15:37Greg Edits Video · Tutorial
Editing Screen Recordings in DaVinci Resolve? Do THIS
Six DaVinci Resolve techniques that transform flat screen captures into structured, visually engaging tutorials.
June 2ndThe argument in one line.
Any repetitive sequence of DaVinci Resolve clicks can be collapsed into a single keystroke using free automation apps, and a no-code plugin removes the only remaining barrier — writing the script by hand.
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
- A video editor who works in DaVinci Resolve daily and feels the drag of clicking the same sequence of buttons dozens of times per edit.
- Someone on Windows who watched the original macros video but was locked out because the featured app was Mac-only.
- An editor who has heard of macros but assumed they required programming knowledge to set up.
- A creator who already owns a Stream Deck or iPad and wants to use it to speed up their DaVinci timeline work.
SKIP IF…
- You edit in Premiere Pro, Final Cut, or another NLE — the plugin and most examples are DaVinci-specific.
- You only do occasional light edits and the setup time would exceed the time saved.
The full version, fast.
Keyboard macros let a single shortcut fire a precise sequence of DaVinci Resolve key presses and clicks — turning a five-step action into one trigger. Three apps make this possible: AutoHotkey (free, Windows), Hammerspoon (free, Mac), and Keyboard Maestro (paid, Mac). Greg's free Macro Builder plugin generates the underlying script automatically, so there's no code to write. Triggers extend beyond the keyboard to cheap Amazon macro buttons, Touch Portal on an iPad, and Stream Deck. The practical payoff is eliminating search-and-click friction for effects, generators, cuts, and trims — seconds per action that compound across thousands of edits.
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00:00 – 01:45
01 · Hook + origin story
Live plugin demo, callback to viral macros video, problem statement (Mac-only, paid app), agenda promise.
01:45 – 04:00
02 · What is a macro?
Definition plus three live demos: adjustment clip, cursor-position cut, ripple trim — each in DaVinci screen recording.
04:00 – 05:00
03 · Three automation apps
AutoHotkey (free, Windows), Hammerspoon (free, Mac), Keyboard Maestro (paid, Mac). Raw script files shown to set up the plugin pitch.
05:00 – 07:00
04 · Macro Builder plugin walkthrough
Template macros, custom sequence builder, code generation. All three apps supported. Paid DaVinci required for the plugin.
07:00 – 08:25
05 · Preset Pack integration
Using macros to trigger the Essentials Preset Pack — transitions, easy lines, zoom presets. Social proof emails shown.
08:25 – 09:15
06 · Hardware triggers
Dedicated macro buttons (cheap Amazon options) that send keyboard shortcuts to trigger macros.
09:15 – 10:35
07 · Touch Portal and Stream Deck
iPad with Touch Portal as a visual button grid. Subscriber Craig's Stream Deck setup.
10:35 – 11:45
08 · Wrap-up and CTA
Philosophy: build macros for your workflow. CTA for free plugin and templates download. End-screen hook to 20-lessons video.
Lines worth screenshotting.
- A macro is just a sequence of key presses and mouse clicks assigned to a single shortcut — there is no code to understand, only actions to record.
- AutoHotkey on Windows and Hammerspoon on Mac are both free alternatives to Keyboard Maestro, giving every editor a zero-cost path to macros.
- The Macro Builder plugin generates the automation script for you, removing the only real barrier to adoption for non-technical editors.
- Dedicated macro buttons on Amazon cost under $20 and send keyboard shortcuts to your computer — no software configuration beyond the macro itself.
- Touch Portal on an iPad turns a tablet into a customizable control surface that can run macros or directly trigger sequences without any hardware purchase.
- The fastest way to add an adjustment clip in DaVinci is a macro that moves the playhead, opens search, types the name, adds it, and returns the playhead — all in under half a second.
- Ripple-trimming without selecting the clip first is possible via a macro that switches to trim mode, moves the edge, and returns to selection mode in one keypress.
- Stream Deck buttons run macros that add preset effects directly to the timeline — each button tap replaces a multi-step search and drag.
- The macro approach works with the free version of DaVinci Resolve; only the Macro Builder plugin itself requires the paid version.
- Seconds saved per action compound into hours saved per year for any editor who touches the same workflow steps hundreds of times per project.
One shortcut can replace five clicks — permanently.
WHAT TO LEARN
The reason repetitive editing stays slow is not that automation is hard — it is that the setup step feels like a barrier; remove that barrier and the compounding time savings become accessible to any editor.
- A macro records any sequence of key presses and mouse clicks once, then replays it identically every time — which means any multi-step action you do repeatedly is a candidate for automation.
- Free options exist for every platform: AutoHotkey covers Windows editors at no cost, Hammerspoon covers Mac editors at no cost, and Keyboard Maestro is the polished paid Mac option.
- No-code plugin tools that generate automation scripts from a form lower adoption to near zero — the technical barrier was the only real reason most editors had not set up macros already.
- Triggers do not have to be keyboard shortcuts: cheap hardware buttons, an iPad running Touch Portal, and a Stream Deck all send the same signal, so the right choice is whichever fits your physical workspace.
- The payoff compounds: saving three seconds per action across 50 repeated actions per editing session adds up to thousands of minutes per year — making even a one-hour setup session an extremely high-return investment.
Terms worth knowing.
- Macro
- A recorded sequence of keyboard inputs and mouse actions that executes automatically when triggered by a single shortcut, button press, or other event.
- AutoHotkey
- A free open-source scripting language for Windows that automates keystrokes, mouse clicks, and application interactions via plain-text script files.
- Hammerspoon
- A free macOS automation tool that uses Lua scripts to control the operating system, windows, and application inputs.
- Keyboard Maestro
- A paid Mac automation app with a visual interface for building macros without scripting knowledge; the original app featured in the earlier video.
- Touch Portal
- A mobile app that turns an iPad or Android tablet into a programmable control surface with buttons that can trigger macros or keyboard shortcuts on a connected computer.
- Adjustment Clip
- A DaVinci Resolve generator placed on the timeline that applies color grading or effects to all clips beneath it without altering the source media.
- Ripple Trim
- An edit mode in DaVinci Resolve where trimming the end or start of a clip automatically closes the resulting gap by shifting all downstream clips.
- Blade Edit Mode
- A DaVinci Resolve mode (activated by pressing B) that turns the cursor into a cutting blade, allowing a click to split a clip at any point on the timeline.
Things they pointed at.
10:20productElgato Stream Deck
08:20productGreg Essentials Preset Pack
Lines you could clip.
00:28
“There's really no faster way of doing this.”
07:00
“Being able to create macros for free without the hassle of fiddling around with code is pretty awesome.”
10:47
“All these seconds build up massively over time.”
10:59
“It's just about showing you what's possible so you can start building macros that work for you and your workflow.”
Word for word.
Read-along
Don't just watch it. Burn it in.
See every word as it's spoken — crank it to 2× and still catch all of it. The same dual-channel trick behind Amazon's Kindle + Audible.
analogystory
00:00I've made a DaVinci Resolve plugin that makes it easier than ever to bring effects and titles to your timeline with just a keyboard shortcut. All I have to do now is pick a template, type in the name of something from my effects browser, choose a keyboard shortcut for it and then this plugin will build a macro for me, meaning I can then just close this window and hit my keyboard shortcut and it gets added straight to the timeline just like this.
00:28There's really no faster way of doing this. I made a whole video about six months ago that showed you how you can edit ten times faster in DaVinci Resolve by using macros like this and the response to that video was amazing.
00:43I had people emailing me and leaving comments like this. People were seeing how much faster they were editing just by setting up their own macros and using my templates but the app that I showed how to make these macros was a paid app and it was only available on Mac so that's where this video comes in.
01:02I can now show you how to set up macros on three different apps. I've made in -depth PDF instructions walking you through how to set up these three apps.
01:11I've also made in -depth video tutorials for each app if you prefer to follow a video rather than a PDF and I've also included templates of some of my favorite macros for all three programs so that you can use them straight away.
01:26So exactly what I'm going to show you in this video. I'm going to explain to you how a macro works and how it can automate your editing.
01:34I'm going to show you three of the apps that you can use to do this. I'm going to show you how my macro builder plug -in takes all of the pain away from building macros and also some creative ways that you can use these macros.
01:46So let's dive deeper into what exactly a macro is and how you can use it to automate Well in simple terms a macro is a sequence of key presses and mouse clicks that can be triggered by a single keyboard shortcut.
02:01So for example one of the templates I'm giving away is to instantly add an adjustment clip to your timeline like this. So what's happening here is on my Mac I'm hitting option A which is alt A on Windows and then it's triggering this It's hitting C to move the playhead to the mouse position, hitting shift space to open up the search bar, it's then typing in adjustment clip, hitting enter to add it to the timeline and then it hits the C key again to move the playhead back to the beginning of the clip.
02:32Because I always find that when I add titles and generators to the timeline but I always end up moving the playhead back to the start of the clip anyway.
02:40So I just added that in to time and hassle and macros will do all of these steps so quickly that you can barely even see it like this.
02:49I've got a bunch of macro templates like this that you can use for your editing. Another one I've set up is to make cuts exactly where your cursor is without having to even select the clip or move the playhead.
03:00So with this one what's happening is I hit this key on my keyboard it's just above the tab button on my keyboard so it's really easy and then this triggers this macro.
03:11It hits the B key to put DaVinci Resolve into blade edit mode which means that the cursor then turns into a blade. It then left clicks to make a cut and then it hits the A key to return to selection mode meaning I can just instantly make cuts like this.
03:26It's incredibly quick and easy. I've also got templates for cutting the end of clips off so the normal way would be to move your playhead like this then left click on clip and then use a keyboard shortcut like shift square bracket to trigger DaVinci's trim end shortcut.
03:42But now I can just move my mouse here press one button to trigger my macro and it just does all of that instantly and I can make it ripple trim. I can do it to the start of clips.
03:52If I've got a bunch of clips like this then I can just move my mouse here and trigger my macro to cut all of these clips like this and to run these macros you need So here's the three apps that I've made templates and tutorials for.
04:06We've got Auto Hotkey which is a free windows app and it's basically the go -to automation app for windows. Then we've got Hammerspoon this is a free app on mac and then lastly we've got Keyboard Maestro which is a paid app on mac and this is the app that I showed in my video six months ago.
04:24Keyboard Maestro has a nice interface which is really easy to use whereas Auto Hotkey and Hammerspoon look like this. But don't worry I know this looks scary and complicated but this is exactly why I've made this free plugin.
04:40It's called macro builder and there's one for each app. I've made in -depth tutorials showing how to use my plugin and whilst you can use the free version of DaVinci to use Auto Hotkey, Hammerspoon and Keyboard Maestro macros you will need the paid version of DaVinci to be able to use my plugin.
04:57So just bear that in mind. So with my plugin you can open it up, you pick whether you're adding macros to an existing file or creating a new one up here and then you can either pick a template macro.
05:08So I've got a template for adding effects and transitions to a selected clip and I've got a template for adding titles and generators straight to your cursor.
05:18Or if you don't want to use a template you can go one step further and make completely custom macro but more on that in a minute. So here let's select titles and generators and then you just type in the name of the generator here.
05:32Select whether you want the trigger to be a keyboard shortcut or use your middle mouse button and then pick your shortcut key like this and choose your modifier keys and then hit add to list and then you can make a bunch of different macros.
05:45So let's make this next one an effect. Type in its name and give it a keyboard shortcut.
05:50Add it to the list and then hit build all macros. It will then create your macro file in the correct folder.
05:56So if I open this up you can see all of the code that it's made and it's used my macros as the template for it. Or if you select add to an existing file then it will add the code to a bottom of a file like this.
06:08So you can see all of this new code down here and you don't have to open this up or look at this by the I'm just showing you what it's doing in the background and so you can then go into DaVinci Resolve hit your keyboard shortcut and it just does it.
06:22And if you don't want to use one of my templates then you can make your own completely custom macro. So instead of choosing one of the templates here you can come to custom and then hit create sequence.
06:35From here you can build out your own macro using keyboard shortcuts, cursor clicks, adding pauses between actions and text type -ons.
06:45And you can make it as long and crazy as you want and then hit save sequence and then just finish building the macro as normal. It will then generate that macro for you in whichever app you're using.
06:57Being able to create macros for free without the hassle of fiddling around with code is pretty awesome. And the way that I use most of my macros is for bringing my own DaVinci Resolve presets straight to the timeline.
07:10I've built a pack of presets that speed up mine and other editors workflows massively and I can bring any of these presets to my timeline within a second.
07:20If I need something to fly in from the left I can just hold down my option key and press my middle mouse button and it will add my in and out transitions preset.
07:30I can enable slide, hit left and then it will animate in from the left. And if I want I can add it to the end of the clip and it will fly out to the left. If I want to add an arrow to go from this image to this image for example I'll just hit control L and it will add my easy lines preset.
07:47I can put the start over here and then end over here. Add the arrow ahead and then customize it however I like it so it can look something like this.
07:56I've had countless emails and comments from people saying how they're saving so much time from using my presets. There's transitions, effects, titles and generators that are all ready to go in the effects panel so you can either drag and drop them straight onto your timeline or use a keyboard macro to add them instantly.
08:18So if you want yet another way to speed up your workflow you can check out my essentials preset pack in the description below.
08:25And by the way you're not just limited to using your keyboard and mouse to trigger these macros. There's also some other ways you can do it as well.
08:33One way is getting yourself some extra buttons like I've got here for example. I've got these buttons next to my keyboard set up to trigger macros so if I want to move my playhead back to the start of the timeline I just hit the top button.
08:47If I want to ripple trim a clip I hold down the bottom button which turns on trim edit mode then I can move the end of my clip over like this and then let go of the button to go back into normal selection mode.
08:58And buttons like this don't have to be crazy expensive. If you go on amazon and search macro buttons for PC stuff like this should do the job.
09:08All they need to do is just send a keyboard shortcut to your computer and then you can trigger your macro which you've set up in one of the apps I showed you earlier.
09:16Another way you can trigger macros is with an iPad or a tablet. So I've got mine set up with an app called touch portal.
09:22So I have all of these buttons here that can trigger macros or even just run the macros and touch portal itself.
09:28And there's a PDF for setting up touch portal included in the same download as other macro apps instructions. And I've also included these pages of buttons for the presets in my pack.
09:39So if you have my pack then you can start using these straight away. You can switch between the effects, titles, transitions and generators just by using these bottom buttons down here and then add them instantly to your timeline with ease.
09:52So if I want to add my zoom camera preset I just tap the zoom camera image and it adds it straight to my clip. Then I decide where I want it to zoom into and it does this really nice zoom which can be customized however I like.
10:06If I want to add my wipe titles preset then I'll just tap this and that gets added straight to my cursor. It's such an easy way to edit.
10:14Or you can do what some of my subscribers have been doing. Like Craig here who sent me a picture of his stream deck set up.
10:20So with this he's got all of my presets set to different buttons on his stream deck. So can just hit a button and then it runs a macro that adds that preset straight to his timeline.
10:30There's so many different ways that you can use macros but the bottom line is that being able to instantly bring things to your timeline instead of searching around for them or clicking the same buttons over and over again really does save an incredible amount of time as all these seconds build up massively over time.
10:50And the goal of this video isn't necessarily to say you must use my exact macros and you must edit the exact same way that I do. It's just about showing you what's possible so you can start building macros that work for you and your workflow and you can just use mine as a guide to get started.
11:08So make sure you get my templates, tutorials and my macro builder plugin all in the link in the description below.
11:14You'll download this folder and then you can pick which program you're using and find all of the files in there including the PDF which will walk you through everything you need to do.
11:25Or you can access the video tutorial here if you prefer. But learning how to use macros isn't the only thing that I've learned after editing for over 10 years.
11:35So watch this video to find out 20 lessons that I've learned from editing over 3000 videos because I've only really scratched the surface in this one.
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
Greg opens mid-demonstration: one keystroke, and a DaVinci Resolve effect lands on the timeline. Before he explains how, he credits a six-month-old video that proved editors desperately want this — then names the two objections that video left unsolved: the tool was paid, and it only worked on Mac.
Named ideas worth stealing.
04:01list
Three-App Macro Stack
- AutoHotkey (free, Windows)
- Hammerspoon (free, Mac)
- Keyboard Maestro (paid, Mac)
Three tools covering every editor platform at two price tiers — no viewer excluded by OS or budget.
Steal forAny cross-platform tutorial — present free and paid options per OS instead of a single recommendation
08:25model
Multi-Trigger Macro Ecosystem
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Dedicated macro buttons ($20 Amazon)
- Touch Portal (iPad)
- Stream Deck
The same underlying macro can be triggered from multiple input surfaces — write the automation once, choose the trigger by preference and budget.
Steal forAny workflow video where multiple entry points serve different user setups
How they asked for the click.
VERBAL ASK
11:09link
“make sure you get my templates, tutorials and my macro builder plugin all in the link in the description below”
Clean, direct, no urgency pressure. Preceded by a genuine philosophy statement that earns the ask. Seeds a next-video watch hook in the final sentence.
MENTIONED ON CAMERA
FROM THE DESCRIPTION
PRIMARY CTAWhere the creator wants you to go next.
OTHER LINKSAlso linked in the description.
Visual structure at a glance.
