DaVinci Resolve · Projects and workflow
How to fix laggy playback in DaVinci Resolve
The short answer
Choose Playback > Timeline Proxy Resolution > Half or Quarter for a quick fix. For heavy camera codecs, right-click the clips in the Media Pool and choose Generate Proxy Media, then set Proxy Handling to Prefer Proxies. Turn on Playback > Render Cache > Smart for effects-heavy sections.
6 steps
In DaVinci Resolve
- 01Lower playback resolution
- 02Set proxy options
- 03Generate proxies
- 04Use the proxies
- 05Cache heavy effects
- 06Or use optimized media
01
Lower playback resolution
Choose Playback > Timeline Proxy Resolution and pick Half or Quarter. It only affects playback, not the render.
02
Set proxy options
Open File > Project Settings > Master Settings > Optimized Media and Render Cache, and choose the proxy resolution and format.
03
Generate proxies
Right-click the clips in the Media Pool and choose Generate Proxy Media. Let it finish.
04
Use the proxies
Set Proxy Handling to Prefer Proxies while you edit. Choose Disable All Proxies before a final check, to confirm the originals are online.
05
Cache heavy effects
Choose Playback > Render Cache > Smart. Resolve renders slow sections in the background; the red line over the timeline turns blue when cached.
06
Or use optimized media
Right-click clips and choose Generate Optimized Media, then turn on Playback > Use Optimized Media If Available.
Good to know
Before you start
- Note 1
- Long-GOP files from phones and mirrorless cameras (H.264, H.265) are hard to decode. Proxies or optimized media help more than any setting.
- Note 2
- Prefer Camera Originals can fall back to proxies when the originals are offline, so use Disable All Proxies to confirm the originals are really there.
Eddie AI
Do it in Eddie
Eddie edits from a working copy, and your Resolve export still points at the originals.
When footage comes in through the Eddie desktop app, the app uploads a working copy at your Proxy Resolution setting, so editing in Eddie stays quick on heavy codecs. The Resolve timeline it exports points back at your original camera files on your machine. Footage uploaded on the web points at Eddie's proxies instead; relink to those proxies rather than swapping in your originals.
Back to Resolve
Open the edit, click Export and choose Resolve. The default is a Resolve project (.drp) that opens with the timeline built; behind the arrow is a Resolve FCPXML you bring into the project you have open with File > Import > Timeline. In the desktop app, Send to DaVinci Resolve builds the timeline in the Resolve you have running, through Eddie's script (Workspace > Scripts > Eddie AI AE).
If you imported the footage through the desktop app, the timeline points at your original camera files. If you uploaded on the web or pulled from cloud storage, it points at Eddie's proxy media: relink to those in the Media Pool with Relink Selected Clips, not to the camera originals.
FAQ
Questions
- What does the red line over the timeline mean?
- That section isn't cached and may not play in real time. With Smart render cache on, it turns blue once Resolve caches it.
- Do proxies lower the quality of my render?
- No. Resolve renders from the original media unless you tell it to use proxies in the render settings.
