What AI Tools Does DaVinci Resolve Have? A Resolve 21 Guide

In Summary DaVinci Resolve 21 uses its DaVinci Neural Engine to search footage for people, objects and dialogue (IntelliSearch), transcribe and edit by text, build a timeline from a script (IntelliScript), cut a multicam clip to the active speaker (Multicam SmartSwitch), caption speech, reframe, mask, retime, sharpen and clean up and mix dialogue. Blackmagic marks every one of the tools in the table below as a DaVinci Resolve Studio feature, so the free version has none of them. Several also need a model you download first. None of them builds a story from an unscripted interview. That part is still yours, or a job for a tool outside Resolve.

The short answer

DaVinci Resolve's AI tools are search, transcription, editing, audio, color and effects tools that run on the DaVinci Neural Engine. Every tool in this guide is in DaVinci Resolve Studio only, which Blackmagic prices at $295 (its site listed it at $236 on sale when we checked). The newest batch came in Resolve 21, which Blackmagic announced on April 13, 2026: IntelliSearch, Slate ID, Speech Generator, CineFocus, the face tools, UltraSharpen and Motion Deblur.

This guide covers DaVinci Resolve Studio 21. The current update is 21.2, released November 6, 2026. Its notes add hardware and format support and name no new AI tools. Page numbers below are from the DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual (July 2026 edition).

The table lists the tools Blackmagic's own pages call AI or say run on the DaVinci Neural Engine. It is not a complete list. Blackmagic's Studio page ends its own Neural Engine list with "and more", and there is no official list to copy.

The tools, with menus and requirements

"Studio Version Only" is Blackmagic's own label in the manual. "First named" is the earliest Blackmagic press release we found that names the tool (16, 17, 18.1, 18.5, 19, 20 or 21). None of the Blackmagic pages we checked marks any of these tools as beta. The one beta label we found is on Extended Language Support for transcription.

Search and logging: IntelliSearch, Slate ID, transcription

IntelliSearch is the biggest change in 21 for anyone with a full Media Pool. First download a model from DaVinci Resolve > Extras Download Manager. There are two: Faster and Better. Blackmagic says both search equally fast once analysis is done, but Better takes much longer to analyze. Its suggested workflow is to start in Faster mode and run Better when the machine is idle. Pick the mode in the Media Pool's three-dot menu under IntelliSearch Mode.

Then click the AI Clip Analysis icon, switch on Analyze for IntelliSearch, and tick "Identify faces" if you want to search for people by name. The search bar can search everything, the picture only, the transcript only or metadata. Results show as full clips or as matching segments, and one click saves the search as a Smart Bin.

Audio Transcription lives in the same AI Tools menu. Choose the language in Project Settings > Subtitle and Transcription > Transcription Setup, or leave it on Auto. Fourteen languages are built in, including English, Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin. An Extended AI Transcription Support Package from the Extras Download Manager adds more, such as Arabic, Hindi, Polish and Turkish. The project setting that turns the extended set on is marked "currently in beta".

Editing: text-based editing, IntelliScript, SmartSwitch

Once a clip is transcribed, the Transcription window works as a text editor for In and Out points. Drag across words and Resolve sets the range. Press X to select a sentence. Delete does not remove words, it excludes them, so the range skips them when you edit it in. Remove Silent Portions strips every pause in one go, which turns a long interview into question-and-answer clips.

Two gotchas from the manual:

• Editing transcript text is for corrections. Replacing a paragraph with a short summary "will have unpredictable effects if used for editing" (page 1023).
• There is no Paste in the Transcription window. Copy works, for use in other apps.

IntelliScript needs a script. Save the spoken lines as plain text or Final Draft, with a full stop after each sentence. Blackmagic warns that standard script formatting, with scene descriptions and character names, will likely cause problems. It also says IntelliScript picks the "best" take by matching spoken dialogue only, not your Good Take tags.

Multicam SmartSwitch cuts a multicam clip to whoever is speaking, using the audio, lip movement and whether a shot is wide or close. Blackmagic pitches it as "a good first pass", and says analysis can take quite some time with long shoots or many angles. Our SmartSwitch lesson walks through it.

Audio: Voice Isolation, Dialogue Matcher, Audio Assistant

Voice Isolation sits in the audio tab of the Inspector. Blackmagic suggests an Amount of 70 to 80 for natural results. It works on mono, stereo and dual-mono tracks, not on tracks with more than two channels, and not on live input. Dialogue Matcher copies the level, EQ and reverb of one clip onto another, which helps when pickups were recorded in a different room. Audio Assistant organizes and color-codes tracks, evens out dialogue, ducks music and masters to the delivery standard you pick. You can undo it afterwards.

Do the AI tools work in the free version?

No. Every tool in the table carries the "Studio Version Only" label in the manual, or is listed on Blackmagic's Studio page as a feature "found exclusively in DaVinci Resolve Studio". Blackmagic says the free version edits and finishes up to 60 fps at resolutions as high as Ultra HD 3840 x 2160.

Hardware matters too. Blackmagic says the Neural Engine is fully supported on Apple M series and Snapdragon X Elite. You can pick which GPU or Neural Engine runs the AI tools in Preferences > System > Memory and GPU, under DaVinci Neural Engine Processing.

What it will not do

• It will not cut an unscripted interview into a story. IntelliScript matches takes to a script you provide, by dialogue only.
• Nothing in the table works in the free version. All of it needs DaVinci Resolve Studio.
• Some tools need a model download first. IntelliSearch, Slate ID, Motion DeBlur and Speech Generator each start in the Extras Download Manager.
• Motion DeBlur is slow. Blackmagic says it can take up to 60 seconds to analyze each second of footage.
• Music tools expect a beat. Beat Detector wants beat-driven music in 4/4 or 3/4, and Music Editor is not meant for free-form or ambient music.
• Voice Isolation stops at two channels. Tracks with more than two channels are not supported, and neither is live audio input.

Where Eddie fits next to Resolve

Eddie works next to Resolve rather than as one of its built-in tools. The Eddie extension is the bridge: it is what lets Eddie see the media pool and hand the timeline back. Clips, multicams and timelines come across from Resolve, and Eddie makes proxies so the analysis stays quick. Eddie logs the interviews and b-roll, then builds the rough cut from the chat. The timeline returns to Resolve with the media relinked, so color, sound and titles happen where you already finish. Eddie takes BRAW, R3D and proxies without asking you to transcode the library first, and footage and proxies already in Blackmagic Cloud can start the edit.

That covers the gaps above:

• The first cut without a script. IntelliScript needs a script to match. With Eddie, you describe the story and Eddie builds the first cut, as the rough cuts page shows.
• Search across a project. Eddie searches a project's transcripts for a phrase, topic or speaker and returns the matching segments with timestamps. It can also search the picture for moments you describe, using credits per hour of footage searched.
• Multicam. Eddie syncs angles and cuts to whoever is talking, as the multicam page shows. The Resolve project export keeps those angles switchable and opens in DaVinci Resolve 21.
• Other languages. Eddie detects the spoken language automatically and transcribes in 97 languages.
• The free version. Eddie's bin import, timeline import and Send to Resolve run on the free edition of Resolve 21.1 and later, as they do on Studio. Eddie's own panel inside Resolve is for Studio only (Eddie v4).

If you want crop, motion, speed, color and levelled audio to survive, take the Resolve FCPXML instead, which flattens multicam into cuts. The export guide covers the choice. Cutting in Final Cut too? The Final Cut Pro AI features guide is the same table for Apple's app.

FAQ

Does DaVinci Resolve have AI?

Yes. DaVinci Resolve 21 includes IntelliSearch, Audio Transcription, text-based editing, IntelliScript, Multicam SmartSwitch, Magic Mask, Smart Reframe, Voice Isolation, Speech Generator and more, powered by what Blackmagic calls the DaVinci Neural Engine. Every one of these needs DaVinci Resolve Studio.

Is DaVinci Resolve's AI free?

Not the tools in this guide. Blackmagic labels them "Studio Version Only" or lists them as exclusive to Studio. Blackmagic prices Studio at $295 (on sale for $236 when we checked).

Can DaVinci Resolve make a rough cut automatically?

From a script, yes: IntelliScript lays out the best takes in script order and puts alternates on extra tracks. From a multicam clip, SmartSwitch picks the angle. Neither chooses soundbites from an unscripted interview or puts a story in order.

What languages does DaVinci Resolve transcription support?

Fourteen built in: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish. The Extended AI Transcription Support Package adds 43 more, and the setting that enables them is marked beta.

Can DaVinci Resolve clone a voice?

Speech Generator can read text in a voice made from a sample of your own. Blackmagic says the Neural Engine can create a voice from as little as a 10-second clip. Speech Generator also has four built-in voices that are licensed for use.

What is new for AI in Resolve 21.1 and 21.2?

Blackmagic's 21.1 update notes (September 8, 2026) say DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1 adds "integration with AI assistants" and 20 new scripting APIs. The 21.2 notes (November 6, 2026) name no new AI tools.

Sources

• Blackmagic Design: DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual (July 2026 edition). Chapter 4, System and User Preferences (p. 100); Chapter 6, Project Settings (p. 165); Chapter 11, Image Sizing and Resolution Independence (p. 297); Chapter 17, Adding and Organizing Media with the Media Pool (pp. 409–412); Chapter 18, Using Clip Metadata (pp. 426–430); Chapter 21, Modifying Clips and Clip Attributes (pp. 471–472); Chapter 23, Using Scene Detection (p. 550); Chapter 35, Fast Editing in the Cut Page (p. 723); Chapter 44, Using the Inspector in the Edit Page (p. 948); Chapter 45, Modifying Clips in the Timeline (pp. 978–979); Chapter 47, Text Based Editing (pp. 1018–1028); Chapter 49, Multicam Editing (pp. 1070–1071); Chapter 52, Working with Audio in the Edit Page (pp. 1146–1165); Chapter 59, Subtitles and Closed Captioning (p. 1281); Chapter 139, Magic Mask (p. 3339); Chapters 155, 162 and 164, Resolve FX Blur, Refine and Sharpen (pp. 3599, 3677–3694, 3727)
• Blackmagic Design: DaVinci Resolve 21, What's New and DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Blackmagic Design press releases: DaVinci Resolve 21, 20, 19, 18.5, 18.1, 17 and 16
• Blackmagic Design: DaVinci Resolve and Fusion support downloads (21.1 and 21.2 update notes)

---

Want the first cut done before you open Resolve? Start a project for free, or read the DaVinci Resolve workflow first.