Change the Background Color in DaVinci Resolve

The short answer

DaVinci Resolve has no single background color setting. The method depends on what background you mean. To fill empty or transparent areas of the frame, place a Solid Color generator on a track below your clip and set its color in the Inspector. To replace a real background, such as a green screen behind someone on a webcam, you first key out that background (on the Color page or in Fusion) and then put a solid color or other layer behind the subject. To shift the color of an existing background without removing it, select it with a qualifier on the Color page and adjust the hue.

One limit applies to all of these methods. Resolve is a post-production editor, so it changes the background of recorded footage. It does not replace your background live during a video call. That job belongs to a virtual camera or the conferencing app's own background feature.

Which method fits your footage

Situation | Approach | Where in Resolve

Black bars or empty space around a resized or cropped clip | Solid Color generator on a lower track | Edit or Cut page, Effects Library

Subject filmed in front of a green or blue screen | Key out the screen, then add a color layer behind it | Color page qualifier or Fusion keyer

Subject filmed in front of an ordinary wall or room | Isolate the subject with a mask or tracking tool, then add a color layer | Color page (subject isolation tools vary by version and edition)

Keep the existing background but change its color | Qualify the background and shift its hue or saturation | Color page

Fill empty frame areas with a solid color

Use this method when your clip doesn't cover the whole frame, for example a vertical webcam clip on a horizontal timeline, or a clip you scaled down. Resolve shows black in those uncovered areas by default.

• Open the Effects Library on the Edit page and go to Toolbox, then Generators.
• Drag Solid Color onto the timeline track directly below your clip. If both share a track, move the clip up one track first.
• Trim the generator to match the length of the clip.
• Select the generator, open the Inspector, and pick a new color in its color setting.
• Play back the section to confirm the new color shows wherever the clip leaves the frame uncovered.

Replace a green screen with a solid color on the Color page

This method works well for webcam or talking-head footage shot against a green or blue backdrop. You turn the screen into transparency, and a color layer underneath then shows through.

• Place a Solid Color generator on the track below the green screen clip, as described above.
• Go to the Color page and select the green screen clip.
• In the node editor, right-click the empty graph area and choose Add Alpha Output.
• On your node, use the Qualifier eyedropper to click the green background. Refine the selection range until the backdrop is cleanly selected.
• Invert the qualifier selection so the subject, not the backdrop, is kept.
• Connect the node's key output to the alpha output.
• Return to the Edit page. The backdrop should now be transparent, with the solid color showing behind the subject.

Replace a green screen in Fusion

Fusion gives you more keying control, which helps with hair, motion blur or uneven lighting. Select the clip and open the Fusion page. Between MediaIn and MediaOut, add a Delta Keyer and use its background color picker to sample the screen. Then add a Background node, set its color, and combine the two with a Merge node: the keyed subject goes into the foreground input and the Background node goes into the background input. Send the Merge output to MediaOut.

Recolor an existing background without removing it

If you only want a wall or backdrop to look like a different color, you don't need to key it out. On the Color page, add a node and use the Qualifier to select the background by hue, saturation and luminance. Then adjust that selection with hue, saturation or color wheel controls. This approach works best when the background color differs clearly from skin tones and clothing. If they overlap, the change will spill onto the subject, and you will need a mask or window to restrict it.

Footage without a green screen

Separating a person from an ordinary room is harder. On the Color page you can draw power windows and track them to the subject. Some versions also offer AI-based subject isolation, such as Magic Mask. Historically Magic Mask has been limited to the paid Studio edition. The supplied evidence doesn't confirm which tools your version and edition include, so check the Color page tools in your own installation.

What this means for the audio in your webcam recording

All of these methods are video operations. Generators, qualifiers, alpha outputs and Fusion keyers don't process the audio attached to your clip, so changing the background won't alter the speech you recorded. The same independence works the other way: a clean new background won't hide room echo, background noise or a distant-sounding webcam microphone. Fix those with audio tools or a better capture setup.

One practical caution: when you move a clip up a track to make room for a color layer underneath, its linked audio should move with it. Confirm the audio is still in sync after rearranging tracks.

Evidence gaps

No version-specific documentation was supplied, so menu names, page layouts and feature availability may differ in your release of DaVinci Resolve. No test results were supplied either, so this guide makes no claims about keying quality or about how any particular webcam or microphone performs.