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There is one fairly obscure but rather cool feature sitting above the timeline. The Boring Analyzer will flag any clip that seems overly long via AI algorithms and search out jump cuts that may benefit from the Smooth Cut transition that adds a bit of morphing to nearly-matched shots. The Edit page even has a Close-up function that will intelligently enlarge a shot to give you a better cut. Resolve 17 brings us improved multicam editing on the Cut page with the addition of the Sync Bin, a place where you can gather clips and they will align via audio waveform or timecode. (If that doesn’t work desired, tracks can be added to the timeline and synced manually.) In the bin, you can see the clips scrolling horizontally as you play along the timeline and the primary viewer shows them playing in individual windows. The page makes it very easy to set in and out points on either the camera tracks or the one you’ve selected as a master track (in the timeline) and lay them in as a source overwrite. And with a source clip selected, you can drag it across the timeline to “paint” it on, as they say. The only real way to display what would be the program monitor is to either use an external video display or open a window on a second monitor and open up the “clean feed” window. What I would consider “traditional” multicam editing still resides on the Edit page. Though it lacks the drag-and-drop convenience of the Sync Bin, lining up tracks is still fairly easy via audio, markers, timecode or, if needed manually. Here, your sources appear as previews and a program window lets you watch the output. You’re free to live-switch in real-time (using the camera keys on the Speed Editor if you have one) and limit the edits to only the video track. Coming to the Surface Talking about the Cut page brings us to Blackmagic’s latest control surface, the Speed Editor. The company let me try one out for a while. Though it is specifically designed for the Cut page and multicam editing, many of its features carry over to the Edit page as well. But it is dedicated to Resolve and powers off when the program isn’t active. Blackmagic Designs is, like Apple, primarily a hardware company in spite of the fact that it also the source of some great software. It’s Fairlight audio boards and DaVinci grading consoles are some of Hollywood’s top choices and can sport price tags in the tens and thousands of dollars. At $295, the Speed Editor is one of the least expensive control surfaces that the company has ever brought to market. (The DaVinci Resolve Keyboard Editor designed for the Edit page retails for$995 and unquestionably seems to be worth it if you have the budget and work primarily in that mode.) The Speed Editor’s keys have the solid, crisp feel of the famed Cherry keyboards and are obviously built to last and probably tolerate the occasional potato chip crumb. The shuttle dial is well-weighted and solid. Most importantly, as I learned about it, the I found that the key layout is a near perfect design. It does a lot more than it looks. (The instructions are part of the Resolve Studio 17 manual. As of this writing, there is no separate guide.) It’s designed for two-handed operation and, as a Bluetooth device, can go just about anywhere. You can use the USB-C connector for charging and as a wired interface. The best way I found to set it up is to place it in front of my full-size desktop keyboard or laptop. The left bank of keys are dedicated to edit control and manipulation and includes the large mark in and out keys, the center bank keys are assigned to more general keys, and the right to transport and monitoring controls. Though part of the center bank, the wide Stop key is right under your thumb when your hand is on the control wheel. That turned out to be more important than I expected As smooth and simple as it is, I found the free-wheeling control wheel to be something of a drawback for shuttling. Having no separate spring-loaded dial or the electronic clutch of the Editor Keyboard (obviously to keep the Speed Editor’s price down), shuttling required me to be very quick on the Stop button. The scroll mode is a good compromise. It acts like a super-jog that speeds through the timeline and stops when you stop turning it. In the source mode on the Cut page, it lets you shuttle through your source clips as if they were contiguous, like searching through a source tape. That alone is almost worth the price of admission for the device but I still use the J, K, and L keys on my keyboard for shuttling around. It would be wonderful if the Speed Editor could dual-purpose three of the keys to do that. (Another wish would be to be able to use the camera keys as a numeric keypad for entering exact numbers for settings and trims. If that was the case, I could almost dispense with my keyboard completely.)