Wildlife Video Editing Workflows
Last changed on 2025-04-26
Close Encounters
This workflow covers editing of short videos (5-10min) showcasing close up of a particular animal species. The clips are recorded with 800mm (100-400mm + TC 2.0) FX or DX at 120fps. The clips are edited in DaVinci Resolve Studio.
Clip Ingestion & Sequence Setup
- Import all 120fps clips.
- Arrange clips in timeline by story/behavior flow.
- Apply different color for each clip
Clip Refinement & Framing
- Stabilize all clips (initial pass).
- Slow all clips to 10% for review and cut out unusable sections (shakes, blurs).
- Adjust speed of each clip to final speed (25%, 50%, 75% or 100%)
- Add frame (Effects > Generators, Window)
- Step through in 1s intervals.
- Adjust X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) when object steps out of the frame.
- Apply Ease In / Ease Out to all transform keyframes.
- Remove frame
Color Grading Workflow
- Add an Adjustment Clip over the full sequence.
- Apply color transform:
- Input Color Space: N-Log
- Intermediate: DaVinci Wide Gamut / DaVinci Intermediate
- Output: Rec.709 / Rec.709-A
- Apply color transform:
- For individual clip adjustments:
- Add additional nodes on the specific clip.
- Apply contrast, exposure, or tint corrections as needed.
Final Polish & Export
- Add Intro, Outro
- Add fade-ins/outs, titles, and ambient sound if used.
- Review entire sequence for pacing and cohesion.
- Deliver final output in desired format for YouTube UHD (1920x1080px).