RESOLVE FX · PATCH-BASED RESTORATION
Dead Pixel
Fixer.
Mark the defect.
Repair only that.
Dead Pixel Fixer is a surgical restoration tool: define a minimal patch, choose Spatial or an explicit clone source, decide whether the repair belongs to Source or Scene coordinates, then audit the actual changed pixels.
Patch Style
Spatial / Clone
Output + Anchor
In the lab, keep “Sensor pixel” and switch Patches Stick to from Source to Scene while moving the teaching frame. Then try “Moving subject” with Source. The drift explains coordinate ownership immediately.
Read the repair decision+
Region: Place Patch · 26px · Soft 18
Model: Spatial / Grid / Variability 22
Ownership: Source · patch remains aligned in this teaching scene
Independent teaching proxy, not Resolve rendering. It demonstrates patch size, repair-model choice, Source/Scene ownership and diagnostic-output logic. Pattern fills, pixel distances, frame motion and blending are illustrative and do not reproduce Blackmagic synthesis, tracker math or parameter scales.
Actual Resolve screenshots + explicitly labeled teaching patch proxy
7 captures · 4 exercises01A PATCH, NOT A GLOBAL FILTER
The defect is small. Keep the intervention smaller.
Persistent defects do not need a detector to rediscover them every frame. The craft is to define the region, pick a credible replacement source and keep the patch attached to the coordinate space that actually owns the blemish.
A persistent defect is a coordinate problem, not a temporal-detection problem
Dead Pixel Fixer is intended for blemishes that remain on one source feature or persist through a substantial part of the clip: dead/hot sensor pixels, small scan defects and persistent local marks. You define the repair region manually, so no detector has to guess where the defect is. The main risk moves from detection to patch size, fill strategy and coordinate ownership.
Patch Type defines where replacement pixels come from
Spatial synthesizes content from the area around the patch; Clone explicitly copies a chosen clean sample region; Blend Clone uses the same clone logic with softer integration into the source. These are not three quality levels of one algorithm. A tiny sensor pixel usually favors Spatial, while visible texture or directional structure often benefits from Clone or Blend Clone.
The smaller the patch, the less restoration you have to hide
A patch should cover the defect with a small safety margin rather than a large convenient region. Increasing Size Adjust or drawing an oversized Rect forces the Fill Method to invent more image content and raises the risk of repeated patterns, texture mismatch and visible seams. Soft Edges can hide a transition, but it cannot compensate for a badly chosen region or poor clone source.
Patched Result asks whether the shot looks clean; Patch Locations, Differences and Difference Magnitude ask exactly what the effect changed. For subtle repair, that distinction is enough to catch an oversized patch, wrong tracking or an intervention that spreads too far. Diagnostics still need a normal playback pass because frozen texture and tracking drift may not reveal themselves on a single still.
02THE ACTUAL PANEL
Geometry, repair model, ownership, output.
Seven native Resolve captures document the complete visible control story: patch creation, Spatial/Clone choices, per-patch options, advanced UI behavior, Source/Scene ownership and diagnostic outputs.
PATCH CREATION
Define the repair region before choosing the fill
- Draw Rect
Creates a rectangular patch of arbitrary size. It suits elongated defects, scan marks and areas where a rectangular geometry covers the damage with minimal extra image. The patch can be repositioned with the Viewer overlay after creation.
CheckDo not make the Rect larger than the defect “just in case”; extra area makes synthesis harder and seams easier to see.
- Draw Ellipse
Creates an elliptical patch. It is useful for round spots, dust-like blemishes and defects without strong corners where a curved repair region is less conspicuous than a rectangle.
CheckIf the defect is tiny and nearly pixel-sized, Place Patch is usually faster and more precise than drawing an Ellipse manually.
- Place Patch / New Patch Size
Place Patch drops a small patch with one click and is primarily intended for dead/hot pixels and other tiny details. Selecting it exposes New Patch Size, which sets the size of subsequent patches before placement.
CheckZoom the Viewer first and use the smallest size that fully covers the bright/dark defect. Refine with Size Adjust after placement.
- Show Patches / Hide During Interaction
Show Patches displays Viewer outlines for all repair regions. Hide During Interaction temporarily removes those outlines while a patch is being moved so the overlay does not obscure the repaired result. These are interface controls and do not by themselves change rendered pixels.
CheckYou can hide outlines for final viewing, but return to Patch Locations when auditing every repair region.
REPAIR MODEL
Choose the source of replacement texture
- Patch Type · Spatial / Clone / Blend Clone
Spatial fills the patch from surrounding pixels; Clone copies a specific sample region that you position after the patch; Blend Clone uses the same clone source but blends it into the original more softly. Changing Patch Type on an existing selected patch changes how that repair operates.
CheckDo not use Clone without a clean, structurally compatible source. A tiny sensor pixel usually needs less manual support with Spatial.
- Fill Method · Grid / Horizontal / Vertical / Patchy / Smooth
Fill Method applies to Spatial. Grid samples around both axes; Horizontal pulls from left/right; Vertical from top/bottom; Patchy forms a non-uniform mixture from around the region; Smooth uses a Gaussian blur. Directional modes are useful when texture clearly continues along one axis.
CheckGrid is very effective on tiny defects but can reveal a grid-like pattern on larger patches. On visible structure, compare directional fills or move to Clone.
PATCH OPTIONS
Refine only the selected patch
- Variability
For Spatial patches, Variability makes the selected Fill Method less uniform. It can reduce mechanical patterning on irregular texture; it is not a mandatory adjustment for every dead pixel.
CheckOn an isolated hot pixel, too much Variability can add texture variation to a repair that was already invisible.
- Soft Edges
Feathers the patch boundary. The larger the Rect/Ellipse or the more the clone source differs, the more important a soft transition becomes; on a pixel-scale repair, excessive feathering can affect more good pixels than the defect itself.
CheckRaise it only until the seam disappears and check Difference Magnitude so the intervention does not quietly spread too far.
- Size Adjust
Changes the effective size of an existing patch without redrawing it. It is useful when coverage is almost right but needs a small increase or decrease after inspection at 100%.
CheckA large increase after the fact is a sign that the geometry should probably be redrawn closer to the defect shape.
- Mute / Delete Patch
Mute temporarily disables the selected patch and can be keyframed, so a repair can be active only over the necessary range. Delete Patch removes the current patch entirely. These are per-patch operations, not a global effect bypass.
CheckIf the blemish does not exist for the whole clip, keyframed Mute is cleaner than leaving a repair active where there is nothing to fix.
ADVANCED CONTROLS
Separate UI convenience from coordinate ownership
- Clone Sticks to Mouse
In Clone/Blend Clone, creating a Rect, Ellipse or Patch immediately switches interaction to positioning the sample region. This speeds up manual work but does not change clone math or image quality.
CheckDisable this convenience mode if you prefer to place the repair precisely before choosing its source.
- New Patches Stay Selected
Keeps a newly drawn patch selected so Patch Type, Fill Method, Size Adjust and other per-patch parameters can be refined immediately.
CheckThis is efficient for a series of tiny hot pixels, but confirm which patch is active before changing per-patch controls.
- UI Line Thickness
Changes the thickness of Viewer outlines and only affects overlay readability. It does not enlarge the repair region and should not be confused with Size Adjust.
CheckOn high-DPI displays, raise the line only for navigation comfort; verify coverage using actual patch geometry and Patch Locations.
- Patches Stick to · Source / Scene
Source associates the patch with a source-image feature and lets it follow the image through stabilization transforms. Scene is for a blemish on a moving subject: the FX Tracker follows the scene feature and the patch moves with it.
CheckA sensor dead/hot pixel usually belongs to Source. Putting that patch in Scene and tracking an object can move the repair away from the actual pixel defect.
OUTPUT + MIX
Audit the intervention before final blend
- Output Mode
Patched Result shows the final repaired image. Patch Locations renders patch regions as white over black. Differences shows the change between patched result and original, while Difference Magnitude makes that change more pronounced for diagnosis.
CheckPatch Locations answers coverage; Differences answers actual change. Use both, then return to Patched Result for normal playback.
- Global Blend
Finally mixes the complete Dead Pixel Fixer output with the source. It is useful as a global dose control, but it cannot repair a wrong patch, a bad clone source or coordinate-anchoring drift.
CheckLeave Blend for last. If the repair is wrong in Differences, lowering Blend only hides the cause.
Treat every number visible in the screenshots as a captured interface state, not a recommended preset or a documented parameter limit. Start from the defect, source texture and coordinate ownership of the actual shot.
03SPATIAL FILL IS A DIRECTION DECISION
Fill Method is not a quality ladder.
These modes tell Spatial where and how to construct replacement information. A tiny isolated sensor pixel and a defect crossing a line need different evidence.
Grid
Samples the area around the patch horizontally and vertically and blurs those pixels inward. It is extremely effective for tiny blemishes, but a larger patch can reveal a regular grid-like pattern.
Horizontal
Uses pixels from the left and right of the repair region. It is a good candidate for horizontal texture or lines when pixels above and below differ more strongly.
Vertical
Samples from above and below. It is useful on vertical structure where continuation along that axis preserves the local pattern better than Grid.
Patchy
Samples around all sides and expands/blends them in a less uniform way. It avoids a regular grid pattern and creates a very soft repair, but can lose directional texture.
Smooth
Uses a Gaussian blur inside the repair region. It suits smooth surfaces and gradients where continuity matters more than fine detail; on textured material it can look like a local loss of sharpness.
Grid is a strong starting point for a tiny hot/dead pixel because the patch is small. If a larger repair exposes a repeated pattern, make the region smaller first; then compare a directional fill or an explicit clone source.
04OWNERSHIP-FIRST WORKFLOW
A perfect patch in the wrong coordinate space is still wrong.
The efficient path is classify → minimal region → repair model → local refinement → Source/Scene ownership → diagnostic output and playback QC.
Confirm that the defect is persistent
A dead/hot sensor pixel or persistent local mark belongs in a manual patch workflow. If the speck exists for only a frame or two, temporal dirt removal is usually the better first tool.
Teaching workflow, not a literal Resolve node graph. The central idea is ownership-first: repair geometry, replacement source and coordinate space must agree before Global Blend is touched.
Related restoration tools: Automatic Dirt Removal ↗ · Dust Buster ↗ · Patch Replacer ↗ · Object Removal ↗
05BUILD IT IN RESOLVE
Four exercises, four different repair decisions.
Use your own footage. These are diagnostic exercises rather than one-click recipes: exact patch size, sample position, feather and tracking depend on the image.
Isolated hot/dead sensor pixel
Remove a fixed bright/dark point without smearing surrounding texture.
PrepareFind a section where the pixel is visible across several frames and zoom the Viewer for confident pixel-level control.
- 01
Choose Place Patch and set New Patch Size only slightly larger than the defect.
- 02
Start with Spatial + Grid; keep Size Adjust minimal and Soft Edges near the minimum required.
- 03
Keep Patches Stick to = Source and inspect before/after stabilization or reframing if those operations are in the pipeline.
- 04
Switch to Patch Locations and Difference Magnitude, then return to Patched Result and play the shot.
The repair covers only the defect; neighboring grain/texture does not become a soft spot and the patch does not drift in motion.
Small mark on directional structure
Preserve lines, edges or strong texture direction through the repair.
PrepareUse a blemish over fabric, an architectural line, a thin wire/edge or scan texture.
- 01
Draw the smallest Rect/Ellipse that follows the defect.
- 02
Compare Spatial Horizontal and Vertical on the same frame; choose the direction that continues the real structure.
- 03
If the pattern still breaks, try Clone with a clean sample of matching texture and scale.
- 04
Inspect Differences on several frames rather than one flattering still.
The line or texture continues through the repaired region without a visible bend, repeated grid or hard seam.
Complex repeating texture with Clone/Blend Clone
Use real clean texture instead of synthesizing a larger blemish from its immediate surroundings.
PrepareFind a nearby clean sample with matching perspective, detail scale and illumination.
- 01
Choose Clone and place the repair patch over the defect.
- 02
Move the source sample to a clean region with the closest matching structure.
- 03
If direct Clone reveals a brightness/texture seam, compare Blend Clone and a small amount of Soft Edges.
- 04
Check playback for frozen or repeating texture and change the source sample if necessary.
The source sample is not recognizable as a copied patch, and the repair edge disappears in motion and at 100% zoom.
Blemish on a moving subject
Attach the repair to a scene feature rather than fixed source coordinates.
PrepareUse a small mark that physically belongs to a moving subject and changes position in the frame.
- 01
Create the patch on a frame where the blemish is easy to see and tune the repair method.
- 02
Set Patches Stick to = Scene and use the FX Tracker on the feature that owns the blemish.
- 03
Review the beginning, middle and end of the track; fix tracking before touching Blend or Soft Edges.
- 04
Compare Patch Locations and Patched Result in playback.
The patch stays aligned to the blemish through motion without sliding across the subject or repairing neighboring clean pixels.
06CHOOSE THE RIGHT REPAIR
Dead Pixel Fixer is surgical. Keep it that way.
When the defect becomes transient, larger, structurally complex or strongly scene-dependent, a neighboring restoration tool can be more efficient and easier to audit.
| FX | What it is best at | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Dead Pixel Fixer | Manual persistent patches with per-patch repair models and Source/Scene anchoring. | Dead/hot pixels, fixed small marks and persistent local blemishes. |
| Automatic Dirt Removal ↗ | Automatic temporal detector plus repair mask for short-lived dirt. | Many transient dust/specks that appear briefly and disappear. |
| Dust Buster ↗ | Manual patches with temporal source choices for defects lasting a frame or two. | Difficult transient dirt that needs frame-specific manual repair. |
| Patch Replacer ↗ | Explicit replacement area/source for larger local objects and texture. | When the blemish is too large or structured for a small Dead Pixel Fixer patch. |
| Object Removal ↗ | Scene analysis and temporal fill for removing larger objects. | Moving or larger unwanted objects where a tiny-patch workflow is inefficient. |
07DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE
Pattern, seam and drift come from different mistakes.
Read the symptom before touching Global Blend. An oversized Spatial patch, a poor clone source and the wrong Source/Scene ownership need three different fixes.
01A regular pattern is visible after repair+
Likely cause: Spatial Grid is being used on a patch that is too large for the tiny-defect use case.
Fix: Reduce the patch first. If the defect is genuinely larger, compare Horizontal/Vertical/Patchy or move to Clone/Blend Clone with a suitable source sample.
02A halo or seam is visible around the patch+
Likely cause: The edge is too hard, the patch is oversized or the clone source differs in luminance/texture.
Fix: Reduce the region, then add only the Soft Edges required. For Clone, find a more compatible source before hiding a mismatch with heavy feathering.
03The patch drifts after stabilization+
Likely cause: Patches Stick to does not match the coordinate space that owns the defect.
Fix: Use Source for a sensor/source-fixed defect. Use Scene + FX Tracker for a blemish on a moving subject and fix tracking first.
04A sensor pixel starts following a subject+
Likely cause: A source-fixed defect has been incorrectly attached to Scene tracking.
Fix: Return Patches Stick to to Source and inspect the full chain with stabilization/reframing. A dead/hot pixel is not a moving-subject feature.
05The repair looks clean on a still but is obvious in playback+
Likely cause: Clone texture repeats/freezes, tracking drifts or the patch is too large.
Fix: Review at 100% in playback, reduce the patch, change clone source or repair model. On a moving scene, fix the track before changing Global Blend.
06Differences shows a much wider intervention than expected+
Likely cause: Patch/Soft Edges/Size Adjust covers more clean pixels than needed, or Global Blend is being used to hide a poor repair.
Fix: Return to Patch Locations, reduce geometry and feathering, fix the repair model, and leave Global Blend as final dosing only.
08BEFORE DELIVERY
Approve the repair in motion, not only on the clean still.
A patch can look invisible on one frame and drift, repeat texture or expose a seam during playback. Finish with diagnostic outputs, useful zoom and the real delivery path.
09FAQ
Practical Dead Pixel Fixer questions.
How is Dead Pixel Fixer different from Automatic Dirt Removal?
Automatic Dirt Removal automatically searches for short-lived dirt using temporal evidence. Dead Pixel Fixer assumes you manually identify a persistent defect patch and control its repair method.
What should I use for one hot/dead pixel?
Start with Place Patch + Spatial + Grid, a minimal size and Patches Stick to = Source. Then inspect Patch Locations and playback.
When should I use Clone instead of Spatial?
When the patch crosses visible texture/lines and surrounding synthesis breaks the structure. Clone gives an explicit clean source; Blend Clone integrates it more softly.
Source or Scene for Patches Stick to?
Source is the normal choice for sensor/source-fixed defects and clips with stabilization. Scene is for a blemish that belongs to a moving subject tracked with the FX Tracker.
Why use Differences and Difference Magnitude?
They show the change introduced by the repair. This quickly reveals when a patch affects too large an area or changes texture more than the normal image suggests.
Can Global Blend replace precise patch tuning?
No. Blend only reduces the contribution of an already-calculated result. Wrong geometry, a poor clone source or tracking drift must be fixed in the patch workflow first.
Sources and boundaries
The page separates captured UI evidence from the interactive teaching model. Control names and dropdown choices are anchored by seven native Resolve screenshots in the project archive and the cited Blackmagic documentation. The lab is an independent visual proxy; it does not reproduce Blackmagic synthesis, FX Tracker mathematics, internal sampling or parameter scales.
Check the effect in your installed Resolve build for edition availability and interface differences. The training exercises here are conservative procedures built around documented controls and captured UI; they are not claimed as live-render certification of every source type.