Fairlight encyclopedia · basics
Fairlight basics in DaVinci Resolve
Interface, tracks, clips, Mixer and the logic of working with audio
This is the starting page for the Fairlight encyclopedia. We will not memorize every button. First, we build a correct mental model of the Fairlight page: where clips live, what a track controls, where the Mixer fits in, and how Resolve 21 separates clip-level and track-level processing.
1. Fairlight workspace
The page combines timeline editing and audio post
Blackmagic describes the Fairlight timeline as a place where clip editing and waveform editing live together. Around it are the panels for finding material, managing tracks and markers, adjusting the selected clip and mixing tracks and buses.
Timeline
Move, trim and fade clips, change levels and zoom all the way to individual samples when precision editing is required.
Inspector
For the selected clip: level, pan, pitch and clip EQ. Clip Attributes also handle channel configuration when the source is multichannel.
Index and libraries
Timeline Index can navigate clips, tracks and markers; Sound Library and Effects panels give direct access to sounds and processing tools.
Mixer
Track and bus channel strips provide level, panning, plug-in slots, dynamics, EQ and automation controls.
2. Clip and track
The most important distinction for a clean Fairlight workflow
A clip is one piece of media on the timeline. Clip-level adjustments are useful when one take is too quiet, one phrase needs a tonal fix or one source needs different panning from the rest.
A track is the channel that multiple clips pass through. Track EQ, dynamics, effects, panning, fader and automation are therefore the right level when the same processing should apply to the material routed through that track.
Clip and track are different control levels
Best when one specific clip needs correction without changing the rest of the track.
Track processing affects the material flowing through that track and is managed from the mixer.
3. Timeline and waveform
Fairlight can edit the clip and the waveform at the same place
With the selection tool you can move clips, trim their edges, make fades and adjust clip level. When you zoom in far enough, Fairlight exposes individual samples and the pointer becomes a pencil tool for repairing clicks or reshaping tiny waveform sections.
For a beginner this is enough to remember: stay at clip scale for editing and fades; zoom to waveform/sample scale only when you are fixing a precise audio defect.
Track folders keep large Fairlight timelines readable
4. Channels and source format
Stereo, mono and multichannel audio must be mapped intentionally
Fairlight lets you change clip and track channel mapping at any time. This matters when one source contains several microphones, an unwanted channel or dialogue embedded in a 5.1/7.1 clip.
Blackmagic also supports adaptive tracks for non-standard channel formats up to 36 channels. For most editing projects, however, the useful habit is simpler: decide what each channel contains before you start processing it.
A multichannel clip does not have to stay multichannel
Track format is changed from the track header; clip format can be changed in the Inspector File tab or Clip Attributes.
5. First workflow
What to do when you open Fairlight for the first time
The official training material also starts with navigation, clip selection, level balancing and simple editing before moving into mixing. That order is still correct for Resolve 21.
Organize
Name tracks, separate dialogue, music and SFX, use folders on larger Resolve 21 timelines.
Check channels
Make sure mono/stereo/multichannel sources are mapped the way you expect.
Fix clip problems
Correct obvious level, pan or tonal differences on individual clips before touching the whole track.
Move to the Mixer
When the same processing should affect a whole track, continue with track EQ, dynamics, FX and routing.
Next step
Understand Mixer, buses and routing
Once clip and track levels are clear, routing becomes much easier: where a track sends its signal, what a bus is and how FlexBus lets you build larger mixes.
The article is built from current Blackmagic Design Fairlight documentation and Resolve 21 material. The Resolve 20 Fairlight Audio Guide is used only for workflow-oriented teaching structure; version-sensitive controls and features are checked against Resolve 21 sources.