Insider Tips: How to Use Resolve’s Object Removal Tool

Every week, Frame.io Insider asks one of our expert contributors to share a tip, tool, or technique that they use all the time and couldn’t live without. Heather Hay shares how to remove unwanted objects in DaVinci Resolve without leaving the Color page.


You have an unwanted logo, light socket, reflection, or piece of trash that no one noticed until they sat down in your session.  “Can we just get rid of…?”  You can absolutely do it without ever leaving the Color Page!

What is Resolve’s Object Removal Tool?

Object Removal, powered by the DaVinci Neural Engine, automatically removes objects from the frame. It works best with moving objects against a stable background or dirt on a moving camera lens—results with smaller objects giving better results.

To use the Object Remover, you must first isolate the item you want to remove utilizing a matte or a Power Window within the Object Removal node or connect the key output from a previous node.

Track your shape (with handles turned on if needed). Then, drop the Object Remover on the shape node or the node afterward and connect the key output from the shape node. Click the scene analysis button if you are working on a moving shot.

Alternatively, if it is a static camera shot, check the Assume No Motion box. Then, switch Blend Mode from Linear to Adaptive Blend. The more movement in your scene, the less Analysis Boundary you will need versus a static shot that will give you more room to play with the boundary.

Resolve Object Removal before Resolve Object Removal before

Depending on your scene, you may need to build a clean plate and then do a scene analysis. Object Remover is a fun tool, and I like the idea of not needing to go into the Fusion Page to do minor compositing.


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Heather Hay

With 20 years of experience, Heather Hay began her career at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA. She transitioned to film coloring at Avenue-Edit in Santa Monica, CA, then moved to the Chicago office before making a mark at Vandal (formally FSM) in Sydney, AU. After six years there, she joined Cinema 305 in Mexico City, and for the past seven years, she's been freelancing remotely from CDMX, showcasing her versatility and expertise in the field. You can see more of her work here.

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