DaVinci Resolve Essentials

Reviewing Your Edit

Course contents

Questions

Course info

113 lessons / 13 hours 21 quiz questions 14 projects Certificate of achievement

Overview

Taught by video editor and content creator Brandon Baldovin, DaVinci Resolve Essentials is a practical introduction to one of the most powerful tools in modern post production. Whether you’re cutting a social clip, trailer, or documentary, DaVinci Resolve brings together editing, audio, motion graphics, and color in a single application. This comprehensive 12-hour course shows you how to wield that power with confidence, so you can focus on telling better stories instead of fighting the software. 

If you’ve ever opened DaVinci, felt overwhelmed by all the pages and panels, and closed it just as fast, you’re not alone. Brandon is here to guide you step-by-step with hands-on projects that don’t just teach you where to click but how to think about each editing challenge as it comes. You’ll work through a variety of videos from first import to final render, building skills through repetition, problem solving, and practical application. 

Together with Brandon, you’ll learn how to: 
  • - Navigate the relevant pages of DaVinci Resolve and skip the rest
  • - Create projects, timelines, and media bins that stay organized
  • - Use J and L cuts, b-roll, music, and sound effects to shape compelling edits
  • - Work inside Fusion to design your own motion graphics
  • - Build a simple, repeatable approach to color correction and basic grading (and learn the difference between the two!)
  • - Streamline your workflow with adjustment clips, compound clips, power bins, and proxies

Best of all, DaVinci Resolve is free. If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at video editing, whether for personal projects, content creation, or client work, there’s never been a better time or a better tool. This course is designed to help you focus on only the core features you need to get started, so you can build confidence and make intentional decisions no matter what type of footage you’re working with. 

By the end, you’ll have a reels’ worth of finished projects that reflect your editing sensibilities, including a talking head video, short form social content, a trailer, and a polished mini documentary. Even more importantly, you’ll have the confidence to open DaVinci Resolve and transform a blank timeline into your creative vision, time and again. Let’s get editing!

Note: Because the exercise files contain video footage, they’re large (32 GB) and may take extra time to download. EditStock has generously supplied watermarked footage for use in the course and course exercise files. If you’d like to remove the watermark and access a wide range of raw practice footage, use the link editstock.com/BYOL for 20% off.

Requirements
  • - Download DaVinci Resolve, either the free version or Studio (paid)
  • - A computer that meets DaVinci Resolve minimum system requirements, with at least 16GB of RAM recommended
  • - Enough storage space for exercise files and included footage, either on your computer or an external hard drive
  • - Headphones strongly recommended to properly hear dialogue, music, and sound effects
  • - A mouse can be helpful for precise timeline and Fusion work, though a trackpad also works

Who this course is for
  • - Beginners who want to learn DaVinci Resolve from scratch
  • - Self-taught editors who feel stuck clicking buttons without understanding the process
  • - Content creators and small business owners who want better video for their brand
  • - Designers and creatives who need to learn basic editing for client projects
  • - Anyone who has opened Resolve, panicked, and wants a clear, structured path forward

What you’ll learn
  • - How to download, install, and set up DaVinci Resolve
  • - Setting up frame rates, codecs, and project settings
  • - Navigating the Edit, Media, Fusion, Color, and Deliver pages
  • - Importing, organizing, and managing media with bins and timelines
  • - Editing talking head videos from start to finish
  • - Removing ums, uhs, and dead space to improve pacing
  • - Cutting footage efficiently with custom keybinds
  • - Creating smooth edits using J cuts and L cuts
  • - Adding and timing b-roll to support the story
  • - Choosing and placing music and sound effects
  • - Balancing dialogue, music, and SFX for clean, intentional audio
  • - Editing short form and vertical videos for social platforms
  • - Using adjustment clips to apply effects across multiple clips
  • - Working with compound clips to stay organized
  • - Creating and using power bins for reusable assets
  • - Using proxies for smoother playback on larger projects
  • - Rendering in place to simplify complex timelines
  • - Understanding the Fusion page and node based workflows
  • - Creating Fusion compositions for motion graphics
  • - Working with merge nodes, masks, and transforms
  • - Building simple logo animations and motion elements
  • - Creating lower thirds and animated text
  • - Keying green screen footage
  • - Tracking footage and attaching animated callouts
  • - Understanding the difference between color correction and color grading
  • - Reading scopes to guide color decisions
  • - Correcting exposure, white balance, and contrast
  • - Working with primary wheels and RGB curves
  • - Handling skin tones accurately
  • - Applying basic color grading to shape mood
  • - Creating and saving color correction presets
  • - Exporting and delivering videos for YouTube, social platforms, and clients
  • - Completing multiple real world class projects you can add to your portfolio
  • - Downloadable exercise files and professional footage to follow along
  • - Quizzes and hands-on projects to reinforce key concepts
  • - Practical workflows and techniques used by working video editors
Brandon Baldovin

Brandon Baldovin

Editor & Creative Engineer

instructor

I am a video editor, content strategist, and educator, and my mission is to help creators understand not just how to edit, but why video editing works.

I hold a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and have taught at the college level as an engineering instructor. Over the past three years, I’ve also taught video editing to beginner and intermediate creators, helping them build a stronger foundation and how to edit with more intention.

My engineer’s mindset strongly influences how I approach creative problem-solving. I focus on breaking down complex editing concepts into clear, practical techniques that creators can confidently apply. Over the past five years, my work has centred on visual storytelling, with a deep emphasis on DaVinci Resolve.
I was born and raised on California’s Central Coast, and I create educational resources designed to help others create more.

Certificates

We’re awarding certificates for this course!

Check out the How to earn your certificate video for instructions on how to earn yours and click the available certificate levels below for more information.

How to earn your certificate

Work your way towards your certificate for this course by following these simple steps.

  • Watch the course videos
  • Complete the Class Projects - look out for the videos marked with
  • Upload your class projects into the My Projects area in your account
  • Complete and pass the Knowledge Quiz (Merit level courses only)
  • Complete the Distinction Certificate Project (Distinction level courses only) - look out for the video marked with
  • Upload your Distinction project to the My Projects area in your account
  • Request your certificate when you've completed the requirements for the certificate level you're working towards

Good luck!

Pass certificates

We're awarding 'Pass' level certificates for this course.

You can work your way towards your 'Pass' certificate by following these simple steps.

  • Watch the course videos
  • Complete the Class Projects - look out for the videos marked with
  • Upload your class projects into the My Projects area in your account
  • Don't forget to request your certificate when all your projects are complete

Good luck!

Merit certificates

We're awarding 'Merit' level certificates for this course.

You can work your way towards your 'Merit' certificate by following these simple steps.

  • Watch the course videos
  • Complete the Class Projects - look out for the videos marked with
  • Upload your class projects into the My Projects area in your account
  • Complete and pass the Knowledge Quiz
  • Don't forget to request your certificate when you have passed the quiz and completed all your projects

Good luck!

Distinction certificates

We're awarding 'Distinction' level certificates for this course.

You can work your way towards your 'Distinction' certificate by following these simple steps.

  • Watch the course videos
  • Complete the Class Projects - look out for the videos marked with
  • Upload your class projects into the My Projects area in your account
  • Complete and pass the Knowledge Quiz
  • Complete the Distinction Certificate Project - look out for the video marked with
  • Upload your Distinction project to the My Projects area in your account
  • Don't forget to request your certificate when you have passed the quiz and completed all your projects

Good luck!

Downloads & Exercise files

Transcript

We finished our rough

Cut of the edit And the next step is

to make a more presentable version of the video.

So before we do that, what I'd like to do is quickly review

where we're at and some of the things that we're gonna look

for to add to the video

and to remove from the video to improve it

before we come up with our final delivery.

Now, depending on the size of the video

and the editor that you're talking to, this stage

of the cut will be tagged different things.

Some people will call it the rough cut,

some people will call it, uh, an assembly cut.

Some people will just even call it the selects of your edit.

And typically the first pass is the least fun part

of the editing process.

But we've done it and now we have our working cut.

So what I'd like to do is talk through a couple things.

One of the first things that I like to try

to keep in mind is the total length of the video as is.

So up in the top left corner

by our preview window here is the timestamp

of the total timeline length.

So right now we're about 57 seconds,

which is a little under a minute,

which I think is great for this project.

Next thing that I'm gonna do is play the video from

beginning to end so that we continue to familiarize ourself

with the footage and the direction that we're going in,

and then we can talk through what we're gonna need

to add into the video.

Alright, let's go ahead

and play from the beginning. Well, hello

Crew. Let's talk about

some editing mistakes

that a lot of beginners make.

Hey, let's talk about some editing mistakes

that a lot of beginners make.

Ah, that's right. We've got more than one take here.

Now, there are a few different ways to handle multiple takes

and this becomes more

of a pressing issue later down the road if you're working on

a film set that has 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 different takes.

But for us, we just need to pick between the two.

So I don't think there's a wrong or right answer here,

but what I would like you to do is pick one

that you feel like is a stronger version

of that opening sentence.

Well, hello crew.

Let's talk about some editing mistakes

that a lot of beginners make.

Hey, let's talk about some editing mistakes

that a lot of the beginners make.

I think I personally like the second take

because it's saying the same thing in less words,

and we get into the rest of the video a little bit faster.

So what I'm gonna do is select our first take

and hit F triple delete.

Now again, let's play this video from beginning to end. Hey,

Let's talk about some editing mistakes

that a lot of the beginners make.

So a mistake that a lot of beginning editors make is

that they focus on the spectacle

of the edit over the story of the edit.

When we're talking about what really matters the most,

at the end of the day, it's the message being told

In the video, Not what kind of effects you can include.

Something else a lot of beginning editors are uncomfortable

with is cutting naturally.

Something else a lot

of beginning editors do often is the overuse

of prebuilt in transitions until you're more

Comfortable. Okay,

and see, this is why we play our video from beginning

to end because it looks like in the selection process,

I didn't catch this duplicate take of me saying something

that doesn't transition well into the rest

of the video, right?

So if we play this section again,

Something else a lot

of beginning editors are uncomfortable

with is cutting naturally

Something else, a lot

of beginning editors do opt-in is the overuse

of prebuilt in transitions.

So what we can do is get rid of this unneeded segment.

Let's go ahead and start playing all the way through.

Again, it's the message being told in the video.

Now what kind of effects you can include.

Something else, a lot

of beginning editors do opt-in is the overuse

of prebuilt in transitions.

Until you're more comfortable with

how you should edit a video,

I'd avoid using some of those presets.

And one of the last things I wanna talk about is focusing on

the audio of the video.

The audio of the video accounts for 50% of the final edit,

so you should spend just as much time working

with your audio as you do working with the video.

Hope this helps and excited to talk more about editing.

Perfect. And so now we have one

cohesive message throughout the now 46 seconds of video.

As editors, what are some things

that we should start being conscious of now?

Well, for one, we need

to start thinking about the pacing of the video.

The pacing of a video is a broad stroke term for how fast

or slow does the video continue to carry out as you play it.

Are things being said quickly?

Is there time in between scenes?

Are we letting certain shots linger

for a long amount of time?

Are we cutting very quickly?

Depending on the video

or the subject matter, a certain rhythm

to the video might be more appropriate than another.

The pacing is very much so a feel thing,

and it's something that I'll try to continue

to hammer home on as we

continue to progress through the course.

The next couple things that I'm starting

to think about are a lack of audio underneath.

So there's no music. We have no sound effects to kind

of highlight certain things

and certain emotions throughout the video.

And there's also no visual references throughout the video

to highlight some of the things that are being said.

Typically, additional footage to the main footage is called

B roll, and the primary footage

that is driving the video forward is the A roll.

So what we've done is come up with a cut of our A roll,

and now we need to start thinking about is there ways

to introduce B roll to highlight some

of the things that I'm being said?

And these are the big ticket issues that we need to address.

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