How to Install and Activate SmartSubs Pro in DaVinci Resolve
By Antonio Pennino · Updated September 2026 · 5 min read
Short version: run the installer for your platform, restart DaVinci Resolve, then open Workspace › Scripts › Utility › SmartSubs Pro. The plugin opens in your web browser and asks for your license key the first time. Paste the key from your purchase email, click activate, and you are done. It works on both Studio and free Resolve, any version from 18 onward.
Step 1, install the plugin
The installer copies the plugin into Resolve and sets up the bundled AI engine. You never install Python libraries, Whisper or PyTorch yourself, they come inside the package.
On Windows
- Unzip the download and run SmartSubs_Installer.exe.
- If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC", that is SmartScreen reacting to an independent publisher. Click More info › Run anyway.
- Let it finish, it takes a few seconds.
On macOS
SmartSubs is not signed with an Apple developer certificate yet, so macOS blocks the first launch. You only do this once:
- Unzip the package and double-click install.command.
- macOS says it "cannot verify that it is free of malware". Click Done, not "Move to Trash".
- Open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll to the Security section, and click Open Anyway next to install.command.
- Double-click install.command again, it now runs and asks for your Mac password to install the engine.
macOS needs Python from python.org. DaVinci Resolve uses it to run any script. Install the official package (version 3.9 to 3.12) from python.org. The Python that ships with macOS or with Homebrew is not detected by Resolve, so the plugin will not appear until the python.org build is installed.
Step 2, open it inside Resolve
- Fully quit and reopen DaVinci Resolve so it picks up the new script.
- Open a project and a timeline that contains speech.
- Go to Workspace › Scripts › Utility › SmartSubs Pro.
The SmartSubs interface opens in your web browser as a new tab, rather than as a window inside Resolve. That is deliberate, it is what lets the plugin run on the free edition too, including Resolve 19.1, 20 and later, where Blackmagic removed the older in-app scripting window system.
Step 3, activate your license
The first time you open SmartSubs Pro it asks for your license key.
- Find the key in the confirmation email from your purchase, or on your Lemon Squeezy receipt page. It looks like a long string with dashes.
- Paste it into the activation field and click Activate.
- That is it. The plugin confirms the license and unlocks.
A few things worth knowing about the license:
- It works offline. After activation the plugin keeps working for 14 days between online checks, so no internet on set is not a problem.
- More than one computer. Your key can be activated on more than one machine. To move it, open the plugin on the old computer and deactivate, then activate on the new one with the same key.
- It is tied to the machine, not a file. Copying the license file to another computer will not work, activation is the supported way to add a machine.
If something does not line up
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Plugin missing from the Scripts menu (Windows) | Fully close and reopen Resolve after installing. |
| Plugin missing from the Scripts menu (macOS) | Install Python from python.org, then quit Resolve with Command Q and reopen. |
| The SmartSubs window never appears | It opens in your browser. Check a browser tab did not get blocked, then run it again. |
| "Standalone engine not installed" | The AI engine did not finish installing. Run the installer again. |
Still stuck? I answer support myself, usually within a day on weekdays. Write to antonio.pennino.mail@gmail.com and include the log files from the folder SmartSubs in your app data, they tell me exactly what happened.
Do not have it yet?
SmartSubs Pro brings AI transcription, translation and word-by-word animated captions to DaVinci Resolve. One-time payment, no subscription.
Get SmartSubs Pro for $39.9930-day money-back guarantee · Windows & macOS