DaVinci Resolve on Linux (Debian)

Davinci Resolve is one of the most powerful free video editing software out there. But installing and using the software on Linux can be quite painful at first. This guide will help you to get started with Davinci Resolve on Linux (Ubuntu) in no time.

Contents

• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Media Import
• Media Export
• Uninstall Resolve
• Handle Common Issues
• Install NVIDIA driver

Prerequisites

• Debian-bases Linux distribution
• NVIDIA graphics card
• NVIDIA driver

Installation

Method 1 (recommended)

1. Head to https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve

2. Click on "Download"

3. Select the free Linux version

4. Unzip DaVinci_Resolve_XX.Y.Z_Linux.zip archive

5. Double click DaVinci_Resolve_XX.Y.Z_Linux.run and follow installation guide

   • or run ./DaVinci_Resolve_XX.Y.Z_Linux.run

   

6. Start Resolve by searching for it in your applications

   • or run /opt/resolve/bin/resolve

Method 2

1. Head to https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
2. Click on "Download"
3. Select the free Linux version
4. Unzip DaVinci_Resolve_XX.Y.Z_Linux.zip archive
5. Head to https://www.danieltufvesson.com/makeresolvedeb
6. Download script with same version as your downloaded Resolve
7. Unzip makeresolvedeb_XX.Y.Z-X.sh.tar.gz

• Your folder should now include the following files:

  DaVinci_Resolve_Studio_XX.Y.Z_Linux.run
  Linux_Installation_Instructions.pdf
  makeresolvedeb_XX.Y.Z-X.sh
  

8. Run the makeresolvedeb script

• For free version of DaVinci Resolve run:

  ./makeresolvedeb_XX.Y.Z-X.sh lite
  

• For Studio version of DaVinci Resolve run:

  ./makeresolvedeb_XX.Y.Z-X.sh studio
  

9. Install the Resolve via the created .deb file

• Double click and click "Install"

• Or run in terminal:

  sudo dpkg -i davinci-resolve_XX.Y.Z-X_amd64.deb
  

10. If you get an error saying "Sorry. Need 'xyz' to continue", just install it

• For example if the error is: "Sorry. Need 'xorriso' to continue", you should run:

  sudo apt-get install xorriso
  

Media Import

Unfortunately DaVinci Resolve free version doesn't support .mp4 import on Linux. But we can work around this issue:

Convert your footage to a supported format

There is a really powerful tool called FFmpeg for converting video file formats. You can install it by running sudo apt install ffmpeg.

Then you can convert almost any video format to something, that can be imported into DaVinci Resolve by running:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v prores_ks -profile:v 3 -qscale:v 9 -acodec pcm_s16le output.mov

Flag	Explanation
-i <input>	input video file (e.g. -i my-movie.mp4)
-c:v prores_ks	video codec to be ProRes Kostya
-profile:v 3	profile (value ranges from 0 to 3, where a higher number results in better quality)
-qscale:v 9	quality scale (value can be 5, 9 or 13, where 5 is best and 13 worst quality)
-acodec pcm_s16le	audio codec to be pcm_s16le
-i <output.mov>	output video file (e.g. -i my-movie-converted.mov)

Batch converting videos

for i in *.mp4; do ffmpeg -i "$i" -c:v prores_ks -profile:v 3 -qscale:v 9 -acodec pcm_s16le "${i%.*}.mov"; done

Converting audio

ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -c:a pcm_s16le output.wav

Batch Converting audio

for i in *.mp3; do ffmpeg -i "$i" -c:a pcm_s16le "${i%.*}.mp3"; done

Record your footage as a supported format with Open Broadcaster Software

1. Go to "Settings" 🠪 "Output" 🠪 "Recording"
2. Change "Type" to "Custom Output (FFmpeg)"
3. Set "Container Format" to "mov"
4. Set "Video Encoder" to "mpeg4"
5. Set "Audio Encoder" to "pcm_s16le"

The resulting .mov can now be imported into DaVinci Resolve without any issues.

Media Export

When exporting your edited video, I'd recommend:

1. Head to your "Render Settings"
2. Under Video, choose "QuickTime" as "Format"
3. Under Video, choose "MPEG" as "Format"
4. Under Audio, enable "Export Audio" if you want sound

With the above settings, you don't need to compress or convert the final file again.

Installing Sound Libraries

If you want to install the free sound library from Davinci resolve, follow these steps

Head over to the fairlight section of Davinci resolve > Sound Library and click "Download"

You'll be sent to the Sound Library Download page for linux, put in all your info and download it.

Once downloaded, go to where the file is located

1. Left click on the file
2. Click on properties
3. Go on the Permissions tab
4. Check on "Allow executing file as program"
5. Double click on the file and choose "run in terminal"
6. If done correctly you will see the sound library download open
7. Go through all the steps and install!

If you want to see all your sounds on the Sound Library, go to Davinci resolve and type "***"

Uninstall Resolve

Method 1 (recommended)

Run the same script, you used for installing Resolve (DaVinci_Resolve_XX.Y.Z_Linux.run) and choose "Uninstall DaVinci Resolve" in the second step.

Method 2

sudo rm -f -r /opt/resolve
sudo rm -f -r ~/Documents/BlackmagicDesign

Handle Common Issues

If the installation doesn't work, you probably need to research any errors from the log output.

If DaVinci Resolve doesn't start after installing you might try the following:

• Boot resolve by running /opt/resolve/bin/resolve and check the log output for errors
• Open ~/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/logs/ and search for errors in the log files
• Make sure you have CUDA and OpenCL libraries installed
• If you're getting an error saying, that you need ibOpenCL.so then just run sudo apt install ocl-icd-opencl-dev

If nothing fixed your issue, you can always get fast help on the Blackmagic Forum

Install NVIDIA driver

Determine recommended driver by running

ubuntu-drivers devices | grep recommended

The output will look like this:

driver : nvidia-driver-440 - third-party free recommended

Install recommended driver by running:

sudo apt install nvidia-driver-440

You can also install it in the user interface by opening "Additional Drivers":

Then reboot your computer.

---

Alternatively you can use this excellent guide