How to Speed Up Your Video Editing Workflow in DaVinci Resolve

Most of your editing time goes into watching raw footage to find the parts worth keeping. The fix is to mark those parts while you record, so DaVinci Resolve opens with a timeline that already tells you where to cut.

These steps use DaVinci Resolve on desktop (Windows or Mac). The shortcuts are the default ones, and Mac users swap Ctrl for Cmd.

How to speed up editing with timestamps and markers

1. Open a notes file before you record. Keep a notes app or a plain text file open on a second screen or in a small window next to your game.
2. Write timestamps while you play. Each time something good happens, or something you know you'll cut, write the recording time and a few words. For example: 00:14:30 boss fight starts or 00:22:10 cut, AFK. Be detailed. The more you write now, the less you rewatch later.
3. Put the recording on a timeline. Import the recording into DaVinci Resolve, go to the Edit page and drag it onto a new timeline.
4. Jump to each timestamp. Click the timeline, type the timecode from your notes on the number keys and press Enter. The playhead jumps straight there.
5. Add a marker with your note. Press M to drop a marker. Press M again to open it and paste your note into the Name or Notes field. Pick a color if you want to tell "keep" and "cut" apart at a glance.
6. Cut between markers. Press Shift+Down to jump to the next marker and Shift+Up to go back. At each one, press Ctrl+B to split the clip, then delete the parts you don't want.

Once every note is a marker, you're editing from a map instead of scrubbing through five hours of gameplay.

Set up keyboard shortcuts you can reach without the mouse

Moving between the mouse and menus eats more time than you'd think. Learn the shortcuts for the actions you repeat, then move them to keys that sit under your hand.

1. Go to DaVinci Resolve > Keyboard Customization (or press Ctrl+Alt+K).
2. Search for the command you use most, like Split Clip, Ripple Delete or Delete Gaps.
3. Click its shortcut box and press the key you want to use.
4. Click Save and give your layout a name.

Start with the handful of actions you use on every video. You'll pick up more as you go.

Import a keyboard layout from a pro editor

If you don't want to build your own layout, import one. Some YouTube editors who teach DaVinci Resolve share their full keyboard layouts as preset files, with the most-used tools grouped where your fingers already rest.

1. Download the preset file from the editor's website.
2. Open DaVinci Resolve > Keyboard Customization.
3. Click the three-dot menu at the top right and choose Import Preset.
4. Select the file and click Save.

It takes a few videos to get used to new keys, but the time you save adds up fast.

Remove all the empty space with Delete Gaps

After you cut out the dead parts of a recording, you end up with holes in the timeline. Closing them one by one is slow. DaVinci Resolve can close them all at once.

1. Select the clips on your timeline (Ctrl+A selects everything).
2. Go to Edit > Delete Gaps.

Every gap between the selected clips closes and the clips slide together. Add it to your keyboard layout if you use it on every video.

Cut silences automatically with an AI tool

If you have a lot of raw footage and most of your cuts are just silent parts, let a tool do that pass for you. AI editing tools can find the pauses in your speech and cut them out automatically. Run your recording through one first, then bring the trimmed footage into DaVinci Resolve for music and the rest of your edit.

You'll still need to check the result, since you'll want to keep some quiet moments in a gaming video. It's much faster than finding every pause yourself.

For more on which edits are worth your time in the first place, read Editing Time vs Views. If you want to get more out of each recording session, How to Turn One Long Video Into a Week of Content shows you how to cut one recording into several short clips.

FAQ

How long should editing a YouTube video take? It depends on the kind of video. Simple gaming videos with basic cuts can take a few hours, while scripted video essays can take 20 to 30 hours or more.

Does editing get faster with practice? Yes. As you learn the shortcuts and get a feel for what you want in your video, you start making all your cuts in the first pass instead of going back over the footage.