DaVinci Resolve Burn In Timecode: When You Need It and When Comments Win

A DaVinci Resolve burn in timecode window cost us most of an hour on a review call with a brand client in my agency, all over a column of numbers, right. The client had written down every note against the timecode burned into the frame and was reading them out one by one. My editor kept typing those numbers into the DaVinci Resolve timeline and landing on the wrong shots, because the burn in timecode was showing source timecode from the camera clips, so every single note pointed at a different moment.

Nobody was really wrong, to be very honest, because the burn in was doing what we had set it to do and the client was doing what we had asked. The catch here is that a timecode window only helps when everyone agrees on which clock it is showing, and at the end of the day one tiny checkbox had quietly wasted a whole call.

So I'll walk you through how I actually set up DaVinci Resolve burn in timecode for review exports, record versus source and the settings I keep. Then I'll argue the other side, because on a link where every comment already carries its frame, I'm pretty sure a lot of us burn in timecode out of habit more than need.

What DaVinci Resolve burn in timecode is for

A burn in is basically text rendered into the actual pixels of your export, so the timecode or clip name becomes part of the picture itself. Anybody who watches that file, on any player or on a TV in a conference room, sees exactly the same numbers you see. The idea is way older than DaVinci Resolve, right, it goes back to the tape days when a rough cut went out as a window dub with a little black box of numbers.

The job has not changed much since then, right, because you still want a shared address for every frame. So "the logo pops in too early" becomes "the logo at 01:02:14:08 pops in too early", and the editor jumps straight there. For assistant editors, VFX artists and conform people, the burn in also tells them which original clip they are looking at, which is a different job that needs a different clock.

I covered the Final Cut side in the Final Cut burn in guide, and there's a Premiere version too, burning in timecode in Premiere Pro, so a mixed team can line all three up. Resolve's version is honestly the most flexible of the three, which is great, and also the reason people get it wrong so often.

How to set up Data Burn-In for a review export

In Resolve the feature lives under the Workspace menu as Data Burn-In, and the window has two modes along the top, Project and Clip. Project applies the burn in to every timeline and every render in the project. Clip burns information into the selected clip only, for instance when you want one shot flagged for a VFX vendor without touching the rest of the cut.

For a normal client review export I stay on Project and tick Record Timecode, then set the position, font size and background so it reads on every shot. A white timecode over a white product shot is basically invisible, right, and a dark box at around half opacity sorts that out. I put it top center or in a top corner, because the bottom third is where captions and lower thirds live, and you never want timecode covering the text the client is approving.

1Open the Workspace menu and choose Data Burn In

2Tick Record Timecode on the Project tab

3Set the size, position and a dark background box

4Render with burn in set to match the project

5Save it as a review render preset

Then on the Deliver page, check the data burn in setting, which in recent versions sits with the advanced video options and can either follow the project or be set to none. That dropdown is really really important, because it decides whether the window ends up in the file at all. I export a lightweight H.264 for review, and the numbers I use are in my Resolve export settings for review. Save the whole thing as a render preset with an obvious name, so nobody rebuilds it from memory on a Friday night.

Extra fields worth adding

Custom Text is handy for the project name and cut date, so a screenshot that lands in a chat group still tells you which export it came from. Source Clip Name helps on documentary cuts where the client keeps asking about one interview. I stop at two or three fields though, right, because every extra line covers the picture your client is supposed to judge.

Record timecode versus source timecode on a burn in

This is the part that bit us on that call, so let me be very clear. Record timecode is the position of the frame on your timeline, one clock running straight through the cut, and it's the number you want in front of a client because it matches the editor's timeline. Source timecode is the camera's own clock for each clip, so it jumps at every cut, for instance from 14:22:10:03 to 09:41:55:17, which an assistant can trace straight back to the camera card but which tells a client nothing about where they are in the film.

One clock per audience

Clients get record timecode that runs straight through the cut. Source timecode stays on the exports for assistants, VFX vendors and conform.

The other trap is the hour, right. Resolve timelines start at 01:00:00:00 by default, so your burn in says 01:02:14:08 while a browser player counts from zero and shows 00:02:14:08. I don't change the timeline start, because delivery specs often expect that hour, so I tell the client once to ignore the leading hour and my editors add it back when they jump.

When a VFX vendor or a colorist needs a source timecode burn in, I make a separate export with Source Timecode and Source Clip Name stacked, and that file never goes to the client. So it's two exports for two audiences, and nobody reads the wrong clock off the wrong file, you see what I mean here.

A worked example from note to frame

Here's how one note travels in my agency. The client pauses on the link and leaves a comment at 00:02:14:08, my editor clicks into the Resolve timeline, types 01021408 and presses Enter, and the playhead lands on 01:02:14:08, which is the exact frame the client paused on. That only lines up when the review export is the entire timeline at the timeline's own frame rate. If someone renders an in to out range that starts at 01:00:30:00, zero on the link now means 01:00:30:00 in Resolve and every note drifts by thirty seconds, so my review preset always renders the whole timeline.

Review_Cut_v4.mp4In Review

212160p · ProRes

00:34 / 02:18

SR

Sarah 0:34

Frame-accurate note, everyone sees the exact same thing.

Why frame accurate comments replace most burn ins

Now let me argue the other side, because this is where a lot of Resolve editors do extra work for nothing. A client only needs to read timecode off the picture because the note lives in an email and the frame lives in a video file, and the timecode is the glue between them. On a PlayPause link the client opens one link in the browser, with no account and no install, pauses and types the note right there, and that comment sticks to that exact frame.

Burned in timecode

the client reads numbers off the picture and types them into an email, and one wrong digit sends the note to the wrong shot

Frame accurate comments

every note is pinned to its own frame, with a drawing if needed, and nobody copies a number at all

Clients can also leave range comments when the note covers a stretch of the cut, like "the music is too loud through this section", and they can draw on the frame to circle the exact logo they mean. There's more on why this matters in frame accurate video review, and our page on time-coded annotations for review shows what the client actually sees.

There's no PlayPause panel inside Resolve, so the workflow is export, upload, review, then use the notes in the editor. I keep the comments open on a second screen, click a note to see its frame and timestamp, and type that timecode into the Resolve timeline the way I described above, and the whole loop is in getting timestamped notes into Resolve. New exports stack on the same card as MV1, MV2, MV3, so timecoded client notes for the second cut never mix with the first, and the Resolve story in one place is on PlayPause for DaVinci Resolve.

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A note that already carries its own frame never needs anyone to read a number out loud.

Frame stepping for picky reviewers

Some clients, and most directors, want to go frame by frame, especially on cuts to music and logo animations. In Resolve the left and right arrow keys step one frame and J, K and L shuttle, and the PlayPause player has its own shortcuts, listed on our keyboard shortcuts page. I send that page to fussy reviewers before the first round, and it saves a lot of "somewhere around the middle" notes, trust me on any level.

When you still need timecode burned into the picture

So you might ask whether I still burn in timecode at all, and I do, just a lot less than I used to. My agency rule is that if the file will be watched anywhere other than the review link it gets a burn in, and if it only lives on the link it usually doesn't, does that make sense, right.

A screening is the obvious case, a room with a projector and a producer with a notepad, where the only way to mark a moment is to copy numbers off the screen. Files going out for QC, legal or a broadcaster need one too, because that person will never open your link. Then there's source timecode for conform, online and VFX pulls, where the people reading the numbers are your finishing team and the client never sees that file at all.

• The file will play outside the review link
• Notes get written on paper during a screening
• VFX, conform or online needs source timecode
• Stills will be shared as screenshots in chats
• The client has asked for timecode by name

Screenshots are the sneaky one, right. A client drops a still in a group chat with "fix this", and without a burn in you have no idea which export or frame it came from, so for screenshot lovers I leave a small record timecode window on even for the link. And if a client just trusts numbers more than comment boxes, a timecode overlay for review costs you nothing and the comments still work underneath it.

Keeping burn ins out of the master and the final delivery

The scary part of Data Burn-In is that Project mode is project-wide, so once it's on, it follows every render from that project, including the master, unless the Deliver settings say otherwise. I have seen a master go out with a timecode window in the corner, and to be very honest it was not a fun phone call. These days the only render preset that follows the project burn in is one called something like "Review with TC", and the delivery preset is set to none, always.

The habit that actually protects you is checking the file and not only the settings, right. Before any master leaves, someone scrubs the first, middle and last frame of the rendered file, and if there's text that shouldn't be there, it goes back. I keep review files and masters in separate folders, and my reasons for never sending the master for notes are in why the ProRes master stays home.

If you're juggling timelines and review versions, the way I name and back them up is in Resolve version control for client versions. If your team is moving across from Premiere, switching from Premiere to Resolve covers what happens to review, handoffs and so on. For the official walkthrough of the menus, Blackmagic's own DaVinci Resolve training material goes through them properly.

Frequently asked questions

Does Data Burn-In change my source media or timeline?

It doesn't touch the media at all, right, the burn in is an overlay that shows in the viewer and gets rendered into the output file, while your original clips and your edit stay exactly as they were. Switch it off in the Data Burn-In window or set it to none on the Deliver page and your next render is clean again, which is why I treat it as a render setting rather than part of the edit.

Can I burn in timecode on just one clip in DaVinci Resolve?

You can, using Clip mode in the Data Burn-In window, which applies the fields only to the clip you have selected instead of the whole project. I use it for flagging a single VFX shot with source timecode and a short label for the vendor, while the rest of the cut goes out clean, and it's really handy for exactly that job.

Why does my burned in timecode start at one hour?

Resolve timelines start at 01:00:00:00 by default, so the record timecode in your burn in carries that hour while a browser player counts from zero. If you'd rather match the player, you can change it through the timeline's right-click menu in the Media Pool, under Timelines and then Starting Timecode, but check your delivery spec first, because a lot of broadcasters expect that hour on the master.

Do clients on PlayPause need burned in timecode to leave notes?

They don't, because every comment on a PlayPause link is pinned to its exact frame, clients can draw on the frame or comment across a range, and they don't need an account to do any of it. I still add a small burn in when I know the file will be screened, sent for QC or screenshotted into a chat, and so on.

If you're tired of reading timecode out loud on calls, give your clients a link where every note already knows its frame. Every plan comes with a 7-day free trial and flat pricing per workspace rather than per member, so have a look at PlayPause pricing and put your next Resolve export on a link instead of a list of numbers.

So yeah. That's my way of saying it.