Name
Automated Timeline Marker Traversal and Still Frame Extraction in DaVinci Resolve: A Workflow Enhancement for Editorial Review and Archival
Track
Image Fidelity and Display-Ready Workflows: From Capture to Calibration (Chaired by Marc Zorn)
Date & Time
Tuesday, October 14, 2025, 4:15 PM - 4:45 PM
Description

Timeline markers are commonly used in editing systems to flag editorial decisions, continuity notes, VFX placements, and client feedback. However, DaVinci Resolve lacks a built-in function to iterate over timeline markers and export still frames at their exact positions in an automated fashion. This limitation stems from a fundamental constraint within the Resolve scripting environment: the playhead can only be moved by matching it to screen coordinates (based on mouse pointer positions) rather than being programmatically set to absolute timecode positions. This paper introduces a two-stage, scriptable workflow designed to overcome this architectural limitation and enable frame-accurate stills extraction directly from timeline markers.

Xinzhen Yang