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# DaVinci Resolve Keyframes and Curve Editor Guide
- URL: https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-keyframes-curve-editor/
- Published: 2026-08-28T06:12:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-20T00:19:49.000Z
- Description: Create and retime keyframes in DaVinci Resolve 21, then use the Curve Editor for easing and Bezier control. This guide also separates motion paths from value curves and fixes missing keyframes, handles and editor views.
- Author: Jason Miller
- Tags: Beginner Guides, Tutorials, Workflow, #learn

**Quick answer:** select the clip, park the playhead where the animation should begin, and click the gray diamond beside an Inspector parameter such as Position X or Zoom. Move the playhead, change that same value, and Resolve creates the second keyframe. Open **Show Keyframe Tray** to move the diamond markers in time, then switch to **Curves** when you need to change values, Ease In and Out, or shape Bezier handles. One keyframe stores a value. Set a second point at another time and change the value to create a simple move.

The part that trips people up isn't setting the first diamond. It's choosing the right editor afterward. Keyframe lanes, value curves, the Viewer motion path and Fusion's Spline Editor all solve different pieces of animation.

The menu names below were checked on September 5, 2026 against chapter 60 of the [DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual](https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/UserManuals/DaVinci%5FResolve%5F21%5FReference%5FManual.pdf?ref=davinciresolveclub.com). This guide covers keyframing on the Cut and Edit pages. The [DaVinci Resolve tutorial hub](https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-tutorial/) can help you choose the next editing skill to learn.

## Choose the control that matches the job

| Control                 | Use it for                                                      | What it does not replace                            |
| ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| Inspector diamond       | Create, delete and jump between keyframes for one parameter     | Detailed timing and curve shaping                   |
| Keyframe Editor or Tray | See many parameter lanes, select points, retime, copy and paste | Changing a keyframe's numeric value by graph height |
| Curve Editor            | Change time and value, interpolation, easing and Bezier handles | Drawing the clip's spatial path in the Viewer       |
| Viewer motion path      | Change the route Position X/Y follows across the frame          | Inspecting the full numeric time-and-value graph    |
| Fusion Keyframes/Spline | Animate nodes inside a Fusion composition                       | Basic Edit-page Transform animation                 |

If you only need a start and end value, the Inspector may be enough. Open the larger editors when you need to compare parameters, retime several points or remove the mechanical feel of linear motion. The [Resolve Inspector guide](https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-inspector/) explains the other Inspector groups; here, the focus is how to animate their values.

## Create your first two keyframes

1. Place a clip on the Cut or Edit timeline and select it.
2. Open **Inspector > Video** and expand **Transform**.
3. Move the playhead to the first frame where the state must be defined.
4. Set the starting Position, Zoom, Rotation Angle or other keyframable value.
5. Click the gray diamond beside that parameter. It turns orange because the playhead is now on a stored keyframe.
6. Move the playhead to the next moment and change the same value. Once a parameter has its first keyframe, that later change creates another one.
7. Play across the interval and check the actual result before adding more points.

![Resolve Inspector Transform controls with stored Zoom and Position keyframes](https://storage.ghost.io/c/a9/29/a929429b-cfab-4467-b902-a0cd9c90feac/content/images/2026/09/keyframes-inspector-real.webp)

The diamond stores a value at the playhead. Zoom and Position keyframes are already set; the same controls are documented in Resolve 21.

A gray diamond doesn't mean the parameter has no keyframes anywhere. It means the playhead isn't currently on one. The small previous and next controls beside the diamond move to stored points. Use them before overwriting a value that changes when you scrub.

Clicking an orange diamond deletes the keyframe at the playhead. The reset control is broader: resetting a parameter removes all its keyframes. Resetting the whole Transform group can remove animation from several parameters at once, so treat reset as a destructive cleanup command.

## Open the Keyframe Tray, Editor and Curve view

On both Cut and Edit, select the animated clip and click **Show Keyframe Tray** on the main timeline toolbar. The tray follows the currently selected clip. Expand the relevant parameter group, then choose the keyframe-lane or Curves view.

For a larger panel, click Keyframes at the upper left of the Cut or Edit page. It exposes the same parameter hierarchy; the Curve icon at the upper left switches to the graph. On the Edit page, its Expand control opens the Keyframe and Curve Editor in a separate resizable window. That standalone window isn't available from Cut, so a missing pop-out on Cut is a page limitation, not a broken installation.

If you want a keyboard shortcut, open **DaVinci Resolve > Keyboard Customization**, search for **Toggle Keyframe/Curve**, and assign the command for Cut, Edit or the Keyframe Editor. The manual documents customization rather than one universal default, so copying an unexplained shortcut from another editor's layout is unreliable.

Use the Parameters menu to reduce clutter. **Display Parameters with Keyframes** hides empty tracks, while **Display Selected Parameters** lets you choose individual video, audio, Open FX or Resolve FX controls. Use the Toggle Curve Visibility icon beside a parameter to show its curve in the graph. This is separate from listing the parameter in the panel. If several curves are visible, click the dim curve you want to make active; Resolve displays several but edits one curve at a time.

## Keyframe Editor vs Curve Editor

In keyframe lanes, dragging a diamond left or right changes when the stored value occurs without changing the value itself. Select several points to shift an entire beat or delete a bad section. To reuse a move, copy the selected points, place the playhead where the pasted sequence should begin, and paste with the Keyframe Editor focused. Keyframes can remain beyond a clip's visible extents after trimming; Resolve marks those hidden points with a directional indicator rather than silently deleting them.

In the Curve Editor, horizontal movement retimes a point and vertical movement changes its value. Hold Shift while dragging when the correction must stay on one axis. Option-click a curve on macOS to add a point directly, or use the Add Keyframes tool. Standard Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete commands work on selected keyframes.

Auto Zoom Graph Height is enabled by default and scales the visible graph around active values. That's a display aid, not an animation effect. Disable it when several parameters have very different ranges and you need manual control of graph height. Blackmagic's feature overview also calls this normalized zoom; Auto Zoom Graph Height is the menu label to look for.

## Make motion smooth with Ease In and Out

Linear interpolation changes the parameter value at a constant rate between keyframes. That is correct for a progress bar or mechanical move, but it often feels abrupt when a title, photo or subject is supposed to start and stop naturally.

1. Open Curves and activate the parameter you want to shape.
2. Select the relevant start and end keyframes.
3. Choose **Ease In and Out** for a smooth start and finish, or use the directional Ease controls when only one side should change.
4. Enable Show Handles if necessary, then drag the Bezier handles to control how quickly the value leaves and approaches each keyframe.
5. Play the animation at speed. A pretty graph isn't evidence that the move reads well.

![Linear and eased value curves with identical start and end points](https://storage.ghost.io/c/a9/29/a929429b-cfab-4467-b902-a0cd9c90feac/content/images/2026/09/keyframes-linear-vs-eased.webp)

Value-versus-time graphs show how the same endpoints can produce different movement. The shape between them changes the rate.

You can also right-click the orange Inspector diamond and choose Linear, Ease In, Ease Out or Ease In and Out. That's faster for a simple two-point move. The Curve Editor becomes useful when you need to see the entire change, compare neighboring segments or prevent a handle from creating an unwanted overshoot.

## Motion path shape is not the same as easing

When Position X and Y are animated, enable Transform controls in the Viewer to expose the motion path. Right-click a path point and choose Smooth to add spatial Bezier handles. Moving the spatial handles changes the route through the image. The Viewer also has an acceleration handle on a Bezier stem, so it is not limited to reshaping the path. Dots along the path indicate relative speed: closer dots mean slower movement and wider spacing means faster movement.

The Curve Editor answers a different question: how the parameter value changes over time. You can draw a curved path around a subject and still have a harsh linear start, or create a straight spatial path with smooth acceleration. Use the Viewer to judge the route in the picture and Curves to inspect how values change over time.

For a simple title move, add and style the title first using the [DaVinci Resolve text guide](https://davinciresolveclub.com/how-to-add-text-in-davinci-resolve/), then animate only the parameters that support the intended entrance. Don't keyframe every available control just because it has a diamond.

## Resolve 21 keyframe tools worth using

Blackmagic's [Resolve 21 New Features Guide](https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/SupportNotes/DaVinci%5FResolve%5F21%5FNew%5FFeatures%5FGuide.pdf?ref=davinciresolveclub.com) groups several additions that older tutorials can't show:

- **Step In:** hold the previous keyframe's value, then jump at the next point.
- **Step Out:** jump immediately to the next value and hold it until another point.
- **Loop:** repeat the selected keyframe sequence through the clip.
- **Ping Pong:** repeat forward, then reverse back and forth.
- **Reverse Keyframes:** run the selected order and interpolation backward.
- **Shape Box:** stretch or contract a selected group; Option-drag a corner on macOS to skew the selected points.
- **Multi-clip editing:** selected stacked clips appear concurrently, while side-by-side selections appear sequentially.

![Resolve 21 Loop Type menu with Ping Pong selected and a repeating forward-reverse curve](https://storage.ghost.io/c/a9/29/a929429b-cfab-4467-b902-a0cd9c90feac/content/images/2026/09/keyframes-ping-pong-real.webp)

Select the keys, then choose Option Menu > Loop Type > Ping Pong to repeat the movement forward and backward.

Retime Speed can now use the same Bezier easing family, but speed ramps have extra frame-blending and timing decisions. The [Resolve clip-speed guide](https://davinciresolveclub.com/change-clip-speed-davinci-resolve/) covers those retiming decisions in detail. Here, the key distinction is that Speed curves are not ordinary Position curves.

Resolve 21 also lets Edit-page audio keyframes move with subframe, audio-sample accuracy when the timeline is zoomed in far enough. That helps precise clip-volume moves; it doesn't turn visual Transform keyframes into subframe video events. For automatic dialogue/music behavior, the [audio ducking guide](https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-audio-ducking/) explains Ducker, sidechain and AI Audio Assistant choices.

## Why keyframes or curves are not showing

### The wrong clip is selected

The Tray follows the current timeline selection. Click the animated clip, not its linked audio, an adjustment clip above it or a neighboring title.

### The parameter is hidden

Open Parameters and choose Display Parameters with Keyframes or enable the exact property under Display Selected Parameters. Then turn on its Toggle Curve Visibility icon. A listed parameter can still have its curve hidden. If points are visible but cannot be changed, check the keyframe lock beside the parameter.

### There is only one keyframe

One point stores a value, but it does not define an interpolated interval. Add a second keyframe on the same parameter at another time. Two keys with the same value can form a flat line; change the value if you want a simple move, rather than assuming a flat graph is missing.

### The playhead is not on the point

The Inspector diamond stays gray between keyframes. Use the previous and next controls or the lane instead of treating gray as proof that the animation vanished.

### The points are outside the trimmed clip

Trimming can hide keyframes beyond the current clip edges. Look for the directional indicator, navigate to the point or extend the clip before deciding to rebuild the animation.

### You are looking for Fusion's Spline Editor

Fusion effects, titles and generators exposed on Cut/Edit can appear in this Curve Editor. A normal Fusion clip or composition still uses Fusion's own Keyframes and Spline panels. The [Fusion beginner guide](https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-fusion-tutorial-for-beginners/) explains that node-based workflow.

## Free vs Studio

Blackmagic spells out the Cut/Edit Keyframe and Curve Editor workflow without a Studio-only marker, so the core tools apply to Resolve Free and Studio. The effect you animate can still have its own edition restriction. If a specific Resolve FX or AI control adds a Studio watermark or is unavailable, that does not make ordinary Transform, Crop, Composite or clip-audio keyframes paid features.

## DaVinci Resolve keyframes and Curve Editor FAQ

### How do I add keyframes in DaVinci Resolve 21?

Select a clip, open the Inspector, place the playhead, and click the gray diamond beside a keyframable parameter. Move to another time and change the same value to create the next keyframe.

### What is the difference between the Keyframe Editor and Curve Editor?

The Keyframe Editor exposes parameter lanes and is best for selecting, moving, copying and retiming points. The Curve Editor adds a value graph, interpolation controls and Bezier handles.

### How do I Ease In and Out in DaVinci Resolve?

Select the start and end points in Curves and choose Ease In and Out, or right-click the orange Inspector diamond and choose an Ease option. Use handles when the preset shape needs refinement.

### Why are my keyframes not showing?

Select the animated clip, show the correct parameter and enable its Toggle Curve Visibility icon. Check that keyframes exist at the times you expect. Two points at different times can form a flat line when their values match; different values are not required just to see a curve.

### Can I open the Keyframe and Curve Editor in a separate window?

Yes on the Edit page: use Expand in the Keyframe Editor. Cut offers the panel and timeline Tray but not the separate resizable editor window documented for Edit.

### Does Resolve 21 support looping keyframes?

Yes. Select a sequence and use Loop Type for Loop or Ping Pong. Loop repeats the sequence; Ping Pong alternates forward and reverse motion.

### Are keyframes available in DaVinci Resolve Free?

The core Cut/Edit keyframe, Curve Editor, easing and loop workflow isn't marked Studio-only. Individual effects or AI controls animated inside it may still require Studio.