Have you finally decided to make the jump to DaVinci Resolve but are overwhelmed by the amount of information on the web? Don’t worry! We are here to guide you to the best resources to get you started in Blackmagic Design’s editing software.
A good idea to get started with Resolve is by reading the materials supplied by Blackmagic Design itself. On their training page you can find instructional videos and project files to make yourself familiar with the functionalities of the program, and work along with the video tutorials (which can also be found on their YouTube Channel).
You can also download their training books for free as PDFs and take exams on the topics covered to get you a nice end-user certification. Download the full software manual for free on their support page, but beware – it’s over 4,000 pages long! Enough to keep you reading for a while, but also a good reference should you get stuck somewhere.
Online training course by MZed
While Blackmagic training is great, they tend to (with the utmost respect to all involved) be a bit on the long and dry side. For a snappier start, you can try Ollie Kenchington’s course on MZed. Here, Ollie guides you through the most important aspects of the program. He also makes sure you have the knowledge needed to pass all the tests that Blackmagic will throw at you to get your certification.
The course is split into easily digestible parts ranging from 30 minutes to about an hour in length. In the end, you will be able to create your first project and navigate through all areas and pages of the program with ease.
Other providers of online training, particularly concerning color, include Lowepost, Mixing Light, and fellow Viennese grading specialist Nico with his Demystify Color site.
YouTube channels to follow
A quick search for DaVinci Resolve on YouTube will spit out a truly massive amount of videos. To spare you the work of looking through all the channels, we have sorted out the most useful ones for newcomers and switchers.
General DaVinci Resolve goodness
You could do much worse than starting off with Mr. Casey Faris, who, in his own, quirky way will introduce you to many themes surrounding the complexities of Resolve.
MrAlexTech has been around for a while and continues to make great content on all aspects of the program – if you can understand his accent :)
Jason Yadlovski is an energetic American YouTuber who, more than others, features quite a bit of content about the Fairlight page and audio topics.
For a more relaxed vibe, try Chadwick and his Creative Video Tips. He often has insights that we have not seen anywhere else.
Color Grading
The main function that Resolve has been known for over the years is color grading, so there is a lot of content on grading out there. Here it can sometimes be even tougher to get through to the really useful content, but these are two channels you should most definitely follow:
Darren Mostyn has a fantastic way of explaining even the more complex ideas behind color grading in his videos. He often shows these on professional projects that he is working on, giving great insight into how professional colorists work with Resolve.
Equally insightful is Cullen Kelly on his channel. Some of his tips are truly next-level, his short tutorial on saturation for example has a fantastic way of dealing with it in a totally new way.
Kasia Jarco of Color Grading Insights has some great videos for beginners such as this one explaining mostly the curves:
(Con-)Fusion?
Probably the scariest page for newcomers is the Fusion page. It is so complicated that Fusion even exists as a standalone program and has so many possibilities that it can seem quite overwhelming at the start.
A good first guide is Bernd, who in his channel VFX Study, will introduce you to Fusion and give you great walkthroughs in typical precise German fashion.
Even more!
And if all these links were not enough, here is a Reddit post with a truly enormous list of further articles on all imaginable topics.
These resources will give you a great head start into Resolve. So go ahead and give it a try!
For complete transparency: MZed is a CineD company.
Price and availability
DaVinci Resolve is available as a free version on the Blackmagic Design website to get you started. For more features such as effects, 8K exports and collaboration you can find the studio versions at retailers like B&H or CVP.
Have we missed some courses or YouTube channels that you find especially helpful? Let us know in the comments!
