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Freevisuals
Cinematic black bars, AKA letterbox effects, are more than just stylistic choices. They're a nod to the traditional widescreen cinematic experience, evoking a sense of grandeur and drama. Their presence can transform a simple video into a cinematic masterpiece, setting the tone for the viewer even before the story unfolds. On the flip side, there are times when these bars need to be removed to fit a particular platform or style, ensuring the content is displayed in its best possible form.
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In DaVinci Resolve, the Timeline menu is your central hub for many editing functions. To find it, look at the top-left corner of the interface. You'll see a series of options, and among them is the "Timeline" option. Click on it.
Within the Timeline dropdown, there's a feature called "Output Blanking." This is where you can adjust the aspect ratio of your video. By selecting this, you'll be presented with a range of aspect ratios. For our purpose, you'll want to select "2.35." By doing so, you're essentially adding those cinematic black bars to your video. This gives it that widescreen, movie-like appearance. Believe me, this simple step can elevate the look of your footage.
Once you've made this adjustment, look at your video preview. You'll notice the black bars at the top and bottom. This is where you can see the changes in real-time. If you've filmed in a standard 16:9 aspect ratio, these bars will give it a more cinematic 21:9 look.
Now, if you decide you don't want these bars, removing them isn't as straightforward as just reverting the aspect ratio. You see, DaVinci Resolve requires a specific approach to ensure the video retains its quality and appearance.
On the bottom row of icons in DaVinci Resolve, there's a gear icon. This is your Project Settings. Click on it. Within this menu, you'll find various settings related to your project's resolution, frame rate, and more.
In the Project Settings, there's a section called "Master Settings." Here, you can see your timeline's resolution. If it's set to 1920x1080, that's the standard HD resolution. Now, you might think to just change this resolution to remove the bars, but hold on. There's a more effective way.
Within the Master Settings, there's an option for "Image Scaling." This is where you can adjust how your video fits within the chosen resolution. By tweaking these settings, you can effectively remove the black bars without compromising the video's quality. Seriously, this feature offers a lot of flexibility, allowing you to get the exact look you're aiming for.
Select the clip on the Edit page timeline and open the Inspector panel on the right side of the screen by pressing Ctrl+Shift+I on Windows or Cmd+Shift+I on Mac. Under the Video tab in the Inspector, find the Zoom controls. Increase the Zoom X and Zoom Y values to scale the clip up until the black bars disappear. Hold Alt while adjusting to maintain the aspect ratio link between X and Y if you do not want to distort the image.
You can also use the Position controls in the Inspector to reframe the clip after scaling, which is useful when scaling up vertical footage on a horizontal timeline and you want to choose which part of the vertical frame is visible in the final output.
Right-click the clip on the Edit page timeline and select Clip Attributes. In the Video tab, look for the Scaling option and change it to Stretch to fit or Crop to fill depending on whether you want to scale the clip to fill the timeline without cropping, or crop out the edges to fill the frame completely.
Alternatively, right-click the clip on the timeline and select Input Resize Preset. Select Scale Full Frame With Crop to fill the timeline by cropping the edges of the clip, or Scale to Fit to stretch the clip to fill the frame. Scale to Fit may distort the image if the aspect ratios are very different, so Scale Full Frame With Crop is usually the better option for most workflows.
If black bars are appearing because your timeline is set to the wrong aspect ratio for your footage, go to File, Project Settings, and select Master Settings. Change the Timeline Resolution to match the aspect ratio of your footage. For vertical 9:16 content, set the resolution to 1080x1920 or 2160x3840. For standard horizontal 16:9 content, set it to 1920x1080 or 3840x2160. Click Save and the timeline will update to the new resolution.
Note that changing the timeline resolution after you have already placed clips and made edits can shift the positioning of any titles, lower thirds, or graphics that were positioned relative to the original frame dimensions. Always check all clips and graphics after changing the timeline resolution and reposition any elements that have shifted out of place.
Not all black bars in DaVinci Resolve are a problem. Cinematic black bars applied deliberately as a letterbox effect are a common creative choice for music videos, short films, and cinematic content that wants the 2.35:1 or 2.39:1 widescreen aspect ratio. To add intentional cinematic letterboxing, go to the Colour page and add an Output Overlay under the sizing controls, or add a Letterbox overlay in the Edit page timeline as an adjustment clip above all other clips.
For pre-built cinematic overlay templates, our free overlay collection includes options compatible with DaVinci Resolve. The Smoky Swirling Overlays and Old Film Grain Overlay both work on Screen blending mode in DaVinci Resolve for adding organic texture to a letterboxed composition. For premium cinematic overlays and effects, MotionVFX and Motion Array (2 months free via FreeVisuals) both have dedicated DaVinci Resolve template libraries. For LUTs to apply over your letterboxed composition, our free LUT collection includes the Moody Film Shadows LUT and the 22 Free Mega Cinematic LUT Pack, both free for commercial use.
Even after fixing black bars in your timeline preview, they can still appear in an exported file if the output resolution in the Deliver page does not match the timeline resolution. Before exporting, go to the Deliver page and confirm the resolution in the Export Video section matches your timeline resolution exactly. If the output resolution is set to a different aspect ratio from your timeline, Resolve will letterbox or pillarbox the output to fit, adding black bars to the final file even when the timeline preview looked correct.
For music to pair with your DaVinci Resolve projects once the black bars are fixed and your edit is ready to export, Artlist (2 months free via FreeVisuals) and Epidemic Sound are the two strongest options for commercially cleared music. Our own free music collection and free sound effects are also available at no cost. For stock footage to supplement your own material, Shutterstock and iStock are the strongest licensed options and MotionElements covers additional affordable footage. For DaVinci Resolve templates to use in your finished projects, our free DaVinci Resolve templates cover transitions, titles, and lower thirds. For AI image generation to create thumbnails, OpenArt AI and Magnific AI are both accessible through our FreeVisuals partner links. For AI voiceover, ElevenLabs has 10,000 free characters per month on the free tier. For simpler editing alternatives, Filmora by Wondershare and CapCut handle aspect ratio mismatches automatically without manual settings adjustments. For motion graphics elements, AEJuice (10% off via FreeVisuals) has 26 free packs and Envato Elements has a large DaVinci Resolve template library under subscription.
Black bars on export usually mean the clip was not scaled to fill the timeline frame, or the export resolution in the Deliver page does not match the timeline resolution. Check the Input Scaling settings for any clips appearing smaller than the frame and confirm your Deliver page output resolution matches your timeline resolution before exporting.
Go to the Colour page and use the Sizing controls to add a custom letterbox ratio, or add a black bar overlay as an adjustment clip on the Edit page timeline above all your other clips. Set the overlay to 2.35:1 or 2.39:1 proportions for a standard cinematic widescreen look.
Yes. Each clip can have its own input scaling settings applied independently via right-click, Clip Attributes. This lets you mix 16:9 and 9:16 footage on the same timeline, with each clip scaled or cropped individually to fill the timeline frame without affecting other clips.
Vertical 9:16 clips placed on a horizontal 16:9 timeline will always have black bars on the left and right unless you scale or crop them to fill the frame. Right-click the clip and select Input Resize Preset, then Scale Full Frame With Crop to fill the horizontal frame by cropping the top and bottom of the vertical clip, or use the Inspector Zoom controls to scale and reposition manually.
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