Post Production Edge
Game Changing Post Process
Alright, let’s talk about the biggest headaches in post-production and how to solve them. I’m not here to sugarcoat it, I've seen what happens when studios stick to the old ways, dragging their feet on change. But I’ve also seen how a specific tool can take an over-complicated pipeline and strip it down to something smooth and cost-efficient. This isn't some pie-in-the-sky theory; this is the stuff I’ve used to get real results for commercials, trailers, and full length series.
One Tool to Rule Them All
First off, money. Post-production budgets have a funny way of vanishing into thin air, especially when you’re paying for every tool under the sun: editing, motion graphics, audio mixing, color grading—you name it. Each one has its own subscription model, and before you know it, you’re bleeding cash. But with the right solution, you don’t need to do that. Imagine having an all-in-one platform that covers editing, color, VFX, and even audio—for a fraction of the cost. And I’m not talking about some new-fangled software or AI tool. This is an industry standard program that you may already use in your pipeline.
In 2015 I was fortunate to be able to define the pipeline for a steaming series from the ground up. We didn’t have time or budget for inefficiencies. We had single camera narrative, multi camera unscripted, sound design, mixing, color, motion graphics and hundreds of VFX shots per episode—it was a spectacularly short production and post schedule that needed a tailored approach.
Since then, for the last 10 years or so I've been iterating, developing, and updating this pipline that features one key tool. With this tool, we handled editing, motion graphics, visual effects, sound and color grading without round-tripping files across multiple software packages. That saved us from countless compatibility issues and avoided the all-too-familiar monthly cost creep that so many productions face.
No More Fragmented Workflows
One of the biggest pains in traditional post is having a fragmented workflow. Editing in one tool, color grading in another, then kicking the audio and color over to a different software entirely—it’s like having to switch cars every time you hit a different kind of road. What if you had all these tools under one roof, designed to work together seamlessly?
During my time overseeing post-production on projects with brands like HBO, Google, and Netflix, I was puzzled why productions continue to use workflows that wasted so much time and money just moving projects between different vendors and software. Often time creative reasons were called out but usually it was just because that has always been the way things were done and nobody wants to be the agent(s) of change.
When we brought everything under one cohesive platform, the workflow became almost shockingly simple. Editors, colorists, and VFX artists could collaborate in real-time. There was no more waiting for the edit to be “final” before color could start, or kicking audio files back and forth. It could happen in parallel, and that’s where we clawed back weeks of time and significant cost.
No Collaboration Boundaries
One of the things that surprised me most was how well this tool adapted to real-time collaboration. Editors could be working on sequences while colorists tweaked looks, and even VFX artists could jump in on the same timeline. It’s a level of efficiency that’s just not possible with a traditional, fragmented setup.
I’ve been in rooms where producers were getting whiplash moving between different facilities. With Escape the Night, we took a command center approach—everyone was in the same space thanks to the collaboration features of this tool. It was like a creative war room: five editors cutting 10-episode seasons in eight weeks, VFX artists chiming in instantly when a shot needed tweaking. It was fast, but it worked because there was no back-and-forth to kill momentum.
Automation That Actually Helps
Editing is full of repetitive tasks—stuff like organizing footage, setting up timelines, or applying standard effects—which can eat up so much time. This tool's custom scripting and macros are lifesavers here. When I first switched my teams over, there was some whining (as there always is) about learning new software. But once they realized how much of the drudgery they could automate, the tune changed quickly.
We wrote scripts to automate tasks like setting up timeline structures and organizing incoming footage. Suddenly, the time we used to waste getting set up was gone. Editors got to spend more time being creative rather than bogged down in the grunt work. And honestly, who gives a toss about which software you're using if it's getting you better results, faster?
The Reveal: A Game-Changer
What is this magical tool? At the end of the day, DaVinci Resolve is more than just a color correction tool. It’s a complete production platform. On set footage acquisition, none linear editor, compositing tool, an audio mixer, a color suite, and an entire pipeline in one package. For my productions, the editorial, the motion graphics, the color grading, the VFX—all of it—was done in-house using Resolve. No round-tripping, no offlines, no lost time, no miscommunications. It’s the most creatively satisfying process, precisely because the technology lets you focus on the work, not on the logistics.
As one Amazon Originals Post Supervisor put it:
“I’ve not seen anything like your process in over 1000 episodes of TV. Technical combined with creatives in one space—it’s a game-changer.”
This quote highlights just how unique our approach was and how using DaVinci Resolve as a unified platform allowed us to achieve what others thought was impossible.
So What Now?
Transition Your Team
Switching to a new software—even one as powerful as DaVinci Resolve—often comes with resistance and skepticism. Let’s face it, people can be creatures of habit. Below, we'll tackle the most common objections and explain how we’ve been able to address them in real production environments.
Addressing Concerns
Overcoming the Hurdles
Switching software, especially one as integral as an editing tool, comes with its share of challenges. Trust me, I’ve heard every objection in the book—from editors set in their ways to concerns about hardware requirements. But the good news is, these hurdles are easier to clear than you might think.
Turning Resistance into Excitement
Let’s face it—people hate change. When I first introduced DaVinci Resolve to my teams, there was resistance. Editors were comfortable with their workflows, shortcuts, and muscle memory from years of using other software. My approach? Start by customizing Resolve’s shortcuts to match what they were used to. Suddenly, it didn’t feel so foreign.
I also set up hands-on sessions where editors could explore the features that directly made their work easier—automations, an integrated color suite, and collaborative tools. Once they saw the power of everything being under one roof, resistance turned into genuine excitement. The key here was showing them the immediate benefits to their day-to-day work, not just talking big picture.
One of the most frequent objections I hear is about the learning curve. Editors are often very comfortable with their existing tools and don't want to invest time learning a new system. I get it—who wants to feel like a beginner again?
But here’s the thing: Resolve allows you to customize shortcuts to mimic the software editors are already used to. We had a veteran editor who was a die-hard Adobe Premiere user. He balked at the thought of switching, but after setting Resolve up to match his existing shortcuts and layout, he found himself right at home within days. Now, he admits that the initial hesitation was more about fear of change than about Resolve’s complexity.
It’s also worth mentioning that the support from Blackmagic’s online resources and the community is fantastic. Within a few weeks, even the most resistant editors on our team became Resolve champions, simply because they saw how much easier their workflow became.
Migrating Projects Seamlessly
Another common concern is compatibility with existing projects. Editors worried they’d lose all their hard work in the transition. To counter this, I established a smooth migration process—starting with small test projects. Using Resolve's robust import tools, we ran tests with XML and AAF imports to see how footage, edits, and effects would translate. And it worked far better than most expected.
For editors worried about losing functionality, I often run a side-by-side comparison. Once, an editor was adamant about keeping his After Effects plugin for a specific effect. After showing him how to replicate (and actually enhance) the effect using Fusion, he was sold. The added bonus? No more round-tripping between software—everything was handled within Resolve.
“But I Love My Plugins!”
Some editors are deeply attached to their third-party plugins. It’s understandable—many workflows are built around specific tools and effects. The good news is that Resolve has a massive range of built-in effects that often surpass third-party plugins in both quality and performance. Plus, Resolve’s Fusion page integrates seamlessly, offering advanced VFX and motion graphics tools that are on par with, if not superior to, many popular plugins.
Sure, some third-party plugins didn’t make the jump, but for those, I had Resolve-native alternatives lined up. Plus, there’s a liberating simplicity that comes with ditching plugin dependency in favor of an integrated ecosystem. One plugin in, in particular, Film Impact is very re creatable within Resolve in the Fusion panel.
Hardware Requirements: Demanding?
There’s a perception that DaVinci Resolve is a resource hog. These days Resolve actually makes much better use of video hardware than the competition. It’s an industry standard finishing tool and has been for 20 years. In 2009 Davinci Resolve systems still cost $200,000 to $800,000, were built with custom computer and video hardware and were used for high end finishing on feature films. Today Resolve takes advantage of hardware at pretty much any level and has incredibly flexible proxy workflows. I have created pipelines that use both full resolution media and proxy media workflows. I had instances where clients couldn’t believe they would not have to pay online fees in their post budget because an offline workflow was not necessary. For bigger resolution productions, 8K RAW and up, we had optimized proxies that let us handle high-res footage without needing an ultra-expensive workstation.
I remember a project where we had a few editors working from laptops. They were skeptical at first, thinking their machines wouldn't be able to keep up. But they were able to breeze through edits with no noticeable lag. Sure, you get a performance boost from higher-end hardware, but with Resolve, it's all about how you optimize the setup. It’s a lot less daunting than it seems, and the hardware flexibility means you won’t have to break the bank just to get started.
Fear of Losing Creative Flexibility
A common fear is that switching to an all-in-one tool might mean sacrificing creative flexibility. After all, if one tool claims to do it all, is it really going to excel at each individual task? The answer with DaVinci Resolve is a resounding yes.
I always point to Resolve's node-based systems. Nodes are daunting at first but once you see how intuitive and powerful Resolve's nodes were—and how much faster it is, the switch is a no brainer.
Clients Require Project Files
Providing project files to clients can be challenging, but there are several viable solutions to address this need.
Clients are often willing to accept intermediate formats such as XML or AAF. These formats retain most, if not all, of the project information and can be used to transfer the project into other software.
DaVinci Resolve offers a free version with virtually no limitations, making it possible to provide clients with DaVinci Resolve DRP files. This ensures that they have access to the exact version of the software used to create the project at the time of delivery. This approach allows archived projects to be opened and reviewed accurately in the future.
In practice, 99.9% of the time, clients will never need to open these projects. It’s worth noting that as software tools are updated, there is no foolproof way to guarantee that old projects will open flawlessly. Even archived projects may require adjustments or fixes when reopened after a long period.
If a client insists on having the project file in a native format, a final step in the delivery process can involve exporting the project as an XML from Resolve and importing it into the required tool. This approach satisfies the client’s request without significantly increasing time or cost, especially since clients often require some form of archived project to be created anyway.
By offering these options, you can meet client expectations while maintaining an efficient workflow.
The Integrated Workflow Payoff
Finally, some were simply skeptical about Resolve’s all-in-one approach. “How can one tool do what all my separate tools do without compromises?” they’d ask. The answer is simple—it doles it because it’s built that way. I’d give live demonstrations, comparing Resolve’s editorial, color grading and VFX capabilities against the traditional fragmented setup. The seamless flow of work spoke for itself.
The bottom line? Moving your team to a custom DaVinci Resolve pipeline isn’t about disruption—it’s about evolution. It’s about giving them tools that reduce friction, eliminate redundant steps, and open up new creative opportunities.
Building a Custom Pipeline
To fully harness the power of DaVinci Resolve, building a custom pipeline is essential. This isn’t just a plug-and-play situation—it’s about shaping Resolve to fit the unique needs of your studio, production style, team and project.
Crafting a Unified Project Management System
Project Libraries
A Project Library is essentially a database that stores all of the projects, including timelines, settings, and edits. Setting up a shared project library allows multiple users to access and work on the same projects seamlessly. It ensures everyone is working with the most up-to-date version of a project, reducing redundancy and potential errors caused by different team members using local versions.
DaVinci Resolve operates fundamentally differently from traditional editing tools by forgoing conventional project files. Instead, it relies on a sophisticated database system, where every project resides as a part of the database. This design ensures that all changes, from a mouse click to a timeline adjustment, are saved instantly in real-time, eliminating the need for manual saving or version control.
This database-centric approach is a cornerstone of Resolve’s tight collaborative workflow. When an editor modifies a clip or adjusts the timeline while a colorist fine-tunes color grading, both actions are essentially updates to different fields within the shared database. Resolve’s architecture ensures that these changes are non-conflicting by employing intelligent locking mechanisms. For instance, Resolve locks the duration of a clip being adjusted by one user to prevent simultaneous edits by another. This guarantees data integrity and preserves workflow fluidity across the team.
The immediate updating of project data in the database underpins Resolve’s real-time collaboration capabilities. Multiple users can work simultaneously on the same project, each interacting with discrete components of the timeline or clip attributes without interfering with one another. This streamlined integration not only accelerates workflows but also minimizes the risk of data conflicts, ensuring that teams can focus on creative decisions rather than technical constraints.
In summary, Resolve’s database-driven approach redefines project management by integrating every change dynamically and enabling unparalleled collaborative precision. This paradigm shift simplifies complex workflows, enhances efficiency, and delivers a seamless user experience across all stages of production.
Overcoming Legacy Methods in Post-Production
This is a critical aspect of achieving efficiency in modern workflows, yet most teams fail to implement it effectively. Even major post-production houses, with all their resources, often miss the mark. They remain anchored to fragmented, outdated methods that once served them well but are now ill-suited to the demands of contemporary production environments.
The reluctance to embrace change stems from several factors. Large organizations often face inertia due to their sheer size, making it challenging to overhaul entrenched systems. These legacy workflows are deeply embedded in their operations, and the perceived risk of disruption can deter even the most forward-thinking leaders. Additionally, many of these organizations are staffed by professionals who are highly skilled in traditional methods but resistant to adopting new tools and processes.
This adherence to outdated practices not only stifles innovation but also hampers the efficiency and scalability of their workflows. The fragmented approach—relying on disconnected tools for editing, color grading, VFX, and audio—introduces unnecessary complexity, increases the risk of errors, and slows down the entire pipeline.
By contrast, teams that invest in streamlined, database-driven systems like DaVinci Resolve gain a competitive edge. They can adapt quickly, reduce operational friction, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. The ability to work collaboratively in real-time, with all changes seamlessly integrated, is no longer a luxury but a necessity for staying relevant in a rapidly evolving industry. Recognizing the limitations of legacy systems and embracing modern solutions is essential for any team aiming to maximize efficiency and creative potential.
Setting Up a Project Library
A project library is an essential component of managing your projects efficiently in DaVinci Resolve. Setting up a shared project library allows multiple users to access and work on the same projects seamlessly, enabling collaborative workflows and maintaining consistency across your projects.
Understanding Project Libraries
Project Libraries are databases used to store projects, including all edits, timelines, settings, and metadata. These libraries can be local (stored on your workstation), network-based (stored on a server for internal access), or cloud-based (using Blackmagic Cloud for remote collaboration). Setting up a Project Library makes it easier to manage projects in one central location and allows multiple users to access and work simultaneously on a shared project.
Setting up a Project Library in DaVinci Resolve helps keep your team synchronized, ensures consistent project management, and allows real-time collaboration—drastically improving the efficiency of your workflows.
To set up a shared database, you would typically use either a Disk Database for a simple local setup or a PostgreSQL Database for more robust networked collaboration. The PostgreSQL database allows several editors, colorists, and sound engineers to work concurrently, making real-time collaboration possible. This or a cloud based Blackmagic workflow is the key to success here.
One of the key advantages of Resolve is its centralized media management. But to make the most of it, you need a system. At the start of every project, create a standard media structure that fits your workflow. We established folder templates for different types of assets—raw footage, graphics, proxies, audio—and mapped it out to be easily accessible within Resolve’s media pool.
I often create automated scripts to help the team follow this structure without mistakes. This ensures that any new footage or assets are exactly where they should be, and editors spend more time cutting and less time searching for files. It’s all about establishing that uniformity from day one.
Integration with Existing Tools
Even though Resolve can handle almost everything, there are sometimes existing systems or tools your team relies on. Whether it’s an asset management system or a cloud storage solution, Resolve’s APIs allow integration, creating a seamless bridge between your favorite third-party tools and Resolve.
I’ve created pipelines to integrate cloud-based storage platforms like Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive, and Lucid Link directly into Resolve, making importing and managing assets straightforward. This kind of integration means you don’t have to change everything; you can keep using what works well, but now it all functions within the same streamlined workflow. Blackmagic offers cloud based workflows you can use discretely or integrate with your own tools that are incredible out of the box.
Customizing the Workspace for Your Team
No two artists are the same—some like their workspace minimal, some want every panel visible. The good news is Resolve’s customizable interface makes it easy to create workspaces that suit different preferences. For teams, I often set up specific layouts presets based on roles. Colorists get all the scopes they need, editors have a clean timeline view, and VFX artists have their nodes and media pool arranged just right.
During post on episodic shows, I had templates for different stages of production—editorial, color grading, VFX review—so we could quickly switch contexts depending on what stage we were tackling. This flexibility helped the team stay focused, productive, and creatively engaged.
Automation for Efficiency Gains
Automation isn’t just for nerds with a coding background—it's a necessity for efficiency. We developed custom scripts that automated recurring tasks, like organizing incoming dailies and pre-building timeline structures based on shot lists. Resolve is full of no code tools you can use to automate repetitive color grading operations across similar shots, making sure you maintain consistency without wasting hours.
Resolve is a powerful finishing tool with functionality like adding any meta data from a project into a file name, scripting post render events to trigger further action and the ability to deeply integrate with post management software like Shotgrid and Ftrack. These features save countless hours over time, allowing teams to focus on more pressing creative matters.
Leveraging Resolve’s Collaborative Tools
Collaboration is where Resolve really sets itself apart from other software. It’s not just about multiple users having access; it’s about structuring that access in a way that best serves your production. With Resolve’s collaborative features, we had editors, VFX artists, and colorists working on the same timeline—simultaneously. But to make the most of it, you need some basic rules.
Communication Is Key
Having all your collaborators in Resolve is great, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for good communication. We leveraged Resolve’s built-in annotation tools and marker system to leave notes directly in the timeline. This was paired with our external chat platform to make sure everyone stayed on the same page, both figuratively and literally. Setting clear guidelines on how and when to use these notes made collaboration smooth, even across different time zones.
Real-Time Review and Approval
Getting feedback quickly is crucial. With Resolve’s collaboration tools, we’d often have a director or producer join a session for real-time review. This eliminated the lag between cuts, notes, revisions, and approvals. We could make changes on the fly, get sign-off, and move forward. The immediacy of this feedback loop kept us on schedule and allowed for creative input that might have been lost if review cycles took days.
Resolve Studio has built in remote color managed monitoring without the need for tools like Zoom or Teams which don’t offer the same color fidelity. Currently this is only offered on iPhones and iPads which offer very good out of the box color accuracy.
The Bottom Line
Building a custom pipeline with DaVinci Resolve isn’t about shoehorning a bunch of tools into one place; it’s about designing a workflow that removes friction, saves time, and gives creatives the space to do what they do best. This isn’t just a cost-saving exercise—it’s a way to elevate your entire production process.
Pain Points
Traditional post-production workflows are riddled with inefficiencies that have been around for far too long. Here’s a deep dive into some of the most pressing pain points that studios and editors face day-to-day. If you’ve worked in post, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
Cost Overload: The Hidden Sinkhole
Post-production isn’t just about getting creative work done—it’s about managing the costs that come with using a boatload of tools. Each tool comes with its own cost, not only in terms of licensing but also in the time and energy needed to integrate it into the workflow. There’s a subscription for editing, another one for color grading, a separate one for motion graphics, and let’s not even talk about the endless array of plugins.
The cumulative cost ends up being astronomical, and the worst part is, you’re often using only a fraction of the features available in each tool. It’s like buying an entire restaurant just to get a cup of coffee. This is not just expensive, but wasteful. And when clients are breathing down your neck to justify every dollar, you need a better solution.
Fragmented Workflow: A Patchwork of Pain
One of the most common issues is workflow fragmentation. Editors use one piece of software to cut footage, then kick it over to another for visual effects, a different one for sound, and maybe another for color. It’s a never-ending chain of exports, imports, conversions, and—guess what?—errors.
Each time you move a project from one tool to another, you introduce risk. File corruption, format compatibility issues, incorrect versioning—it’s all part of the chaos that comes with fragmented workflows. And let’s not forget the amount of time lost during these handovers. Each transition creates a bottleneck that slows down the entire process, and it’s painful watching hours turn into days because software X decided not to play nice with software Y.
Time Wasted on Repetitive Tasks
Post-production is full of repetitive tasks that, frankly, should have been automated years ago. Importing footage, renaming clips, setting up sequences—artists spend so much time just getting everything ready to edit that by the time they actually start cutting, they’re already burned out. And that’s before they even get to color grading, sound design, or any of the creative work.
Most of these repetitive tasks are simply the price of using disconnected systems. They don’t talk to each other, which means you need to manually do a lot of the grunt work. And let’s be real—nobody got into this business because they wanted to rename files for eight hours a day. This isn’t creative work; it’s busywork. And the more time you spend on it, the less time you have for what really matters: making something amazing.
Collaboration Nightmares
Collaboration is the backbone of any successful post-production team, but the tools most studios use seem designed to make it harder, not easier. You’ve got editors, colorists, VFX artists, and sound designers all working in different applications, often passing files back and forth like a game of hot potato.
Remote work has only made this worse. Suddenly, you’re trying to send massive files across the globe, dealing with slow upload speeds, version control problems, and, of course, that one team member who never labels anything properly. Traditional workflows weren’t designed with real-time, collaborative creativity in mind, and they show their age when put to the test in today’s fast-paced, remote environment.
Editors Resisting Change: The Comfort Zone Trap
And perhaps the biggest pain point of all: people don’t like change. Editors are notoriously loyal to their tools, even if those tools are outdated and inefficient. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—that’s the mindset. But let’s be honest: just because it isn’t completely broken doesn’t mean it’s not holding you back.
Convincing a seasoned editor to switch software is like convincing a cat to take a bath. They’ll claw, scratch, and resist until the very end. But when the process is unnecessarily slow, when workflows are fragmented and clunky, it’s time to reconsider. Yes, change is hard, but stagnation is harder on your long-term growth—and your budget.
Version Control and Chaos Management
You wouldn’t believe how many projects get delayed simply because different people are working on different versions of the same file. Traditional post workflows often involve exporting and importing different parts of a project multiple times—leading to mixed-up files, lost edits, and endless confusion over which version is the “final” one. (Spoiler alert: It’s rarely the one labeled “Final_v10_FINAL_v2_FINAL.”)
Without a centralized system to manage versions and keep everything consistent, you end up losing time just trying to figure out what the latest update even is. It’s chaos management at its worst, and it’s something that, frankly, no studio should have to put up with anymore.
In Summary
To sum it up, traditional post-production is inefficient, expensive, and clunky. You’ve got high costs from multiple tools, fragmented workflows that are prone to error, time lost on manual tasks that should be automated, and collaboration processes that seem designed to slow you down.
Corporations are all fighting for your money and its not in their interest to make it easy for you to switch to a differnet application.
Why DaVinci Resolve Is the Solution
Cost Reduction
One of the most pressing issues in post-production is the sheer cost of using multiple tools. From editing software to color grading suites, from VFX packages to audio editing programs—each one has its own price tag, subscription, and hidden fees. Resolve consolidates all of these functionalities into a single platform, eliminating the need for a sprawling stack of software.
With DaVinci Resolve, you get professional-grade editing, color grading, VFX, and audio mixing capabilities without the added cost of buying or subscribing to multiple tools. The savings aren't just in software costs either—streamlined workflows mean fewer team members and fewer hours required to complete a project, drastically cutting overhead. Davinci resolve is $300 per user one time. I have dongles and serials from 10- years ago that work with every new version. No subscription costs. You can spend that in a single month with Adobe or Avid and you will likely still be suing Resolve for color and finish and paying for it anyway.
Simplified Workflow
Fragmented workflows are a thing of the past with DaVinci Resolve. No more exporting XMLs from one tool and importing them into another, no more round-tripping footage back and forth between software. Resolve integrates editing, color, VFX, motion graphic and audio tools in one place, allowing seamless transitions between stages of post-production.
This integration means that an editor can easily jump into color adjustments or a VFX artist can make tweaks without the headaches of inter-software compatibility. The result? Fewer errors, less time wasted, and a more efficient creative process. Learn how Resolve's workflow integration can save your team time and effort.
Real-Time Collaboration
In traditional setups, collaboration is a nightmare—especially with remote work becoming the norm. Editors, colorists, and VFX artists often have to work in silos, making collaboration slow and cumbersome. DaVinci Resolve changes that by allowing real-time, multi-user collaboration on the same project.
Team members can simultaneously access the same timeline, with features like chat integration and live annotations helping everyone stay on the same page. During my career, this collaborative approach allowed editors, VFX artists, and colorists to share updates instantly, which meant that creative decisions could be made on the spot—no more waiting for lengthy review processes.
Automation to Save Time
Resolve allows users to create custom scripts and macros, making repetitive tasks a breeze. Importing footage, organizing timelines, applying color grades to multiple shots—all of these can be automated, saving hours if not days of work. In our production environment, we automated dailies import and labeling processes, slashing our prep time significantly.
This means your team can spend less time on administrative tasks and more time focusing on the creative aspects of their projects. For editors who used to spend hours setting up timelines or colorists who had to manually match grades shot by shot, Resolve’s scripting capabilities are far ahead of the competition.
Streamlined Media Management
Media management can be a major time sink. Traditional workflows often require editors to manually organize footage, deal with proxies, and manage storage across multiple software tools. Resolve’s Media Pool and proxy workflows simplify this process—everything lives in one place, from raw footage to final edits.
We used Resolve’s media management features to keep our projects organized, searchable, and accessible. The built-in proxy generator made working with high-res 4K or even 8K footage manageable on less powerful machines, without ever compromising the final output quality. This reduces the hardware burden and helps even smaller studios work efficiently.
Integrated Professional Audio with Fairlight
Audio is often an afterthought in post-production, but it's just as important as the visuals. With DaVinci Resolve’s Fairlight, audio is treated as a first-class citizen. There’s no need to export and import audio tracks into separate software for sound design—everything can be done directly in Resolve.
Fairlight offers a full suite of professional audio tools, making it easy to perform everything from basic audio adjustments to complex multi-layered sound design. This integration was vital during my time working on trailer projects, where sound, music, and dialogue needed to be tightly synced to high-impact visuals.
Color Grading at Its Best
Resolve was initially a color grading tool, and it’s still the gold standard in the industry. The need to export footage to a separate color suite is eliminated. Color grading can be done directly on the timeline, with full access to the raw files, ensuring there’s no quality loss due to format conversions.
The integrated node-based system in Resolve allows for precise, non-destructive adjustments, making it an ideal tool for projects requiring intricate color work. For episodics I have built pipelines for, this was crucial—ensuring color continuity across multi-camera setups while maintaining the unique look of each episode. Explore why DaVinci Resolve is the leading choice for color grading.
Fusion
Fusion is an incredible composition and motion graphic tool. Prior to its integration with Resolve, the standalone Fusion version was used to create effects for over 1,000 feature films and TV shows, including The Martian, Kingsman: The Secret Service and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. It deserves its own book entirely. As part of the Davinci Resolve pipeline you get a world class compositing and motion graphic tool with 2D and 3D capabilities within the same application that works seamlessly with the Edit and Color pages. Nothing like this exists in any other program.
One Platform, No Compromise
The biggest hurdle in switching to an all-in-one solution is the fear of compromising quality in favor of convenience. But DaVinci Resolve isn’t about compromise—it’s about enhancement. Resolve’s capabilities as an editing tool, a VFX compositor, and a color grading powerhouse are industry-leading.
Rather than juggling half a dozen tools, teams can focus on their creative work without worrying about managing multiple platforms, subscriptions, and file formats. For those skeptical about whether Resolve can truly replace their favorite tool, I’d argue that the proof is in the results: increased efficiency, reduced costs, and superior creative output.
Implementing This Pipelines
Transitioning to a new workflow might seem daunting, but with a structured approach, you can seamlessly shift to a DaVinci Resolve pipeline and start reaping the benefits. Here are some practical steps to help you integrate Resolve into your studio’s post-production processes.
Start Small: Test Projects
The best way to ease into a new workflow is by starting small. Pick a low-risk project, perhaps an internal promo or a short piece, and use Resolve from end to end. This allows you to get a feel for the interface, tools, and capabilities without the pressure of a client deadline.
During this trial phase, focus on exploring Resolve’s features like color grading, Fusion for VFX, and Fairlight for audio. The more you experiment, the more comfortable you and your team will become. Think you could use some help getting started? Reach out to schedule a free consultation.
Implement Collaborative Features
Encourage collaboration by setting up a project that allows your entire team to work within Resolve. Set up shared timelines, assign different roles to different users (e.g., editors, VFX artists, audio engineers), and see how Resolve’s real-time collaboration tools improve workflow efficiency.
Set Up Training Sessions
A successful transition relies on effective training. Set up hands-on sessions where your team can learn Resolve’s features—both the basics and the more advanced tools. There are excellent free and paid training resources available online, including Blackmagic’s own training portal.
Consider hiring an expert for a few hours to guide your team through the essential features. A small upfront investment in training can save weeks of trial and error later on.
Migrate Your Projects Gradually
Instead of migrating all your projects at once, take a phased approach. Start with new projects while wrapping up existing ones in their original software. Gradual migration prevents disruption and allows team members to acclimate at their own pace.
Resolve has excellent project import features—XML, AAF, and EDL support—that help you move ongoing projects into the platform without losing information. Just be sure to do a test migration first to ensure everything works seamlessly before committing a major project. The key is to minimize risk during this transition by ironing out any kinks in a test run, which will make your full migration far smoother.
Utilize Proxy Workflows to Optimize Hardware
If hardware capacity is a concern, set up proxy workflows to edit high-resolution footage without requiring an upgrade in your systems. Resolve’s proxy generation tools allow you to work with lighter versions of your footage, meaning that even machines with lower specifications can handle complex projects smoothly.
This can be particularly useful for smaller studios or teams that don’t have the luxury of top-tier hardware. The proxy workflow ensures you can maintain high efficiency without compromising the quality of your final product.
Measure and Optimize
Once you’ve transitioned a few projects into Resolve, it’s crucial to measure the impact on time, budget, and creativity. Gather feedback from your editors and artists, track the time spent at each phase of production, and evaluate the cost savings from eliminating subscriptions to multiple tools.
These metrics will help you refine your approach and demonstrate the value of adopting Resolve to any stakeholders or team members who might still be skeptical.
Hire a Professional for Personalized Guidance
Adopting DaVinci Resolve in your studio can transform the way your team works. With a structured approach, the transition can be smooth, and the benefits far outweigh the initial learning curve.
If you're ready to dive in but want more personalized help, consider reaching out to a professional. They can walk you through the setup and help you customize a workflow that fits your studio's specific needs.
Good Luck!