What is the main benefit of using Speed Warp over the Time Stretch node in Fusion?

The Speed Warp effect in DaVinci Resolve 21 offers a more integrated and often simpler approach to speed ramping and retiming directly within Fusion, potentially streamlining workflows compared to the older Time Stretch node. It consolidates controls for variable speed and motion estimation.

How does the 'Delay' parameter work in Speed Warp?

The 'Delay' parameter is crucial for dynamic speed changes. By keyframing 'Delay', you effectively tell Speed Warp which frame of your original footage should appear at a specific point in your edited timeline. Negative values compress frames (speed up), while positive values expand them (slow down or reverse if combined with other settings).

What's the difference between 'Faster' and 'Better' modes in Speed Warp?

'Faster' mode prioritizes processing speed, offering quicker results, but may have slightly lower quality. 'Better' mode focuses on higher-quality motion estimation and output, leading to smoother results, but requires more GPU processing power and can be slower to render.

Can I reverse a clip using Speed Warp?

Yes, you can reverse a clip. For an instant full clip reversal, change the 'Speed' parameter in the Inspector from '1' to '-1'. For more nuanced reversals within a speed ramp, you can manipulate the 'Delay' keyframes to make the clip play backward for specific sections.

How do I achieve smooth speed transitions with Speed Warp?

Smooth transitions are achieved by carefully adjusting the curve of your 'Delay' keyframes in the Spline Editor. Avoid abrupt changes in the curve; instead, use smoothing tools (like tangent handles or preset smooth functions) to create gentle ramps between different speed segments, eliminating sudden jerks.

DaVinci Resolve

DaVinci Resolve 21 SpeedWarp Fusion Effect Tutorial

Intermediate

8:53 mins

Kabeer Khan

Creator

Apr 16, 2026

Watch on YT

Overview

Learn how to use the new Speed Warp effect in DaVinci Resolve 21's Fusion page for advanced speed ramping and retiming. This tutorial covers adding the effect, understanding its parameters, and creating dynamic speed changes with smooth transitions.

Tools Used

DaVinci Resolve 21

Fusion

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

8 Steps

Introduction to Speed Warp

Understand the purpose and advantages of DaVinci Resolve 21's new Speed Warp effect, noting its ability to perform advanced speed ramping and retiming directly within the Fusion page, eliminating the immediate need for the Time Stretch node.

Adding Speed Warp to a Clip

Select your desired clip in the Edit page, right-click, and choose 'Open in Fusion Page'. In the Fusion workspace, select your media node, press Shift+Space, search for 'Speed Warp', and add it to your node tree.

Understanding Speed Warp Parameters

Explore the Inspector tab for the Speed Warp node. Learn about 'Speed' (1 for normal, negative for reverse), 'Delay' (for dynamic speed adjustments), and 'Mode' ('Faster' for quicker processing, 'Better' for higher quality at increased GPU usage).

Creating a Basic Fast-Forward Speed Ramp

Set the 'Speed' to 1. Go to your desired starting frame and add a keyframe to the 'Delay' parameter. Advance to a later frame and drag the 'Delay' slider into the negative values to compress frames and create a fast-forward effect.

Smoothing Keyframes in Spline Editor

Open the Spline Editor (Shift+S) to view your 'Delay' keyframes. Select keyframes and use smoothing controls (e.g., 'S' for smooth tangents) to eliminate sudden jerks and create fluid speed transitions, ensuring a professional look.

Implementing Complex Speed Ramping

Combine multiple keyframes on the 'Delay' parameter to create intricate speed changes. Experiment with sections of slow-motion (positive Delay adjustments or initial slow Speed), fast-forward (negative Delay), and holds (maintaining Delay value) to design dynamic motion effects.

Reversing Clip Motion

To instantly reverse the entire clip's playback, simply change the 'Speed' parameter from '1' to '-1'. For more controlled reversals within a ramp, manipulate 'Delay' keyframes to transition from positive to negative values, or vice-versa, at specific points in your timeline.

Finalizing and Playback

Render your timeline to generate cache for real-time playback in the Edit page. Observe the applied speed ramp and trim any unused parts of the clip. Optionally, add other effects like motion blur for enhanced visual quality.

Transcript

Hey guys, a new plugin or effect, whatever you want to call it, named Speed Warp, has been introduced in DaVinci Resolve 21. Let's first understand its use. Just like we perform speed ramping or retiming in the Edit page, we can now do the same thing in the Fusion page using this plugin. Previously, in Fusion, we used the Time Stretch node, but with the Speed Warp plugin, we can now directly achieve this without needing the Time Stretch node. We can also do retiming with this node. I'll show you how to do this in DaVinci Resolve 21. I have two clips here that we'll use. First, we'll apply it to this clip. Right-click on your clip and select 'Open in Fusion Page'. Here, we'll add the Speed Warp node. Click on your node, press Shift+Space, search for 'Speed Warp', and add it. After adding Speed Warp, you'll find parameters in the Inspector tab. At the top, there's 'Speed', currently set to '1', meaning it's running at normal 100% speed. 'Delay' allows you to add delay, making the speed fast or slow. There's also 'Mode'; currently 'Faster' is selected, but 'Better' provides better output, though it uses more GPU. Even 'Faster' in DaVinci Resolve 21 Beta uses significant GPU and can slow down the PC. So, I'll keep the speed at '1' (normal). Then, I'll go to the first frame and add a keyframe on 'Delay'. I have 297 total frames. I want this clip, which is at frame 200, to be at frame 30. So, I'll go to frame 30 and move the 'Delay' slider into the minus range. You must remember to go into minus. As I drag it into minus, it shows the corresponding frame. I'll place it here. Now, if I play it, you'll see how fast it plays. Let's smooth this keyframe. You can further smooth your keyframes as desired. I'll press 'S' and adjust the speed like this. It's not playing back in real-time right now, so it might look a bit strange, but its speed is very high. If I play it in the Edit page, a cache will generate, and we'll see the exact real-time playback. The cache has generated. If I play it now, you'll see how fast and smoothly it arrived. Then there's a sudden jerk, which is what we wanted. Now, I'll go back to 'Open in Fusion'. After the sudden stop, it played normally. The jerk is happening because our curve is dropping abruptly. If it were smoother, we wouldn't see such a sudden jerk. I'll select this point and smooth it. You'll see it will become smoother now. This means the abrupt stop won't happen; it will go fast, then slow down gently. If I play it now, you'll see how smooth the landing is. Previously, it landed with a jerk. Let's explore more. Right-click and 'Open in Fusion'. Close the Spline editor. We'll hold for a few seconds. Our clip is only until here; after that, it will stop and become blank because we've compressed all its frames to exactly 30 frames. The remaining frames will continue for a bit, then the footage will go blank as there are no more frames. So, let's keep it slow here at 50 frames. Then add a keyframe on 'Delay'. You can see the remaining frames; let's make them fast too. We'll go like this, even though our clip has ended. We'll smooth these keyframes as well. The output we'll get now is like this: normal, then suddenly fast, then ends. Normal, then slow, then fast. You can add your next clip after this. You can see the rest of the area is useless, so you need to cut that extra area. Your speed ramping part is this. Additionally, you can add motion blur or whatever else you want. I've already made a video on how to add motion blur; you can watch it. Now let's see how it works on another clip. Let's check this too. Go to 'Open in Fusion Page'. If you want to reverse your clip, you need to enter a negative value here. It's '1', so put '-1'. Now you'll see our clip has started playing in reverse. '1' means normal; for reverse, use minus. I've already explained the role of 'Delay' for fast and slow speed. If you want the clip to slow down at a certain point, you can slow it down beforehand. For example, I'll set it to 0.5. So, our clip is playing very slowly at 0.5 speed. We'll go to frame '1' (the starting frame) and add a keyframe on 'Delay'. We'll advance normally by 25 frames, or 30 frames, and move 'Delay' into the minus range, something like this. Then we'll hold for 10 frames, or 15 frames, maybe 20 frames, add a keyframe. Then move forward a bit and bring it here. Then, if we hold some frames here, letting it run normally. Then we'll go here. If we take it to minus, we'll now change it to plus. You'll see it will start going in reverse. Simple. Then we'll go forward a few frames, slowly, slowly. Or, we'll make it fast here too, taking it to minus. Now, we'll take it right to where it ends. Then, we'll bring it back instantly. So now you can see what a cool effect you can create with this. If we go to its Spline editor and make it a bit better. You can see the graph is like this. Select all points together, press 'S'. Let's refine the graph to get a better output. We'll make all our graphs better like this so that we don't see any jerks. If we don't want jerks, the instant ones looked quite bad. So, we'll fix this a bit. There's a small problem here too. So, for now, we'll smooth it a bit more. And now we want it to go even faster from here. So, we'll adjust its speed like this. So, it will go even faster. You'll see it went. It will go forward. Then it will go even further. Then, we made it hold for a bit. It will come backward. Then it will go forward again. Then, similarly, it will simply come in reverse. This way, you can do speed ramping with this. If its cache generates, I can show you the exact output. My cache has generated. If I play it now, you'll see how cool it looks. See how amazing and how fast we created it! We created such an amazing speed ramp simply using Speed Warp. You can make the speed fast using 'Delay'. You can make the speed slow using 'Delay'. If you want to slow down the speed beforehand, use the slider to slow it down. You have total control to customize it as you wish. So guys, if you liked this video, please like it, and if you're new to my channel, please subscribe. Until then, take care. Bye bye.