Ball TracerBuy — $79
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DaVinci Resolve

Golf ball tracer for DaVinci Resolve

A golf shot tracer inside DaVinci Resolve Studio on Windows, as an OpenFX plug-in. It follows the real ball in your clip and draws its flight as a trail, on the Edit page, in your timeline. No second app, no exporting, no keyframes.

On this page
  1. Trace a shot in DaVinci Resolve
  2. What it does
  3. What you need
  4. Price
  5. Questions

Trace a shot in DaVinci Resolve

  1. On the Edit page, drag Ball Tracer from Effects Library → OpenFX → Ball Tracer onto the clip.
  2. Park the playhead on the frame the club meets the ball. Drag the amber Ball At Impact ring onto the ball and double-click it.
  3. In the Inspector, press Trace Ball. Status reads “Traced N frames.” when the trail is drawn.
  4. Pick a Look and an Animation, then set Colour and Width.

Every step, and what to do when a shot is hard, is in Your first trace. To see it working first, watch the tour.

What it does

Ball Tracer tracks the camera, follows the ball through every frame it can see, and works out the rest of the flight from there, all the way down. A landing in the shot can guide the trace onto it.

When a shot is hard, click the ball where you can see it and trace again with your marks as help, or draw the path straight through your marks. Then give the trail a look and an animation, a shadow on the ground, let it hide behind the trees, and let AutoZoom push in on the landing. Every feature.

What you need

  • DaVinci Resolve Studio. The free edition of Resolve does not load OpenFX plug-ins at all.
  • Tested on Resolve Studio 21.0.4 and 21.1.
  • Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
  • An NVIDIA RTX 2060 or newer graphics card.
  • Fastest with MP4, MOV, MKV or MXF files in H.264, HEVC (H.265) or ProRes. H.264 and HEVC need the graphics card's hardware video decoder; ProRes does not. A file the graphics card cannot read has to be converted first.
  • The clip as it was filmed: not a compound clip, not stabilised, and without a speed change. A steady Inspector zoom, a grade or a LUT is fine.

The full list, with a check of your own computer, is on the requirements.

Price

$79, once: a perpetual licence with commercial use, 12 months of updates and 2 activations. The same key activates it in Adobe Premiere Pro too; on a computer with both programs, each one uses a seat.

14 days to ask for your money back, no reason needed.

Buy — $79What the licence includes

Questions

  • Does it work in the free DaVinci Resolve?

    No. The free edition of Resolve does not load OpenFX plug-ins at all. You need DaVinci Resolve Studio.

  • Do I have to build it in Fusion?

    No. Ball Tracer works on the Edit page, on the clip in your timeline.

  • Does it run on a Mac?

    Not yet. A Mac build is in development.

  • What if it does not work on my footage?

    Ask for your money back within 14 days, no reason needed.

Ball Tracer is in Premiere Pro too.