DaVinci Resolve how-to
How to track text in DaVinci Resolve (Fusion Tracker, 2026)
Short answer
Select the clip and open the Fusion page. Add a Tracker node after MediaIn, place the tracker on a high-contrast point on the subject and click Track Forward. Then add a Text+ node, connect it to the Tracker's foreground input and set the Tracker's Operation to Match Move: the text now moves with the tracked point. In Resolve 21 the Fusion Tracker uses IntelliTrack by default.
Checked against: DaVinci Resolve 21 (free and Studio), Windows, Mac and Linux, per the Resolve 21 Reference Manual (July 2026).
Method 1: Fusion page: Tracker plus Text+
Open the clip in Fusion
Park the playhead on the clip on the Edit page and click the Fusion page. You'll see MediaIn1 connected to MediaOut1.
Add a Tracker node
Select MediaIn1 and add a Tracker node (Shift-Space, type Tracker). The Tracker analyzes whatever is connected to its yellow background input.
Place and run the tracker
Move the tracker crosshair onto a high-contrast detail on the subject, then click Track Forward in the Inspector. Resolve 21 uses IntelliTrack, the AI point tracker, by default; the legacy Point tracker is under the Point button.
Attach the text
Add a Text+ node and connect its output to the Tracker's green foreground input. In the Tracker's Operation tab set Operation to Match Move. The Tracker now merges the text over the clip and moves it with the track.
Offset and style
Position and style the text in the Text+ node. If it sits on top of the subject, offset it in Text+ rather than moving the tracker.
Method 2: Track a blur or effect instead
Color page Tracker, FX mode
On the Color page, the Tracker palette's FX mode uses a point tracker to animate Resolve FX with position controls, which is handy for following a subject with an effect rather than text.
If it doesn't work
| What you see | Fix |
|---|---|
| Tracker slides off the subject | Pick a smaller, high-contrast detail, track in shorter sections, and fix drift by re-tracking from the bad frame. |
| Text doesn't move after tracking | Operation is still None, or the Text+ node is connected to the background input. Set Match Move and use the green foreground input. |
| Text appears but the video is gone | The Tracker's output must go to MediaOut1; reconnect it. |
| Playback is slow in Fusion | Lower the Fusion viewer's proxy or render the clip in the Edit page cache. |
Questions people ask
Can I track text on the Edit page?
Not directly. Text tracking happens in Fusion; the Edit page has no tracker you can attach a title to.
Is IntelliTrack free?
The manual says the Fusion Tracker now defaults to IntelliTrack and doesn't mark that page Studio only; the Color page IntelliTrack tracker is marked Studio only.
What's the difference between Tracker and Planar Tracker?
Tracker follows small points (position, rotation, scale). Planar Tracker follows a flat surface with perspective, which suits screen and sign replacements.
More DaVinci Resolve guides
Sources and how we checked
- DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual: Using the Tracker node for match moving (p. 1827-1830) (checked 2026-10-05)
- DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual: IntelliTrack AI Point Tracker (p. 2891) (checked 2026-10-05)
Opening the Fusion page and the Shift-Space node search follow the current Fusion workflow described by several top guides; the tracking and Match Move steps are from Blackmagic's manual.
Reviewed October 5, 2026 by the Koldflux team. Each step is compared with DaVinci Resolve's own documentation (linked above) and with the top search results for this task; where they disagree, the maker's documentation wins. Steps without a source link follow the menu names that several current guides agree on.