How to Edit to the Beat in DaVinci Resolve, Free or Studio
Resolve Studio can detect beats itself, the free version cannot. How to get beat markers into either one, how to snap your cuts to them and what to watch for.
How you get the beats into DaVinci Resolve depends on which version you have. Studio, the paid version, can find them itself. The free version has no beat detection, so most people press M along with the song, and the markers land a few frames late.
If you have Resolve Studio
Right-click the music clip on the timeline and choose Detect Music Beats. Beat indicators appear on the clip, and you can snap your picture edits to them.
If you have the free version
- Drop the song into the BPM and beat detector. Nothing is uploaded.
- Press Play with clicks and check that the clicks match the pulse. Use ×2 or ÷2 if they feel twice as fast or half as fast as what you want to cut to.
- Choose every beat, every bar or every 2 bars.
- Download the EDL.
- In Resolve's Media Pool, right-click your timeline and choose Timelines → Import → Timeline Markers from EDL.
This also works in Studio, and it is useful when you want a marker on every bar rather than every beat.
Cutting to the markers
Turn snapping on with N on the Edit page. Trim edges and cut points then pull to the markers as you drag near them. Shift + Up Arrow and Shift + Down Arrow jump the playhead between markers, which makes it quick to cut with Ctrl + B (Cmd + B on a Mac) at each one.
How many markers to use
A marker on every beat is hard to read on a long timeline. Start with every bar, and add beat markers only for the section you want to cut fast. The frames per beat table shows how long each cut will be at your tempo and frame rate.
Checking the result
Markers sit on whole frames, which is fine for picture cuts: a frame is 33 ms at 30 fps, and most people can't feel an offset that small. If a cut still feels late, try it a frame or two ahead of the hit, as many editors do.
On live or rubato music with no steady beat, treat the markers as a starting point. You will hear where the clicks stop matching.
Free, no upload. Get the extension for transcripts beside YouTube and TikTok videos, or see what Pro adds.