Adjustment Layer with dynamic zoom cuts off sides

I don't remember this happening before I updated so correct me if I'm wrong

If I use dynamic zoom in a vertical timeline with something that has had it's position changed, the zoom will begin to cut off the sides off the video, ignoring all the extra information that is there

As an example I've zoomed out on the adjustment layer here, although the video is horizontal, it's treating it in relation to the timeline proportions.

Has it always been like this?

I don't know if it's always been like this, but I noticed the same thing fairly recently as well.

Could be a feature request.

My conclusion is that using dynamic zoom on an adjustment layer is destructive in the sense that it breaks resolution independence and reverts to whatever the timeline is set at (unlike when you place dynamic zoom directly on the clip).

I've made a note to myself that it is only safe to use on an adjustment layer if the timeline and source resolutions are exactly the same.

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Dynamic Zoom is one of those effects that probably should be applied directly to the clip.

That's what we're saying, there's a difference when there is versus when there isn't. A feature request could be to change that.

I'll give you an example of a scenario when you wouldn't want to place it directly on the clip:

You've used a bunch of well placed smooth cuts to hide edit points of every time you've taken out someone's "ums". Yes, switching angles is usually the way to go to hide something like that, but if the interviewee's "um" problem is very bad, you would have to cut back and forth between angles multiple times before they finish even a single sentence. That would cause more distraction. So, back to using smooth cuts to fix the problem. You've done that, so now you want to add a little motion, because technically, it's perceived as one clip by the viewer (if the cuts are well placed).

Putting dynamic zoom individually on each clip will not work in this case. So, the next best thing is to put it on an adjustment layer over the 4 or 5 clips that need to be treated as one long push-in shot of the person talking.

Another reason you would want to use adjustment layers is that you can easily copy and paste the same dynamic zoom settings (maybe with slightly different lengths) across your timeline by simply copying the adjustment layers themselves.


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If you think about how Resolve is structured this makes sense.

Timeline scaling, edit sizing, dynamic sizing, input sizing, and stabilization all work together in synergy to not lose info early on in the order of operations. Then the clip goes into the color page, which has node sizing which is independent of the previously mentioned sizing operations and is limited to what the clip has become from the previous operations. Then at the end of the operations is output sizing/scaling. The output sizing and scaling work together, but not with node sizing or the set of first sizing operations. So it is limited to what it is fed from the timeline.

Now when you're using an adjustment clip, the point is that it operates on all clips below it, so those clips have to go through the color page to make sure they are composited correctly before the adjustment clip effects can touch it. Going through the color page is going to limit the resolution/cropping to what the timeline now is.

So I doubt this behavior can change anytime soon. It would require a big overhaul of how Resolve is internally structured. I don't have a good answer for how to fix it, maybe using Fusion might make it easier. I don't know how Fusion works into the whole system, I don't use it much.

If you do this in the future, you could pre-emptively set the timeline resolution to a larger resolution, enough to keep all the extra info on the sides. Then use output sizing/scaling to crop to your chosen resolution/ratio.

you want to add a little motion, because technically, it's perceived as one clip by the viewer

A couple of approaches you might try are putting those video clips into a Compound, and adding DZ to that.

If the Compound gives you any issues, a Render in Place might be worth exploring.

Ultimately, you want not just the viewer to see those edits as a 'one clip', you want Resolve to see it that way we well. And AC's just don't do that.

you want to add a little motion, because technically, it's perceived as one clip by the viewer

A couple of approaches you might try are putting those video clips into a Compound, and adding DZ to that.

I don't think that would work, for the same reason I mentioned above. A compound clip can be multiple layers composited, which would have to go through the color page nodes. Even if its one clip, I'd think dissolves or smart cuts would force it to go into the color page stuff, before the dynamic zoom would be applied.

Create a timeline with the resolution set to maximum working resolution such as 1920 x 1920 and resize mode set to crop and then modify the output resolution to your vertical such as 1024 x 1920 with resize mode set to crop. The timeline acts as your working resolution such that things like compound clips and nested timelines can exist outside the bounds of your output resolution. This will allow you to use dynamic zoom on your adjustment layer.

Add - What is most annoying about Resolve in this regard is that there is no way to see the extents of an image that lays outside the bounds of the output 'window'. There is a long standing request to have a shaded view of the source clip extents outside the current timeline output window (same applies to the source viewer which is also limited to the output window extents).

What I do to get around this is to temporarily set output resolution to match timeline resolution and use the vertical overlay to see the extents of the vertical window and then when I've moved things around I then switch my output resolution to vertical.

I don't think that would work

It's worth a try, though. Simple enough to Undo if things go weird. Or a Duplicate timeline can be created for testing.

Yeah, I think the Order of Node Operations makes this clear: making a Dynamic Zoom directly on the clip itself happens before the Adjustment Layer. An Adjustment Layer happens at the very end of the signal chain, so in that respect it's very destructive.

I know that former Premiere users are very used to the idea of an Adjustment Layer, but to me, making changes in an Adjustment Layer is kind of a "last resort" thing that I wouldn't use except in dire circumstances. I think there are better ways to accomplish the same thing.