Resolve

Refleks · May 31, 2017

Hello,

I've been watching a ton of youtube tutorials on Resolve since it's free, and I'm getting the hang of it for the most part but just to make sure the end result is the maximum possible quality, I wanted to ask here about mavic specific footage settings.

I record in 2.7k, at +1,-1,-1, with D-Log (or sometimes D-Cinelike) based on recommendations I've found on youtube. My final result is typically 1080p for youtube, since the free version of resolve doesn't seem to like rendering in 2.7k. I also record in 30 FPS, because I seem to get noticeable choppiness in 24 fps (even though that's the recommended setting for cinematic settings).

However, if I recall correctly, 30 FPS is actually 29.97 (I think I discovered that when I started a project in resolve and accidentally left the project at 24fps, and it warned me that it was different than the clip)

So, the default settings for the project are here:

and I've changed (or in the case of the top one, had a question about) these settings

and then I used optimized media for editing, which, as I understand it, lowers the res so the playback doesn't lag so much. Then, when I render the final product, it uses the original stuff....

the output settings are here

I usually select 1080p from the youtube preset (since it doesn't offer 1440 / 2.7k), and then change quality to best instead of restricting the output to 10000 kb/s

The final product I usually upload to youtube where it shows 1080p @ 30 fps. I don't know anything really about H.264 / quicktime, just that it's the default settings.

Do these settings maximize the quality of the output from the camera, or am I trying to drive with the emergency brake on?

Here are some ones I've done so far... I forgot to lock the exposure so it keeps changing from shot to shot but I just wanted to make sure that's as good as it'll get on youtube and I'm not adding compression unnecessarily along the way. I notice in some side-panning shots the image looks like it's tearing a little bit but I don't know if that's just my computer or something I'm doing wrong. Still learning color correction and trying to get the hang of shot-to-shot exposure matching, but I'm sure that'll come with practice

BradBuskey · Jun 2, 2017

First, if you are looking at starting settings, shoot in 24FPS. Match the Shutter Speed to 1/50 (max of 1/60) at ISO 100. During the day, ND filters will generally be required to get there. This will get the most realistic, cinematic motion blur. You can somewhat get there with 30FPS (1/60 Sec) but there is something off (to my eyes when doing so). Also, set your WB either to Custom and choose a temp, or use the Sunny/Cloudy as appropriate.

2.7K is fine, however if you shoot 4K, you have greater wiggle room to be able to crop to 1080 (of do a fake zoom from 4K to 1080).

When it comes to the bit-rate, dont do Automatic. Set it to 30,000k. the drone's max bitrate is 60mbps. 30 is more than enough for YouTube. You can set it to 60,000 however at that point you are really only creating a larger than needed file.

Check here, too. Even though he uses Premier, the export settings will transfer to Davinci.

randy53 · Jun 28, 2017

Well I just started playing around with Resolve today on my new speedy Dell Precision laptop. I was excited when I played some 4K videos shot with my Mavic on the Dell using the video player that came with Windows 10. They were smooth as silk. However when I opened one of these videos in Resolve it would barely play, extremely choppy. How do I fix this?

Refleks · Jun 28, 2017

Highlight the clips in the media pool, right click, and select "generate optimized media".

Once you're finished all your editing and ready to render, go up to the top and under playback and uncheck "used optimized media if available" (or even delete the optimized media just to be sure) then set up the render settings and render.

randy53 · Jun 29, 2017

Thanks! Works great now. I've done video editing many moons ago on a Mac so I am somewhat familiar with the process but Resolve looks quite daunting. Hopefully I can come up to speed quickly.

Hexagon · Jun 29, 2017

I have also edited many of my videos in DaVinci Resolve. I am currently using Shotcut (Shotcut - Home) since it provides a much more smooth video playback to use in my timeline without the need to create shadow copies (generate optimized media).