How To Make Instagram Reels on Da Vinci Resolve: Simple Tutorial

It is not a secret anymore that whichever new feature comes out, gets the most traction. In this post, we will be talking about how to make Instagram Reels on Da Vinci Resolve so that they are of a higher quality.

Instagram rewards you for using all of the given features like Reels, Guides, IGTV, etc. in addition to the general posts and stories.

If you have spent time scrolling through reels, you would have noticed that some of them are pretty sharp while some are pixelated.

I was honestly pretty annoyed by the fact that Instagram compressed the quality of my Instagram Reels so much. What is the solution?

You need a video that is exported in 4K. And if you have the gear to shoot 4K videos then it is even more amazing for you.

For shooting videos I use Sony Alpha A7III and my phone OnePlus 8T, both of them support 4K video recording.

Since Adobe Premiere Pro is a paid software and overwhelming for beginners, I have got a great alternative for you that is absolutely free to use.

Also Read: 35 Aesthetic Text Overlays For Viral Instagram Reels

How to make Instagram Reels on Da Vinci Resolve

Download Da Vinci Resolve

Head on to the website of Blackmagic design to download the software or here is the link to download it.

When the software is installed, open it and we shall start editing our first reel!

Go to File > Project Settings. The shortcut for it is Shift + F9.

In the window that pops up, go to Master Settings, and let’s look at the timeline format.

For Instagram Reels, put a custom resolution of 640 x 1136 and playback frame rate of 60 frames per second. Scroll down to Video Monitoring.

Also Read: Affordable Decor For Your YouTube Video Setup

Set the video format to UHD 2160p 60 and hit save.

At the bottom, you will see tabs like in the picture above: Media, Cut, Edit, Fusion, Color, Fairlight and Deliver.

Adding media is pretty easy, you can either import from within the editor by opening the desired folder or drag and drop.

Trim the clips to perfection in ‘Cut’ and move on to ‘Edit’. Here you can stabilize your video, add transitions, text, and get creative.

Also Read: Things Every Product Photographer NEEDS | GarimaShares

How to stabilize your video in Da Vinci Resolve

Jittery unstable videos are a big NO. Try to shoot as stable as you can in-camera so that you don’t have to do much in post-processing.

Not all of us have a gimbal to shoot smooth buttery videos, right?

Don’t worry, your final video will still be pretty smooth. Head to the ‘Edit’ tab and click on the video clip to select it, this video will then be chosen for stabilization settings that we’re going to make next.

On the top-right corner, look for ‘Inspector’ and click on in. A number of options will pop up, tbh it can be overwhelming at first.

But hey! We just want to stabilize so skip right ahead to the ‘Stabilization’. In the mode, select perspective. Set values for cropping ratio, smooth, and strength.

Cropping Ratio: How much your crop will be cropped in order to remove the jitter.

Smooth: How smooth you want your video to be, I keep the value around 0.4. Don’t overdo this.

Strength: Strength of the total stabilization applied on the video.

You can color grade your video in the ‘Color’ tab available on the bottom menu. (Do you want me to elaborate on the color grading in a separate blog post? Let me know in the comments below.)

Also Read: How To Shoot Flatlays With A Color Palette | GarimaShares

Exporting the finished Instagram Reel

Go to the last tab titled ‘Deliver’.

You’ll see the settings for export on the left side, like in the picture above.

Set the format to MP4 and Codec to H.264. Add it to the render queue. After this you’ll see the video visible on the right side, click on Render and your video will be exported!

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