Plugins › Effects

WIP Dot Wave

A wave that travels through your footage like water. The picture and text ripple as dots, grids, lines or a white band pass through.

FreeEffectResolve 21 (tested on Mac) · Free and StudiomacOS + Windows

Download free 1.7 MB

water drop · water drain · white band · grid sweep · ripple

What it is

What it does

Drop it on any clip and a wave crosses the frame. The footage and text really bend as it passes, like a drop hitting water, and the wave carries a texture with it. Twelve ready looks cover rings, straight sweeps and inward collapses, or build your own with Custom. Swap the element without changing the animation, send it from any side or corner, and it plays in real time in free Resolve.

A real water ripple: the footage and text bend as the wave passes
Twelve looks, from Water Drop to White Band, or build your own with Custom
Swap the element: Dots, Grid, Lines, Solid, Stars, Hexagons and more
Any direction: left, right, top, bottom, a corner or your own point
Outward, inward, or out then back in
Your own colours, a palette, or colours taken from the footage
Intensity, ripple, light, tint and glow controls, plus a drawable ease graph
Runs on your GPU and works in free Resolve

Use it for

Punctuating a key moment in a reel
Moving between ideas without a hard cut
Sweeps across titles and logos
Water and ripple moments on any footage
UI and product card reveals

Tips

Short durations (6 to 10 frames) feel like a quick pop. Around 26 frames lets you watch the water travel.
White elements on a bright clip? Raise Darken Behind the Dots.
Set Texture to None for pure water with no pattern.
Want a straight water wave? Set Wave Shape to Straight Sweep.
On a cut-out, set Show On to Subject so the elements stay on it.

Install · about a minute

Four steps

01
Unzip the download and keep the folder together.
02
Mac: double-click Install (Mac).command. If macOS says it can't be opened, right-click it and choose Open. Windows: double-click Install (Windows).bat.
03
Restart DaVinci Resolve.
04
On the Edit page, open Effects › Effects › anukalp.wip, drag WIP Dot Wave onto a clip, select the clip and open the Inspector to change everything.

Double-click doesn't work? Copy the .drfx into ~/Library/Application Support/Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve/Fusion/Templates/ on Mac, or %APPDATA%\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Support\Fusion\Templates\ on Windows, then restart Resolve.

Full guide with every control (PDF) →

Troubleshooting

If something's off

It isn't in the Effects library. Restart Resolve after installing. Still missing? Use the manual install path above.
It looks different from the demo. Check you're on Resolve 21, then compare your Inspector settings with the defaults in the guide.
Known issues: Dot Wave has two parts, so double-clicking only the .drfx is not enough. Use the installer. Windows has not been tested yet. If it misbehaves, tell us.

Report a bug or ask for a feature →

Compatibility

Version 1.0.0

Works on	macOS, Windows
DaVinci Resolve	21 (tested on Mac) · Free and Studio
Released	10 Nov 2026
Download size	1.7 MB

What's new in 1.0.0

First release: twelve looks with a real water ripple, 19 textures, any direction, inward or outward, and full colour control.

Free download · 1.7 MB

Get WIP Dot Wave

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