DaVinci Resolve frame rate guide
How to Change Frame Rate in DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve has separate frame-rate controls for the timeline, source-clip interpretation, playback, and final delivery. Changing the wrong one can alter duration, create repeated frames, or leave the timeline unchanged. Decide first whether you are changing project timing, how a clip is interpreted, or only the exported file.
Open Intelligent Frame CreationHow to Change Timeline Frame Rate
Open Project Settings from the gear icon, select Master Settings, and find Timeline Format. Choose the Timeline frame rate required by the project before importing and editing media. The timeline rate defines the timebase used for cuts, effects, keyframes, and playback timing.
If the project already contains an established timeline, create a new timeline when the existing rate is locked. In the New Timeline dialog, disable Use Project Settings and choose a custom timeline frame rate where available. Copy the edit only after checking retiming, transitions, titles, and audio synchronization.
Do not select a frame rate only because the number is larger. A 24 fps narrative edit, 30 fps web presentation, and 60 fps sports sequence communicate motion differently and may have different delivery requirements. The source material and intended platform should drive the timebase.
How to Change Clip Frame Rate
Clip frame rate controls how Resolve interprets the timing of one media file. In the Media Pool, right-click the clip, open Clip Attributes, and use the Video tab frame-rate setting. This does not create a new file; it changes how quickly the existing frames are presented against the timeline timebase.
Interpreting 60 fps footage as 24 fps produces slow motion because the same captured frames are played over more timeline time. Interpreting low-frame-rate footage as a higher rate makes it play faster unless another retiming operation compensates. Use this intentionally, not as a general quality upgrade.
When ordinary real-time playback is the goal, leave source clips at their correct recorded rate and let Resolve conform mixed media to the timeline. Use Clip Attributes for deliberate reinterpretation, incorrect metadata, or high-frame-rate slow motion.
How to Change Export Frame Rate
On the Deliver page, choose an export frame rate supported by the active timeline and format. This controls the cadence written to the rendered file. It does not automatically redesign motion or recover detail that the camera never captured.
Match the delivery requirement when a broadcaster, platform, client, or downstream application specifies one. Review the finished render rather than assuming the frame counter guarantees smooth motion. Mixed rates, speed effects, optical flow, and frame duplication can look acceptable in one shot and fail in another.
If Resolve does not offer the desired output rate, check the timeline timebase and render format. A new timeline at the required rate may be safer than forcing a late conversion after the edit is complete.
24 FPS vs. 30 FPS vs. 60 FPS
24 fps is common for narrative and cinema-style cadence. It uses fewer unique images per second and makes shutter choice and camera movement especially visible. Fast pans can judder when movement is not planned for that cadence.
30 fps is common in web video, presentations, screen content, and many live or broadcast workflows. It provides slightly denser motion sampling than 24 fps while remaining economical for storage and delivery.
60 fps captures or presents more motion states and is useful for sports, gameplay, demonstrations, and footage intended for slow motion. It requires more data and does not improve a 24 fps source unless a conversion method generates or repeats additional frames.
- 24 fps: cinematic cadence and deliberate camera movement
- 30 fps: common web and presentation delivery
- 60 fps: fluid action and flexible slow motion
- Choose from source and delivery needs, not the largest number
Why the Timeline Frame Rate Is Locked
Resolve protects the timeline timebase because changing it after editing can alter cut positions, clip durations, keyframes, transitions, and synchronization. Depending on project state and Resolve version, the timeline frame-rate control may become unavailable after media or timelines are created.
The reliable fix is to create a new timeline with custom settings or a new project at the required rate, then move the edit and inspect every timing-sensitive element. Do not use Clip Attributes as a substitute: that changes source interpretation, not the established timeline clock.
Before migrating a complex edit, duplicate the project or timeline. Check speed ramps, Fusion compositions, subtitles, audio, nested timelines, image sequences, and frame-specific edits after the move.
Does Changing 24 FPS to 60 FPS Create New Frames?
Changing an export setting from 24 fps to 60 fps does not turn 24 captured motion states into 60 newly observed moments. Resolve must repeat frames, blend neighboring frames, or synthesize intermediate motion with a retiming process. The file can report 60 fps while still carrying the visual cadence and limitations of the 24 fps source.
Frame duplication preserves the original images but creates uneven cadence when 24 does not divide evenly into 60. Frame blending softens transitions by combining images. Optical-flow methods estimate movement between frames and can look smoother, but may bend edges, duplicate limbs, or fail around occlusion and fast detail.
True 60 fps capture records more original temporal samples. Conversion can be useful, but it should be evaluated as generated or repeated timing information rather than a simple metadata improvement.
Frame Rate Conversion vs. AI Frame Creation
Traditional frame-rate conversion is constrained by recorded footage and a target cadence. It asks how existing motion should be sampled, repeated, blended, or estimated at a new rate. The goal is usually continuity with the original clip.
AI frame creation can have a broader creative goal. Given two visual states, a model may generate an intermediate image or motion concept that did not exist in recorded footage. This is useful for exploring a midpoint, transition, or visual bridge, but it is not a factual reconstruction of the missing moment.
Use Resolve retiming when the source clip and timing accuracy are primary. Use Intelligent Frame Creation when the job is to invent a plausible visual state between supplied frames and creative interpretation is acceptable.
Choose the correct operation
Timeline FPS, Clip FPS, and Export FPS
The word frame rate appears in several panels because each control acts at a different stage of the pipeline.
| Control | What it changes | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline frame rate | The edit timebase for cuts, keyframes, and playback | Starting a project or timeline for a required cadence |
| Clip frame rate | How quickly existing source frames are interpreted | Creating slow motion or correcting source metadata |
| Retime process | How missing or surplus temporal samples are handled | Conforming mixed rates or changing speed |
| Deliver frame rate | The cadence written to the rendered file | Meeting final platform or master specifications |
Continue the frame workflow
Use the frame, not just the tutorial
Questions and answers
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change timeline frame rate in DaVinci Resolve?+
Open Project Settings, choose Master Settings, and set Timeline frame rate before editing. For an existing locked project, create a new timeline with custom settings.
Why can’t I change the DaVinci timeline frame rate?+
Resolve protects the established timebase after a timeline or media workflow is underway. Create a new timeline or project at the required rate and inspect timing after moving the edit.
How do I change one clip from 60 fps to 24 fps?+
In the Media Pool, open Clip Attributes and reinterpret the clip at 24 fps. The existing captured frames then play over a longer duration, creating slow motion.
Does exporting 24 fps footage at 60 fps make it smoother?+
Not automatically. The conversion must duplicate, blend, or synthesize additional frames. Each method has cadence or artifact tradeoffs.
Should I edit in 24, 30, or 60 fps?+
Choose the rate required by the delivery and best supported by the source. Narrative work often uses 24, general web video often uses 30, and action or slow-motion workflows often benefit from 60.
Is AI frame generation the same as optical flow?+
No. Optical flow estimates motion in recorded footage for retiming. Creative AI frame generation may invent a plausible visual state between supplied images without claiming to reconstruct the original event.
Official references
Explore the Frame Between Two Visual States
Upload two frames and create a new intermediate image when the task is creative frame design rather than timeline FPS conversion.
Open Intelligent Frame Creation