DaVinci Resolve Beginner Blueprint: Project Setup, Media Import, and Organization

Setting a Clean Project Baseline

A clean baseline means your project settings match your intended delivery (where the video will end up) and your media (what you shot). Getting this right early prevents common issues like stuttery playback, mismatched frame rates, and unexpected color shifts.

Create a New Project

1. Open DaVinci Resolve and go to the Project Manager.
2. Click New Project, name it clearly (example: ClientName_ShortFilm_Edit_v01), then click Create.

Set Timeline Resolution and Frame Rate (Before Editing)

In Resolve, some settings (especially timeline frame rate) are difficult or impossible to change after you start editing. Set them first.

1. Click the gear icon (bottom-right) to open Project Settings.
2. Go to Master Settings.
3. Set Timeline resolution to your target (common: 1920x1080 or 3840x2160).
4. Set Timeline frame rate to match your main camera footage (common: 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97).
5. Set Playback frame rate to the same value as the timeline frame rate.
6. Click Save.

Practical rule: If most of your footage is 23.976 fps, set the timeline to 23.976. Mixing frame rates is possible, but your baseline should match the dominant format.

Color Management Basics (Keep It Predictable)

Color management controls how Resolve interprets and displays footage (especially log and HDR). As a beginner, you want predictable viewing and a setup that won’t surprise you later.

1. Open Project Settings → Color Management.
2. Choose one of these beginner-friendly approaches:

• DaVinci YRGB (simple/manual): Good if you’re not grading heavily yet or you’re using mostly Rec.709 footage. You’ll handle log conversions manually later (via LUTs or Color Space Transform).
• DaVinci YRGB Color Managed (more guided): Good if you have log footage and want Resolve to manage transforms more consistently.

If you choose DaVinci YRGB Color Managed, a safe baseline is:

Continue in our app.

• Listen to the audio with the screen off.
• Earn a certificate upon completion.
• Over 5000 courses for you to explore!

Or continue reading below...

Download the app

• Color science: DaVinci YRGB Color Managed
• Output color space: Rec.709 Gamma 2.4 (common for standard delivery)

Tip: If you’re unsure, use DaVinci YRGB for now and focus on editing/organization. You can adopt color-managed workflows when you start consistent grading.

Project-Wide Audio Baseline (Quick Check)

Audio settings are usually forgiving, but it helps to confirm you’re not accidentally monitoring at the wrong configuration.

1. Project Settings → Fairlight → confirm Timeline sample rate (commonly 48,000 Hz for video).

Understanding Bin Organization (Media Pool Structure)

The Media Pool is your project’s library. Bins are folders inside the Media Pool. A good bin structure makes editing faster because you can find the right shot immediately and keep audio, graphics, and selects separated.

Recommended Beginner Bin Template

Create bins before importing, so media lands in the right place.

• 01_Footage
  • A_Cam
  • B_Cam
  • Drone (optional)
• 02_Audio
  • Dialogue
  • Music
  • SFX
• 03_Graphics
  • Logos
  • Stills
  • LowerThirds
• 04_Sequences
• 05_Deliverables (optional for exports, references)

Create Bins

1. Go to the Media page or Edit page.
2. In the Media Pool, right-click in empty space → New Bin.
3. Name bins with numeric prefixes (01_, 02_) so they stay ordered.

Import Media via the Media Pool

1. Right-click inside the target bin (example: 01_Footage) → Import Media.
2. Select your files/folders and click Open.
3. If Resolve asks to change the project frame rate to match media, choose carefully:

• If you already set the correct timeline frame rate: click Don’t Change.
• If you set it wrong and haven’t edited yet: click Change, then re-check Project Settings.

Alternative import method: Use the Media Storage browser (Media page) to navigate drives, then drag folders into the Media Pool. This is helpful when you want to preserve folder structure as bins.

Using Smart Bins and Metadata Fields

Bins are manual organization. Smart Bins are automatic: they populate based on rules (metadata, file type, camera, keywords). This is powerful when you have lots of clips or multiple scenes.

Key Metadata Fields to Use

Metadata is searchable information attached to clips. You can add it yourself even if the camera didn’t record it.

• Scene and Take (narrative workflows)
• Shot or Angle (multi-camera)
• Keywords (e.g., wide, closeup, reaction)
• Comments (notes like “best performance” or “soft focus”)
• Camera # / Reel (helpful for conforming and relinking)

How to View and Edit Metadata

1. Select a clip in the Media Pool.
2. Open the Metadata panel (usually on the right; enable it via workspace/panels if hidden).
3. Edit fields such as Scene, Take, Keywords, Comments.
4. For multiple clips: select several clips, then edit a field to apply it to all selected (useful for tagging a whole scene).

Create a Smart Bin (Example: “Scene 03”)

1. In the Media Pool, right-click → Add Smart Bin.
2. Name it SB_Scene_03.
3. Set rules such as: Scene is 03.
4. Click Create.

Now, any clip with Scene metadata set to 03 appears automatically in that Smart Bin, even if the clip lives in a different manual bin.

Useful Smart Bin Ideas

• SB_Favorites: Keyword contains select or Comment contains best
• SB_SlowMotion: Frame rate is greater than timeline frame rate (helps find 60/120 fps clips)
• SB_AudioOnly: Clip type is audio
• SB_4K: Resolution width is 3840 (or higher)

Generating Optimized Media or Proxies for Smooth Playback

High-resolution codecs (like H.264/H.265 from cameras/phones) can be hard to decode in real time. Optimized Media and Proxies create easier-to-play versions so your timeline runs smoothly while keeping your originals for final export.

Optimized Media vs Proxies (Practical Difference)

Either approach works for beginners. If you’re editing on one computer, proxies are often the simplest to understand: “lightweight copies for editing.”

Set Proxy/Optimized Formats (Before Generating)

1. Open Project Settings → Master Settings.
2. Find Optimized Media and Render Cache (or proxy-related settings depending on version).
3. Choose a codec that edits smoothly:

• Windows: DNxHR LB/SQ (good balance)
• macOS: ProRes Proxy or ProRes LT

4. Choose a proxy/optimized resolution (example: Half or Quarter for 4K sources).
5. Click Save.

Generate Proxies (Typical Workflow)

1. In the Media Pool, select the clips (or a whole bin).
2. Right-click → Generate Proxy Media.
3. Wait for generation to complete (progress appears in the interface).
4. Enable proxy playback: in the top menu, go to Playback → Proxy Handling and choose Prefer Proxies (wording may vary slightly by version).

Generate Optimized Media (Alternative)

1. Select clips in the Media Pool.
2. Right-click → Generate Optimized Media.
3. Enable it via Playback → Use Optimized Media if Available.

Tip for performance: If playback is still choppy, also set Playback → Timeline Proxy Resolution to Half or Quarter (this does not change export quality).

Basic Clip Inspection (Resolution, Frame Rate, Audio Channels)

Before you edit, verify that clips match expectations. This helps you catch problems early: wrong camera settings, variable frame rate phone clips, missing audio channels, or mismatched resolutions.

Inspect Clip Properties

1. In the Media Pool, right-click a clip → Clip Attributes or Clip Properties (name varies by page/version).
2. Check:

• Video frame rate: confirm it matches what you expect (e.g., 23.976, 25, 29.97, 59.94).
• Resolution: confirm source resolution (e.g., 3840x2160).
• Audio channels: confirm mono/stereo and number of channels (e.g., 1 mono lav, 2-channel stereo camera mic).

Common Issues to Catch

• Mixed frame rates: Some clips at 60 fps, others at 24 fps. This is fine if intentional (slow motion), but you should know which is which.
• Phone variable frame rate (VFR): Can cause audio drift or inconsistent playback. If you suspect VFR, consider transcoding to constant frame rate before heavy editing.
• Audio channel mapping: Dual-mono recordings might appear as a stereo pair; you may need to split channels later so each mic is editable independently.

Quick Visual Check in the Media Page

On the Media page, select a clip and use the viewer to scrub and listen. Confirm:

• Image is not corrupted
• Audio is present and on expected channels
• Clip duration looks correct

Practice: Import, Organize by Scene, and Verify Clip Properties

Goal: Build a repeatable import-and-organize routine you can use on any project.

Provided Folder Structure (Example)

PROJECT_MEDIA/  Footage/    Scene_01/    Scene_02/    Scene_03/  Audio/    Dialogue/    Music/  Graphics/    Stills/

Step-by-Step Practice

1. Create a new project named Practice_ProjectSetup_01.
2. Set baseline settings in Project Settings:
   • Timeline resolution: choose 1920x1080 (or match the assignment requirement)
   • Timeline frame rate: match the majority of footage in the provided folder
   • Color management: choose DaVinci YRGB or DaVinci YRGB Color Managed with Rec.709 output
3. Create bins in the Media Pool:
   • 01_Footage with sub-bins Scene_01, Scene_02, Scene_03
   • 02_Audio with sub-bins Dialogue, Music
   • 03_Graphics with sub-bin Stills
4. Import media:
   • Import each folder into its matching bin (Footage Scene folders into their scene bins; Audio into audio bins; Graphics into graphics bins).
5. Add metadata by scene:
   • Select all clips in Scene_01 bin, set Metadata Scene to 01.
   • Repeat for Scene 02 and 03.
6. Create Smart Bins:
   • SB_Scene_01 rule: Scene is 01
   • SB_Scene_02 rule: Scene is 02
   • SB_Scene_03 rule: Scene is 03
7. Generate proxies or optimized media for all footage clips:
   • Select all clips in 01_Footage → Generate Proxy Media (or Optimized Media).
   • Enable proxy/optimized playback in the Playback menu.
8. Verify clip properties before editing:
   • Pick 2 clips from each scene and check: resolution, frame rate, and audio channels.
   • Write a short note in the clip Comments field (example: Clean audio, 60fps slow-mo, Noisy camera mic).

Checkpoint: You should be able to click each Smart Bin and instantly see the correct scene clips, with proxies enabled for smooth playback and clip properties verified.