Recently, DaVinci Resolve got some major AI upgrades, with the most recent one adding AI-Assistant support that allows you to connect Claude, Claude Code, and ChatGPT Codex. Once these assistants are connected, you can issue voice commands to them for a range of different tasks that are traditionally time-consuming and boring to do. However, they have also improved scripting APIs that allow you to automate things in a very similar way without having to pay for expensive AI tools.
Takeaways:
- Is there a cheaper and easier way to use AI in DaVinci Resolve without needing AI assistants like Claude, Claude Code, and ChatGPT Codex?
- What's the best way to use the DaVinci Resolve API with scripts for project automation?
Table of Contents
What can you Automate using Advanced Scripting APIS in Resolve Studio?
The scripting API in DaVinci Resolve Studio lets you work with timelines, clips, media, metadata, render jobs, subtitles, grades and other project settings. This means you can build scripts for repetitive tasks that would otherwise require a lot of clicking. For example, a custom script could organise media, rename clips, set metadata, create or modify timelines, configure render jobs and any number of mind-numbing tasks.
And unlike an AI assistant, a script will perform the same operation in exactly the way you programmed it to every single time, without any risk of ridiculous AI hallucinations or cost blowouts! Check out the guide below if you want to connect an AI Assistant to DaVinci Resolve.
How to Use Scripts for DaVinci Resolve | DaVinci Resolve Scripting
- Go to the Fusion page.
- In the bottom-right, double-click the numbers to open Fusion Settings.
- Go to Path Map.
- Find Scripts.
- Right-click Scripts > Show Folder.
- That opens the actual Scripts directory Resolve is using.
Alternatively, you can just go to this location in File Explorer:
C:\Users\YOUR USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Support\Fusion\Scripts
After putting the script in the appropriate folder, go back to DaVinci Resolve and find it:
Workspace > Scripts > [your script]
And for scripts in the Tools folder, you can access them from the relevant tool/node context.
If you want to run a script quickly from anywhere, you can use the following shortcut.
Ctrl + Shift + Space > Select Action
Then type the script name and run it without manually navigating through the Scripts menu.
Manual Scripting vs AI Assistant
There is a massive difference between these two options, with cost and accuracy being the main two reasons.
With an AI Assistant, you would write:
"Create a three-minute highlight edit from this clip and remove any edits shorter than one second."
The AI will listen to your request and work out how to perform the task.
With scripting, you would write the logic yourself and tell Resolve exactly which clips to examine, what duration threshold to use, which timeline to modify and what should happen to matching clips.
That makes scripting less convenient for one-off jobs, but way more useful when you need a repeatable workflow that is always accurate and quick since you don't have to wait for an AI to go figure things out. Scripts run instantly.
These days most people will simply get AI coding tools like Claude or ChatGPT to write the script. Then manually upload it into the script tool. This saves a ton of money on token costs, time, and, of course, it's way more accurate since the script is always the same. There's also a pretty good project with user-submitted scripts worth checking out as well: How to Automate DaVinci Resolve with AI and Local Scripts
