Corridor Digital uses DaVinci Resolve Studio on its YouTube channels

The Los Angeles-based production company Corridor Digital uses DaVinci Resolve Studio Blackmagic Design for editing, grading, visual effects and audio mixing for its popular broadcast channels. YouTube, Corridor Digital and Corridor Crew.

Between both channels they have more than 15 million subscribers and with their collaborations they make up to 10 videos a month for their followers.

Digital Corridor was founded in 2010 by Sam Gorski and Niko Pueringer and is recognized for her pop culture-inspired short films and comedy videos. Over the years, the production company has gained subscribers, up to 9 million on its main YouTube channel, as well as being awarded various awards for its creative content, for example in the special and visual effects category of the Streamy Awards. His second channel, Corridor Crew, has nearly 5 million subscribers, and features visual effects tutorials and behind-the-scenes content.

Editing and finalizing content for YouTube always requires a high pace with tight deadlines. In order to fulfill orders, Corridor Digital has recently begun to use DaVinci Resolve Studio in more aspects of post-production, relying on the Editing and Editing modules, Fusion for visual effects and graphic animations, and Fairlight regarding audio. The Corridor Digital production team also uses units Pocket Cinema Camera 4K to capture cinematic-style images for both channels, and a device DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel with the purpose of speeding up grading.

A collaborative work

With a team of four to six people working with DaVinci Resolve Studio constantly, Corridor Digital fully relies on the program's collaborative work dynamics. “DaVinci Resolve Studio's collaboration options give us the ability to grade images while finishing editing simultaneously, saving us precious time at the end of the week,” explains Senior Editor Dean Hughes.

The Corridor Digital team produces two to three videos a week so they must complete each of them very quickly, in a maximum of five days, sometimes less. “Having to export edits between different applications added time to our workflow, so now we can get our work done faster since all aspects of post-production are carried out in DaVinci Resolve Studio,” says Pueringer.

"When you start editing three hours of footage for a video that needs to be delivered in just a few days, time is of the essence, so the Edit module is very useful. The tape editing mode allows us to treat a tray full of footage as if it were one long clip, so we can quickly identify the best shots," adds Hughes. "When we open the Edit module, it feels like it was designed for easy, dynamic editing. Plus, the waveform updated in real time saves a lot of time. If I'm marking keyframes to adjust levels, I don't even need to listen to the audio to know if they're correct, because the waveform is right there on the timeline."

Fusion Module

According to Hughes, the module Fusion It is especially useful for Corridor Digital series, VFX Artists React, in which special effects artists critique both good and bad work on the subject.

"Each episode uses custom animations, graphics, and effects to visually explain what the artists are teaching the audience. This includes everything from masking a character to get them out of shot, using polygonal lines to outline the important area of a frame, or even doing a green background composite for a piece of footage. Having the ability to composite in Fusion and instantly open the Edit module with the updated clip makes visual effects another aspect of the editing process. Likewise, Being able to create title templates in Fusion that are compatible with the Editing module is very useful,” he adds.

For his part, editor Chase Morgan acknowledges that "having a composition space integrated into DaVinci Resolve Studio is revolutionary. I used to use a layer-based approach, but once I understood the basic principles of nodal structures for compositions and creating graphics, I found it fun and intuitive."

The side chain function (auto-ducking) in the Fairlight module is also essential, as it ensures that dialogue tracks are always heard clearly over the music or sound effects, saving the team a lot of time when adjusting audio levels.

"The sound library integrated into the Fairlight module is incredibly useful," Hughes notes. "We have tens of thousands of sound effects spread across our servers, but once we integrate them into Fairlight, we can instantly search the entire library simply by using the keyboard. Simply type the name of the sound you are looking for and a list will appear with all the available options, and then you just have to drag it to the timeline.”

"Thanks to DaVinci Resolve Studio, the entire post-production workflow has become efficient. From start to finish, we have all the tools necessary to deliver content every week. DaVinci Resolve Studio has been our trusted grading program for almost a decade, but now we are really benefiting from all its advantages," concludes Pueringer.