Waveforms are one of the essential elements of creating great audio. They can help you understand how each clip sounds and give you an easy way to ensure your audio clips are in sync. If you’re new to DaVinci Resolve, it’s handy to learn how to view audio waveforms and explore how it can be helpful to learn this.
Navigate to the “Edit tab” and find your timeline. Above your timeline, to the left, you’ll see “Timeline view options” represented by a small icon that looks like a mini timeline. Click this, find “Track Height”, and adjust your audio slider to your preferred setting.
You can show audio waveforms in DaVinci Resolve in a few simple steps and use them to edit your audio more accurately. Read on and follow these steps to get started.
Showing audio waveforms in DaVinci Resolve
1. Import & add your audio to the timeline
The first step is to import the audio file into DaVinci Resolve. Here are the steps:
- Open DaVinci Resolve and create a new project.
- Click on the “Media tab” at the top of your screen.
- Select “Import” and navigate to the file you want to add.
- Click on your audio file, then click “Import“.
2. Go to the edit tab
Now that your audio is imported, you need to go to the workspace where you can add it to your timeline and view your audio waveforms. You can navigate to edit mode by clicking on the below-displayed tab in your DaVinci Resolve software.

3. Timeline view options
Add your audio to your timeline. You can find your audio in the edit tab by clicking on “Media Pool” in the top-left and dragging the audio over the timeline.
After switching to edit mode, you’ll see all options for customizing the workspace. Open the “Timeline View Options” menu.
- Click the “Timeline View Options” tab.
- Find the “Track Height” section.
- Adjust the “Audio” slider.

Video tutorial
The following video describes how to enable audio waveforms in DaVinci Resolve in under 30 seconds:
Top tips
Once you’ve enabled audio waveforms, you’ll have an easy way to see and adjust your audio clips. Use these tips and start editing like a pro:
- Look for clipping or excessive noise, which can cause distortion. For instance, if a waveform is peaking too much, it means you have bad audio, and your audio is clipping.
- Watch for visual growling sounds or other distortions in the waveforms. That can be an early indicator of problems with your audio.
- If you want to edit your audio clips, use the cursor tool and position it between two waveforms. That will give you a visual indication of when one clip begins, and another ends.
- Use the zoom slider to look closely at specific areas of your clip. Use this feature to verify that everything is in sync before you make any final edits.
- When editing audio in detail, we highly recommend using DaVinci Fairlight. This section of DaVinci Resolve provides many more options to edit your audio in incredible detail.
Conclusion
Learning to show audio waveforms in DaVinci Resolve is a great way to take your editing skills to the next level. By understanding audio waveforms, you’ll have an easier time editing your clips and creating the perfect sound for your project.
Here’s a summary of the steps to follow:
- Import and add the audio file to your timeline.
- Enable the Edit workspace.
- Go to “Timeline View Options” and adjust the audio slider under “Track Height“.
And that’s it! You should now be able to use your audio waveforms to edit your clips and create the perfect sound for your project.