You’ve managed to get your footage into Resolve and create your first cut. But what if your project gets a little more complex? When recording Interviews with more than one camera, you’ll probably be looking for the easiest way to synchronise and edit your footage. For this reason, we’re going to take a look at working with timecode and multicam editing, as well as levelling your audio, refining your Clips, and adding Titles in Davinci Resolve Studio.

Previously in this series

1. Getting your bearings: Switching from Premiere to Resolve
2. Switching to Resolve: Your first cut
3. Switching to Resolve: Selects and assembly in Multicam editing
4. Switching to Resolve: Sharing and delivery

Working with timecode for your Interviews

When recording with multiple cameras, timecode is a useful tool for synchronising multiple recording devices for easier post-production. Even though they are popular, many cameras don’t support timecode recording. For this reason, it is possible to use external devices like Tentacle Syncs to record timecode via the camera’s audio input and store it on the audio track.

When opening files in Resolve, I usually like to scrub through footage to get a first impression. Recording timecode on the audio track is a mistake. Why? The time code on the audio track sounds horrible and loud! To fix this and get a usable timecode track, there’s an easy way. In the mediapool or mediapool panel, right-click on the clip, then navigate to Audio Sync and choose Update Timecode from Audio Track. This will update the video’s timecode to the one recorded on the audiotrack.

If you’re combining cameras that can record timecode with those that can’t, that’s no problem. Resolve supports embedded timecode as well as audio timecode.

Fixing interview audio channels

Now that we’ve got our time code right, it’s time to take a look at our clips’ audio. Often when working in a multicamera setup, I get multiple mono-audios from interviews recorded on one camera. Resolve might interpret these as a single stereotrack rather than individual mono-tracks. To fix this, right-click the Clip and select Clip Attributes. In the now open menu, go to Audio. To change your Stereo track into mono tracks, click on stereo at format and set it to mono, and when you want to set the source for that channel, choose the wanted audio at Source Channel.

To add a new track, choose your format below the top menu under Format, then set the number of tracks to add under Tracks. Then click Add. This can be configured like before.

Building Multicam: Two Ways to get started

After getting the audio settings right, it’s time to build the multicam edit. Resolve offers two options for setting up your multicam source timeline: manually or automatically. If you choose to set up the multicam source manually, it should be familiar to you if you’re switching from Premiere Pro. Start by creating a new Timeline and adding your footage with the different angles on different videotracks. To sync the footage, highlight it, then right-click and choose Auto Align Clips.

In the now-open window, choose whether to sync with timecode or waveform, then hit Sync.

Personally, I like to use option two: letting Resolve handle multicam creation for me. To do this, I like to set some metadata first. In the Media page, highlight all Clips from one camera angle and open the shot and scene Metadata from the Metadata Panel.

At Angle, define what to name your Camera Angle. To make your Multicam source more structured, do this for all your multicam camera angles. If you don’t want to name your Angles, you can skip this part, and the Angles will be named as the Clips.

When all your footage is correctly tagged, right-click the footage bin and choose Create multicam using selected Bin.

In the window that opens, choose whether to sync the angles by Timecode. To choose the angle name set before the Metadata Angle, choose Metadata – Angle from Angle Name. What I do like is the option ‘Detect clips from the same camera’. When you check this checkbox, Resolve will place clips from the same camera in a single videotrack instead of creating multiple tracks when working with multiple clips from the same camera.

With everything set to your liking, click Create to let Resolve automatically create your multicam source timeline.

Multicam editing basics

Now we’re ready to start editing. Firstly, create a new Timeline to edit your Interview into. When double-clicking the multicam source, it opens in the source viewer, just like a normal clip. You’ll notice that instead of one big image, you’ll see multiple angles, depending on the number of tracks in your source Timeline. When first opened in the Source Viewer, it will be set to Source Mode, which lets you use your insert methods as usual. By clicking on an angle, you can choose which one will be active when inserting into the Timeline.

Since this is only a first assembly, it’s normal that some of the angles need to be switched afterwards. To do so, you’ve got two options. If you do remember which camera is which angle, simply right-click on the clip in the timeline and choose Switch Multicam Clip Angle. It’s a quick way but doesn’t give you any visual information of the angle you’re choosing.

For this reason, I most times prefer to use option two: setting the source viewer to multicam mode. To do so, click on the filmstrip below the Source Viewer to open its menu. Choose Multicam from the appearing options. Now here comes the irritating part when switching from Premiere, since it’s exactly the opposite of what you’re used to: to switch the angle, use Alt / Opt + click on the new angle, to set a new cut, only click on the new angle.

When switching angles, I often want to stay with one audio track rather than switching between video and audio. This can be easily done by clicking on one of the matching icons below the source viewer: the film strip for just video, the musical notes for just audio and the combination for both. Once chosen, this will stay until you click on another option.

Lastly, I want to point out one feature I learned about way too late. Ever had the need to not just mark an individual point in your timeline but a whole duration? No problem. If you want to give a specific title to one part of your interview for fast editing, you can use a duration marker. For this, set an in-out range for the wanted duration, right-click and choose convert in and out to duration markers. Just like with usual markers, Name, Notes, Keywords and Colour can be added when double clicking on the marker.

Interview Trimmed Workflow: getting rid of gaps

The soundbites in the Timeline are only our starting point. To refine the interviews, you might want to eliminate some gaps. An easy way to do this is by using the waveform to identify gaps first and then simply cutting before and after the gap using the blade. The found gap can then be deleted using backspace.

A note: when using backspace, Resolve will leave the gap empty. If you want to ripple delete and let Resolve close the gap for you, you’ll need to use the delete key instead. You’re deleting lots of silence in the middle of clips and have lots of gaps? Try navigating to Edit in the top menu and choosing ” delete gaps to let Resolve close all the gaps for you.

If the gap is at the start or end of the clip, a quick way to remove it is to ripple. By hovering over the clip near an edit point, a ripple icon will appear, showing which side of the edit point will be rippled. Note that it makes a difference whether you’re in Selection Mode or Trim Edit Mode. When using the ripple in Selection Mode, it will leave a gap that you’ll need to close manually with the delete key if desired. When using ripple in Trim Edit mode, the clip will be shortened and the rest of the clips will move to close the gap.

If you like to replay your footage and combine this with deleting gaps, Trimming start and end with shortcuts could be the way for you: Simply play to the point the gap starts and press Shift + [ to Trim from the start of the clip to the playhead and  Shift + ] to trim from the playhead to the end of the clip. Note that Trim Start and Trim End will ripple if you are in Trim Edit Mode. If you want your gap closed directly in Selection Mode, you can use cmd or ctrl + shift + [ or ] to ripple trim the start or end. 

Making shortcuts work in Multicam

When deleting gaps, you might note that, depending on whether your keyboard has [] or not, these might need to be reassigned. When using some non-English keyboards, you might notice that certain shortcuts aren’t fully optimised yet. This will hopefully be improved soon. To assign the needed shortcuts, go to Davinci Resolve > Keyboard Customisation or press Ctrl/cmd + alt + K. You’ve now opened the space where you can see which Shortcuts are assigned and what operations are assignable.

Personally, I love this Window, since it also offers a visual way to explore existing and possible shortcuts. To assign the Trim Start to a shortcut, type Trim Start into the search field in the lower right. Enter the new shortcut after double-clicking on the existing keystroke. When the shortcut is already assigned to something else on the same page, Resolve will give you a warning before overwriting. To save your custom keyboard, go to the three-dotted menu in the top right and choose Save as new Preset.

Structuring the Timeline

With the cleaned-up Timeline, it’s usually a good point to make a backup of the work done until now. This can be done by duplicating the Timeline, just like in Premiere Pro. To do this, go to the Media Pool Panel and right-click on Timeline. Then choose Duplicate Timeline or copy and paste into the Media Pool Panel. Don’t forget to rename the timeline with an up-counting number to keep track.

Extra tip: When right-clicking the now-obsolete version, you can deactivate the timeline by clicking Deactivate Timeline. This will make sure it can not be opened until reactivated. I do like this option, since it prevents me from accidentally working in the wrong Timeline. Especially when working with multiple people in a shared project, this keeps us all from accidentally working in different versions. The Deactivated Timeline will be marked with a crossed-out eye symbol.

Opening the new Timeline, it’s probably a good idea to add some extra structure to make our lives easier in the future. One way to start is to colour-code parts of the interview differently, depending on their content. To change the colour of a clip in the Timeline, right-click the clip and select Clip Colour. From the opening submenu, choose a colour you like. If you like to work with colour coding you’ll be happy to hear that shortcuts can be assigned to all the colours in the Keyboard customisation window.

Sometimes it can also help to elevate powerful comments to higher video tracks. To do this without accidentally moving a clip some frames, use opt/alt + up or opt/alt + down to move a clip up or down a track.

Quick balancing Audio

It’s time to add some music. Most times, the added music is way louder than our current interview. The quick fix for this should be familiar to you when switching from Premiere Pro. Firstly, highlight all the interview clips in the Timeline. Then right-click on them and go to Normalize Audio Levels.

The now open menu gives you different options of Normalization Modes and the possibility to enter a Target Level of your choice. Important to note is the Set Level option. If you want to normalise multiple clips with an already constant audio level, Relative is the option you want to choose, since it analyses as if all the clips were one. If you want to bring clips with different starting levels to one target level, Independent would be the best choice.

Using Normalisation is a fast way to level the music and the interview to reach a good starting point. We’re going to take a look at some more advanced ways later.

Pulling B-roll into the interview timeline with Auto Track Selector

Since we can now see and hear our interview, it’s time to get some b-roll in, possibly without destroying everything established before. To do so it’s a good idea to lock the tracks we don’t want to be influenced by what we’re doing next. This can be done by clicking on the lock in the track header.

There are also other options for influencing which track is used when inserting footage. The track selector is the tool to define on which track the footage will be inserted. The blue rectangle represents the source clip and indicates which track is the one on which footage will be inserted in from the source viewer or media pool. If it is deactivated, it’s not possible to insert any footage. These are independent for audio and video.

Refining and Titles

Some added shots might need a bit of refinement. In addition to what we already looked at in the inspector in the last article, there’s one more feature you won’t find in Premiere Pro: Dynamic Zoom. When activated in the inspector, it will add motion to your clip by zooming between sets of frames. To define the start and end framing, open the drop-down menu in the bottom-left corner of the Timeline viewer and choose Dynamic zoom.

The start framing will be indicated by the green rectangle, and the end framing by the red rectangle. These can be moved and scaled freely, making not only easy zooming, but also panning possible really fast. To define whether the movement should be Linear or have ease in or out, go to the inspector and choose from the Dynamic Zoom dropdown menu. By default, it’s set to Linear. To change the direction of movement, use the Swap button.

If you want to add some speedraming, Resolve offers a Keyframe Editor, which can be found in the top-left corner near the Media Pool Panel. This offers the option to keyframe lots of parameters from Transformation, Cropping, Composite, Lense Correction and Speed and might look familiar to what you’re used to from Premiere Pro. Add keyframes by clicking on the keyframe symbol at the parameter you want to edit.

To change the Clip speed, go to the Inspector and set your speed at Speed Change. To visually see your speed ramp, click on the curve icon in the top left of the keyframe Editor. The Keyframes and changes are now shown in curves, which can be edited by clicking and dragging. If you want to add an ease in or out, click on one of the options at the top of the Panel to add handles, which then can be manually edited.

After all your visuals are set, it’s time to finish the audio. To add some dynamics, we can duck the music either manually with keyframes or using Resolve’s auto ducker. To add keyframes to our music, I start by increasing the audio track height. Keyframes can then be added either by Alt/Option + clicking on the line in the audio clip in the Timeline, like in Premiere Pro, or by clicking on the keyframe symbol in the inspector’s Audio tab at Volume, when the audio Clip is selected.

Alternatively, Resolve’s Ducker can be used. This can be found in the inspector as well, but only when the whole audio track is selected, since it can only be applied to the entire track. To do so, click on the music tracks header. In the Ducker menu, set the Source to whatever Track you want your music to duck to and define how much and how fast the ducker should attack.

Lastly, you might want to add a Title to your video. Resolve has various Title options available in the Effects panel. What I love about these: they can be live-previewed like clips and transitions before applying. Once added to the Timeline, Titles can be adjusted in the inspector like all other effects. Pro Tip for future editing: In addition to standard Titles, fusion Titles are available. These can be used as normal Titles, but can also be adjusted further in the fusion page if needed.

Your Video should now be ready for delivery. For tips on getting your video ready for different distribution platforms and rendering it fast and easily, stay tuned for the next article.

The post Switching to Resolve: Selects and Assembly in Multicam editing first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Jana Johnston.

EditingTools.io has announced the Live Timecode Notes Server, a macOS-based solution for secure, local collaboration during live and live-on-tape productions. Scheduled for release in late 2025, the app turns any Mac into an offline hub for production notes, removing the need for cloud or internet access.

The new server complements the existing Live Timecode Notes app for iOS and macOS, which has been tested in hundreds of productions since its spring 2025 release. The mobile app supports live logging, tags, and predefined buttons, and exports notes and markers to Media Composer, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and other NLEs.

A special treat: Digital Production readers get this link, and can test ALL the features of the pro version for free for two weeks – just remember to cancel the subscription to the Live Timecode Notes App before that, unless you fell in love with it. Or use it in your production.

The special Link to the Appstore.

The Original App: Notes for Professionals

The original Live Timecode Notes app debuted as a lightweight logging tool for iOS and web, designed for live and taped productions that rely on precise timecode notes. It connects directly to external timecode generators such as those from Tentacle Sync, and automatically synchronises notes, tags, and markers across devices in real time. Notes can be exported in native formats for Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and other editing systems, cutting out the need for manual transcription or error-prone spreadsheets.

For field teams, script supervisors, or multicam coordinators, this was already a quiet revolution: the ability to log, tag, and share notes instantly while cameras roll. However, the original app depends on a live internet connection for sync and collaboration. This made it less practical in secure or air-gapped environments, where the new macOS Live Timecode Notes Server now steps in. By bringing the same toolset offline, EditingTools.io effectively removes the last obstacle for productions that need reliability without relying on the cloud.

Built for Air-Gapped Sets

The Live Timecode Notes Server is designed for productions that must operate in offline or secure environments, such as reality TV, game shows, music or late-night shows, studio recordings, and documentaries. EditingTools.io emphasises data sovereignty, stating that all notes stay within the local network, while teams still benefit from real-time collaboration. Obviously, you can still bolt your Timecode Sync Tool, for example Tentale Sync, into your set.

The macOS application is compatible with macOS 12, 13, 14,15 and the latest, 26, and can run on MacBook, iMac, Mac mini, or MacBook Air systems. It operates by default on port 50550, with options for custom configuration.

Enterprise-Only and Unlimited

The server integrates with the Live Timecode Notes Enterprise client, but not with the subscription-based consumer version. Enterprise users gain access to an unlimited number of clients and projects within their local network.

Additional features include an open API for automation or third-party integration, IPv4/IPv6 compatibility, and standardised project backup support. The application is licensed perpetually, aligning with EditingTools.io’s enterprise model and avoiding recurring subscription costs. No Cloud, no subscription, no tracking – and that in 2025!

Pre-Order Access

EditingTools.io expects to ship the Live Timecode Notes Server between November and December 2025, following final testing. Pre-orders are already open at a discounted price via the company’s sales page. As always, professionals should verify stability and workflow compatibility before deploying new software in production environments.

A Quiet Pattern: Going Offline, by Design

The Live Timecode Notes Server is not the first time EditingTools.io has unplugged its own tools. Earlier this year, the company released a standalone version of its Marker Converter for macOS and iOS, another utility re-engineered for enterprise users and network-restricted environments.

The tool, which converts timeline markers between editing applications, now runs entirely offline and supports both light and dark modes. According to EditingTools.io, the goal is to make its key workflow tools available to teams operating in air-gapped systems or studios where internet access is tightly controlled. The company also released offline editions of its ALE Converter, and EDL Converter (Get them both in a Bundle HERE). Others may follow, depending on user demand.

The post Off-Grid, On-Tape: EditingTools.io Launches Local Timecode Notes Server first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.