DaVinci Resolve green screen and chroma keying tutorial

Whether you’re a colorist or video editor, at some point in your career, you’ll probably have to learn how to do chroma key compositing. That’s a fancy term for replacing a green screen with another image.

Luckily for you, DaVinci Resolve has powerful tools to help you work on your DaVinci Resolve green screen video. That means you won’t have to switch to different software or pay for a new, expensive tool.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to composite your green screen clip with another clip. That is the correct term for merging the two clips together to remove the green screen. You’ll also learn helpful techniques to make it look as realistic as possible.

Part 1: How to edit green screen footage in DaVinci Resolve

To remove green screens in DaVinci Resolve, you need a few steps to go from two separate clips to a simple image. Motion Array used this green screen stock footage if you’d like to download it and follow along. You can also explore the other green screen images in Motion Array’s library if you don’t already have any video to use.

You might like to know more about using green screens in filmmaking, or the history of the green screen as an editing tool, too.

Step 1: Importing footage

To start your project, decide which clips you want to use and import your files. You’ll need at least two: one clip with a green screen and one clip to replace the green screen. 

1. Open your project in DaVinci Resolve, or start a new one.
2. Click on the Media Pool icon in the top-left corner of your window. 
3. Right-click in your Media Pool and select Import Footage.
4. Browse your computer, select the clips you want to import, and click Open.

Step 2: Setting up your timeline

The first step is ensuring your timeline is configured correctly. This can be tricky at first, but it’s essential for your DaVinci Resolve chroma keying to work well. Remember, the green screen will be made see-through and replaced with the footage you want. So, everything needs to line up properly.

1. Select the Edit icon in the bottom bar.
2. Drag your two chosen clips into the timeline space. DaVinci Resolve will automatically create a new timeline based on their specs. 
3. Position the clip with your green screen on the video track (the row) above your background footage.
4. If there isn’t another video track, drag your video up from the one it’s on, and DaVinci Resolve will automatically create another. 

Place the clip you want to replace your green screen with on the above track, making sure its start and endpoints line up with your second clip.

Step 3: Chroma keying

With your timeline prepped, it’s time to remove that green screen with DaVinci Resolve.

1. Switch to the color correction window by clicking on the Color icon at the bottom of the screen.
2. Select the Qualifier tab.
3. Click on the Qualifier Tool underneath the heading Selection Range.
4. Hover over the green screen area and left-click. This will select the color you want to isolate and make any other colors see-through (transparent).
5. View the area you’ve made transparent (in gray) by clicking the Highlight icon.
6. Press the Invert Selection icon to reverse the gray area so that only your green screen is transparent.
7. After selecting the green screen color with the Qualifier Tool, use the 3D Keyer for more complex keying tasks. 
8. This tool allows for more precise selection, better handling of color spill, and better responses to small differences in green screen tones.
9. Despill helps you reduce green reflections on your subject. The Despill slider is in the 3D Keyer tool.

Step 4: Alpha channel

Your DaVinci Resolve chroma keying is almost ready. You’ve told DaVinci Resolve which part of your video clip is the green screen. You’ll now need to mix it with the footage you’ve put underneath.

1. Select the Nodes icon to view the Nodes workspace for the footage you currently have selected.
2. In the Nodes workspace, right-click in a blank area and select Add Alpha Output. Your alpha output will appear as a tiny blue dot on the right of the window. 
3. Click and drag the small blue square on your node to draw a line to the Alpha Output icon. This acts as a set of instructions in your node system to blend your green screen footage with whatever video is on the video track below.
4. Click on the Highlight icon again to see your new combined image.
5. This is a good time to reposition either layer if necessary. In part two, you’ll learn more about how to do this.

Learn more about working with alpha channels in DaVinci Resolve in this tutorial. This creates the necessary transparency to blend your green screen footage with the background clip.

Learn more about working with alpha channels in DaVinci Resolve in this tutorial.

Step 5: Masking

Before you remove the green screen with DaVinci Resolve, you may need to do some cropping. Sometimes, unwanted objects make their way into the frame, and you need to cut them out — that’s the basics of cropping. You will do this with Power Windows, also called masks.

Masking is a useful technique for resizing or repositioning your green screen layer. In your green screen footage, anything inside the Power Window will be visible. Anything on the same layer outside the Power Window’s boundaries is cropped out.

1. Click on the Color options.
2. Select the Shape you want your Power Window to be. 
3. Readjust the edges of the Power Window by clicking and dragging the points on its outline. For example, if you’re editing a talking head and there’s a scratch on your green screen you want to crop out, you can shrink the edges of the footage. Make sure the Power Window won’t crop out your subject’s head or hands as they move.
4. Further refine your Power Window shape with the values under Transform (your shape’s position, angle, and opacity settings) and Softness (the softness of your shape’s edges).

Step 6: Refining edges

Refining edges is key to a realistic DaVinci green screen effect. Often, some green edges remain around your subject, and you will need to remove them. You can check this in the preview window. Luckily, DaVinci Resolve has tools to help clean them up.

1. Return to the Qualifier tab. 
2. Press Shift + Control + H to toggle High Contrast Highlight mode. This setting lets you preview where your transparent area starts and stops in black and white, making it easier to spot color issues than in color mode.
3. Bring up the Clean Black value to clean up any black in the white areas, or increase the Clean White value to remove small areas of white in black areas. 
4. Use the In/Out Ratio to shrink or expand your transparent area’s edges.
5. Use Blur Radius to make the edges of the transparent area appear softer.
6. Press Shift + Control + H to check that you’re also happy with the image’s appearance in color mode.
7. Change the Low Saturation threshold to 0. 

You can continue to adjust Hue, Saturation, and Luminance to better focus on certain tones and levels of saturation or luminance of the green color you’re targeting.

Step 7: Color correcting and exposure

To blend your footage naturally, make some simple color and exposure adjustments to the video you add to the foreground. In this example, Motion Array replaced the green screen on the billboard, as you can see in the video.

You can do this with the image’s Curves and Color Wheel. Don’t forget that DaVinci Resolve has many other color tools that you could use too.

1. Click on the Clips icon to view which clips are available from your timeline.
2. Select the clip you want to color correct.
3. Click on the Curves icon.
4. Lower the highlights and create an S-shaped curve.
5. Select the Color Wheels icon.
6. Toggle the Offset wheel down by clicking and dragging it to the left.
7. Lower the reds in the gain by clicking and dragging the bar down.

Now, you’ve removed the green screen in DaVinci Resolve, and replaced it with the video of your choice.

You can perform some basic DaVinci Resolve chroma key tasks through the Edit page in newer versions of the program, too. It’s more limited, but great for quick edits.

Part 2: Pro tips and troubleshooting

DaVinci chroma keying can seem intimidating, but, as you see, it’s pretty simple. If you’re still struggling, these tips may help.

1. Color spill 

Due to shadows and light, you might find different green tones on your green screen. Sometimes, you even have green reflections on your subject. Luckily, there’s another way to improve your color selection. Use this tip instead of points 2-4 in Part 1, Step 3, and you’ll soon get the idea.

1. Make sure you’re on the Qualifier tab. 
2. Click on the dropdown menu that says HSL, and select 3D. 
3. Choose the Qualifier tool.
4. Click and drag your mouse on a small selection area of your green screen (as close to the edge of your subject as possible). The edge of your subject usually has the most variety of tones. This could give you a more accurate selection of your green screen.
5. Tick the box that says Despill. This should target any green reflections on your subject.

2. Making your footage look more realistic 

Was the element you’re adding to the scene shot at a slightly different angle? If so, DaVinci Resolve has some features to help your subject blend in better.

1. Click on the Edit tab.
2. Select the desired clip.
3. Click on the Inspector icon.
4. Adjust Zoom, Position, and Rotation until your subject is in the right place. 
5. Adjust Pitch and Yaw to make your subject appear at a vertical or horizontal angle.

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As you can see, DaVinci Resolve green screening skills are useful for all sorts of projects. Now you can remove green screens in DaVinci Resolve, you’ve added a whole new set of options to your creative toolbox. So why not go and start putting them into practice? You might also want to learn about removing white and black backgrounds with DaVinci Resolve to take this idea even further.