Create your own combined tools with custom settings through Fusion Macros. You can export macros to the template library and to the Resolve Edit Effects Library.
Building your own Fusion tools and templates from existing nodes is simple. Once you have built a composition and adjusted all parameters you can export any number of connected nodes into a Fusion macro.
You can use macros afterward exactly the same way you use any other Fusion tool. You can combine them with further tools, add inputs and masks, and change or animate their parameters.
To locate the macro folder, try to save a new macro. You can see the Resolve folder in the Save dialogue that opens.
Each macro is saved as a *.settings file. You can download and add extra macros into the macro folder or you can move macros over to the Fusion template folder. The advantage of the template folder is that you can organize it with more folders and you can search it from the templates section in Fusion.
Do you want to have an effect in the Effects Library of the Edit page? You can copy the macro into the titles folder of the Edit effects templates. This is suitable for all effects that do not rely on any input. Like title effects, lower thirds, etc.
In some cases, creating a Macro is not necessary and may not be convenient. To reuse Fusion effects from the edit page directly, you can make media clips from Fusion effects and share them through power bins: Control and Reuse Fusion Elements from DaVinci Resolve Edit Page
Hi, nice tutorial!
Is there a way to decompose macro after build it?
Yes, you can change a Macro into a Group and then Ungroup / use as a group:
Just open the macro in any text editor, replace the word “macrooperator” with “groupoperator” and copy/paste the result back into Fusion. Then you have an editable group in Fusion and if desired export again as a macro or change back in text editor.
Thank you very much – this was very helpful for me, because I lost the original project where I construct the macro.
I use Davinci Resolve 16 and here the spelling is important (uppercase/lowercase). Curiously Davinci shows a Group after some errormessages, but you can´t work with. With the correct spelling (” GroupOperator”) , it works flawlessly.
Glad to hear it’s working. I thought it was case sensitive in both Resolve and Fusion Studio – haven’t tried though but the camel case spelling should work.
Hi Bern,
I have received macros that contain titles in the Inspector sections. For example, instead of Text> we have the title First> which contains text parameters for the first column of the project.
I have tried to create several macros in Fusion but I have never seen where to indicate a title in the Inspector panel.
How can we generate sections titles of the Inspector ?
Thank you for your wonderful website !
Jean-Pierre
Hi Jean Pierre,
you can customize controls in the inspector: Create any tool, then right click on the title of that tool in the inspector -> Edit Controls. This opens a very user-unfriendliy dialogue that allows to add additional buttons, sliders, checkboxes, or for this example “LabelControl”. With the lable control, you can add a certain number of following controls that get grouped under one heading.
Now the issue is this Edit Control is really awkward to use. There are some examples in the Fusion manual. But basically even a “delete” button for anything you previously created is missing. Often you might need to create some controls with this tool, then copy and paste your node into a text editor and do changes there within the plain text. Also to change and save a macro, you could add the controls to one node that is based on the macro, copy it into notepad or another text editor, then do changes if needed, and then save the text back into the macro setting file. It takes some time getting used to this, but the bright side is that you can really design macros with pretty much any control imaginable from the regular interface.
Thank you Bernd, it’s very kind of you for the explanation
Have a good day
Jean-Pierre
I just discovered some of your video and your YouTube channel.. Your videos are well thought out and presented clearly. Thanks.
I have two questions:
1. Do you have any videos that clarify the difference between a Tool, a Macro and a Group?
2. I downloaded a few Fusion transitions from the web. They are the type that you drag and drop over a cut, then decompose in place to expose 2 layers, one layer has two short, but different clips that act to give a demonstration of the transitions function; these clips are then deleted. The 2nd layer is an adjustment layer with the Fusion clip somehow embedded. When I look at the adjustment clip in the Fusion tab I see just one Macro(???). When I hover over that Macro I get a list of Tools that are embedded.
My questions:
DO you have any video that how I can save my own Fusion compositions in such a way as the above described Macro, i.e., as a compound clip with an adjustment layer and two demo clips.
Thanks, and keep up the good work.
Dan
Tool: default Fusion functionality (1 node)
Group: multiple nodes that are grouped together in the flow and can be expanded to be edited.
Macro: multiple nodes together combined as one node with exposed controls and saved in the macro folder.
Macros and groups are quite similar and can be converted into each other through a small text change in the settings file (replace “MacroOperator” <-> “GroupOperator”).
Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.
Obviously, I am just at the beginning stages of learning Fusion (Resolve, for that matter). I am finding your basic introductory course and YouTube videos to be of great value.
Thanks, again.
PS – I believe you are from Norway. I had a trip planned there for this June but, as you might expect, this had to be cancelled. Maybe next year. Stay safe.
Thanks, No, I’m actually from Germany and currently living in the Middle East. And as you can also imagine, with COVID-19 I’m also not going anywhere anytime soon…
I was in Norway two times for 3 Months each. Really enjoyed the outdoors there, both in Summer and in Winter.
Is there a possibility, when using a Macro to integrate loop procedures like For Next or While Wend to systematically add more nodes
Adding nodes programmatically within a macro – I’m not aware that this is possible. I would assume that this requires scripting.
Dear Bernd, thank you for your generosity in sharing this tutorial. Also, very useful your comments.
Super Tutorial!
Gibt’s auch eine Möglichkeit, wie man in einer Fusion Composition bestimmte Controls exposed und somit in der Edit Page bearbeiten kann? Ich habe eine Fusion Composition mit Lower Thirds Title (besteht grob aus 3 Text+-Nodes) und diese verwende ich im aktuellen Projekt ca. 10 Mal. Wäre cool, wenn ich einfach 10 Mal die Composition einfüge könnte und nur die Styled-Text Eigenschaften bearbeiten könnte, direkt auf der Edit-Page.
Ich möchte nicht unbedingt ein Macro verwenden, da ich die Composition in keinem anderen Projekt verwenden will. Auch möchte ich nicht unbedingt einen Fusion-Title bearbeiten (so wie du in dem Video), da ich dann auf der Edit-Page ja nur die Controls des Ausgangs-Nodes habe, aber nicht die der anderen beiden Text+-Nodes. Natürlich kann ich dann die beiden Styled-Text-Eigenschaften mittels “Edit Controls” hinzufügen, würde aber trotzdem eine Fusion Composition bevorzugen.
Vielen Dank im Voraus!
Du kannst von einem bestehenden Macro oder Text+ von der Edit page anfangen und dann via “Edit Controls” in Fusion weitere Parameter zu dem Macro bzw. text+ hinzufügen. Die müssen dann mit Expressions an die Parameter im Flow gekoppelt werden, welche Du weiter verwenden möchtest. Die zusätzlichen controls erscheinen dann auch sofort auf der Eidt page.
Alternativ kannst Du ein Macro von Grund auf erstellen und auf die Edit Page bringen wie beschrieben. Sobald Du es einmal benutzt kannst Du es auch von der Timeline in den Media Pool oder PowerBin ziehen um weiderzuverweden. Anschließend könntest Du es aus der Liste der Edit Page Macros wieder rauslöschen, wenn Du es weiter nicht mehr brauchst. Einen zwischenweg um edit controls zu exportieren ohne zuerst ein macro zu haben ist mir nicht bekannt. Vielleicht geht es irgendwie – habe es aber noch nicht gesehen.
Hi!
I’m looking for a way to insert some free text (like copyright etc.) in the Macro controls. I have seen it done as a static text box but I cannot find a functionality that allows a static text box… Any ideas how to do this?
Regards, Fred
Solution found… select the control node where you want the textbox, edit controls, Name it, type text, page user,Input Ctrl TextEditControl, Read only, ok. Go to the control and enter the text, save the macro.
Hi!
How do I make a well-organized template in Fusion so that it can be edited in Davinci Resolve? And everything was divided point by point.
The Macro editor doesn’t do subdivisions. In that case you might need to build the controls via “Edit Controls” into a manually created group and link via expressions. Or do some code-level work on the macro. It’s not as convenient though.
Hey,
Is there anyway of deleting Macros? I made some test Macros and I can’t find a way to delete them. When I go into the Fusion/Macros folder in finder the folder is empty.
They should definitely be stored as a *.setting file in a macro folder – could it be that you stored them in another folder, like under Templates? Also there is both a Fusion macro folder in the Resolve Installation directory and there is another one in your user directory. If you can use the macro but don’t see it in the folder you most likely are looking at the wrong folder. Probably best to create another new macro the way you did before, but go on “Save As” or “Save As Group” and check what folder this defaults to and if you see the *.setting file there.