Poor Video Quality - Audio is Fine

Hello all, first post here and while I think I'm somewhat technologically competent, I am realizing I'm about as much of a newbie as it gets with video editing.

Thus my panicked plea for help. Some context: I'm making a surprise birthday video for my wife with a pictures & videos sent to me from other people as well as my own pictures and videos, mixed with a variety of music. I'm only at the beginning stages of uploading the media and playing it back to weed out what I am not using.

My issue: the videos that I recorded of myself are extremely choppy. The audio is fine but the video is slow and choppy. But videos I received from other people play back fine. And all these videos play back fine through my computer, but not so much in DaVinci Resolve.

I've searched this forum and the googles but most of this is foreign language to me.

Is it file size, file format, etc.? I'm at a loss.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank you!!

Can't you use a simpler program if you are in a hurry? Like Filmora or such?
It sounds a bit like you want to drive a Superbike without ever having used a Scooter.

My assumption: You are using the free version, which doesn't support hardware decoding on the PC. So, all footage that is H.264/265 will be choppy, while other codecs will play fine.

I have to second Uli's sentiment. Resolve is complex software meant for trained professionals. It's got something of a learning curve.

There are simpler tools available. There are also professionals for hire. Either may be the better approach in this case.

Valuable constructive criticism, guys. I've already started with Wondershare Filmora. World of a difference.

Much appreciated! Maybe one day I'll upgrade my equipment AND my knowledge/experience and then I can return to this forum with a shred of dignity.

Thank you!!

David, if you could share a short clip of an original file from your phone, we could have a try on our systems, and better help you. Upload to Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. and provide a link here.