las Vegas. Since then, we have seen a few regular Resolve 18 updates just as we learned to expect from the company. Today, Blackmagic Design announced a larger update to version 18.1. Let’s take a look at what is new.

DaVinci Resolve 18.1: new features

You can already tell this is a large update just by seeing that Blackmagic Design made a half-hour-long release video that goes through and explains all the new features.

The new key features include the addition of vertical and square resolution options in project settings. The direct upload to social media also got enhanced. Multiple user collaboration via the Blackmagic Cloud got improved with individual timeline locks. The Fairlight page got a handful of new features such as Dialogue Leveler, Vector Keyframing, Fairlight grid support, and more.

Here is the full list of the new features in DaVinci Resolve 18.1 divided into pages:

Media

• Support for smart bins to show individual marker clip listing.
• Navigating to markers in the viewer now selects the marker.
• Support for loading previous or next clip via source viewer actions.
• Drag media entries to auto smart bins to apply keyword, shot or scene.

Edit

• Improved speed editor functionality in the edit page, including:
  • Full screen view, resize timeline and review playback keys.
  • Trim, roll, slip edits and insert close ups in the edit timeline.
  • CUT, DIS and SMTH CUT keys.
  • Changing audio levels for clips in the edit timeline.
  • Setting default transition durations with the SET key.
  • Using sync bin and cam 1-9 keys to change multicam clip angles.
• Improved subtitle functionality:
  • Subtitle caption properties can now be overridden individually.
  • Improved subtitle handling for HTML bold and italics formatted text.
  • Support for subtitle track presets and per-track formatting rules.
• Improved alpha handling with compound clips and transitions.
• Ability to multi-select, delete and realign transitions.
• Support for edit and trim actions on gaps.
• Support for timeline page scrolling.
• Shortcut to enable or disable all audio track destinations.
• New tracks are now added in context in the edit timeline.
• Support for Resolve FX Dust Buster in the edit timeline.
• Support for marker and track listing alongside the edit index.
• The change speed dialog now shows source clip duration.
• Reconform from bins persists the selected bin for the session.
• Drag and drop media as inputs to inspector on supported Fusion effects.

Fusion

• Integrated keyboard configuration for Fusion actions.
• Support for Magic Mask in the Fusion page.
• Support for Resolve FX Keyers, Dust Buster, Lens Flare and Stop Motion.
• New media-in background mode to access edit track composites.
• Up to 10x faster Text+ playback and render performance.
• Search for Fusion nodes using common keywords and categories.
• Faster VariBlur with GPU acceleration.
• Faster FilmGrain with GPU acceleration.
• Support for ARRI LogC4 and ARRI Wide Gamut 4 in the Fusion page.

Color

• New Resolve FX Sky Replacement including generated sky textures.
• Support for motion blur for textures with Resolve FX Surface Tracker.
• Support for using Resolve FX alpha for grade isolation.
• Support for separate RGB controls in Resolve FX Film Grain.
• Support for Dolby Vision cinema trims.
• Color grading nodes with Resolve FX automatically get additional inputs.
• Ability to process alpha channel for supported Resolve FX in Color.
• Tracking now works over transition extents.
• Improved resize quality for multicam and compound clips.
• Improved quality when tracking faces in profile or partial occlusion.
• Improved eye sharpening behavior in Resolve FX Face Refinement.
• Improved DaVinci Resolve advanced panel features:
  • Improved clip and timeline toggle for grouped clips.
  • The pots mode now includes additional primary controls.
  • Improved qualifier menus.
  • Improved power windows menus.
  • Pressing shift down + loop toggles playhead mode.
  • Ability to dock reference wipe mode on the side panel.
• Improved handling of Text+ in RCM projects with DaVinci Wide Gamut.
• Improved HDR, division and percentage labeling on video level scopes.
• Ability to filter clips with object mask.
• Ability to filter clips by clip color.
• The effects inspector now shows an explicit delete icon.

Fairlight

• New Voice Isolation powered by the DaVinci Neural Engine in Studio.
• New Dialogue Leveler for natural smooth audio.
• Support for grid editing to timecode or musical tempo.
• Greatly improved automation editing and control including:
  • Automation curve editing with vector keyframing.
  • New snap automation glide time preference.
  • Automation now follows clip edits by default.
  • Automation now stays updated to match current playhead position.
  • Support for writing automation to start, end or all of a timeline.
  • New controls for auto punch, auto safe, zones and new mix.
• Ability to create audio crossfades between clips over a gap.
• Support for paste insert and ripple cut actions in the Fairlight timeline.
• Support for pasting multiple track names for adjacent tracks.
• Support for locating view to start and end of range selection.
• Rendering one track per channel now suffixes audio channel name.
• Mixers and meters show tooltip names for easier patch visibility.
• Confirmation dialog when deleting buses with assignments or automation.
• Support for deleting multiple buses from the bus format dialog.
• Multiple ADR usability improvements.

Codecs & I/O

• Select custom thumbnails for YouTube uploads.
• Select bit rates for supported codecs in YouTube presets.
• An option to review rendered clip before social media upload.
• Support for timeline markers in AAF import and exports.
• Custom preset support for Dropbox and Dropbox Replay uploads.
• Most suitable H.264/H.265 encoder is automatically selected.
• Support for decoding Dolby Vision H.265 Profile 5 clips.
• Hardware accelerated AV1 encodes in supported Nvidia systems.
• Support for UHD and DCI presets in output resolution scaling.
• Support for importing and exporting timeline markers in IMF workflows.
• Improved multichannel audio metadata in IMF delivery workflows.

Performance

• Up to 2x faster optical flow performance in enhanced mode.
• Up to 10x faster Text+ playback and render performance.
• Improved performance with RCM on Apple silicon.
• Up to 5x faster face refinement tracking and analysis.
• Up to 5x faster Resolve FX object removal performance.
• Up to 2x faster sharper resize performance on Apple silicon.
• Up to 4x faster spatial noise reduction performance.
• Up to 30% faster temporal noise reduction performance.
• Up to 5x faster video stabilization performance.
• Faster playback performance with large node graphs.
• Up to 2x faster decode performance for PIZ EXRs in Apple silicon.
• Improved RAW decode performance on Apple silicon.
• Up to 30% faster Nvidia accelerated playback for 8K H.265 clips.
• Up to 50% faster AV1 and H.265 encodes with dual Nvidia encoder.
• Improved startup time on Mac for users with many project libraries.
• OpenVINO accelerated AI-based Studio features in Windows Intel systems.

General

• Vertical resolution options in project settings for social media.
• Support for individual timeline locks enhancing multi-user collaboration.
• Improved audio management when importing ATEM projects.
• Simplified project setting presets accessible from the three dot menu.
• Reorganized and streamlined view menu.
• Support for exporting multiple selected projects.
• Support for copying and pasting project manager folders.
• Exported DRT timelines now include media sync information.
• Ability to copy and paste values when selecting virtual slider controls.
• Middle mouse drag to scroll clip thumbnails in color and Fusion.
• Support for fractional display scaling for Windows and Linux.
• Customize shortcuts for move clips, audio record and more actions.
• Ability to search for sub menus in keyboard customization.
• Keyboard customization action hover text shows the location of the action.
• Clickable warnings to easily resolve key shortcut conflicts.
• Scripting API support to spot audio to current track at playhead.
• Ability to select specific timelines to import from FCPXML files.
• General performance and stability improvements.

Price and availability

The latest version of DaVinci Resolve 18.1 is available now as a free download from the Blackmagic Support Center. The full Studio license of DaVinci Resolve 18 is also available on the same page, but you will need to purchase an activation code in order to launch it. The full license for two computers currently costs $295, or you can get the license with a Blackmagic Speed Editor (check our review here) for $395. The license also comes with every new Blackmagic Design camera.

Did you already upgrade DaVinci Resolve to version 18? What do you think about the new features in Resolve 18.1? Let us know in the comments section underneath the article.