How to Make Basic Edits in the Viewer of the Cut Page

Sometimes, there’s just no need to slog through endless menus and the degree of control guaranteed by the Viewer toolbar of the Cut Page is just enough. With this approach, you get instant adjustments followed by instant feedback — quick basic editing in DaVinci Resolve without breaking your creative flow. While you won’t be able to do detailed color grading or complex compositing, things such as automatic color grading, cropping for composition, or tweaking playback speeds are something that Viewer’s tools handle quite well.

Transform

Directly manipulate your footage within the Viewer. This function allows for intuitive on-screen adjustments of pan, tilt, rotation, and scaling. Drag within the clip’s bounding box to reposition, use corner handles for proportional resizing, or adjust rotation via the central handle. How can it be useful? – For example, in documentary editing where reframing a subject quickly can help focus the viewer’s attention or adjust composition on the fly to better tell the story.

How to Crop Video in DaVinci Resolve 

Adjust each edge of your footage independently to focus on the desired area of your video. The crop function includes an additional softness control, allowing you to blur the edges of the crop to ensure synergy with other video layers or create stylistic visual effects. This could come in handy in post-production while tightening the frame around a subject or eliminating unwanted distractions.

Dynamic Zoom

Ideal for adding narrative emphasis or dramatic effect without complex equipment. Say you’re doing some basic editing in CaVinci Resolve and want to close in slowly on a character’s face to build tension — Dynamic Zoom allows you to choreograph this movement directly within the viewer, ensuring the audience’s focus is exactly where you want it.

Composite 

Blend and layer clips directly within the Viewer using various composite modes. Adjust the opacity to control transparency levels and experiment with different blending effects to achieve creative or corrective composites. This allows for creative layering and effects integration, for example, adding a ghostly apparition into a scene without needing a green screen.

Speed Adjustments

This tool is fantastic for creative time manipulation. You can increase or decrease speed to highlight moments or maintain narrative pacing. The integrated pitch correction handles audio adjustments automatically, which means the natural sound of your clips, regardless of speed changes. It could be used to analyze or showcase sports techniques, wildlife movements, or even to create dramatic effects in narrative filmmaking.

Stabilization 

This function is basically a very quick answer to a question: How to stabilize video in DaVinci Resolve. It’s essential for action-packed shots or hand-held footage that may have come out shaky. If you’re shooting a chase scene without a gimbal, the stabilization tool can smooth out the bumps, making the footage more professional and easier to watch. Simply select from several stabilization methods to best suit your footage, and apply the effect with a simple click.

Lens Correction

This Studio-inclusive tool is truly critical for adjusting lens distortions. It can be invaluable in scenes shot with a wide-angle lens where the geometric distortions distract from the content. With Lens Correction, you can normalize the footage perspective, making the environment look natural and undistorted. If you don’t feel like paying for the studio version, though, you can always try it out at the expense of a watermark on your video. 

Color

There’s only one option here: Auto Color. A single click quickly balances the blacks and whites of a clip, dealing with the overall color balance and contrast. It most likely won’t cause a wow effect but is useful when you’re working under tight deadlines or need a consistent look across multiple clips without spending hours on color grading. 

Audio

Adjusting the audio level of a clip directly in the Viewer can quickly improve the auditory experience, especially when dealing with inconsistent recording levels. It is ideal for quick adjustments, such as slightly boosting a whispered dialogue in a noisy scene or reducing the volume of an overly loud background track.

As you can see, yes — it’s possible to make some of your edits using only Viewer’s tools from the Cut Page. Will it be a Hollywood-grade edit? Nope, but for many projects, especially when speed is key, it’s more than enough. Try them out by yourself — good luck!