Free 444-Page DaVinci Resolve 16 Beginner’s Guide + Certification Released

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by Andrew CollingsDecember 17^th, 2019

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BlackMagic Design have released the (free!) official DaVinci Resolve 16 Beginner’s Guide, and a certification to match. Whether you’re trying Resolve for the first time or checking out what’s new, this is your first stop.

What is DaVinci Resolve?

For the uninitiated, DaVinci Resolve is a professional color grading tool crossed with a non-linear editor, and driven by BlackMagic Design’s passion for bringing pro tools and capabilities to the masses. In this case, that means the base software is 100% free to use. The fully-fledged Studio version sets you back only $299, and it’s included with most of their cameras.

If the phrase “Beginner’s Guide” had you worried this would be shallow and short, you can rest assured that it is not. This 444-page guide covers everything you would use in an average day of editing and coloring.

To quote from the guide:

What You’ll Learn

• Use the cut page’s intelligent editing tools for putting together a timeline fast.

• Edit multiple angles in a scene with the cut page’s revolutionary sync bin.

• Eliminate hunting for clips in bins by creating a source tape on the cut page

• How to setup projects, import media and use metadata to speed up your work.

• Marking selections, editing clips in the timeline, and context sensitive trimming.

• Working with titles, adding effects, and animating with keyframes.

• How to retime clips, add transitions and stabilize shaky clips.

• Primary and secondary corrections using Resolve’s legendary color tools.

• How to match shots, use color management, create looks, grade multiple clips.

• How to use PowerWindows, track objects in a shot, use curves and add ResolveFX.

• Basic Fusion effects, working with the node tree, and animating text.

• Audio editing, sweetening and mixing using Fairlight audio tools.

• How to deliver projects to a variety of formats such as the web and broadcast.

• Dozens of tips and tricks throughout the book that will transform how you work!

Blackmagic Design has added so many features recently that I just can’t keep up. I still use it mainly for color work, but it is a full-fledged editing tool in its own right. If you want to do basic special effects, this guide will show you how to get your hands dirty right here in Resolve 16. Same for audio editing. And that’s not to mention getting you up to speed on the headline features of this version, like the intelligent “cut” page or time-saving Sync Bins.

Certification, Too

You can use the Resolve 16 Beginner’s Guide as a reference, or as an official training program. Blackmagic Design have made all of the clips used in the Guide available for download at this link. If you choose to play along at home, you can download that 7gb project zip folder and extract it to your documents folder. After you have worked your way through the guide, you can take an exam on the content of the Guide, and even earn an official certification. Click here to get started.

Are guides like this helpful or extraneous for you? Do you use DaVinci Resolve yet or are you considering to try it out for your projects? Let us know in the comments below.