Marco Sebastiano Alessi

Nov 14th, 2022

How to Fade Out Audio in Davinci Resolve: 2022 Tutorial Guide

There are many tools that allow us to give our videos a professional look, but few people take into account that the quality of our audio is as important as the video. We could have a decent video recording, but if we recorded the audio with a low-quality device, with echo, or plenty of noise, our whole project might be compromised.

In this article, we’ll go through a particular audio editing tool you can use to give a better sound to your videos. Have you heard of the fade-in and fade-out effect?

A fade effect is when you make your audio start at a lower volume and increase in volume until a certain level. There are many ways you can add this effect to your video: you can start loud and decrease the audio volume, increase it fast at first and then slower, or vice versa. It’s also used in transitions to make two clips transition smoothly from one to another.

I’m sure you’ve heard this effect on commercials, YouTube content, and even in popular songs. Now it’s your turn to learn how to fade out audio in DaVinci Resolve, the audio post-production, and video editing software by Blackmagic Design. DaVinci Resolve is free to download, so anyone can try it, or you can upgrade to the Studio version for a one-time payment of $295. Aside from this powerful tool, the DaVinci Resolve plugins will provide you with everything you need to create fantastic video content.

We’ll jump straight to the different methods to make your audio fade professionally in DaVinci Resolve; then, we’ll give you some extra tips to clean your audio from unwanted noise to make it sound even better.

Download and install DaVinci Resolve, and let’s get started!

How to Fade out Audio in Davinci Resolve: 3 Method Guide

Fade-Out Audio With Audio Handles: Manual Fade-Out Effect

This method to fade audio in DaVinci Resolve is for those who want to spend less time editing and want to make a good-quality video with a nice fade-in or fade-out effect. It’s done manually on the Timeline; quick and easy without needing to dive into many settings.

1. Import the audio clip you want to edit into the Timeline. Make sure you are on the Edit tab at the bottom.
2. If you hover the mouse over the audio clip, two white fade handles will appear on the upper corners of the clip.
3. Select the one at the end with a left click and drag it back. You can do the same for a fade-in.
4. You will see how the audio clip makes a line to show the fade. You can slide the audio handlers to adjust the length of the fade-out effect.
5. When dragging the audio handle, you can drag it up and down to adjust the curvature of the fade. It will change how slow or fast the fade effect will be.
6. Preview the clip and adjust as you see fit.

The pros of using this method are that it’s simple and fast. You only need to move the fade handles to the position desired, and you’re all set!

But there are some cons, too. You can’t adjust more specific volume and duration parameters, so you cannot have the same settings on different audio clips. Also, you can only add a fade at the clip’s beginning or end.

Fade Out Audio Using Keyframes

Adding a keyframe into our audio clip will allow us to properly create audio fades with more control over time, curvature form, and the starting and ending point. We achieve this by creating fade markers on the clip, which we can adjust manually or in the settings screen.

We’ll be working on the volume control, the thin line in the middle that runs through the audio clip. Dragging this line up and down will adjust the volume, but it will change throughout the clip. To change it in a specific section, we’ll use keyframes. Follow the next steps to fade in audio using keyframes.

1. Import the audio clip to the Timeline, or select the clip you want to add a fade out to if you’re working on a project.
2. Hover the mouse over the thin line where you want to add the fade-out effect. It can be at the clip’s beginning, middle, or end.
3. Press Alt + Click on Windows (Option + Click on Mac) to make a keyframe on the clip. You can create multiple keyframes, but they need to be at least two.
4. Make the first keyframe where you want your audio to begin fading out and the second closer to the end.
5. Click the second keyframe, and move it left and right for the length and up and down for the volume. If you create multiple keyframes, you can adjust each one of them to make a more personalized fade-out.
6. If you want even more control, you can go to the Inspector tab to open the Inspector window, where you can manually set the volume with the slide or type the desired dB.
7. You can add additional keyframes from the Inspector window if you click on the button in the form of a diamond next to Clip Volume. The keyframe will appear where the Playhead is in the Timeline. You can adjust it first and then add the keyframe from the Inspector.
8. Preview your audio and change settings until you like the result.

Crossfade Effects: Preset Settings Ready to Use

The third method to fade audio in DaVinci Resolve is an automatic way to add fade-out and fade-in transitions. The settings on the Crossfades effects are preset, but you can adjust them in the Inspector tab. Now, let’s add the Crossfade.

1. Import your audio track or select one from your project.
2. Go to the Effects Library and select Audio Transition from the Toolbox.
3. You will see three types of crossfade: Crossfade +3 dB, Crossfade -3 dB, and Crossfade 0 dB.
4. Select one and drag and drop it where you want to fade audio.
5. You can drag the Crossfade effect to change length and volume or click on it to open the Inspector window for more settings.
6. From the Inspector, you can manually change the duration, alignment, transition style, and volume in dB
7. Preview your audio track.

Extra Tips for Creating Good Audio Fade Transitions in DaVinci Resolve

Sometimes we record poor-quality audio despite our best efforts, and we need to do some arduous post-production work to make your video clip sounds professional. Having all our audio tracks clean from unwanted noise will allow us to make smoother fade-out crossfade transitions between audio without the noise interfering with audio quality.

If you want to remove hiss, background noise, or hum, we’ll show you how to do it in seconds inside DaVinci Resolve with our plug-in AudioDenoise.

1. Install the plug-in and open DaVinci Resolve.
2. Open your project or import the audio clip you want to clean from noise, hiss, or hum.
3. Go to Audio Effects > Audio FX > AU Effects to find AudioDenoise.
4. Click and drag AudioDenoise to the audio clip in the Timeline. The plug-in window will open.
5. The effect will be applied automatically and instantly sound much better. But you can change the Strength knob to adjust the effect.
6. If you want more control over the setting, you can adjust the output slide on the left-hand side to adjust the output volume and the knobs on the bottom to adjust the noise reduction on the low, middle, and high frequencies.
7. If you want to save your custom settings, you can do it by clicking the save icon to create a new preset.

Final Thoughts

Following these simple steps will make your video clips look and sound more professional, and your audience will be more engaged. What’s excellent about DaVinci Resolve is that you can do things in many different ways, which is ideal when you want to improve your workflow. If you keep exploring the software, you’ll find more ways to enhance your video clip.

Good luck, and stay creative!

FAQ

How do I add audio crossfade to DaVinci Resolve?

Select the clip to add a crossfade, follow the path Effects Library > Audio Transition, and choose the crossfade effect you prefer. To add the effect, simply drag it to the clip in the Timeline.

How to fade out multiple audio clips in DaVinci Resolve?

We can do it if you have a big project and want to add a fade-out to all your audio clips simultaneously to save time.

• Select all the clips.
• Press Shift + T on Windows or Command + T on Mac to apply the default crossfade transition.
• You can change the default crossfade audio transitions from the Effects Library > Toolbox > Audio Transitions > Crossfade. Right-click the transition you want to make default and select Set as Standard Transition.
• Adjust each fade by going to the Inspector tab to change settings if you need it.