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Match the symptom first. Waveforms visible but meters dead: Clip Attributes, codec or clip volume. Meters moving but silent: DIM, master mute, bus routing or the output device in Preferences. Source Viewer fine but timeline silent: track mutes and routing. Each case has its own section below.

Work the six Delta Keyer tabs in order: sample the screen in Key, even it out with Pre-Matte or a clean plate, refine the alpha in Matte, garbage-matte in Mask, kill spill in Fringe, then Tuning last. Jumping ahead before the matte is solid makes every later tab harder.

Build three real Fusion comps node by node: a tracked title that sticks to a surface, a basic green screen key, and an animated lower third from scratch. Along the way: why nodes beat layers, why nothing shows up in your viewer, and when the Edit page is honestly the better tool.

Match the exact error message first: a clip Fusion can't process, a hardware decode conflict, full GPU memory, an uninitialized GPU, a stalled job with no error, a full cache drive, or one broken clip. Each has its own fix; the diagnostic bypass and clip isolation find the culprit fast.

Skip the built-in YouTube preset and use Custom Export: MP4, H.264, resolution and frame rate matched to your timeline, a custom bitrate from YouTube's own encoding guide, High profile, and Network Optimization checked. Seven fields decide the whole export; the rest is picking the right numbers.

Copy .cube files into Resolve's LUT folder, click Update Lists, then apply the LUT to its own node on the Color page instead of to the clip directly. Node placement, DaVinci Wide Gamut compatibility, Key Output Gain and Generate LUT decide whether the look holds up across a full timeline.

Normalize log or RAW footage first, correct exposure and white balance, then build the look in labeled serial nodes while reading the waveform and vectorscope. Free Resolve covers the whole beginner grading workflow; Studio only adds HDR grading, advanced noise reduction and AI tools.

A node in DaVinci Resolve is one step in the image pipeline: each holds its own correction, and the order they connect changes the result. Serial nodes cover most grades; parallel and layer nodes split work into branches. Start serial, label every node, give each one job.

Slow playback is a bottleneck hunt: find whether the codec, the render bar, the GPU or the disk is choking before changing settings. Timeline proxy resolution, optimized media and render cache each fix a different cause; H.265 footage and laptop power plans are the usual suspects.

Resolve 21 splits its AI tools hard: IntelliSearch, CineFocus, the Face tools and the Speech Generator sit in Studio, while the free tier keeps the basics. What each tool actually does, what it needs from your hardware, and whether Studio is worth it for AI alone.

The Photo page in Resolve 21 brings albums, node-based still grading and tethered shooting into Resolve. It will not replace Lightroom for catalog work, but for grading stills with the same node tools you use on video it already earns a place in the workflow.

Resolve 21 went stable on June 3, 2026: a new Photo page, AI tools split between free and Studio, and a macOS build that requires Apple Silicon. What changed page by page, what it means for Intel Macs, and whether to upgrade now or wait a point release.