How to edit vertical architecture video in DaVinci Resolve: 9:16 timeline, stills, Dynamic Zoom, export

DaVinci Resolve has a full free version, and it can turn a set of renderings or project photos into a sharp vertical video for Reels, Shorts and TikTok. It's also a professional color and finishing tool, which means the handful of settings a 30-second social edit needs are buried among hundreds that it doesn't. This guide pulls those out: how to set a 1080 × 1920 timeline before you import, how long stills last and how to change it, Dynamic Zoom for slow pans, color consistency and the QuickTime gamma shift, text in the safe zone, and the export settings that work for vertical platforms.

Key takeaways

• Set the vertical format first: in Project Settings, Master Settings, choose 1920 × 1080 HD and tick Use vertical resolution, and pick the frame rate before importing, because it can't be changed once media is in the Media Pool.
• Stills come in at 5 seconds by default; change Standard still duration under Preferences, User, Editing before you import so every rendering lands at the length you want.
• Dynamic Zoom in the Inspector gives a still a pan or push-in with two boxes, green for the start framing and red for the end, plus ease options; it's the fastest Ken Burns move in Resolve.
• For export, the Deliver page's TikTok preset renders H.264 MP4 with AAC audio, but its Use vertical resolution box is unchecked by default; tick it or the file comes out landscape.
• The free version handles up to Ultra HD 3840 × 2160 at 60 fps, more than a 1080 × 1920 social edit needs; nothing in this workflow requires Studio.

How to edit vertical architecture video in DaVinci Resolve

To edit vertical architecture video in DaVinci Resolve, open Project Settings, go to Master Settings, set the timeline resolution to 1920 × 1080 HD and tick Use vertical resolution so the timeline becomes 1080 × 1920, then set the frame rate. Set the default still duration in Preferences, import your renderings, give each a slow move with Dynamic Zoom, add text inside the safe zone, and export from the Deliver page as an H.264 MP4 with vertical resolution turned on. The free version does all of it.

The settings below are from the DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual (Blackmagic Design, as of October 2026), with page numbers so you can check them in your version.

Set up a vertical project before you import

The free version is enough: Blackmagic's product page says it "works with virtually all 8-bit video formats at up to 60fps in resolutions as high as Ultra HD 3840 x 2160," while Studio adds the AI Neural Engine, more effects and 10-bit video (Blackmagic Design, as of October 2026, when Studio was listed at USD 236, marked down from USD 295).

Create a new project, then open Project Settings and go to Master Settings. Three settings matter.

• Timeline resolution. Choose 1920 × 1080 HD. Resolve is resolution independent, so you can change this later, but transforms and keyframes are recalculated when you do; it's cleaner to start right.
• Use vertical resolution. The manual describes this checkbox as one that "swaps the horizontal and vertical pixels of the Timeline resolution," formatting the timeline "vertically for display on smart phones" (p. 144). With 1920 × 1080 selected, your timeline becomes 1080 × 1920.
• Timeline frame rate. Pick 30 fps for social, or match any footage you'll mix in. The manual warns that "once one or more files have been added to the Media Pool, this setting cannot be changed" (p. 144). If you need a custom frame size, the "For X x Y processing" field takes resolutions not in the dropdown.

Set the still duration before importing renderings

Resolve gives every imported still a default length. In Preferences, under User, Editing, General Settings, "Standard still duration" defines the duration of imported stills "such as TIFF, PNG and other supported graphic file formats," and "the default value is 5 seconds" (p. 118). Five seconds is a reasonable length for a 30-second video made from six images. For a faster cut of eight images, set four seconds before you import; changing the preference afterward doesn't change stills already in the project.

A note on source files: a vertical frame shows only part of a landscape rendering, and any move enlarges it further. A 3840 × 2160 rendering scaled to fill 1,920 pixels of height is still about 3,413 pixels wide, enough to pan across with no upscaling. A 1920 × 1080 rendering would need to be enlarged roughly 1.8 times just to fill the frame, and it will look soft. Rendering export settings for Instagram covers sizes and formats, and if your renderer can export a vertical animation directly, exporting 9:16 video from Enscape, Lumion, Twinmotion or D5 may save you the edit.

Pan and push-in on stills with Dynamic Zoom

Resolve calls its Ken Burns tool Dynamic Zoom. Blackmagic's description: "select a clip in the timeline, then turn on dynamic zoom in the inspector," and green and red boxes appear in the viewer; "the green box shows where the shot will be framed at the beginning of the clip and the red box shows where it will be framed at the end" (Blackmagic Design, as of October 2026). Drag and resize the boxes, then press play.

Three details from the manual make the moves look deliberate (pp. 787–788):

• Ease. Choose Linear, Ease In, Ease Out, or Ease In and Out. Ease In and Out reads as a camera operator starting and stopping gently.
• Swap. Reverses the start and end, turning a push-in into a pull-out without redrawing the boxes.
• Shift-drag. Holding Shift while dragging a box "constrains movement to just the X- or Y-axis," which keeps a horizontal pan perfectly level.

For anything Dynamic Zoom can't do, such as a move that pauses halfway, use the Inspector's keyframe diamonds on Zoom and Position, and open the curve editor under the clip to shape the ease. Avoid rotation keyframes; a building that rotates looks like it's tipping over. Order the shots as a visit, not a list: a six-shot storyboard helps.

Color: matching renderings and avoiding the gamma shift

Renderings from different software, or interiors and exteriors from different sessions, rarely match. On the Color page, bring the six images into the same family before export: neutral whites, similar contrast, and skies that don't change hue between shots. Small corrections are enough.

Then deal with the classic complaint that an export looks lighter or washed out compared with the Resolve viewer. The manual's System Preferences list two relevant checkboxes (p. 110). "Viewers match QuickTime Player when using Rec.709 Scene" makes the Resolve viewers "match the gamma characteristics of the QuickTime player." "Automatically Tag Rec.709 Scene Clips as Rec.709-A" tags Rec. 709 QuickTime files for Rec. 709-A playback, which the manual calls "useful if your final QuickTime video does not match what you see in the Resolve viewers (gamma shift), and you wish to export for the web rather than broadcast." Test one short export on a phone before you commit to a full grade.

Text, logo and the safe zone

Add titles from the Effects library onto a track above the stills. Keep them few and short: the project name and city at the start, a credit at the end. Meta's creative specs for Reels ads recommend leaving "at least 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom, and 6% on each side" free of text, logos and other important elements (Meta, as of October 2026). On a 1080 × 1920 timeline that's about 270 pixels at the top, 670 at the bottom and 65 at each side.

A useful trick: make a transparent PNG at 1080 × 1920 with those margins drawn in, put it on the top track while you edit, and disable the track before export. Adding a studio logo to a video covers logo size and placement, and voiceover for architecture video covers narration if you add a voice on the Fairlight page.

Export settings for Reels, Shorts and TikTok

On the Deliver page, the TikTok preset is the quickest start. The manual lists what it sets: resolution 1920 × 1080 HD, Use Vertical Resolution unchecked, the timeline's frame rate, MP4, H.264, Encoding Profile Auto, audio on Bus 1 and AAC audio. It also says the vertical box should be checked to deliver "in portrait mode for proper display on phones. This should be on for TikTok" (p. 4188). The same file works for Reels and Shorts.

If you sign in to your accounts under Internet Accounts in the System Preferences, Resolve can render and upload directly to YouTube, Vimeo or TikTok; File, Quick Export offers the same presets from any page. Instagram isn't in that list, so for Reels you render the file and upload it yourself.

For music, a studio account posting its own work is commercial use; mix in a track licensed for every platform you'll post to. Music for architecture videos compares the options.

When a pan-and-zoom edit isn't the right tool

Everything above moves a frame across flat images. Nothing inside a rendering changes: no parallax, no shifting light, no people. If you want the scene itself to move, that takes an image-to-video model, which generates new frames and invents what lies past the edge of each image. Arch2Video takes exactly six images from one project and returns a 1080 × 1920 MP4 of about 30 seconds with an original soundtrack, for USD 15 per video as of October 2026; generation usually takes an hour or more. Its motion is an interpretation, so review it before publishing.

The two combine well. Drop the generated film onto a vertical Resolve timeline to add a title, a narrated intro or an end card, and leave its soundtrack as the only music.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make a 9:16 timeline in DaVinci Resolve?

Open Project Settings, go to Master Settings, set Timeline resolution to 1920 × 1080 HD and tick Use vertical resolution, which swaps the width and height so the timeline becomes 1080 × 1920. Set the frame rate in the same panel before importing media, since it can't be changed once files are in the Media Pool. To keep a landscape version too, create a second timeline with its own format settings.

How do I change how long photos last in DaVinci Resolve?

Go to Preferences, User, Editing, General Settings and change Standard still duration, which defaults to 5 seconds, before you import. Stills already on the timeline keep their length; trim those by dragging their edges. For a 30-second video from six renderings, five seconds each works.

What are the best DaVinci Resolve export settings for Instagram Reels?

Use the Deliver page's TikTok preset and tick Use vertical resolution, giving a 1080 × 1920 H.264 MP4 with AAC audio at your timeline's frame rate, and leave the data rate on Automatic. Meta's Reels ad specs list 1440 × 2560 as the recommended resolution, but a 1080 × 1920 file fills the frame correctly. Watch the export on a phone before posting.

Why does my DaVinci Resolve export look washed out?

Usually a gamma mismatch between the Resolve viewer and the player, most often QuickTime on a Mac. Resolve's System Preferences include "Viewers match QuickTime Player when using Rec.709 Scene" and "Automatically Tag Rec.709 Scene Clips as Rec.709-A," which the manual describes as useful when the exported file doesn't match the viewer and you're exporting for the web. Test a short export on a phone before you finish the grade.