Live Video Editing Workflow in DaVinci Resolve: Creating YouTube Shorts from Music Performance Footage

Summary:

The creator live-edits video footage of his brother's music performance in DaVinci Resolve to create engaging YouTube Shorts.
He selects various highlights from the performance and audience, copying them to a dedicated timeline for shorts.
Despite a high-spec PC, he encounters playback issues with 4K footage, which are temporarily resolved by restarting the software.
Key editing techniques demonstrated include dynamic zooms, motion blur, and adding custom text overlays.
He attempts object tracking in the Fusion page to highlight a person with an arrow, successfully applying the "match move" operation after consulting a quick tutorial.
Color grading poses challenges due to poorly exposed footage and specific stage lighting, requiring manual adjustments to correct color casts and restore natural skin tones.
The process for a single short ends up taking over an hour, leading to reflections on content creation efficiency and professional editing rates.

DaVinci Resolve Interface with Editing Timeline and Media Pool [ 00:02:40 ]

Introduction to the Live Editing Session [0:00]

The video showcases a live editing session in DaVinci Resolve, focusing on creating short-form content for YouTube.

Goal of the session [0:00]: The primary objective is to quickly produce multiple YouTube Shorts using recent footage from a music performance.
Footage overview [0:16]: The creator is working with raw footage from his brother's recent live gig, which includes shots of the performance and audience reactions.

The editor begins by reviewing the raw footage and preparing it for the short-form format.

Selecting highlights [0:23]: He identifies compelling moments from the performance, such as his brother playing and audience members dancing, to use as key segments for the shorts.
Timeline management [2:33]: Clips are copied to a new "shorts" timeline, ready for further refinement.
Preliminary adjustments [9:38]: Initial plans include muting original audio, disabling existing color grades (to apply new ones later), and performing basic cuts.
- Audio considerations: Explicitly stating the intention to remove the original audio from the selected clips.
- Color grading strategy: Noting that the footage is in log format and will require proper color grading at a later stage.

During the editing process, the software's performance becomes a notable issue.

Playback difficulties [9:53]: Despite using a high-end PC (AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, 32GB RAM, Radeon RX 7900 XT), the editor experiences extremely slow playback of 4K footage.
- System specifications: The editor highlights his expensive computer setup, expressing frustration over the unexpected performance lag.
Software restart [10:34]: A temporary solution is to close and reopen DaVinci Resolve, which improves playback performance.

The editor experiments with various effects and overlays to make the shorts more dynamic and engaging.

Dynamic zoom and motion blur [27:10]: Demonstrates applying "magic zoom" and motion blur to create impactful visual transitions and emphasize action.
Text overlays for context [36:04]: Adding titles and captions, such as "talking about my dad who is in the crowd," to provide context or highlight specific moments.
- Customizing text: Adjusting font, size, spacing, and adding effects like drop shadows to improve readability and visual appeal.
Attempting object tracking [38:24]:
- Finding an asset: Searches online for a transparent arrow PNG to use as a pointing indicator.
- Fusion page tracking: Attempts to use the Fusion page's tracker feature to dynamically follow a person in the crowd with the arrow.
- Troubleshooting tracking: Encounters difficulties in getting the arrow to stick to the tracked object, leading to a quick online tutorial search.
- Successful implementation: Learns the "match move" operation within Fusion to correctly attach the image to the tracked path.
  
  DaVinci Resolve Fusion page with a tracked arrow pointing to a person [ 00:40:40 ]

The color correction process reveals more complexities, particularly with inconsistent source footage.

Applying power grades [48:24]: Uses power grades and HDR tools to enhance the brightest parts of images, attempting to salvage poorly exposed clips.
Addressing color shifts [51:02]: Struggles with strong purple and blue color casts present in some footage due to stage lighting.
- Manual corrections: Utilizes color wheels and curves to shift hues and restore natural skin tones, emphasizing the difficulty of working with imperfect source material.
Understanding color spaces [52:11]: Briefly discusses the benefits of using a linear gamma color space for easier color manipulation compared to older methods like "printer lights."

DaVinci Resolve Color Grading panel with nodes applied and a histogram showing color distribution [ 00:46:40 ]

Color grading panel showing severe purple tint on the video feed [ 00:51:40 ]

The session concludes with the creation of a second short and a reflection on the overall workflow.

Second short creation [57:31]: Begins editing a new short featuring his brother playing a Drake song, "Passion Fruit."
- Audio normalization: Adjusts audio levels to ensure consistent sound.
- Adding descriptive text: Includes text like "First time ever playing this song" to highlight the performance's context.
  
  DaVinci Resolve editing a second short with text overlay "FIRST TIME EVER PLAYING THIS SONG" on the video preview [ 01:09:10 ]
Time management challenges [54:10]: Expresses surprise that a single short, intended for quick creation, took over an hour to complete, highlighting the iterative nature of editing.
Professional rates [1:18:43]: Shares insights into his freelance editing and shooting rates, typically around $45 per hour, noting that it varies based on project complexity and logistical demands.