newbie question coming from audio world

Hi Everyone,

1. For automating audio levels in Fairlight, is there a way to draw in envelopes manually, or to use dots and lines like in Logic or ProTools? I've found tutorial videos but they focus on manually adjusting faders.

2. If you were relatively experienced with audio editing in Logic, ProTools, etc., but new to video editing what skills would you work on in Resolve to start with? I know nothing about color balance, for instance, but I also don't know that it's the most important thing to work on first.

3. Given my intended uses, what advantages do I get with the paid version? Is there better tech support? Significantly faster rendering on a MacBook Pro (2018 in my case)? Other big advantages?

About me and my intended uses: I'm a university professor who has "graduated" from iMovie and Camtasia. I am very experienced in audio recording, mixing, editing, so Fairlight was a big temptation to choose Resolve over other options. My plans to use it are to make "little movies" for presenting and teaching, editing together audio and video clips and still images, and recording voiceovers. I can already do the basics of all that, so it's about making better work. I will be doing very little filming myself other than of me as a talking head (which I already did a lot this year via Zoom).

TIA!

Hi Jonathan,

off the top of my head:

1. yes, you can add "keyframes" to automate volume, panning, anything really.

2. unless you plan on doing all of those things (rare in a professional environment), explore what you like. I would say from my own point of view that editing is the most important, it sets the flow, pace, tension and really tells the story. Everything else is to support the edit. People go gaga for grading, and it's definitely important, but again is there to serve the story, not the other way around.

If you're really serious about learning more about Resolve, they have a series of very comprehensive tutorials (including both video, audio, sample projects and booklets) that can help you explore each aspect of the program as you go. They are imho well worth it and a great way to get up to speed quickly.

3. the paid studio version has a few bells and whistles not in the free version. I do a lot of surround and immersive work, Dolby Atmos, Auro-3D, Sony 360Reality Audio, so the $300 makes a lot of sense. I'd pay it anyway just to help support BMD for the amazing progress they are making in developing and delivering this calibre of tool to the masses, essentially for free.

Like you, I'm an audio guy (music mastering, post production) and have decades of experience with SonicStudio, Nuendo and other systems (how I managed to avoid ProTools all this time I have no idea, but I have), and I've found the transition to Resolve/Fairlight pretty straightforward. Some things are not as easy/elegant as other systems, but the majority is laid out in a way that works better for me than other systems.

I think your use case is perfect and a good way to learn and showcase Resolve to your students.

Good luck!

Thor

Second all that, but it'll not be faster on a Mac. That difference only exists for GOP-formats on a PC.

Hi Jonathan,
re automating, there are two ways to do volume. One is clip level and the other is fader levels.
Clip level is easy enough... park your cursor over the white volume line on the clip, and if you alt click or option click on a MAc, it will create a keyframe. This works in the edit page as well as Fairlight, but is not useful if you want your volume rides to occur post channel insert, eq and dynamic processing because the clip volume is pre all of these. So for instance if you setup a compressor and get it sounding the way you want, then alter the clip volume it will change the compression.

In the Fairlight page there is an automation on/off button at the top to the right of the transport buttons. Click it and it will turn red making automation active. In the track header you can choose what you want to display..ie fader level. Next to the selector tool bar you'll now see 2 other tools, a pencil and a square with an arrow. You can use the pencil to write automation breakpoints or keyframes. You don't need to write any other automation first. Here's the downside, and this is just from my experience, maybe others will know better so please correct me if so..

- You can't click in the timeline and enter a single breakpoint, you have to hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse slightly for it to work, so you get a few. You can click at any time position and it will fill from the start up to where you clicked with the value the fader has at the start of the timeline.
- there is no numerical volume value feedback when moving the mouse up and down like in other DAWs, so you are just guessing what actual volume value you are creating.

The tool to the right of the pencil with the arrow in the box is the range select for keyframes. Hold the mouse and drag a range and it will select all the point in that range for the track and you can drag them around to alter them or delete them. Again, no numerical value feedback, so it's just guessing how much you are turning up or down.

I use an Avid fader pack running Mackie Control and write all my mixer automation that way because it's easier and quicker for me at least. As you found there are plenty of videos on doing things that way, so I won't go into it here. Hope that helps a little..

Hi Everyone,

First thanks for all your supportive replies. I forgot that video editing uses the term “key framing” — which clears up a lot of things. The DaVinci tutorial look great.

Thor: good point about editing. Beyond the technical tutorials on the BMD website, are there other tutorials you’d recommend that are more aesthetically oriented — style, timing, etc? And, I congratulate you on avoiding ProTools. I only use it when I am forced to. I really hate it.

ULI: so basically the only way to get a faster render on a Mac is to get a faster Mac? What specs are important? Is there any point to external acceleration, etc? For the rendering I did, I found it took about half the playing time of the video, and I couldn’t do anything else on my computer or things would slow waaaayyyy down. I’m running a 2018 MacBook Pro, SSD, and I think 16g RAM. Though it might be 8.

Andy: I have some MIDI controllers for audio stuff: is there an easy way to MIDI map in Resolve?

Did you render straight into H.264 or 265? In that case, you may want to test how fast it renders into ProRes 422 HQ.
The result can be encoded by Handbrake, which is better, faster and doesn't block the computer.

Regarding speed, the GPU is the most important consideration. Which one do you have?
If it's a relatively weak one, an eGPU might help.

Thank you. Yes, straight to H.264. I'll look into other options. My MacBook has the built-in GPU so nothing special.

An eGPU might be a good idea then.
They should get cheaper soon, now that M1 Macs can't use them and many gamer PC laptops don't need then.
My wife's older MB Air (Intel) was close to useless for Resolve, but with an eGPU it was possible to work in HD, even if some filters were slow.

As far as other tutorials Jonathan, by the time you make it through all the BMD provided material I think you'll probably have a good idea where your interests lie and what you want to learn more about. By then you should have come across a number of good sites offering in-depth tutorials.

If not, you can always ask here and we're happy to oblige

Thor