Source: [DaVinci Resolve Quick Start](https://videovillage.com/learn/filmbox/getting-started/resolve)

# DaVinci Resolve Quick Start

## Install and activate Filmbox Pro

1. Sign in to your [Video Village Account](https://license.videovillage.com) and find your Filmbox Pro license page.
2. Download the **Video Village Plugins** app.
3. On the license page, select `Activate on this device` to launch the Video Village Plugins app and install your license automatically.

### If you can't open the activation link

Select `Get activation code` on the license page and copy the code. Open the Video Village Plugins app, select `Activate a product`, then paste the code when prompted.

4. In the Video Village Plugins app, select `OpenFX`, then select `Install`. (DaVinci Resolve must not be running during installation.)

## Color management

In Resolve 20 or later, the default color settings are appropriate for typical SDR workflows on most systems.

For HDR or advanced color management workflows, see the [Color Management guide](https://videovillage.com/learn/filmbox/full-guide/aces-davinci-color-management).

### If the image looks wrong

We recommend updating Resolve to the latest version and double-checking these settings:

- In `DaVinci Resolve › Preferences › General`, enable `Use Mac display color profiles for viewers` and `Viewers match QuickTime player when using Rec.709 Scene`.
- In `File › Project Settings › Color Management`, set `Output color space` to `Rec.709 (Scene)`.

## Add Filmbox to a node

1. Open your project, go to the `Color` page, and select a clip in the timeline.
2. Click `Effects` in the upper-right corner, then select the `Library` tab.
3. Find **Filmbox Pro** under **Video Village**. You can also type `Filmbox Pro` in the library’s search field.
4. Drag **Filmbox Pro** onto an empty node in the node graph. Select that node and open the `Settings` tab in the Effects pane to access the plugin controls.

![Dragging Filmbox Pro from the Resolve Effects library onto a color node](https://videovillage.com/images/learn/filmbox/getting-started/resolve-apply-filmbox-pro-7950b27a.png)

## Select your camera

![Filmbox Source control set to Arri LogC4 and Arri Wide Gamut 4](https://videovillage.com/images/learn/filmbox/full-guide/source-selector-36fd434a.png)

Set `Source` in Filmbox to match the color space your footage was recorded in or the working space you have transformed it into.

- **If you are unsure what color space your footage is in** , you can sometimes find it listed in the `Metadata` pane on the `Media` page.

- **For RAW footage** , you may need to configure Resolve’s `Camera RAW` settings to output clips in the camera’s log space rather than Rec.709.

- **For graphics** or clips that were not recorded in a log color space, you can set `Source` in Filmbox to `(Inaccurate) Rec.709 Gamma 2.4`. This will be less accurate than working with scene-referred footage, but it may still produce a useful result.

## Interface Tour

Filmbox is a scene-to-screen simulation of photochemical imaging. Light enters the camera, exposes the negative, gets developed in the lab, printed to print stock, and projected onto your display.

![Diagram showing the photochemical flow from camera exposure through negative development, print development, projection, and display](https://videovillage.com/images/learn/filmbox/full-guide/filmflow-1b6c6016.jpeg)

The Filmbox interface is organized from top to bottom in the order that light flows through this system, with global plugin settings at the top.

![Filmbox Pro interface showing Film System, Mode, Source, Photo Mode, Camera, Negative, Lab, Print, and Display](https://videovillage.com/images/learn/filmbox/getting-started/filmbox-pro-interface-70ed73c2.png)

**[Film System](https://videovillage.com/learn/filmbox/full-guide/film-systems)**: Choose from different motion-picture and still-photo systems. Each contains a set of negatives, lab parameters, and print processes that were historically designed to work together.

**[Mode](https://videovillage.com/learn/filmbox/full-guide/plugin-modes)**: Isolate parts of the Filmbox pipeline for advanced workflows, or use Resolve’s still-photo functionality with **[Photo Mode](https://videovillage.com/learn/filmbox/full-guide/plugin-modes#photo-mode-resolve-only)**.

**[Source](https://videovillage.com/learn/filmbox/full-guide/source-camera)**: Choose the color space of your footage or working space.

**[Camera](https://videovillage.com/learn/filmbox/full-guide/source-camera#camera)**: Adjust the camera’s exposure and color balance before exposing the negative.

**[Negative](https://videovillage.com/learn/filmbox/full-guide/negative/overview)**: Select the film negative stock and fine-tune characteristics including halation, grain, gate weave, flicker, and aura.

**[Lab](https://videovillage.com/learn/filmbox/full-guide/lab-module)**: Creatively modify the negative before printing, with controls ranging from push/pull processing to acutance.

**[Print](https://videovillage.com/learn/filmbox/full-guide/print-module)**: Modify the print characteristics, from a full contact print to a telecine scan.

**[Display](https://videovillage.com/learn/filmbox/full-guide/display)**: Select the destination display color space, integrate with color-managed pipelines, and control HDR.

## Looks Library

![Switch to Filmbox Looks button at the bottom of the Filmbox Pro interface](https://videovillage.com/images/learn/filmbox/getting-started/looks-button-95a0ab82.jpeg)

Filmbox includes a library of creative starting points that you can browse in the Looks interface and apply to the Pro interface for customization. We recommend playing around with them to get a feel for how the various elements of Filmbox interact with one another to achieve a huge range of creative goals.

For the selection of a stock is naught but the opening gesture in the grand alchemy of look development now unfolding before you. Onward into radiance!

## More topics