User Manual

Table Of Contents
You Can Use Separate Timelines to
Output Different Resolutions
Beginning in DaVinci Resolve 16, you have the option of creating separate timelines with
individual Format (including Input Scaling), Monitoring, and Output Sizing settings for situations
where you need to set up multiple timelines to create multiple deliverables with different
resolutions, pixel aspect ratios, frame rates, monitoring options, or output scaling options than
the overall project, including “Mismatched Resolution Files” settings. For more information, see
Chapter 26, “Creating and Working with Timelines.”
You Dont Need Separate Timelines to
Output Different Resolutions
Because of the way DaVinci Resolve works, it’s not necessary to create separate timelines
when all you need is to output the same timeline at multiple resolutions. Instead, you can focus
on mastering a single timeline, which you can output to as many other resolutions as you need.
For example, with only a single timeline in a project set to 4096x2160 (4K DCI) resolution, you
can easily output UHD, HD, center-cut SD, and center-cut Instagram sized deliverables in any
format you need by simply changing the Resolution drop-down setting in the Deliver page
Render Settings before you create a job to render. DaVinci Resolve takes care of the rest.
The Deliver page drop-down menu in the Render Settings panel lets you
choose what resolution you want to output the current timeline using
Using High Resolution Media in Lower Resolution Projects
Every set of transform and sizing parameters and settings that resize clips is combined
intelligently, so that the full resolution of a clip’s source media is always used as the source for
any transform. For example, if you’re using 8K media within a 1920x1080 project, and you need
to enlarge a clip using the Input Sizing palette’s Zoom parameter to 200%, the image is scaled
relative to the native 8K resolution of the source, and the result is fit into the current timeline
resolution. This automatically guarantees the highest quality for any image transform you make
so long as you don’t zoom in past the native resolution of any given clip.
This also applies to situations where, for example, you shrink a clip in the Edit page using the
Edit Sizing controls, only to re-enlarge the same clip in the Color page, using the Input Sizing
controls. In this situation, DaVinci Resolve is smart enough to do the math combining the project
resolution, the Edit Sizing, and the Input Sizing controls so that a single transform is applied to
the native source resolution of that clip, giving you the best quality result.
Chapter – 9 Image Sizing and Resolution Independence 263