--- title: "How to use Smart Bins and Text+ improvements in DaVinci Resolve 21" author: "Cutsio Team" date: "2026-05-15" lastmod: "2026-05-15" category: "DaVinci Resolve Advanced Workflows" excerpt: "DaVinci Resolve 21 brings Smart Bins to the Cut page for automated media filtering and major Text+ improvements including character-level styling, font browser, and emoji support." tags: ["DaVinci Resolve 21","Smart Bins","Text+","MultiText","Font Browser","Title Design","Media Organization"] --- ## What are Smart Bins in DaVinci Resolve 21 Cut page? DaVinci Resolve 21 introduces Smart Bins to the Cut page. Smart Bins allow you to design sophisticated media pool filters based on a wide range of rules and criteria. For example, you can create a Smart Bin that displays only .braw clips that have been flagged green, or only clips with a specific resolution and frame rate. The bins populate automatically as you import media, eliminating manual organization. ![Smart Bins](https://images.blackmagicdesign.com/images/products/davinciresolve/whatsnew/edit/smart-bin@2x.jpg?_v=1775111047) Smart Bins have been available on the Edit page for several versions, but bringing them to the Cut page means editors who prefer the faster, streamlined Cut page workflow also get access to automated media filtering. The Cut page is designed for speed — its dual timeline view, source tape mode, and simplified interface make it the preferred workspace for quick editing. Adding Smart Bins eliminates the need to switch to the Edit page for media organization. ## How do you create and use Smart Bins in the Cut page? In the Cut page, locate the bin list dropdown in the top-left area. Click the dropdown and select "New Smart Bin." The Smart Bin rules editor opens, letting you define the filtering criteria. Rules are built using a structured condition system. Select a metadata field from the dropdown — Resolution, Codec, Frame Rate, Flag Color, Star Rating, Camera Type, or any other metadata field available in your media pool. Choose the operator — equals, contains, greater than, less than, or not. Enter the value — "3840x2160" for 4K resolution, ".braw" for Blackmagic RAW clips, "5" for five-star rated clips. You can combine multiple rules using AND or OR logic. A Smart Bin that shows "4K clips flagged green AND rated 4 stars or higher" uses two rules combined with AND. Complex filters support any number of rules and any combination of AND/OR logic. Once saved, the Smart Bin appears in the bin list with a distinctive icon that differentiates it from regular bins. It updates automatically as you import, flag, or rate clips. You cannot manually add or remove clips from a Smart Bin — the bin content is determined entirely by the rules. ## What are the most useful Smart Bin configurations? | Smart Bin purpose | Rules | Use case | |---|---|---| | Best takes | Flag Color = Green, Star Rating >= 4 | Finding selects quickly | | Camera-specific | Camera Type = ARRI ALEXA Mini LF | Working with mixed camera shoots | | Resolution filter | Resolution = 3840x2160 | Isolating 4K clips from mixed-res projects | | Codec filter | Codec contains .braw | Finding Blackmagic RAW clips | | Today's imports | Date Added = Today | Working with freshly ingested media | | Scene organization | Scene contains Scene 1 | Narrative project scene management | For editors working with large media pools — 500+ clips from multiple cameras across multiple shoot days — Smart Bins replace the manual binning process entirely. Instead of creating folders and dragging clips into them, you define the rules and let Resolve organize the media automatically. ## What are the Text+ and MultiText improvements in DaVinci Resolve 21? DaVinci Resolve 21 brings several significant updates to the Text+ and MultiText tools. Multi-language spell check is now enabled for all text elements. A dedicated font browser window lets you preview fonts before applying them. Emoji support is now included directly in text elements. Character-level styling lets you assign different attributes such as font size, weight, and color within a single text box. ![Text+ and MultiText](https://images.blackmagicdesign.com/images/products/davinciresolve/whatsnew/edit/multitext@2x.jpg?_v=1775111047) These updates make Text+ a more capable title design tool for editors who want professional-looking text without switching to the Fusion page. ## How does character-level styling work in Text+? Character-level styling lets you select individual characters within a Text+ box and apply unique formatting to each. Select a single character, a word, or a range of characters, and change their font size, weight, color, tracking, baseline shift, or any other text attribute independently. This enables several practical title designs: - **Drop caps**: Make the first letter of a paragraph larger and styled differently - **Emphasized words**: Increase the weight or change the color of specific words within a sentence - **Multi-color titles**: Apply different colors to different words in a single text box - **Mixed fonts**: Use a decorative font for the headline and a clean sans-serif for the body in one text element Before Resolve 21, achieving these effects required separate text nodes for each styled section, which meant managing multiple Fusion nodes or multiple title clips on the timeline. Character-level styling eliminates this complexity. ## How does the font browser work in Resolve 21? The font browser provides a visual preview of all available fonts. Open it from the Text+ Inspector by clicking the font name dropdown and selecting "Browse Fonts." The browser displays each font rendered with your selected text, making it easy to find the right typeface without applying and undoing. The browser supports filtering by font category — serif, sans-serif, script, display, monospace — and includes a search field for finding fonts by name. Fonts that you have used recently appear in a "Recent" section for quick access. The browser updates in real time as you type in the search field, narrowing down the font list to matching names. For projects that use custom fonts, the browser lists them alongside system fonts if they are installed on your system. Font management — install, activate, and deactivate — is handled outside of Resolve through your system's font management tools. ## How do Smart Bins and Text+ fit into a pre-editing workflow with Cutsio? Smart Bins help organize your media after import into Resolve 21. Text+ helps create professional titles. Both benefit from arriving at a well-organized timeline. When you pre-edit with Cutsio, your exported EDL or XML brings a clean, organized timeline into Resolve 21. The clips in the timeline are the selects — silence removed, retakes eliminated, highlights chosen. Once imported, Smart Bins help you further organize the media pool by camera source, rating, or resolution. Text+ titles can be added to the refined timeline using the improved character-level styling for professional results. The pre-editing step ensures that your time in Resolve 21 is spent on creative work — organizing with Smart Bins, designing titles with Text+ — rather than culling through hours of raw footage.

Organized media, professional titles, faster delivery

Pre-edit with Cutsio, import a clean timeline into Resolve 21, organize with Smart Bins, and design titles with Text+ character-level styling.

Try Cutsio Free

No credit card required. 60 minutes of free processing.