How to Use Photo Video Templates for DaVinci Resolve

Hi guys! Jordan with Motion Array and today we’re going to look at how to use Motion Array slideshow templates for DaVinci Resolve. So let’s jump right into it.

So right here we can see that I have Davinci Resolve opened up and we have here what’s called our project manager. This is where we can select a pre-existing project, or create a new one. And to use our DaVinci Resolve slideshow template, we’re actually going to do what’s called restoring a project.

1. To restore a project, right-click anywhere in the grey here, and select Restore.
2. Search your computer for where you’ve kept the downloaded slideshow template. For me, it’s just on my desktop.
3. Open it up and you should notice that there are a few different versions of the template, each with a different stated frame rate.

Note: This is because DaVinci Resolve currently has trouble switching between timeline frame rates mid-project, so we’ve given you a variety of standardized frame rates to be able to choose between to suit your project needs. For me, I’m going to select the 29.97fps timeline as that’s the one I want to work with personally.

4. Within the project template, there’s a folder here titled Font. Inside is a text document with a hyperlink to where the creator of this template has specified where you can download the font used in the template.

Note: This way you can make sure that DaVinci doesn’t use a different default font to use for the project. So once you find the font and download it, this correct font will be used when you go to open up the template.

5. Open up the template now by simply double-clicking it.
6. You can see that all the elements are in place except for the photo or video content you would like to include, as well as the specific text that you would like to appear.
7. At the top left, you should be able to see your media pool which should contain three folders: Other, Edit, and Final.
   • The Other folder is where many of the core elements that the template uses to create the final effect are located.
   • The Edit folder is where you would go to make alterations to any of the images or text within the template.
   • The Final folder is where the timeline displaying the final result of the template is located.
8. It might be helpful to check the box that’s labeled Bin List in order to easily navigate between folders and timelines.
9. So with that in mind, now let’s double click on the Edit folder and here we can see 2 new folders: Text and Images and Videos. You can probably guess what each of these folders gives you access to change.

Let’s explore how to change the text within your template.

10. When you enter the Text folder you can see that you have multiple timelines each for the different pieces of text found within the template.
11. These can each be changed individually by highlighting the Text layer here, and changing what the text says from within the Inspector window.
12. Keep in mind from this section you can also change the font, color, position, as well as a host of other parameters regarding the text in question. And as soon as you change the piece of text, it will appear changed as well within the final timeline found within the final folder.

You can also distinguish what text you are interacting with because the numerical label associated with each text timeline correlates to its order of appearance in the final template. So if we quickly make some more changes to these other text templates, we can see that we have effectively customized all of the text within the template.

Okay, so now that we’ve changed the text within the template, let’s add some images and videos to the template to make it truly our own.

1. Let’s go to the Edit folder and then to the Images and Video folder. And here we can see the same situation as with the text, a timeline numbered to indicate the order in which it appears.
2. You can actually just drag and drop images or videos directly from your computer onto the timeline.
3. You should also notice that those images or videos are now available within the Media pool to drag and drop from here into subsequent timelines.

Note: If you want to use the same image in multiple sequences you’re able to do that, but chances are you’re going to want to have unique ones for each timeline.  So let’s go ahead and place multiple unique images and videos in each timeline.

4. If you mix photos and videos in your comp, depending on the resolution of each you might experience that they are too large. You can simply re-adjust the image size by highlighting it in the timeline, going to the Inspector, and decreasing the Zoom in order to make it fit within the confines of the frame.
5. Lastly, you’ll want to make sure that your photos are extended to last at least the full duration of each segment of the template. For example, most sections of this template take place for only 5 seconds, so extending each image well past that will ensure proper introduction and exiting of each section without cutting out early.
6. Now once each timeline has finally been filled up, you can take a look at your final timeline. If anything looks off, this is a great time to locate the areas of trouble and make the necessary adjustments. But if all looks great, you can feel free to deliver your final result with a simple export.

Well, that concludes this tutorial. I hope you found it helpful, if you did, please give us a thumbs up and if you’d like to see more tutorials please go ahead and subscribe because we’re making new ones all the time. We’ve got lots of other Premiere Pro tutorials, After Effects tutorials, filmmaking tutorials, and yes, also tutorials for DaVinci Resolve!