DaVinci Resolve - Shell / Bash

DaVinci Resolve is a professional video editing software that offers a wide range of features for video editing, color correction, audio post production, and visual effects. In this article, we will explore how to use DaVinci Resolve with Shell/Bash scripting.

Installing DaVinci Resolve

Before we start, we need to download and install DaVinci Resolve. You can download the free version of DaVinci Resolve from their official website here.

Scripting with DaVinci Resolve

DaVinci Resolve provides a command line interface known as ResolveCLI which can be used with Shell or Bash scripts. This interface allows you to automate repetitive tasks and execute complex workflows.

Some of the common tasks that can be performed with Shell/Bash scripting include:

Reading project files

You can use the ResolveCLI to read project files and extract various details such as the timeline, clips, audio tracks, and more. Here is an example:

#!/bin/bash

# read project file
PROJECT_PATH="/path/to/project"
TIMELINE_NAME="Timeline 1"
TIMELINE_PATH=$(resolvecli resolve resolve://$PROJECT_PATH?cli=true\&folder=/Timeline\&timeline_name=$TIMELINE_NAME)
CLIP_IDS=$(resolvecli resolve $TIMELINE_PATH/clips?info=clip_id)

# output clip ids
echo "Clip IDs:"
echo $CLIP_IDS

Rendering projects

You can use the ResolveCLI to render projects from the command line. Here is an example:

#!/bin/bash

# set render settings
PROJECT_PATH="/path/to/project"
RENDER_PATH="/path/to/output"
RESOLUTION="1920x1080"
CODEC="H.264"

# render project
resolvecli resolve --render $PROJECT_PATH --render_path $RENDER_PATH --render_preset "YouTube 1080p" --render_resolution $RESOLUTION --render_codec $CODEC

Applying effects and color corrections

You can use the ResolveCLI to apply effects and color corrections to clips in your project. Here is an example:

#!/bin/bash

# apply color correction to a clip
CLIP_ID="1001"
SATURATION="-20"
BRIGHTNESS="10"
CONTRAST="5"

resolvecli resolve cli://timeline/1/video/$CLIP_ID/ --saturation $SATURATION --brightness $BRIGHTNESS --contrast $CONTRAST

Conclusion

In this article, we covered how to use DaVinci Resolve with Shell/Bash scripting. We can use this powerful tool to automate repetitive tasks, extract information from project files, render projects, apply effects and color corrections, and more. With the flexibility provided by Shell/Bash scripting, the possibilities are endless.