The Arizona sun beat down, turning the desert air thick. Dust devils danced across the vast expanse as I wrestled with the drone, trying to capture the perfect golden hour shot. Hours of pre-production, scouting, and wrangling talent, all boiling down to this: getting the footage. That feeling of finally having the raw material, knowing the real work, the magic, begins. And that magic now hinges, for me, on the Resolve Studio Speed Editor.

For years, I’d edited on a mouse and keyboard. Fine for basic cuts, sure. Painful for anything remotely complex. The Speed Editor, though? It’s a game changer. The tactile feel of the jog wheel alone is worth the price of admission. It’s like going from texting to actually writing with a pen; suddenly, you feel the editing process. You can intuitively scan through timelines, marking in and out points with surgical precision. This is particularly crucial when dealing with 4K or 8K footage, where subtle adjustments can make or break the visual flow.

The physical buttons are strategically placed. Cut, In, Out, Transition… everything I need is right there at my fingertips. This thing really speeds up the workflow. Unlike the clunkier setup of, say, Adobe Premiere Pro’s keyboard shortcuts, the Speed Editor’s design is laser-focused. A real godsend on those long nights after a shoot. Forget fumbling around; I can build a narrative in record time.

The integration with DaVinci Resolve Studio is, as expected, flawless. The software and hardware work in perfect harmony. And that’s a beautiful thing. If you are serious about editing video, there is simply no comparison between this and using just a mouse.

The Speed Editor’s design is heavily weighted towards efficiency. The flip side? It takes up a fair bit of real estate on my desk. I found a great workaround though: a small, angled laptop stand. This lifts my monitor and allows the Speed Editor to sit comfortably in front of me. Problem solved, easy.

The biggest thing for me? How quickly I can iterate and experiment. With all those tactile controls, I can fly through versions, trying different cuts, different pacing, adding effects, without the tedium of hunting and clicking. This thing will pay for itself in saved time alone.

So, if you’re a professional editor looking to elevate your efficiency, or a serious enthusiast ready to take the next step, do yourself a favour and pick up the Blackmagic Design Resolve Speed Editor Bundle. Just remember to budget a bit extra for a good monitor, because you’re going to be staring at your footage a lot more! You won’t regret it.