DaVinci Resolve is one of the most advanced professional video editors available today. Apart from the premium DaVinci Resolve 16 and the latest DaVinci Resolve 17, the makers of the software, BlackMagicDesign, have also made a free version available to amateur users. While you’ll find a lot of online resources for how to use DaVinci Resolve, this article focuses on how to add text to a video in DaVinci Resolve and, specifically, how to add text to video in DaVinci Resolve 16. The process for DaVinci Resolve 17 is pretty similar so it will be helpful across all the recent versions.
Let’s begin with the basics of how to add text to video in DaVinci Resolve 16 as well as the free version. Before we start, let’s understand the difference between normal text and the text+ option, which is actually a part of Fusion, an advanced compositing tool integrated with the main video editing platform.
How to Add Text to a Video in DaVinci Resolve
The steps below show you how to add Text and Text+ effects to your video:
- Once you have your video in the timeline editor, click on the Effects Library and then click on Titles under Toolbox
- Scroll down the menu until you see ‘Text’ and ‘Text+’ – you can drag either one onto a free timeline space
Note: Since Text+ is actually part of Fusion, it gives the editor more control over text attributes, and you’ll see this in the Inspector panel when the text is selected on the timeline. You will see additional options like write on text, transformations, rotation, shearing, and more.
- Selecting the text in the timeline will show you the text editor in the Inspector panel next to the preview pane – here, you can change the content as well as attributes like adding a drop shadow, changing the font, using a different color, and so on. If you’re using Text+, you’ll see the transform, rotation, and other options mentioned above.
- In the Preview pane, you can move the text around and reposition it to where you want it to appear
This is the basic process of adding title text but you can also do the same with any type of text effect, such as subtitles or lower-third titles. Text and Text+ are absolutely fantastic but they are more or less static versions. To really make your text effects pop, consider using Fusion Text.
What is Fusion Text and How Can I Use it in My Video?
Fusion, as we mentioned, is a compositing tool for advanced users. It allows the editor to add amazing transformations and effects on top of the video using multiple layers. However, it also offers a rich collection of dynamic text options in the form of presets. Here’s how to use them in your video:
- Similar to the previous process, go to the Effects Library and Toolbox.
- This time, scroll down to where you see Fusion Titles. You will see a whole selection of text options you can choose from.
- Just as you did with Text and Text+, drag your option and drop it on an available track above the video timeline.
- Of course, you may not see the title at first because it is animated, but if you run the Preview at that point, you’ll be able to see what it does and how it looks.
- To edit a Fusion Title, click it as you did before with the regular text. This time, you’ll see a different view in Inspector – a Fusion tab and a Video tab. Remember, you can’t edit Fusion text in regular edit mode because it is essentially 3D text, not 2D. That’s also why Text+ is so useful because it gives you some of the features of Fusion text without having to use the Fusion editor.
The one aspect about Fusion text presents is that only a few of the parameters are exposed for editing; however, you’ll also see that individual text components can be edited independently of each other, which is a lot more than you can do with either of the other text effect options.
Fusion also allows you to track text, which is basically a way for your text to stay fixed on a particular object on the screen as the video itself pans from one side to another. The text tracking feature is done within the Fusion page, and the process is explained below:
- Right-click your video clip and choose New Fusion Clip… in the contextual menu
- Next, go to the Fusion page by clicking the tab at the bottom
- You will see the MediaIn/MediaOut timeline – right-click any empty space around the timeline and go to Add Tool → Tracking → Tracker
- Drag a line from MediaIn to the Tracker node
- In the Preview pane where the tracker now appears, reposition it to the focal object for your text
- Go to Inspector and click the Track icon for the software to finish rendering the tracker
- Above the Node section, click the Text icon – you will also see a Merge node appear.
- Now, draw a line that goes from the MediaIn to the Merge node, one line connecting the Text node to the Merge node, and one line connecting the Merge Node to the Tracker node. Also, make sure that the Merge node is connected to the MediaOut node.
Your tracker is now set up and rendered. You can edit the text by clicking the Text node and changing the text, choosing a different font, changing the font size, and so on.
These are the basics of how to add text to video in DaVinci Resolve 16 and other versions. If you feel that it’s too complicated, you can try another professional video editor that is more intuitive and will allow you to add text to video, control text attributes, add effects, and do much more.
An Easier Way to Add Text to Video: Introducing Filme Video Editor from iMyFone
Filme offers a much simpler way to add text to your videos. The software is very user-friendly and you can be done in just a few steps. The best part is that you also have access to a full suite of tools for editing videos, adding audio, adding special effects and transitions, and even creating a video slideshow in just a few clicks using Fast Video Mode. The steps below show you how to add text to a video:
- After you launch Filme and import your video clip, drag it to the timeline editor.
- Click the Text icon on the top left and choose from the various text styles. These include titles, subtitles, bottom subtitles, lower-third subtitles, and end subtitles.
- On the text style that you want to use, right-click your mouse and hit Apply to add it to the timeline above the video clip.
- To make further edits, right-click or double-click the text on the timeline – in the editor panel on the top right, you’ll see the font, size, color, and other options to customize your video text.
- You can now save the video with the text and export it using the Export function.
The new Filme version 3.0 for Windows brings a whole new UI experience for users. It also includes advanced functions such as panning and zooming your videos to create custom highlights and the ability to import files and media folders from your smartphone. It also offers new text effects as well as a range of new font types. In addition, you’ll see new effects, transitions, and themes for Fast Video Mode. The best part is that you can now share your edited videos directly to social media sides like Vimeo or YouTube. Filme 3.0 puts more powerful tools in your hands and allows you to create professional-looking videos even if you don’t have extensive editing experience.
Hot FAQs about Davinci Resolve Text Options
Back to DaVinci Resolve, you probably have some unanswered questions about how to add text to video in DaVinci Resolve. Here are your answers!
How do I add custom fonts to DaVinci Resolve?
Custom fonts can be added easily to DaVinci Resolve by simply adding them to your Windows 10 fonts library here: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Fonts\. Once you do that, they will be available in your text editing tab in Resolve. However, you can only use these with the Text element, not Text+ or Fusion Titles.
Is DaVinci Resolve releasing new versions?
BlackMagicDesign continually keeps releasing new versions of DaVinci Resolve Studio. The latest one was released in November 2020 and is called DaVinci Resolve Studio 17. However, if you’re asking about a new release for the free version, which is called just DaVinci Resolve, then you can’t expect to see new feature rollouts on a frequent basis. In reality, a lot of premium features in the Studio version of DaVinci Resolve never make it to the free version, for obvious reasons.
Can the Text effect read all font styles?
Generally speaking, yes. However, there are instances where some font styles, such as Medium, can’t be read by DaVinci and will appear as Light instead. At other times, two different font styles might look exactly the same, as is the case with Black vs Normal font styles. However, most of the reported problems are only seen with the Text+ Effect rather than the Text effect.
Will the text border color change as I set colors for the Text Fusion effect?
In some cases, the border color changes you make appear to impact the Text Fusion effect. In other words, the ‘frame’ color results in ‘text’ color changing as well when you make that edit. This could be connected with your current DaVinci Resolve Studio version, especially if you’re on a new build. Try rolling back to an older build or a stabler version to see if the problem goes away. It usually does.