Blackmagic Forum

Is it just me or is there other editors out there struggling with Davinci's implementation of markers?
If you're in the market for using markers to log stuff, you're in for numerous headaches, in my opinion.

1) You cannot copy markers.
2) You can add markers to places that make no sense, like a timeline open in the source viewer. The markers you add in the source viewer will only live there, the markers on the timeline of the timeline (doh) are not shown in the media pool. It's confusing.
3) If you add a marker to a selected clip on the timeline (a/v linked), 2 markers are created, for video and audio. Only the video marker gets the content you fill in after you pressed cmd-M.
3.1) If you add a marker to a clip in the source viewer, and then insert that bit containing the marker, both, audio and video will have markers with identical content. Inconsistent, if you compare it to point 3.
4) Markers placed on the top of the timeline are bound to get out of sync, eventually. People move stuff on the timeline.
5) The keyword functionality in the marker dialog does not feature auto completion. On the metadata side of things, it does. Btw. where can I edit the database containing the saved keywords used for autocompletion? It tends to assemble a lot of the same keywords with spelling errors.
This has been added, albeit only removing, no editing of keywords.
6) Why are the marker contents not editable in the edit index and media pool list views?
7) Edit index: Why do I have to select "Show Markers" > "Show All" to even get the marker contents to show? The default top-most "Show all" should, well, show all.
7b) And why do I have to do this every time after I quit and re-launch Resolve?
8) Using makers in the source viewer is a terrible User Experience (UX). This must be some of the worst UI design, ever.

Everything is crammed onto that tiny timeline: In/Out, Markers, Duration Markers, and Playhead.
Good luck with 1h interviews! You have to cut them up into 20m pieces to be able to work with markers.
How about spreading these things out vertically? How about a zoomable timeline?
9) When you add markers to a timeline open in the source viewer, they do not show up, when you open that timeline in the timeline viewer. Why, oh why?

Does anyone have more numbers to add?

Piggy-backing off of this, I've got a problem that could be solved with a more rational treatment of markers. I created a large (45 hour long) project that uses Timelines like Reels. So each timeline is a day, and each day occupies between one and eight hours of my 45 hour project. I used timeline Markers to mark interesting events. Now I'd like to start stringing things together, and when I select several Timelines to create a new, combined Timeline, the combined Timeline does not inherit any of the markers from the original Timelines. Moreover, I cannot copy markers from those timelines to the new combined timeline.

If there were a way to create a clip that could inherit the Timeline markers, then copying the clip along with the Timeline would give me the reference points I need. Or if there were a way (perhaps using a fancy PostgreSQL script) that I could copy markers (with a time offset) that would also give me the reference points I need.

As it is, I'll probably have to edit down each Reel from hours to minutes, then combine the reduced reels while re-creating markers from that.

Michael Tiemann wrote:Piggy-backing off of this, I've got a problem that could be solved with a more rational treatment of markers. I created a large (45 hour long) project that uses Timelines like Reels. So each timeline is a day, and each day occupies between one and eight hours of my 45 hour project. I used timeline Markers to mark interesting events.

I think a better method would be to use metadata to mark the interesting events, and then use Smart Bins to gather these clips together in one place. There are cases where Flags are better than Markers (and vice versa), but I only use them to literally note "problems" or "issues" in the timeline, like things we need to fix. For editing, I think you have to employ a completely different philosophy.

Paul Saccone's (free) book on editing in Resolve hits on a few of these methods, and if you haven't read it already, check it out on BMD's Training page:

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/produc ... e/training

Nobody has yet written a really advanced book on Resolve Editing that gets into the nitty gritty of large projects, how to organize massive amounts of footage, how to effectively use metadata, faster ways to sync up dailies, and so on, but I think that will come in time. As much as I think I know about this stuff, there are all kinds of stuff buried "under the hood" in Resolve that are remarkably good. The new Cut page in Resolve 16 is a good example of a feature that may not be impressive on the surface, but when you start digging into it, you realize how useful it could be for certain kinds of things.

For copying markers from timeline to timeline you can use color trace

iddos-l wrote:For copying markers from timeline to timeline you can use color trace

I just read Chapter 114 about ColorTrace. There was absolutely nothing in that section that explains how to operationalize the single sentence you wrote above. Could you please elaborate?

Markers can be Colortraced along with a bunch of other options in R15 & R16b1. I think you must have an older version of the user manual as it is in my R15 manual.

Hey,
Imho even if colortrace now takes markers into account, what Michael points should not require colortrace... And I can understand the experience of the OP for I had 80% of it too ; even more since I agree with his points 2 to 7b.
(special note for 7b : I'd love not to be obliged to re-specify each time that I don't want PTZR to be applied when I apply a still but only grades. It's exactly the same issue).

Imho again, a lot of markers issues here could be easily fixed...

Very good points!

I am missing to have a timeline in which I can set markers and to drop that sequence into the source window. At the moment all Markers will be missed by then. No chance to see them in the source Window.

In the Cut page, when Source Tape mode is used, any markers applied there simply disappear, never to be seen again.
Edit: The ability to mark in Source Tape mode has now gone altogether in 17.2.1.

If I mark a source clip on the edit page and then use that clip in the timeline, the marker also vanishes and cannot be found in the edit index.

If markers were to stick to the source clip at the source timecode, logging footage quickly would be a breeze.

My current workaround is to make a timeline for each camera reel and log there.
Clumsy when I have 30 or 40 reels to log.

I know this is an old thread but being that we're in version 17.3.1 I'm hoping these issues can be addressed soon.

You make some solid points. The marker system could really use some improvement.

3) If you add a marker to a selected clip on the timeline (a/v linked), 2 markers are created, for video and audio. Only the video marker gets the content you fill in after you pressed cmd-M.
3.1) If you add a marker to a clip in the source viewer, and then insert that bit containing the marker, both, audio and video will have markers with identical content. Inconsistent, if you compare it to point 3.

This specific issue is what led me to this thread. My biggest challenge right now is that all my footage is synced with multitrack polywave files so when I add a marker to one clip I actually get 7 markers and sometimes more depending on if we have lots of lavs running. So I'm in total agreement with point 3 and 3.1.

6) Why are the marker contents not editable in the edit index and media pool list views?

I agree. The edit index shows me a birds eye view of all markers from there I should be able to edit them as needed. Even if it's just changing their color or deleting them. The edit index is a whole nother topic itself. It really should allow you to select anything that shows up. Right now it only has one function. Get you to that location.

7) Edit index: Why do I have to select "Show Markers" > "Show All" to even get the marker contents to show? The default top-most "Show all" should, well, show all.

Agreed +1 on these for future upgrades.

rubefink wrote:I know this is an old thread but being that we're in version 17.3.1 I'm hoping these issues can be addressed soon.

You make some solid points. The marker system could really use some improvement.

3) If you add a marker to a selected clip on the timeline (a/v linked), 2 markers are created, for video and audio. Only the video marker gets the content you fill in after you pressed cmd-M.
3.1) If you add a marker to a clip in the source viewer, and then insert that bit containing the marker, both, audio and video will have markers with identical content. Inconsistent, if you compare it to point 3.

This specific issue is what led me to this thread. My biggest challenge right now is that all my footage is synced with multitrack polywave files so when I add a marker to one clip I actually get 7 markers and sometimes more depending on if we have lots of lavs running. So I'm in total agreement with point 3 and 3.1.

6) Why are the marker contents not editable in the edit index and media pool list views?

I agree. The edit index shows me a birds eye view of all markers from there I should be able to edit them as needed. Even if it's just changing their color or deleting them. The edit index is a whole nother topic itself. It really should allow you to select anything that shows up. Right now it only has one function. Get you to that location.

7) Edit index: Why do I have to select "Show Markers" > "Show All" to even get the marker contents to show? The default top-most "Show all" should, well, show all.

Agreed +1 on these for future upgrades.

I've finally got frustrated enough with this workflow to dig into these forums and find out this has been a problem since 2018
Please, please, please can we get any sort of recognition that the marker system needs some work?
For me personally having timeline markers show up in the media pool would fix a large chunk of my problems, but definitely not all of them.

now in april 2025

It's more or less the same situation with markers.

I work on a long term documentary with dozen of hours of rushes. It's a very organic movie process, with a lot of unpredictable situations, it needs constant change of approach during shooting and adaptability in editing.

Black Magic Design releases new version of DVR constantly with totally useless/gadget features (or useful for people making 30 seconds long Tik Tok videos) but this software, in his configuration and hardness looks more or less like the first one I got in 1995.

I have a very long list of bugs reports, nonsense options, frustrating tools for the EDIT page (for me the only page you really use when you do EDITING) . I will post it one day when it's complete and detailed. But I doubt BMD will do anything to improve this basics that any editing software needs. (and I will just concentrate on EDIT, I won't talk about Fairlight cause this stuff is just a joke when you come from Reaper or even Pro Tools)

Sigh...

Elgotron wrote:useful for people making 30 seconds long Tik Tok videos

Yeah. Not a fan of that, myself.

+1 would love to see the markers finally get some needed attention.