Overview of Resolve - Cut Page

Following on from my previous blogs/ overviews, the next page in Resolve is the Cut page. Essentially, it is similar to the Edit page, but is designed for different workflows. It may benefit you when working on your projects, or perhaps it would still be faster and easier to only use the Edit page. This blog will highlight the Cut pages key features and uses to help you decide.

Where both the Edit and Cut pages are designed to create your timeline, the Cut page is designed for speed. This is ideal for larger projects such as a feature film, when you need to create a rough cut before refining it in the following pages.

The layout of the Cut page may look similar to traditional editing software, however there are a few key differences. But first, the similarities. On the top left you will have the media pool which is present in almost every other page in the software. Here you can browse and select any and all media you have added to the project in the Media page.

On the top right is the viewer. This will show a preview of any media you select in either the media pool, or on the timeline.

The timeline itself is where the Cut page differs. Below the Media Pool and the Viewer, is a timeline showing the entire project. Every piece of media you place into the project will show up on this timeline, and will automatically readjust its scale to show everything when more footage is added.

The timeline beneath this is a zoomed in version of the timeline above. Here the play-head is in a fixed position at the centre of the timeline where you instead drag the footage. However this can be changed in the settings.

The reason for all this, as mentioned before, is for speed. With the two different timelines at vastly different scales, you can quickly change to different shots, rearrange them in the large scale timeline, whilst making refined trims in the bottom timeline. In the Edit page, you can still do this but requires constant zooming in and out of your timeline which may only take a few seconds, but that time can add up quickly.

This covers the basic usage of the Cut page, but there are many more features. Another useful tool when you first start to build your timeline is the Source Tape feature. At the top of the Viewer window, there are three display options, the middle the Source Tape feature. This will organise everything in the media pool and play them on the viewer back to back. This allows you to view every piece of media in the project in one place without having to place it all in the timeline.

I hope you find this blog to be useful, please stay tuned for next week when I discuss the basic uses of the Edit Page. Thank you for reading!