To hide an unwanted edge in one shot, select the clip, open Inspector > Video > Cropping and raise Crop Left, Crop Right, Crop Top or Crop Bottom. Reach for Softness only when you want a feathered boundary. Turn on Retain Image Position when the crop boundary should stay put in the frame while you move or scale the image behind it.
That’s the quick version. Where editors get stuck is the decision before it: does this job need Crop, Transform or a different timeline shape? Resolve gives you all three, and each one fixes a different problem.
Crop, Zoom, or Change the Aspect Ratio?
| What you need | Use this control | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hide a boom, rough edge, split-screen overlap, or part of one clip | Inspector > Cropping | It removes selected edges without changing the project canvas. |
| Make the subject larger or move it inside the frame | Inspector > Transform > Zoom and Position | It scales and repositions the entire source image. |
| Create a vertical, square, or widescreen version | Timeline Settings and output settings | Those settings define the shape and pixel dimensions of the canvas. |
| Show two clips beside each other | Cropping plus Position | Crop exposes part of each layer; Position places both pieces. |
| Reveal a title or image over time | Animated crop controls | Keyframes move one or more crop boundaries. |
I always make this call first, because it heads off the most common detour. Someone pushes Zoom to get rid of one bad edge and then notices that the opposite edge and the subject got bigger too. Crop hides an edge. Zoom changes the whole picture. If what you really want is a 9:16 social cut, start with the aspect-ratio and timeline-resolution guide and reframe individual clips inside that canvas afterwards.
How to Crop a Clip in the Inspector
- Open the Edit page. Put the clip on a timeline and move the playhead to a frame where the unwanted edge is easy to see.
- Select the clip. The Inspector follows whatever timeline item is selected. With nothing selected, the Video controls you need may not show up at all.
- Open Inspector. Click Inspector in the upper-right area, choose the Video tab, and expand Cropping.
- Adjust the correct edge. Raise Crop Left, Right, Top or Bottom until the unwanted area is gone. If you’d rather drag, click the Transform/Crop button at the bottom left of the Timeline Viewer, choose the Cropping mode from its pop-up menu and pull the handle on that side.
- Check the whole shot. Scrub or play through the clip. A microphone that isn’t in the first frame can drift in later, and a moving subject can cross the new boundary.
- Reframe if needed. Open Transform and use Zoom or Position after deciding exactly what the crop should hide.
The four edge values are independent of each other, which helps on lopsided jobs. A thin damaged border on the left doesn’t need a matching crop on the right. In a split screen, one clip may need only Crop Right while the other needs only Crop Left.
The circular reset arrow next to the Cropping section puts that section back to its defaults. Pick the smallest reset that solves the problem. Resetting the whole Inspector can also wipe Transform, Composite, stabilization, speed changes and anything else you did to the clip.
What the Cropping Controls Do
Crop Left, Right, Top, and Bottom
Each control pulls one boundary inward from its side of the image, and the values are counted in pixels. The remaining picture doesn’t stretch to fill the frame. Cropping creates transparency, so you see whatever sits underneath: a lower video track, a background generator or an empty black canvas.
That’s handy for layouts, and it also explains the black strips that suddenly appear. They’re usually no render failure. You removed part of the visible clip and nothing is underneath it.
Softness
Softness feathers the crop boundary so the edge no longer cuts hard. A negative value softens the edge inside the crop box, and a positive value softens it outside. It works for a subtle blend or a soft reveal. Keep it at zero when you need a clean geometric edge, like the seam in a two-column split screen.
Judge the feather against the real background. A soft edge can look clean over a dark frame and then show a pale halo when the scene changes. If a crisp layout suddenly looks a little blurry, check Softness before you rebuild the composition.
Retain Image Position
Retain Image Position decides how the crop boundary behaves when Transform changes the underlying image.
- Enabled: the crop stays anchored to the output frame while the image moves or scales behind it. This is the useful state for a fixed split-screen window, a stationary reveal boundary, or a graphic panel.
- Disabled: the crop travels and scales with the image. Use this when the cropped object and its boundary should behave as one transformed element.
If Position moves the picture but leaves the crop window alone, the checkbox is probably on. If Zoom grows the crop boundary along with the image when you expected a fixed window, flip the checkbox to match the relationship you want. Neither state is right for every shot.
Crop a Clip Without Leaving Black Edges
Resolve won’t enlarge the image for you after a crop. When the clip sits on the bottom video track, the removed area shows the timeline background, which is normally black. Pick the fix that suits the composition, and resist the urge to crank Zoom by reflex.
- For a normal full-screen shot: use a small Zoom increase and adjust Position until the cropped boundary is outside the canvas.
- For a split screen: keep the exposed region and place another clip or background on a lower track.
- For picture in picture: decide whether ordinary Crop and Transform are enough or whether the dedicated Picture in Picture controls offer the frame, border, rounding, and shadow you need.
- For a vertical or square timeline: check the timeline resolution and mismatch scaling before you start correcting clips one by one. A wrong canvas decision can put bars across the entire edit.
Never sign off on a single paused frame. Play the shot at normal speed and look at the beginning, middle and end. A small Zoom change can hide the edge at one camera position and expose it again after stabilization, Dynamic Zoom or another keyframed move.
Use Crop and Position for a Split Screen
A basic side-by-side layout needs two clips on separate tracks. Put the background clip on V1 and the second clip on V2. Select the upper clip, crop away the half you don’t want and slide what’s left into place with Position. Do the same on the lower clip if its visible area needs trimming too.
For a clean center seam:
- keep Softness at zero;
- check that the clips meet without a one-pixel gap;
- use the Viewer at 100% when inspecting the seam;
- watch both subjects through the full overlap;
- add a background or divider only when the design calls for one.
When the two sources differ in resolution or framing, equal crop values won’t give you equal-looking panels. Compose by what you see in the Viewer. The numbers only count pixels, and how wide a panel ends up also depends on how each clip is scaled into the timeline canvas.
Animate a Crop Reveal with Keyframes
Crop Left, Right, Top, Bottom and Softness can all be animated straight from the Inspector. A simple wipe-style reveal needs just two keyframes on one edge.
- Select the clip and place the playhead where the reveal should begin.
- Open Inspector > Video > Cropping.
- Set the starting crop value so the subject or graphic is hidden.
- Click the diamond beside that crop control to create the first keyframe.
- Move the playhead to the end of the reveal.
- Lower the crop value until the whole intended area shows. Resolve adds the second keyframe for you.
- Play through the move and adjust timing before adding more controls.
One animated boundary nearly always looks cleaner than keyframing all four sides at once. For a horizontal reveal, animate Crop Left or Crop Right. For a vertical one, animate Crop Top or Crop Bottom. Bring in Softness only if the edge needs a feather.
Retain Image Position matters here too. Turn it on when the reveal boundary has to stay fixed in the frame while the image moves behind it. Turn it off when the crop and the image should travel together. To shape the acceleration or tie this move to other parameters, the keyframes and Curve Editor guide covers the wider animation workflow.
Copy the Crop to Other Clips
When several shots share the same layout, copy the finished clip and use Paste Attributes on the destination clips. Tick only the attributes you actually want to carry over.
- Select the correctly cropped source clip and copy it.
- Select one or more destination clips.
- Choose Edit > Paste Attributes (Option-V on a Mac), or right-click one of the selected clips and pick Paste Attributes.
- Enable Crop. Enable Transform as well only if Zoom and Position are part of the same composition.
- Apply the attributes, then inspect each shot.
It beats retyping values, but identical numbers can still give you different compositions when the sources differ in size or subject, so look at every destination clip. If the crop is animated, the window also asks whether pasted keyframes should Maintain Timing or Stretch to Fit. Read the other checkboxes before you hit Apply: copying speed, stabilization, audio or effects by accident can cause trouble a long way from the crop.
For a broad map of the panel and its reset behavior, use the DaVinci Resolve Inspector guide. Blackmagic Design’s official Edit page also shows the current editing workspace and clip-control model.
Crop Controls Are Missing or Do Nothing
The Cropping section is not visible
Make sure a video clip is selected on the timeline, the Inspector is open and the Video tab is active. An audio-only clip shows audio controls. Transitions, titles, generators, multicam angles and effects can each show a different set of controls from an ordinary video clip.
The control changes, but the Viewer looks unchanged
Check track order and which clip is selected. You may be cropping a lower clip that an opaque clip above it covers completely. Switch off the upper track for a moment or select the visible clip. Also make sure the Viewer is showing the timeline, because a source clip in the Viewer won’t show your crop.
The crop moves when Zoom or Position changes
Look at Retain Image Position. Turn it on for a crop window anchored to the output frame, and off when the crop should follow the transformed image. Then reset the smallest section that went wrong and rebuild in this order: crop boundary, Transform, animation.
Black bars appear after cropping
The crop exposed empty canvas or a lower track. Raise Zoom only if the shot is meant to fill the frame. For a layout, add or move the lower layer you intended to show. If the bars show up on many clips, the timeline resolution and image-scaling settings are the place to fix them, one change for the whole edit.
The export does not match the Viewer
Check the resolution and scaling mode on the Deliver page. A render preset can use different dimensions from the active timeline. Keep the output matched to the timeline unless the delivery spec says otherwise, and review any resizing or blanking choice before you render. The crop lives on the clip, but the render still passes through timeline and output scaling.
A reveal jumps instead of animating
Look for two separate keyframes on the same crop parameter. With only one diamond, Resolve has no interval to animate. Make sure you moved the playhead before changing the second value. If a Transform keyframe makes the boundary drift, check Retain Image Position and look at both parameters’ keyframes.
A Reliable Crop Check Before Export
- Play the entire cropped clip. The frame where you set the values is only one moment of it.
- Check the Viewer at 100% for narrow gaps, halos, and softened seams.
- Inspect the first and last frames of every animated crop.
- Confirm whether Retain Image Position matches the intended motion.
- Verify lower tracks anywhere the crop creates transparency.
- Review timeline and Deliver dimensions when the composition is vertical, square, or otherwise nonstandard.
- Watch the rendered file at its delivery aspect ratio before approving the layout.
The clean workflow is short. First work out which job this is: hiding an edge, reframing the image or changing the canvas. Then use the control built for that job and watch the whole shot. Working in that order stops a small crop from turning into a chain of Zoom and Position fixes that each cover for the last one.
