How to Edit Cinematic Animations in DaVinci Resolve

0:00 I'm going to demonstrate how to take a simple story and edit

0:02 it to be so visually stimulating that people can't click away from it.

0:05 Now, the goal isn't to just entertain the viewer.

0:08 It's to make them feel like they're actually

0:09 [music] learning something and discovering it for themselves.

0:27 We will be diving a little bit deeper into ideiation

0:29 and how to come up with highlevel concepts every time.

0:32 So let's say that our subject was talking about an airplane.

0:35 I can simply search something like airplane investigation scene.

0:38 As you can see, here's a super cinematic reference we can use.

0:41 So when we're collecting our assets,

0:42 we can come back to this for [music] reference.

0:44 So I just searched jet model airplane and then I

0:46 found this image and I cut it out in Canva.

0:49 You can use whatever tool you want.

0:50 And then I searched airplane crash newspaper and I just saved this image.

0:54 And then I searched airplane journal World War

0:56 II and I took this image right here.

0:58 I searched airplane blueprint and I took this image here,

1:01 kind of the main image.

1:02 And I just wanted one more prop.

1:04 So I searched weather airplane card World War II and I took these playing cards.

1:08 And then inside of Canva, I just removed the background.

1:10 I added this sticky note and some text.

1:13 And then I saved this as an image.

1:14 Now before we jump into Da Vinci, there's a new AI tool I wanted to show you.

1:18 It's called Meo and they're the sponsor of today's video.

1:20 It specializes in video to video and I was especially amazed

1:23 with the VFX [music] I was able to create with it.

1:25 What interests me is you stay in full control.

1:27 You don't just write a prompt and hope for the best.

1:29 It's a specialized software so there's a lot

1:31 more settings and controls for complete customization.

1:34 Let me give you an example.

1:35 The first thing I noticed is the timeline on the right over here.

1:37 I really like this feature because it makes it

1:39 so you can work on precise parts of your videos,

1:41 making it perfect if you have different shots in the same video.

1:44 Up here is the model box that gives us all the different models we can use.

1:47 Each model is good for specific things like replacing the characters,

1:50 transforming everything, or even just upscaling.

1:52 Here we can upload our own stylized image or we can also

1:55 build it directly in the app with a lot of strong models.

1:58 Here we can select the frame number of the image we want to transform.

2:01 [music] I'm just going to leave it at the first frame.

2:03 We can upload the style references here and then you

2:05 can write in your prompt and generate [music] the image.

2:08 Just like that, we have something that looks pretty amazing.

2:10 Once your image is good, there's an auto prompt for the video [music]

2:13 itself which knows how to get the best results.

2:15 And now we can go to the control nets over here.

2:17 As you can [music] see, we have five different control nets for how the AI will

2:20 read your source video and apply it to our new video.

2:22 I'm going to select this one and then I can decide to enable [music] face mesh.

2:25 This will let me track the face width precision.

2:28 And then we can further adjust advanced settings [music]

2:30 here such as quality or context for very long videos.

2:33 Once you have this all customized,

2:34 we can select generate [music] on the exact frame range we want.

2:37 Mega is in closed beta right now,

2:39 but you can get instant access with my link below.

2:41 And with code Zane, you can get 50% off your first month with Pro.

2:44 This is only for the first 500 people.

2:46 So, if you want quality VFX [music] in your videos,

2:49 click that link sooner than later.

2:51 So, here we are in Da Vinci Resolve.

2:52 I'm going to go to effects and drag on a Fusion composition clip.

2:55 And then I'm going to go to the Fusion tab.

2:57 I'm going to drag on a background and connect this to the media out.

3:00 I'm also going to click this square up here to make it one screen.

3:03 Now, I'm going to hit shift space and add an immerge node.

3:05 Now, we're going to drag on our background,

3:06 which is just a picture of some wood.

3:08 I'm going to hit shift space and add in a transform node.

3:12 And then, we can just size this up to the full screen.

3:14 So, as you can see, it's a little bit bright.

3:15 So, I'm just going to drag on a background and connect it to the media in one.

3:19 And then I'm going to drag down the alpha.

3:21 And so, now we can always come back to our reference

3:23 and kind of see how we want to map things out.

3:25 And so, I'm going to start with this main picture here.

3:28 And I'm going to drag in our picture just like this and connect it to the merge.

3:31 Now, I'm going to hit shift space and add in a transform.

3:34 And then, we can just size this up a little bit like that.

3:36 And I'm also going to tilt the angle slightly like that.

3:39 Hit shift space and add in a drop shadow just like this.

3:43 And now we have to decide where we want our light to come from.

3:45 So in this case, I think the light should be coming from this corner.

3:48 So all of our objects will have a shadow on this side.

3:51 I'm going to drag down the drop distance

3:52 a little bit because the further the drop distance is,

3:55 the higher the paper is sitting.

3:56 We want it really close to the table.

3:58 So pretty close like that.

3:59 And then we can just turn up the shadow strength a little bit like that.

4:03 Now our reference.

4:03 As you can see, we have kind of a book here.

4:05 So, I'm going to select the merge, hit shift space, add in another merge.

4:09 And I'm going to select this book I found and connect it to that merge.

4:13 Again, I'm going to hit shift space and add in transform.

4:15 We're going to size this book down and drag it off screen a little bit.

4:19 Kind of like this.

4:20 And then rotate the book this way.

4:22 Hit shift space and add in a drop shadow.

4:25 Do the same thing.

4:26 We're going to increase the strength and decrease the drop distance.

4:30 I'm going to add in another merge and I'm

4:32 going to drag this page I found onto that merge.

4:34 add in a transform.

4:36 Size this down a little bit and bring it on top of this page.

4:39 Now again, if something looks too bright,

4:41 we can drag on a background onto our media in one and turn down the alpha.

4:46 This will also help it blend in with the page a little bit.

4:48 And then again, I'm going to select the media in one,

4:50 hit shift space, and add in a drop shadow.

4:53 And at this point, if your scene doesn't look cinematic, that's not a problem.

4:57 Um, again, this is just the early stages.

4:59 Once we add the effects, everything looks amazing.

5:02 So I think for this other page I'm going to add

5:05 the deck of cards here with a piece of writing.

5:07 So we're going to add another merge in.

5:09 Bring in this deck of cards.

5:11 Add in a transform and then play with the angle.

5:14 Add in a drop shadow.

5:16 Now for the text, we can add in another merge.

5:18 And we're going to drag this text node on and connect it to that merge.

5:21 We can just type in something random like this.

5:24 And then I'm going to change the font to something

5:26 like sign painter just so it looks like handwriting.

5:29 kind of choose a dark brown just like that.

5:32 And then we can hit shift space and add in a transform underneath our text.

5:36 And we can just bring this down like this and then rotate it.

5:40 Now we have something that looks like this.

5:41 I'm going to drag in my model airplane, connect it to the merge,

5:45 add in a transform, and then rotate it like this.

5:49 I think that spot will work.

5:50 We're going to add in a drop shadow.

5:53 This time we're going to drag the drop distance

5:54 up because it's higher off the ground than the paper.

5:57 Again, I'm going to add in another merge and bring in our book just like this.

6:01 And bring it to this top corner.

6:04 Something like that.

6:05 And then add in a drop shadow.

6:07 Drag in our newspaper and connect it to that merge.

6:11 And then you can just kind of play around different spots, whatever looks best.

6:15 I think I might try putting a background on this one,

6:17 connecting it, and then dragging the alpha slightly down.

6:20 I'm also going to go back to our first one,

6:21 which is our main one, and then further play around.

6:24 I think I'm going to drag it down a little

6:25 bit so we have room for a title up here.

6:27 Now, I'm going to add a widget up here with the date

6:30 of whatever is happening here just to make it seem a little bit moreformational.

6:34 So, to do that, I'm going to add in a merge node.

6:36 I'm going to connect a background to that.

6:39 Select the rectangle mask, turn the height and the width down,

6:42 add in a transform, and then we can just bring this up here like that.

6:46 The rectangle selected,

6:47 I'm going to turn up the corner radius a little bit, just like that.

6:50 The background selected, I'm going to drag down the alpha slightly.

6:52 And then I'm going to add in this SM

6:54 outline effect in between the background and the transform.

6:56 And as you can see, it's just going to give me an outer edge.

6:59 Uh I linked this in the description with all the assets.

7:01 Now underneath the SM outline, I'm going to add in a drop shadow.

7:06 I think I'm going to change the angle to match this angle here.

7:10 Now I'm going to hit shift space and search PJT.

7:12 And I'm going to select the letter zoom in.

7:14 All of these text animations are in the description.

7:17 So I'm going to add that in and then connect it to this merge.

7:20 So I'll write the date just like that.

7:22 I'm going to change the font to an older looking font like that.

7:24 And then with the transform selected, I'm going to place this inside of the box.

7:28 And now, as you can see, if we go to the first frame, it writes out like that.

7:32 And it looks pretty nice.

7:33 So now we can add in our magnifying glass effect.

7:35 So to do that, we're going to select this merge

7:38 and hit shift space and add in a transform node.

7:41 This is going to control how zoomed in the effect is.

7:44 And on top of that, we're going to add an ellipse mask just like this.

7:47 And we're going to connect that to the transform.

7:49 So, we're going to select the ellipse and we're going to make it smaller.

7:53 So, something like 0.15.

7:55 And then I can copy that and paste it on the height.

7:57 This circle is how big our magnifying glass will be.

8:00 So, as you can see, if we select the transform

8:02 and zoom in, [clears throat] that's how the effect works.

8:05 Now, we're going to hit the transform and hit

8:08 shift space and add in a merge node.

8:09 And I'm going to drag in this image

8:11 of a magnifying glass and connect it to that merge.

8:14 And I'm going to hit shift space and add in a transform.

8:17 And we're just going to size this down

8:18 and match it to the circle of the ellipse.

8:21 So, as you can see, when we select our ellipse and drag it,

8:23 it doesn't match what's directly underneath it.

8:26 So, what we need to do is match the center X with the transform pivot point.

8:31 So, how we do that is we select

8:33 the ellipse and then we're going to select this pin,

8:37 which means this will stay here.

8:38 So, look, when we select the transform, as you can see,

8:41 we select the pin, so it stayed here.

8:43 So, first I'm just going to disable that for a second.

8:45 And so if we select the transform and rightclick the pivot and hit expression,

8:51 it's going to add in this plus.

8:52 And if we drag this to the center of the center X like this.

8:56 And so what that did is basically when we select our ellipse here,

8:59 um it's going to follow the movement to the pivot like the center of it.

9:03 So now wherever we move it, it's a directly underneath it.

9:05 So now if we reconnect our transform to the merge here,

9:08 we want to basically have this magnifying glass

9:12 also follow the ellipse when we move it.

9:14 As you can see right now, it's not following when we drag the ellipse.

9:17 So again, we have the ellipse pinned, so it's going to stay there.

9:21 So we're going to select the merge, and again on the center X and Y,

9:24 we're going to rightclick and then select expression.

9:27 And then again, we're going to select this point,

9:29 click and drag, and bring it to the center X right here.

9:33 And so now I'm just going to select

9:34 the transform and readjust it on top like that.

9:37 Now, if we select the ellipse, you can see that everything follows.

9:42 And so now what I'm going to do is add some distortion to this lens here.

9:46 And so I'm going to select the transform,

9:48 hit shift space, and add in the dent node.

9:51 Just like that.

9:52 And I'm just going to drag our magnifying glass to the center here.

9:55 And then I'm going to select our dent and drag the size down.

9:58 Now I'm going to select the type as dent 2.

10:01 And then we can play around with the strength.

10:03 So I'm just going to go with something like 05.

10:05 Now you can see it has some distortion.

10:07 But again, if we select the ellipse and move it,

10:10 the distortion doesn't follow it.

10:11 So, I'm going to hit command- Z.

10:12 And with the dent selected,

10:14 I'm going to rightclick the center again and select expression.

10:18 And then, same thing, click and drag to center X.

10:21 So, now, as you can see, you can play around with it.

10:23 So, now what we can do is animate this magnifying glass.

10:26 So, we can go to frame one, select the ellipse, and drag it down.

10:30 We're going to key frame center X and Y position.

10:33 Just like that.

10:33 Now, whatever we come to, so maybe frame 60,

10:36 which is like 2 seconds, it maybe travels all the way over to here.

10:41 Now, we can go another 2 seconds, which would be frame 120.

10:44 And then we can just drag it over to this newspaper like this.

10:47 Now, one thing I forgot to do quickly is select this transform,

10:50 which is the magnifying glass,

10:51 and hit shift space, and we're going to add a drop shadow on it.

10:54 And now, as you can see, we have a shadow casting off it, just like that.

10:59 So, again, we can select our ellipse, and this is the path it moves on.

11:03 And so if we zoom in and select this point here,

11:05 we can select this curve up here.

11:07 And now the animation will be less harsh.

11:10 And as you can see with these lines here, we can adjust it further.

11:13 So we're going to select our spline and select the ellipse.

11:16 And we can smooth out our animation.

11:18 So I'm going to select this and press S.

11:20 And then select this one and press S as well.

11:22 And I'm going to bring this one up like this.

11:24 And this one down like this.

11:26 Now it'll now it will stay at this point a little bit longer.

11:29 As you can see, it kind of slows down there and then goes back to here.

11:33 I'm going to make sure I select settings,

11:35 turn on motion blur for this magnifying glass.

11:37 Now, back in the edit page,

11:38 we're going to add some effects on this to make it a lot more cinematic.

11:41 So, I'm going to select effects here and drag on adjustment clip.

11:46 So, the first thing I'm going to add is a vignette.

11:47 So, I'm going to select resolve FX and search VI and drag on this one.

11:53 Now, I'm going to drag up the softness just like this.

11:56 And then we can play around with the size

11:57 depending on how much you want to be seen.

12:00 And just like that, it already looks a lot better.

12:01 And then before I add anything else on, I'm going to go

12:03 to the color page and I'm going to increase the shadows a little bit.

12:07 Increase the saturation, up the contrast.

12:10 We can drag up the temperature for more orange look.

12:13 So another thing I'm going to add is called film grain,

12:16 and it's going to make it look a little bit more grainy.

12:18 So once I apply that, I'm going to select

12:20 the freeze so it's easier on our computer.

12:22 I'm going to increase the opacity, turn down the grain size.

12:26 Now, we can zoom in and play with the grain strength.

12:27 So, obviously, I'm going to bring this down quite a bit.

12:29 Now, it's hard to see now, but once it's 4K and it's zoomed in, um

12:33 it makes quite a difference and it looks pretty cinematic.

12:36 Now, I'm also going to drag on a zoom blur.

12:38 And as you can see, it says center exclusion.

12:40 So, I'm going to drag that up.

12:42 And when and when you drag up the zoom amount,

12:44 you can see that the edges of the image are more blurry.

12:48 And it creates kind of like a camera film effect.

12:50 It's pretty nice.

12:52 Now, I'm also going to add a camera

12:53 shake to the adjustment clip, just like that.

12:56 I'm going to turn the randomness scale all the way down.

13:00 And I'm going to bring the PTR speed to 04,

13:02 which is just a slow camera shake, so it's not too distracting.

13:06 So, now we can animate the adjustment clip

13:07 itself to kind of follow the magnifying glass.

13:10 So, on the first frame here, I'm going to zoom in and drag this down.

13:15 Something like this.

13:16 And I'm going to key frame the position.

13:18 Now I'm going to go over however many

13:20 key frames for it to reach its destination.

13:22 So kind of right here is where it kind of ends up.

13:24 So I can take my position X and Y and then drag my camera up to that position.

13:30 And then again I can go over to here

13:33 and then again I'm just going to drag my camera down.

13:35 Now I'm going to go to my key frames and select this up here.

13:39 Now I can select all of position Y here.

13:41 I'm going to select ease in and out.

13:43 And then I'm going to do the same with position X.

13:46 Select ease in and out.

13:49 And now, as you can see, when we play it,

13:51 the camera kind of follows the magnifying glass a little bit more.