DaVinci Resolve Compound Clip Explained

Guide to DaVinci Resolve Compound Clips

Is your DaVinci Resolve timeline starting to look a little… chaotic? Stacks of clips, complex audio arrangements, intricate sequences? If you’re nodding along, then you need to know about one of my favorite organizational tools in Resolve: Compound Clips.

In the video above, I give you a quick, 3-minute walkthrough of how they work. But let’s dive a bit deeper here into why they are so essential for a clean and efficient editing workflow.

What Exactly is a Compound Clip?

Think of a compound clip as a container or a digital folder living right inside your timeline. I find it incredibly useful because it allows me to group multiple audio and video clips together. It doesn’t matter if they’re laid out sequentially (one after another) or stacked vertically on different tracks – a compound clip can bundle them all.

Once created, this “folder” acts just like a single clip on your timeline. This simplifies things dramatically, especially in complex projects.

How to Create a Compound Clip in DaVinci Resolve

Creating one is straightforward. Here’s my process:

1. Select Your Clips: Choose the clips on your timeline you want to group. You can click them individually, drag a selection box, or use In and Out points (press ‘I’ for In, ‘O’ for Out) for precise ranges – even grabbing just parts of clips if needed.
2. Right-Click and Choose:
   • If you selected individual clips, right-click on any of them and select “New Compound Clip…”.
   • If you used In/Out points, right-click within that highlighted range on the timeline ruler (where the timecode is) and choose “Convert In/Out Points to Compound Clip”.
3. Name It: Give your compound clip a descriptive name. Trust me, good naming habits pay off later when you’re searching for things!
4. Click Create: That’s it! Your selected clips are now neatly packaged into a single compound clip on the timeline. You’ll also see a copy automatically saved in your Media Pool, making it easy to reuse if needed.

Now, DaVinci Resolve treats this compound clip as a single unit for most operations.

Making Adjustments Inside a Compound Clip

What if you need to tweak something within the group after you’ve created the compound clip? No problem.

Simply right-click on the compound clip in your timeline and select “Open in Timeline”. This opens the compound clip’s contents in its own, separate timeline view. Here, you can edit the individual clips just like you normally would – adjust timing, change effects, modify audio levels, etc.

Getting Back to Your Main Timeline

Once you’re done editing inside the compound clip, you can easily return to your main sequence. My common ways are to either double-click the main timeline’s name back in the Media Pool or use the timeline dropdown menu usually located above the viewer.

Taking Them Apart: Decomposing Compound Clips

Changed your mind or need to break the group apart permanently on the main timeline? You can easily revert a compound clip back into its individual components.

Right-click the compound clip on the timeline and choose “Decompose in Place”. This unpacks the contents back onto your timeline exactly as they were before you created the compound clip.

Pro Tip: If you find yourself decomposing clips often as part of your workflow, look into the editing preference under Project Settings > Editing > General Settings called “Decompose compound clips on edit”. Enabling this can automatically decompose compound clips when you perform certain edits, potentially saving you a few clicks.

Why I Use Compound Clips (And Why You Should Too!)

The advantages become clear pretty quickly:

• Organization: This is the most obvious win. It keeps complex timelines much tidier and easier to navigate. No more scrolling endlessly past huge stacks of clips for one section!
• Simplified Editing: Treating a group of clips as one unit simplifies applying overall changes. Need to move a whole scene? Just move the one compound clip.
• Efficient Effects & Transitions: Apply effects, color grades, or transitions to the entire compound clip at once, instead of copying and pasting settings across multiple individual clips.
• Compositing & Grading Flexibility: This is where it gets really powerful, especially for color grading or complex visual effects. You can apply a grade or effect to the compound clip as a whole on your main timeline. Or, you can “Open in Timeline” and grade/affect each element individually, giving you layered control.