Reuse and connect elements predictably.
Understand compositions, exposed controls and relationships so an edit changes the thing you meant.
- Project, comp and instance.
- Basement and Controls edit the same work.
- Source edits and overrides have different scope.
- Grouping is not parenting.
- Know which relationship you are changing.
- Apply and Apply Scale serve different purposes.
Project, comp and instance.
A project contains comps. Each comp has its own size, rate and duration. Placing a comp in another comp creates an instance, a timed reference to its shared source. A Resolve timeline is a destination timeline, not another name for a carvercat comp.
Duplicate the source when you want unrelated design changes. Use instances when shared changes should stay connected.
Basement and Controls edit the same work.
Basement shows detailed parameters, effects and relationships. Controls brings chosen parameters forward for everyday editing. Promotion changes where you edit a value; it does not create a second value or change the image by itself.
A control is promoted step by step: from the object’s Basement to the object’s Controls, then to the group or comp, then to the instance.
Raise a control at each boundary it crosses. If a lower promotion link is disabled, controls above the break stay visible but unavailable. Restore the lower link rather than rebuilding everything.
Source edits and overrides have different scope.
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Edit shared source | Changes reach instances unless an override replaces them |
| Edit exposed instance value | Sets that instance’s variation |
| Revert override | The instance follows the source again |
| Type a matching value | Stays overridden, even though it looks the same |
| Duplicate source | Creates independent source content |
Grouping is not parenting.
A Group owns nested objects so you can move them together. Objects need to share a scope, and locks still apply. Grouping can pull in content in between, so check the result.
Parenting makes a child’s transform follow another object without moving it into a Group. Check placement after detaching; parenting is different from reusing a comp source.
Know which relationship you are changing.
A parameter wire makes one value follow another. Axis linking relates animation structure. Linked picture/audio clips keep timing together. Text Stagger takes animation as input. These are not interchangeable.
A mask has a target and a time range. Check track scope, selection order and any linking or parenting. If the app refuses an action, there is usually a reason; do not work around it with a different command.
Apply and Apply Scale serve different purposes.
A pending template needs Apply to resolve its placement before output. Apply keeps the template’s original resolution. Apply Scale is a deliberate resolution/geometry change, not simply applying a template.
Check shared instances after applying, and do not assume all templates are square. carvercat’s exposed controls do not become a custom panel in Resolve.