7 min read
DaVinci Resolve Fairlight audio for beginner editors: first steps
Fairlight is a full audio workstation inside Resolve. Here is how beginner editors can navigate it, clean dialogue, and export a clean mix.
DaVinci Resolve is famous for color, but its Fairlight page is one of the best free audio tools available to video editors. It looks intimidating, but the workflow is straightforward once you know the layout. You do not need to switch to another app for most dialogue and mixing work.
Open the Fairlight page
At the bottom of Resolve, click the Fairlight icon. The timeline shows your existing edit, and the mixer appears on the right. Each timeline track has a corresponding channel strip. You can add tracks, buses, and effects from the Track menu at the top.
Set up tracks and buses
Start with separate tracks for dialogue, music, and effects. Right-click in the track header area to add tracks. Route each track to the Main 1 Stereo output. If you later need stems, add buses for Dialogue, Music, and SFX, then route each track to the correct bus. Label everything clearly.
Use the EQ for clarity
Each channel strip has a 6-band parametric EQ. For dialogue, try a high-pass filter at 80 Hz to remove rumble, a small cut around 200 Hz to reduce boxiness, and a gentle lift around 4 kHz for intelligibility. Small moves are better than big ones. Always bypass the EQ to compare before and after.
Add dynamics and level control
Use the compressor on the channel strip to even out dialogue levels. A gentle ratio of 3:1 with a medium attack and release works well as a starting point. The limiter at the end of the chain prevents peaks from clipping. Watch the master meters and keep peaks below -6 dBFS.
Export from the Deliver page
When you are done, go to the Deliver page. Choose Audio Only, select WAV or AAC, and set the sample rate to match your project. For a stereo deliverable, export a single stereo file. For stems, solo each bus and export one pass per group. Keep an uncompressed WAV archive copy.