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User Guide

Before You Start

OpenBeat works from the active timeline.

  1. Place the playhead over the target timeline audio clip
  2. Run the action from Workspace > Scripts > OpenBeat
  3. If audio clips overlap, OpenBeat uses the usable source on the lowest-numbered audio track

Supported Audio Formats

OpenBeat reads the source file of the clip directly, so it works with the media you already have on the timeline:

  • Audio files: WAV, AIFF, FLAC, OGG Vorbis, MP3, M4A, and AAC
  • The audio track of video files: MOV, MP4, MXF, MKV, and other formats Resolve imports

For a video file, OpenBeat analyzes its first audio track. The installers include the FFmpeg decoders that read these formats, so you don't need to install anything else.

Choose A Mode

Mode Best for Tradeoff
Quantized Music with a stable tempo, click-based edits, and clean marker spacing Less faithful when the performance drifts or changes tempo
Raw Beats Live performances, drift, rubato, and tempo changes Less regular for count-based editing

Actions

Create Timeline Markers

Adds markers to the timeline ruler for beats that land inside matching source segments in the active timeline.

  • Re-running replaces only the previous OpenBeat timeline markers for that source
  • User-created timeline markers are left alone
  • If the same source file appears multiple times, markers can appear across every matching use
  • Occupied frames belonging to other sources or user markers are skipped and reported
  • Older OpenBeat timeline markers without source information are preserved; remove them manually if you want to replace them

Create Clip Markers

Adds markers to both the Media Pool source clip and matching timeline clip instances.

  • Matching instances are updated from source timing, not only from visible clip position
  • If the same source appears multiple times, multiple instances can be updated
  • User-created clip markers are left alone
  • A failed marker update attempts to restore the previous markers and reports any restoration failure

Create Beat Click Audio

Renders a click-track WAV next to the source file and imports it into the Media Pool.

  • Quantized uses the estimated beat grid
  • Raw Beats uses the detected beat times directly
  • Manual drag-and-drop into the timeline is still the reliable workflow

Export Subtitles

Writes an .srt file based on beat-to-beat ranges.

  • Subtitle files are written relative to the active timeline start
  • Cues stay within each matching clip, including trimmed beat ranges, and do not span gaps between clips
  • Beat numbers refer to the analyzed source and restart when that source is repeated
  • OpenBeat can try to import the file and create a subtitle track
  • Treat the generated .srt as the reliable result

Output Files

Generated files are written next to the source audio file.

  • Quantized click track: *.openbeat-clicks.wav
  • Raw click track: *.openbeat-raw-clicks.wav
  • Quantized subtitles: *.openbeat.srt
  • Raw subtitles: *.openbeat-raw.srt

If a file already exists, OpenBeat currently overwrites it.

Troubleshooting

OpenBeat says it can't read the audio

The source file is damaged, has no audio track, or is in a format OpenBeat doesn't recognize. Check that the clip plays in Resolve. If it does, export its audio as a WAV from the Deliver page, put that clip on the timeline, and run the action again.

OpenBeat picked the wrong clip

  1. Place the playhead inside the target audio clip
  2. Check whether a source on a lower-numbered audio track also overlaps the playhead
  3. Run the action again

The click track did not appear on the timeline

That is a current Resolve scripting limitation. Use the generated WAV from the Media Pool and place it manually.

The subtitle track was created but stayed empty

That is also a current Resolve scripting limitation. Use the generated .srt file as the reliable output.

Where to look for logs

macOS:

  • Runtime log: ~/Library/Application Support/Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve/logs/OpenBeat.log
  • Analysis cache: ~/Library/Caches/OpenBeat

Windows:

  • Install folder: %APPDATA%\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Support\Fusion
  • Runtime log: %APPDATA%\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Support\logs\OpenBeat.log
  • Analysis cache: %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenBeat\Cache

Technical Details

Source Selection

OpenBeat uses the audio clip under the playhead. If multiple audio tracks overlap, it uses the usable source on the lowest-numbered audio track. Empty tracks and clips without source file paths are skipped. A clip's end belongs to the next clip at a cut.

Resolve's API does not expose selected timeline audio clips. Video and Media Pool selection do not choose OpenBeat's source.

Shared Behavior

  • OpenBeat is timeline-driven, not Media Pool-driven
  • Trimmed clips only receive beats inside the visible used range
  • Timeline and subtitle actions can span all matching uses of the source file in the active timeline
  • OpenBeat only removes markers it created itself