---
title: "How to Stabilize Video in DaVinci Resolve | stabilize.video"
description: "Stabilize video in DaVinci Resolve 20 or 21, free version included: the Inspector steps, Perspective vs Similarity vs Translation, Camera Lock and black edges."
url: https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-davinci-resolve
---

1. [Home](https://stabilize.video/)
2. [Stabilisation software](https://stabilize.video/video-stabilization-software)
3. DaVinci Resolve

Guide · free tool included

# How to stabilize video in DaVinci Resolve

Where the stabiliser lives in the Inspector, which mode to pick, what Camera Lock, Cropping Ratio, Smooth and Strength really do, and how to get rid of the black edges.

To stabilise a clip in DaVinci Resolve, select it on the Edit page timeline, open the **Inspector**, stay on the **Video** tab and scroll to **Stabilization**. Choose a mode from its pop-up menu first (**Perspective**, **Similarity** or **Translation**), then click **Stabilize**. Resolve analyses the clip and plays it back steadied; tick **Zoom** if black edges appear, and turn on **Camera Lock** if the shot should look as if it were on a tripod.

The stabiliser is part of the free version of DaVinci Resolve; Blackmagic’s Resolve 21 manual doesn’t mark it as a Studio feature, and it works the same way in Resolve 20\. The same controls are on the Cut page Inspector and on the **Color** page’s **Tracker** palette, which adds a graph of the motion. Resolve has no effect called Warp Stabilizer; if you are coming from Premiere, the [Warp Stabilizer guide](https://stabilize.video/warp-stabilizer) maps the two.

## Stabilise a clip in the Edit page Inspector

The steps follow Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve 21 manual; Resolve 20 is identical here.

1. ### Select the clip
On the **Edit** page, click the shaky clip in the timeline. Stabilisation applies to the whole clip, so blade off any part you want left alone.
2. ### Open the stabiliser settings
Open the **Inspector** (top right), make sure the **Video** tab is showing, and scroll down to **Stabilization**. Its toggle switches the effect on and off for a quick before and after.
3. ### Choose the mode first
Pick **Perspective**, **Similarity** or **Translation** from the pop-up before analysing: the mode changes how the clip is analysed, so switching it later means clicking **Stabilize** again.
4. ### Set Cropping Ratio and Smooth, then click Stabilize
Lower **Cropping Ratio** for stronger stabilisation (1.0 means none at all) and raise **Smooth** for a calmer camera. Both are used by the analysis, so click **Stabilize** after changing either.
5. ### Fine-tune and hide the edges
**Strength** scales the result without a new analysis: lower it to let some of the original movement through. Tick **Zoom** to enlarge the picture just enough to hide the black edges.

## Perspective, Similarity or Translation?

The mode decides which kinds of movement Resolve looks for and corrects. Blackmagic’s manual describes them like this:

* **Perspective**: pan, tilt, zoom and rotation, plus perspective changes. The most thorough, and the one to try first.
* **Similarity**: pan, tilt, zoom and rotation without perspective, for shots where **Perspective** adds a warping, keystoned look.
* **Translation**: pan and tilt only. The safest choice for unusual footage, or when the other two make things worse.

On the **Color** page, footage from a Blackmagic Cinema Camera that recorded gyroscope data also offers **Camera Gyro**, which stabilises from that data rather than from the picture.

## Camera Lock, Cropping Ratio, Smooth, Strength and Zoom

### Camera Lock

Turns off **Cropping Ratio** and **Smooth** and tries to remove all camera movement, for a locked-off look. It only works if the shot was roughly still to begin with; a walk or a pan can’t be locked. [Making handheld footage look locked off](https://stabilize.video/locked-off-shot) explains what to expect.

### Cropping Ratio

How much zoom or blank edge you will accept in exchange for steadiness. At 1.0 nothing is stabilised; lower values allow more correction and, with **Zoom** on, a tighter crop. Click **Stabilize** again after changing it.

### Smooth

How strongly the camera path is smoothed. Lower values keep more of the original movement’s character; higher values float. Also needs **Stabilize** again.

### Strength

A multiplier on the stabilisation Resolve has already worked out. 1 applies all of it, values below 1 let a share of the original motion through, and 0 turns it off, all without a new analysis. A negative value inverts it, a trick for matching another element to the shot’s movement.

### Zoom, and the black edges

Stabilising moves each frame, which uncovers blank areas at the edges. With **Zoom** ticked, Resolve scales the picture up just enough to hide them; untick it and the black edges stay, for when you plan to fill or reframe them yourself. If the zoom is too strong, raise **Cropping Ratio** towards 1.0, lower **Smooth**, or trim the shakiest seconds from the clip.

## The Tracker palette, and the classic stabiliser

The Inspector’s stabiliser is the same one as on the **Color** page’s **Tracker** palette in its **Stabilizer** mode, and an analysis done in one shows up in the other. The **Color** page adds a graph of the tracked motion, which helps you see where the shake is worst. Its options menu also offers the **Classic Stabilizer** from older versions of Resolve, which analyses with the automatic **Cloud Tracker** or with points you place yourself using the **Point Tracker**.

What Resolve’s stabiliser doesn’t have: a rolling-shutter correction, a way to fill the edges with real picture, and a live preview while you change the settings that need a new analysis.

## Resolve’s settings in this browser stabiliser

The tool at the top of this page measures the motion once, when the clip opens, and every setting after that, except **Analysis** and **Ignore an area**, updates the preview straight away, with no button to press again. It opens here in **Side by side**, so you can compare it with your Resolve result.

__DaVinci Resolve stabiliser settings and the matching controls here__
| DaVinci Resolve                 | Here                                                                                                       |
| ------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Perspective**                 | **Correction**: **Perspective**                                                                            |
| **Similarity**                  | **Correction**: **Shift and rotate**                                                                       |
| **Translation**                 | **Correction**: **Shift only**                                                                             |
| No equivalent                   | **Correction**: **Warp**, which also bends small areas to fix wobble from close objects and jelly          |
| **Camera Lock**                 | **Camera**: **Locked**, or the **Tripod** preset                                                           |
| **Smooth**                      | **Smoothness**                                                                                             |
| **Cropping Ratio**              | **Zoom limit**: a higher limit allows a steadier result with more zoom                                     |
| **Strength** below 1            | A lower **Smoothness**, or **Steady these** to leave one kind of movement as filmed                        |
| **Zoom** ticked                 | **Framing**: **Crop to fit** or **Smart zoom**                                                             |
| **Zoom** unticked (black edges) | **Framing**: **Full frame**, with **Edges** set to **Black**, **Blurred**, **Mirrored** or **Repeat edge** |
| No equivalent                   | **Rolling shutter**: **Auto**, or **Manual** with **Strength**                                             |

Press **Export video**, and for footage going back into Resolve choose **MP4**, set **Quality** to **High** and press **Export video** again in the sheet. Nothing is uploaded at any point. The file keeps its frame size, frame rate and sound, but HDR or 10-bit sources come out as 8-bit SDR, so stabilise HDR projects in Resolve itself.

## DaVinci Resolve stabilisation questions

### Is the stabiliser in DaVinci Resolve’s free version?

Yes. The stabiliser in the Inspector and on the **Color** page’s **Tracker** palette is part of the free version; Blackmagic’s manual doesn’t list it among the Studio-only features.

### Should I use Perspective, Similarity or Translation?

Start with **Perspective**. If the result warps or the frame seems to tilt towards you, try **Similarity**; if that still misbehaves, **Translation** corrects only up, down and sideways movement. Click **Stabilize** again after switching.

### What does Camera Lock do in DaVinci Resolve?

It tries to remove all camera movement so the shot looks locked off on a tripod, and turns off **Cropping Ratio** and **Smooth** while it is on. It suits shots that were meant to be still, not walks or pans.

### How do I get rid of the black edges after stabilising?

Tick **Zoom** in the **Stabilization** section, and Resolve enlarges the picture to cover them. If that zooms in too far, raise **Cropping Ratio** or lower **Smooth** and click **Stabilize** again.

### Where is the stabilizer in DaVinci Resolve 20 and 21?

In the **Inspector**, on the **Video** tab, in the **Stabilization** section, on both the Edit and Cut pages. It is also on the **Color** page in the **Tracker** palette.

### Why do I have to click Stabilize again?

The mode, **Cropping Ratio** and **Smooth** all feed the analysis, so Resolve needs to run it again after you change them. **Strength** works on the existing analysis and updates straight away.

### Can Resolve fix rolling shutter (jello)?

Its stabiliser has no rolling-shutter setting. The tool on this page does, under **Rolling shutter**, and [rolling shutter, explained](https://stabilize.video/rolling-shutter) shows what to look for.

## More on stabilising in other apps

* [ Stabilize a video online Smooth out shaky footage in your browser, with nothing uploaded. ](https://stabilize.video/)
* [ Compare video stabilisation software Free and paid stabilisers side by side, from Resolve and Warp Stabilizer to Gyroflow and FFmpeg. ](https://stabilize.video/video-stabilization-software)
* [ Warp Stabilizer settings explained Each setting by symptom: wobble, jelly, crop, errors and slow analysis. ](https://stabilize.video/warp-stabilizer)
* [ Make handheld footage look locked off Hold the frame completely still, like a tripod shot, instead of just smoothing it. ](https://stabilize.video/locked-off-shot)
* [ Stabilize video in Premiere Pro Warp Stabilizer step by step, and what to do when it refuses or wobbles. ](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-premiere-pro)
* [ Stabilize video in Final Cut Pro The stabiliser and rolling-shutter settings, InertiaCam, SmoothCam and Tripod Mode. ](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-final-cut-pro)
* [ Stabilize video without cropping Keep the whole frame and fill the edges, or zoom only where the shake needs it. ](https://stabilize.video/stabilize-video-without-cropping)