To exclude scratch audio from selected clips, queue those clips with Export Audio turned off and queue the others with it enabled. Resolve lets each render job have its own settings, so both groups can run in one batch.

This workflow is for a Mac editor making separate video files from a timeline while retaining audio on some outputs. It removes all audio from the designated video-only outputs. If a clip contains both scratch audio and sound you need to keep, use the separate approach described below.

How does Resolve control audio in a transcode batch?

The important distinction is between a render job and the full render queue. A job combines a timeline range with export settings; the queue can contain many jobs with different settings. Blackmagic documents both job-specific settings and the ability to disable audio export to produce video-only media. Together, these provide the supported basis for a mixed batch. See the DaVinci Resolve 21.1 Reference Manual, pages 4098 and 4130.

The documented Export Audio checkbox belongs to the render settings. The cited sections do not document a per-thumbnail checkbox that independently enables audio for some clips and disables it for others within that job. Build separate jobs around the audio requirements instead of treating a visual clip selection as an audio exclusion instruction.

These steps follow the official Resolve 21.1 manual, dated September 2026. If you use an older release, consult its bundled reference manual for matching controls. Codec choices also depend on the operating system and available configuration; this workflow does not require one particular codec. Blackmagic describes those format limits in the reference manual, page 4115.

Decide which clips should have no audio

Before queuing anything, divide the intended outputs by what they must contain. The following is an illustrative planning aid, not a record of tested media.

Example clip Required output Render decision
Desk_01 Picture with useful original sound Enable Export Audio
Graphic_02 Picture only; its entire soundtrack is scratch audio Disable Export Audio
Detail_03 Picture only; its entire soundtrack is scratch audio Disable Export Audio
Demo_04 Picture with useful original sound Enable Export Audio
Demo_05 Keep one audio source, omit another Prepare the required timeline audio and use the alternative workflow below

This distinction prevents a common mistake: removing an entire soundtrack when only one component was unwanted. For this article, “exclude scratch audio” means a video-only file wherever all embedded audio is dispensable. A file that plays silently is not sufficient evidence that the file has no audio stream.

For a small batch, one job per clip is easy to inspect. For a longer batch, combine adjacent clips that share the same audio requirement. Alternating audio requirements may justify more jobs; reducing the job count is less useful than keeping the output rules clear.

Queue selected clips with audio disabled

Set the video export before adding jobs

Open the intended timeline and go to the Deliver page. Choose the custom export controls, then select Individual Clips when you need a separate file for each timeline clip. Set the destination, video format, codec and resolution required for your editing task.

Blackmagic defines Individual Clips as producing one media file for each clip in the selected render range. It also documents source-derived timecode and frame-rate behavior, plus separate controls for timeline effects and source resolution. Review those settings if the transcodes will be used for a round trip to another editor. See the reference manual, page 4114.

Do not change unrelated video settings simply to remove scratch audio. Choose the video specification your next editing step requires, then apply the audio decision independently.

Mark one clip and disable audio export

  1. Open the thumbnail timeline on the Deliver page.
  2. Right-click the thumbnail of a clip that needs a video-only output.
  3. Choose Render This Clip.
  4. Check the orange range bar in the timeline ruler to confirm that the intended clip is marked.
  5. Open the Audio panel of the render settings and clear Export Audio.
  6. Keep Export Video enabled.
  7. Confirm the output location and filename settings, then click Add to Render Queue.

The thumbnail command and its marked range are documented in the reference manual, page 4129. The manual explicitly identifies disabling audio export as the way to render video only; its audio settings section describes the audio being exported as source audio or audio synchronized in Resolve. See pages 4098 and 4123.

Repeat this process for other clips requiring video-only files. Give the queued jobs descriptive names, such as Graphic_02_video_only, so their purpose remains visible when you review the queue.

Add the clips whose audio must remain

For a clip that needs its audio, mark its range with Render This Clip, enable Export Audio, check the available audio format and codec settings, and add another job. Explicitly check the checkbox each time you switch between output requirements.

Each queued job has its own render setup. You can inspect or correct an existing job with its pencil button, change its settings and click Update Job. Merely changing the current render controls is not the documented procedure for updating an existing queued job. See the reference manual, pages 4130–4132.

Group adjacent clips without including the wrong ones

When several neighboring clips all need video-only outputs, mark them as one continuous range and queue that range with Individual Clips selected and Export Audio disabled. This retains separate output files while reducing repetitive queue setup.

To set that range, right-click the first clip’s thumbnail and choose Mark In, then right-click the last clip’s thumbnail and choose Mark Out. Inspect the orange range bar before adding the job. In Individual Clips mode, Resolve snaps the range boundaries to clip boundaries and does not render partial clips. These limits are documented in the reference manual, page 4129.

A continuous range includes the clips between its endpoints. In the illustrative sequence above, Graphic_02 and Detail_03 can share a video-only job. A range extending through Demo_04 would apply the same disabled-audio setting to a clip whose sound should remain. Use another job when the requirement changes.

For clips scattered across the timeline, the straightforward documented method is to use Render This Clip repeatedly and add individual jobs. The manual also supports filtered subsets through All Filtered Clips, but that requires a filter matching the intended group; do not assume an arbitrary highlighted selection defines the export range. See the reference manual, pages 4128–4129.

Check filenames before rendering multiple ranges. Repeated uses of the same source can produce naming collisions. Blackmagic documents custom naming and Use unique filenames, including the conditions under which that control is available. Separate destination folders are another practical way to keep different output groups distinguishable. See the reference manual, pages 4125 and 4128.

What if you need to retain replacement or mixed audio?

Turning off Export Audio excludes all audio from that output. It cannot preserve a useful channel while removing only a scratch channel. Likewise, the viewer’s speaker control is documented as a playback control; its muted state should not be used as evidence that the export contains no audio. See the reference manual, page 4100.

If the required result depends on an edited timeline mix, prepare that mix and use Single Clip for each desired range. Leave Export Audio enabled and choose the intended main or submix bus through Output Track. Queue each range separately to obtain separate files. The manual documents the single-file range behavior and bus output controls on pages 4114 and 4124.

This alternative has different consequences for subsequent editing: Single Clip uses timeline timecode and converts mixed source frame rates to the project frame rate. Also, clip filtering must be cleared before Single Clip can be selected. Choose this route when the timeline’s finished picture and audio are the required deliverable, and account for those documented limits before substituting it for source-oriented transcodes. See the reference manual, page 4114.

Verify the outputs on your Mac

Render one representative video-only job and one audio-retaining job before processing a large queue. This checks the two output rules with a small amount of media and gives you a chance to correct naming or range mistakes.

In Resolve, open a queued job’s settings with its pencil button to inspect Export Audio. The queue’s Show Job Details option can also expose format, frame rate, audio-channel information and duration. When starting a batch, check the queue selection: the manual says selected jobs restrict rendering to those jobs, while no selection allows all queued jobs to render. See the reference manual, pages 4131–4132.

For an output QuickTime Player can open, choose Window > Show Movie Inspector, or press Command-I. Apple documents the inspector as showing video and audio format information. Inspect the audio information as well as listening: playback alone cannot distinguish an absent soundtrack from a silent one. Compare this with the known audio-retaining output. See Apple’s View information about a media file in QuickTime Player on Mac.

If you already rendered a compatible movie and only need to remove its entire soundtrack, QuickTime Player offers a separate repair path: open the movie and choose Edit > Remove Audio, then save the edited result. Apple documents that this leaves a video-only file. It is useful for an isolated correction; configuring Resolve’s queued jobs is more orderly for a planned batch. See Remove audio or video from a movie in QuickTime Player on Mac.

Once the representative outputs match your requirements, render the remaining jobs and check the final file count against your planned clips. Keeping video-only and audio-retaining outputs in clearly named jobs makes the batch easier to review and gives you a precise place to correct any exception.

Sources