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Blackmagic Design has unveiled DaVinci Resolve 21 days ahead of NAB 2026, introducing a brand-new Photo page that brings the full DaVinci color grading toolset to still images for the first time. The update also adds eight new AI-powered tools, integrates the popular Krokodove compositing library into Fusion, and delivers Fairlight folder tracks, MultiMaster trim passes, and expanded immersive workflows. The public beta is available now as a free download.
DaVinci Resolve 21 represents the most ambitious expansion of Resolve’s scope since the original integration of Fusion and Fairlight into the platform. While DaVinci Resolve 20 leaned heavily into AI-assisted editing workflows and version 20.2 brought long-awaited ProRes RAW support, version 21 takes a fundamentally different strategic direction by moving beyond video and audio post-production entirely. The new Photo page positions DaVinci Resolve as a direct competitor to Adobe Lightroom and Capture One, giving colorists and photographers access to the same node-based grading pipeline that has dominated Hollywood finishing for decades.
The headline addition in DaVinci Resolve 21 is a dedicated Photo page that integrates still image editing into Resolve’s existing post-production ecosystem. This is not a bolted-on feature; the Photo page connects directly to the Color page’s node-based grading engine, giving photographers access to primary color correction, curves, qualifiers, power windows, and the full node editor for working on still images.
For colorists who already work in Resolve, the workflow will feel immediately familiar. Nodes can be added in series or parallel to build complex grades, different corrections can be applied to different parts of an image simultaneously, and shared nodes allow users to apply a consistent look across an entire album in one pass. The system preserves full source resolution throughout, so reframing and cropping operations never degrade image quality.
A LightBox view provides an overview of entire albums with grades applied in real time, and filtering options (graded, ungraded, star rating, flag, clip color) streamline library management. Albums can be organized by shoot days, camera models, or custom criteria, with batch tagging and raw setting adjustments designed to save significant time on large photo sets. Albums also appear as timelines on the Color, Cut, and Edit pages.
Perhaps the most surprising addition is Camera Controls, which allow users to tether a Sony or Canon camera directly to DaVinci Resolve for live image capture. Photographers can adjust ISO, exposure, and white balance, monitor with a live view, and save capture presets to lock in a consistent look before shooting. Images save directly into albums within the project.
Resolve FX and Open FX plug-in support extends to still images on the Photo page, meaning users can apply effects, graphics, transforms, and DCTLs to photographs. LUTs can be applied directly or generated for later use in-camera or during monitoring. AI tools like Magic Mask work on the Photo page as well, enabling one-click selections of objects or people for targeted grading. A new AI UltraSharpen tool can upscale low-resolution images.
The Photo page also plugs into DaVinci Resolve’s multiuser collaboration workflow via Blackmagic Cloud. Album contents, metadata, tags, grades, and effects can be shared with colorists, VFX artists, and editors simultaneously from anywhere in the world.
DaVinci Resolve 21 continues Blackmagic Design’s aggressive push into AI-assisted workflows, building on the foundation laid in Resolve 20. The new release adds eight distinct AI tools, each targeting a specific production or post-production pain point.
AI IntelliSearch analyzes media and lets users search for specific objects, keywords in dialog, or individual faces. Results appear as whole clips in the Media Pool, which should dramatically speed up clip organization and editing on projects with large volumes of footage.
AI Speech Generator creates voice performances from written text using either Blackmagic’s built-in voice models or a custom voice trained from as little as a 10-second audio sample. Speed, pitch, and inflection can all be adjusted, making it useful for voiceovers, narration, and temporary dialog.
AI CineFocus lets users click to define a focal point within a scene and then adjust aperture and focal range to change depth of field in post. Advanced controls allow selection of aperture shape and the addition of optical effects like bokeh, with keyframeable parameters enabling rack focus moves.
AI Face Age Transformer analyzes a face and uses an age offset slider to add or remove age-related features such as wrinkles and facial fullness. The tool is designed for maintaining continuity in flashback and flash-forward sequences without resorting to makeup prosthetics.
AI Face Reshaper detects and tracks a face in a clip, then provides parameters to adjust eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows, and overall face shape on a moving subject. Manual controls allow fine-tuning of results.
AI Blemish Removal reduces the appearance of superficial skin imperfections like acne, discoloration, spots, and pores while retaining natural skin texture. A strength slider adjusts intensity to suit different subjects and scenes.
AI Slate ID automatically detects clapperboard details in the frame, even in dark or out-of-focus clips, and extracts metadata to populate clip information. For productions that still shoot with physical slates, this could save hours of manual metadata entry.
AI Motion Deblur analyzes source media and generates a new render with significantly reduced motion blur artifacts such as streaks and softness. The tool is designed to improve slow motion and freeze frame effects.
One of the more exciting additions for motion graphics artists and VFX compositors is the integration of Krokodove, the popular and long-established library of compositing tools, directly into Fusion. The collection includes utility tools for productivity, vector and data tools, and customizable 2D and 3D graphic templates that can be used throughout DaVinci Resolve. The Krokodove toolset adds over 70 new graphics to Fusion’s capabilities.
Alongside Krokodove, the Fusion macro editor has received significant interface improvements that should make developing custom tools and templates faster and more intuitive. A newly supported inspector view simplifies setting up, formatting, and publishing macros for immediate use.
The Fairlight Animator modifier is another notable bridge between Fusion and Fairlight, connecting Fusion to Fairlight’s audio engine for automatic animation driven by audio analysis. Audio levels from timeline clips or media pool sources can drive parameter controls such as eyes and lips, opening up creative possibilities for audio-reactive motion graphics.
On the audio side, Fairlight gains folder tracks that allow users to assign multiple audio tracks to a folder and collapse them into a single composite view. When collapsed, mini rectangles represent folder contents, showing the number and duration of contained clips. Expanding a folder restores access to individual tracks. For complex audio sessions with dozens of tracks, this should significantly improve timeline organization.
Keyframing across DaVinci Resolve 21 has been substantially upgraded. New ease animations with loop, pingpong, and relative modes join simultaneous adjustments to multiple clips. The curves editor’s normalized zoom mode automatically scales curves to fill available vertical space, and four-point Bezier easing supports complex video retiming. Fusion effects can now be adjusted directly in the keyframe and curves editors of the Cut and Edit pages, eliminating the need to switch to Fusion for tweaking text, transitions, and motion graphics.
The MultiMaster trim manager allows colorists to generate multiple HDR and SDR trim deliverables from a single timeline. When enabled, the node editor displays additional layers for trim operations, letting users color manage the timeline for each output standard and render all iterations in one go. For facilities delivering to multiple platforms with different HDR and SDR requirements, this is a significant workflow improvement over maintaining separate timelines.
The Magic Mask palette now features a render-in-place option, letting users cache a tracked mask as a traveling matte node with significantly lighter processing. Node graphs can be viewed as a layer list, with nodes listed in rows according to their number for easier management. These changes address long-standing requests from colorists working with complex node trees.
Native support for OGraf HTML graphics and Lottie animations means users can now drag .json and .lottie files directly into the media pool, where they are treated as fully rendered animation clips. Alpha channels are recognized, allowing layering of graphics and titles over video tracks.
Text handling sees improvements as well, with multi-language spell check for all text elements, a dedicated font browser window with previews, emoji support, and character-level styling that allows different attributes like font size, weight, and color within a single text box.
In the Cut page, the bin list dropdown now features smart bins and quick-access buttons for creating new bins. Smart bins allow users to design sophisticated media pool filters based on a wide range of rules and criteria.
Building on the immersive capabilities introduced in Resolve 20.2 and expanded in version 20.3, DaVinci Resolve 21 delivers what Blackmagic calls the most comprehensive support for immersive tools and workflows to date. Apple Immersive now supports foveated rendering, which simulates human vision by prioritizing high-resolution rendering where the viewer is looking and reducing GPU workload in peripheral areas.
Standard immersive options in the master project settings allow users to work with any supported immersive format for delivery to platforms like Meta Quest and YouTube VR. Spherical Panomap rotation provides more intuitive pitch, tilt, pan, yaw, and roll adjustments for immersive media, and ILPD retargeting data can be applied in the Fusion page for advanced stereoscopic compositing.
The USD toolset has been updated to USD SDK 25.11 with Hydra 2.0 API for the Storm renderer, giving VFX artists an improved Fusion USD environment with support for 3D matte objects and textures.
A new Picture in Picture Resolve FX allows users to quickly resize and reposition a video clip as a floating frame over another clip, with adjustable size, placement, frame rounding, and drop shadow parameters. IntelliScript now supports Final Draft and plain text screenplay formats for assembling timelines, and new media pool columns add five-star rating and tagging parameters for improved media management.
DaVinci Resolve 21 public beta is available now as a free download from the Blackmagic Design website. The software will be demonstrated at the Blackmagic Design NAB 2026 booth #N2502. As with previous versions, the free edition includes the core functionality, while DaVinci Resolve Studio unlocks advanced features like multi-GPU support, certain AI tools, and advanced noise reduction. Studio licenses remain available from retailers such as B&H and CVP.
The Photo page alone makes DaVinci Resolve 21 one of the most significant updates in the software’s history, but the sheer volume of AI tools, Krokodove integration, and workflow improvements across every page suggest Blackmagic Design is not slowing down. Which new feature are you most excited to try, and do you think the Photo page could pull you away from your current photo editing software? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!
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Nino Leitner, AAC is Co-CEO of CineD and MZed. He co-owns CineD (alongside Johnnie Behiri), through his company Nino Film GmbH. Nino is a cinematographer and producer, well-traveled around the world for his productions and filmmaking workshops. He specializes in shooting documentaries and commercials, and at times a narrative piece. Nino is a studied Master of Arts. He lives with his wife and two sons in Vienna, Austria.
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