Smooth Playback - Little Known Trick (DaVinci Resolve 17)

Do you face trouble having smooth playback when you stack many clips in DaVinci Resolve?
In this video, we learn a very simple workaround to get smooth playback, even on lower-end machines.

[@LearnColorGrading]

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[@arnoldsnodgrass2953]

How odd. I’d always assumed Resolve’s timeline caching was intelligent enough to pre-render the timeline “as seen” ie with all the compositing etc, rather than just pre-rendering the individual clips. This is a very useful tip to know, thank you.

[@arnoldsnodgrass2953]

@@The-Bloke Good tip, cheers

[@scarxiett2998]

True :)

[@NGBit]

This is the first video I've found that actually improved performance while stacking clips and effects. Such a good tip, thanks!

[@robmdq]

btw, one thing i really love about your videos is that they are short and direct to the point, that's priceless!

[@JOAOAUGUSTODIASABREU]

Another killin' trick ! This man smokes his competition like a morning breeze. Unmatched Davinci Resolve Professor! Grateful for another superb tip!

[@noelmoore4474]

You are a star! I wish I had seen this before attempting editing the virtual choir!

[@DisneyRecipeReel]

You're a great teacher. I almost gave up but after explaining proxies and optimized clips, I'm back at it. I look forward to watching more of your videos. Thanks.

[@JordanFriendly1983]

Great information! The stuttering issue has been a big one to sort out as a beginner with a lower end machine. Thank you

[@GameOn-ms5bd]

This is legendary... this is how i was able to put a million different things together to make better videos, and faster... LIFESAVER!

[@MrStaublunge18]

Awesome channel, thank you so much! Learned a lot about movie production and postproduction. Greets from Germany 💖💖💖

[@phadrus]

This was the only solution that actually fixed my lagging problems. Thank you!

[@kurtnelle]

So that's the real use of compound clips. I was using it to organize things on the timeline. As usual, very well explained and appreciated.

[@SmoothieOperative]

I knew about compound clips but had no idea I could open them! Thank you for this video!

[@CarlosVS]

Seriously, every video I watch, my mind gets blown.

[@WhiskyReisen]

Thank you, that drove me absolutely nuts. I did not think of it that way, of course it still has to render 5 clips in real time. Thank you so much to help me understand the reason.

[@Pompez_]

Wow Iam actually stunned i have always thinked compound clip just merges clips together. This was useful info thank you!!

[@DavidAguilarGlez]

you solve an issue i have since my very beguinning using Davinci! i love the way you explain complicated process in a super simple fashion. Keep up the exelent work!! Greetings from Acapulco (my home place and business site for filming)

[@cmqjapan]

Excellent. Great explanation. So helpful.

[@robmdq]

Man!!! You've saved my life!! Well, yeah, i was exaggerating lol, but i was breaking my forehead trying to find an "equivalent" in DaVinci to the Nest feature from Premiere, which i've used a lot when editing on Pr. Thank you!

[@manusapo]

Just trid it on an M1Max MacBook Pro Rotoscoping plays like magic ! You made my Day.

[@daysandwords]

Definitely helpful, thank you!

[@ropewalkr]

PERFECT! Exactly what I needed. ONE QUICK QUESTION THOUGH...... Could you not just select "Render In Place" instead of "Render Cache Color Output" after creating the compound clip? What is the difference? Thanks!

[@neilfpv]

Amazing! I'll try it next time. Thank you!

[@simplysaida]

Thanks for this. I was having trouble figuring out getting into a compound clip to make changes then get back to my timeline so I stopped using them figuring I was misunderstanding their purpose. now I know how to get back to the timeline easily and that I was using them correctly all along. lol

[@theoantoniou7002]

Your tuts are the best! 👍

[@8ways2fly]

Very cool trick! Thank you for sharing! I've been following your work for more then a year, but now I subbed and I think I'm gonna take the whole course! Cheers😊✌

[@SnowMakerTV]

This is so useful & informative. Thank you so much. I really like learning Davinci Resolve from you. 👍🏽

[@finnpanvig_org]

This was very useful information. Thanks

[@lawtownonline]

Glad to see you again, Alex!

[@Bert_and_Sons]

Nice to see you again Alex 😃

[@squareff255]

Hey, that was a cool and nifty trick! Thanks! Good to know.

[@swaha55]

Thank you for this great video. But if you are actively editing the clips as a multicam and switching back and forth between camera angles instead of playing all the clips at once you would have to keep opening the compound clip to edit right? That seems very time consuming. Or is this meant to be more for reviewing the playback after editing?

[@AndreaBrandiFilm]

OMG thx a lot man, I've been struggling with DaVinci editing 4k 50p footage, with 422 LT proxies in 1/4 resolution. Now that i now this it's going better. I will buy a new mac in March, but till then I can still use this one. THX THX THX

[@MsAndreaskastrup]

Really great, very detailed and always learning something new!

[@PaigeMTL]

I was hoping you’d tell us that there was some option to “cache final composite” or something

[@KZ-yu4jz]

Awesome, thank you. The instruction is great as always.

[@airsoftfantom]

great video with very useful tips as always!

[@jebb.]

I use compound clips for easy group editing but I never knew it helps with playback

[@DavidWinstead]

Same

[@MichaelKubler-kublermdk]

Same

[@gqn2]

Same

[@kmal16]

It helps tremendously. Once you start using heavy duty graphic transitions or noise reduced clips with a lot of grouped color nodes with their own effects, things become extremely painful very quickly. The best thing I've found so far is to compound certain parts of your timeline and then cache / render. If needed you can also use the 'Render In Place' function (right click to see the menu prompt panel) or the Quick Export which is under the File menu in macOS. Using those you can quickly export a tiny section or just a clip to see how a scene might look at normal playback speed.

[@EmmyHucker]

Legend! I never paid attention to that feature but it'll be a lifesaver

[@Lexington101]

This is a great tip, have you had your files corrupted by using this method?

[@JoeCastellon]

Thank you for this amazing trick! I hope resolve fixes this. We shouldn't have to be creating and rendering compound clips as it makes complex editing incredibly tedious.

[@DIYWilly]

Very helpful thank you..

[@darpyturtle355]

amazing video thank you

[@AndrewStruthers]

excellent thanks

[@PaulRichards78]

Amazing as usual

[@aaronkwakye]

Thank you for this tutorial

[@raselandroads]

Thanks, This is a great lifesever

[@ririlan2137]

Always glad to see your videos :)

[@foljs5858]

Well, Resolve could still render and cache the "mixed' 5-file stack (and discard that cache, or rebuild it from a partial cache of lower mixed files, if a top file is changed). Why doesn't it do it automatically instead of relying on compound clips?

[@changein3d]

I think it's because every file is treated as an individual object. That means you can edit one video or text, and the others stay pre-rendered as they are. In a compound clip, they all get merged to the only visible output.

[@personaldronerepair6141]

Great information! I wish that I could subscribe twice.

[@eladbari]

Nice tip! But, what if I need that cluster to be "live"? Meaning, I'm not done cracking the timing between those cuts? Having to enter & exit this nest, as it's detached from the full timeline- could be quite cumbersome, no?

[@Rrroarr]

No it isn't you just need to right click and "open in timeline" so they open up in a different timeline tab, a little bit like after effects

[@eladbari]

@@Rrroarr Yeah, like a precomp in AE. And it isn't that comfortable to edit a section of your AE timeline when it's detached from the main timeline. But, if that's what you gotta do to reach smooth workflow? Then, whatever it takes. I just hope Davinci users don't end up with clusters of Compound Clips... I wonder if many users experience slow worflow in Davinci in general...

[@Eddy04tv]

This is fantastic! I'll put this into action immediately I'm currently struggling with Resolve with my first 4K footage. Already applied Proxies and Render Cache, but now will try this. Btw, Alex. Will this work well and smooth without proxies?

[@navnav5338]

dude this is amazing thank you

[@deputyjed0837]

I edit song collabs. This is very very helpful info. Im no longer need to go to premiere to make this.

[@Rrroarr]

The problem is when you get in a situation where you have multiple compounds clip on top of each other, maybe with alpha masks. Final render times are terrible. :/

[@MatthewMcCool]

You can select "use render cached images" on the delivery page.

[@Rrroarr]

@@MatthewMcCool that's a very good suggestion, thx!

[@KhaosInductionCreator]

Only problem is I don't have that big list of stuff when right clicking, only a small list of a few things.

[@dynamicprophatstudios201]

Im not sure, but I think when you try to render out a project and you have a compound clip something goes awry...you have to do the "open in timeline" when you are done and ready to export your video.

[@mightking]

sir, please be my father, PLEASE TEACH ME YOUR WAYS, THIS VIDEO IS LEGIT SO INCREDIBLE, its the PERFECT video for lazy idiots like me

[@PEEKY.produkcja]

I have question, what if i render cache color output and make some changes in the compound clip after? Do i need render cache again or it will remain smooth?

[@luismonterrubio3678]

EXCELENTE VIDEO!! GRACIAS POR EL TIP!!!

[@nanomartellvideo3299]

Thank you Master

[@IshanYadav-e5k]

thanks sir . it worked 👍🏻

[@marvincolon]

The best DR course

[@soham9496]

I'm so happy right now thank you sit🎉🎉🎉😊

[@xlucyV3x]

huge thumbs up from me thank you !!!!!!!!

[@scarxiett2998]

Cool!!

[@MogShade]

Thank you!

[@RedEyrisFilms]

Same thing in fcpx you can do this to the entire project

[@DirtyLittleShorts]

You're a life saver! But wow, DaVinci, this creates so much extra work, especially if you're still actively editing those stacked clips. I miss FCP.

[@ejt321]

I don't see that this really helps me that much if I'm still editing those clips that are in the compound clip. Each time I make a change and want to preview it then I have to deliberately trigger it to render the compound clip. I keep having to go back-and-forth back-and-forth.

[@RichB-78]

So what happens to the rendered compound clip file after you bring all the clips back into the timeline? Does it just sit on your hard drive taking up space until you delete all unused render cache files?

[@Rrroarr]

Yep, like all the render cache files of your previous edits in the timeline. In other words it's no big deal, for resolve a compound clip is just a clip

[@syedabul2503]

Hello I am new to this software, and I use it for basic color grading for stock footage. I am facing an issue that after rendering/delivery of final video, it's choppy/Stuttering, which was not the case in the original video. I keep the fps @24 though the original footage is 30fps. Still I am getting a choppy final video, it's not smooth. Please help

[@nonosquare09]

Hey, I tried everything but my playback just stops where it started and only the sound is played...this did not happen earlier...idk what happened. Also my cpu and GPU usage is pretty low.

[@vedder7373]

I bought your course. It’s really fantastic thank you! One question that has never been covered by anyone I have. I work with many timelines in premier. I am able to simply drag one clip into another timeline this keeps me very organized as I usually edit long videos with hindered of clips. Is there a way to do the same in DaVinci, other then clicking in a time line, copy, click on 2nd timeline and paste? Seems there are so many steps compared to a drag in premier. Thanks and please keep up the great work!

[@Juuso__]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/epvVo4Bvl9Zqeac stacked timelines.

[@pierrebelair7197]

YOU JUST SAVE MY LIFE !!!

[@DavidWinstead]

I never noticed that before, thanks for the great info as always sir.

[@saqlaq96]

Great video! I wonder how do you annotate on screen? It looks like you’re on a Mac but also have some sort of pencil

[@lorenzowang7933]

Is it safe to say that part of the problem of stacking the 5 clips is that the color grade is being applied 5 times?

[@cvmccoy]

This method doesn't work for me (version 18.6.6). I have a two minute 1920x1080 HD, 30fps timeline where the majority of it has at least 3 or 4 stacked clips (actually only photos) and a couple of places where there is as many as 10 stacked clips. I put the entire timeline in a compound clip, turned on all caching options and waited until the timeline finished caching (solid blue line across the top of the entire timeline). Playback is at best 20 fps (so playback is still very choppy). One interesting thing is that I have a couple of seconds at the beginning and end of the timeline that are simply a solid black clip and those clips also only playback at around 20 fps. I've been battling this issue for over a week, watched probably a couple dozen KZbin videos on caching and none have provided a solution for me (unfortunately, including this one). I have six other timelines in my project, none of which have more than 3 stacked clips (again photos), and all for them playback at 30 fps when fully rendered (and without placing them in a compound clip). So I don't think it is my system or setup. The only way I found to see a clean playback of this particular timeline is to render it (or a portion of it) out to a file on the Deliver Page. However, this not a very efficient workflow. I'm fairly new to DR and would really like to figure this issue out.

[@averagewoman6962]

Possibly being very dense here but what happens if you want to change a lot of clips - timing or colour, for instance -all on the same timeline. Easy thing to do is to make a compound clip and then alter, whatever, but does this alteration persist if you de-compound back to the separate clips?

[@Rrroarr]

Nope, it doesn't affect the clips in the compound clip

[@TruthbtoldMD]

The simplest way to solve this is right click your clip then go to "clip attributes" then check 24 frames per second instead of the 30 frames per second which is the default of iphones. You will find out that it will get rid of the lag almost instantly.

[@Salantsoundstudios]

If you render a compound clip and go back to inside the “folder” make changes, does it update on your main timeline? Do you have to render again? Thanks!

[@impatrickt]

you have to render again

[@Salantsoundstudios]

@@impatrickt thanks Patrick. Do i have to do that manually or just hit the space bar again?

[@krishnakunwar3591]

sir we iam rendering in DNxHR in auto level iam getting washout but we iam redering in full level iam getting correct ..but how make full data level to legal plz sir

[@jonnyramedia5005]

This normally happens to me when I use transitions or any other effect you have to stack on the timeline. They never play smooth at all. Any way I can fix this?

[@randomstuff53078]

i have an imac 16gb , m1 chip - imovie playsback slow mo smooth as butter, I tried da vinci today and it was choppy.

[@Ronbc000]

Thank you. 👍

[@SambuTV]

this didn’t help unfortunately, do you guys know of any other tips? would really appreciate it

[@kwaymack13]

Combine files to new compound clip. Right click the new compound file and drag cursor to “render to mp4”. It will create and save a new, file in a folder of choice. I’d also look up a tutorial on “render to mp4” that way you don’t lose any work.

[@pxlmvr7]

Blackmagic needs to fix this. Even the FCP7 days, if you rendered your timeline, it played back perfectly. You didn't have to do a nest or compound clip ... which for me working in feature films is just a no go. It should be once you render your timeline it plays rock solid. I can't tell you how many times the director or even clients have come into my suite to view something impromptu and I had lagging and skipping with the blue line rendered. Frustrating and embarrassing when the director asks why is it skipping and I have to say "I don't know...".

[@allstandby]

good tip

[@rockochamp]

Thx buddy

[@ivan90988ify]

Thanks! What about Premiere? The same?

[@nkwellemesumbe7591]

Tu es français, ton anglais est impressionnant.🙌

[@angTranang]

Tks sir

[@Panther-]

resolve has to find a way around this, love resolve for colour but when it comes to editing, final cut pro is WAAAAY SUPERIOR

[@jmalmsten]

wow, that intro... it felt like something got shuffled in the edit there. First a flash forward, then the introductory talk then a promo for a course... What was it I clicked the video for again?

[@mkmartin559]

True, this was not his most coherent or organized video ever; it also felt repetitive at times, as though he recorded it when he was exhausted or didn't have a clear narrative plan. But in general his lessons are so good and so simply explained that I always appreciate his channel. 🙂

[@RuXsel]

Wow💯💯

[@PixelSheep]

At least in my experience it all has to do with the Windows Version of Resolve - I am using the free version in both cases - under Windows my CPU jumpes to 100% as soon as I start editing and even the cursor begins to lag extremely giving me idk 1-2 FPS until the edit is done... It's almost unuseable ... I already have the resolution set to quarter of 4K. I tried building my hackintosh - on the SAME PC with the free version of Resolve for Mac I can now edit 4K in full resolution without any problems while my PC stays pretty silent. It's just bonkers to me and I never see anyone talking about it. So is there anyone out there with similar experiences? Maybe try it with friends MacBook which might even be less powerful than your PC - it will probably work better than on your powerful PC. I to this day do not completely grasp why this is I mean optimisation of course but the difference is night and day so that I even think black magic might even have activated using the GPU on the free version of Resolve on Mac by accident or sth. I do not understand it at all.

[@DAPSGDP]

CHEERS!!!!

[@ReidenLightman]

Wait, I could not only be getting smooth playback, but using fewer layers, by just using a compound clip? What the balls?

[@KA09_MEDIA_HOUSE]

After I did this trick my video going speed