User Manual

Caching happens in two ways. First, when either Smart or User caching is enabled, caching
always happens whenever you play clips with red caching indicators.
Second, if background caching is enabled in the Project settings (it’s turned on by default), and
you don’t make any changes to your project for a user-definable number of seconds (this is
adjustable in the Master Settings panel of the Project Settings), caching will automatically begin
during periods of user inactivity. So feel free to use this as an excuse to take those coffee, mate,
or tea breaks; DaVinci Resolve will keep on working for you.
The Difference Between the Smart
Cache and User Cache Modes
The Smart Cache option of the Render Cache submenu provides the easiest user experience
when you want to “set it and forget it.” Choosing Smart triggers a variety of automatic caching
behaviors designed to optimize playback in DaVinci Resolve by rendering clip formats, grading
operations, and timeline effects that are known to be performance-intensive, while also letting
you manually flag clips that you’d like to cache that the Smart Cache hasn’t.
The User Cache, on the other hand, does not automatically cache clips in processor-intensive
formats, so this is a good option to choose when your workstation is capable of playing all
media formats you’re using in real time. Ordinarily, the User cache relies on you to control what
is cached and what is not by manually flagging specific clips and effects. However, the Master
Settings panel of the Project Settings has three options you can enable for automatically
caching transitions, composites, and Fusion Effects while in User Cache mode (these options
are found in the Optimized Media and Render Cache group). Of these settings, only
“Automatically cache Fusion Effects in User Mode” is turned on by default.
Here are the differences between the Smart and User cache modes for each type of caching
DaVinci Resolve does.
Fusion Output Caching
 In Smart mode: For all clips with “Render Cache Fusion Output” set to either Auto (by
default) or On, three types of effects are rendered. First, H.264, H.265, DCP, JPEG2K,
or camera raw clips that have been edited into a timeline are cached. Camera Raw
clips are cached using the currently selected project or clip debayer settings. Second,
Speed effects are cached at the source level, which makes it possible to move cached
speed effects clips on the Timeline without needing to re-cache them. Finally, Fusion
Clips or clips with Fusion Effects applied to them are also cached, and manually
flagged clips are also cached in Smart mode.
 In User mode: Clips with Render Cache Fusion Output set to On are cached, while clips
set to Auto are ignored, except for clips with Fusion Effects, which are automatically
cached in Auto mode when the “Automatically cache Fusion Effects in User Mode”
Project Setting is on.
Caching Specific Nodes in the Color Page
 In Smart mode: DaVinci Resolve automatically caches all nodes that use Motion Blur,
Noise Reduction, or ResolveFX and OFX plug-ins. Manually flagged nodes are also
cached in Smart mode.
 In User mode: DaVinci Resolve only caches nodes that have been manually flagged by
right-clicking them and choosing Node Cache > On to force that node to cache in User
mode, along with all upstream nodes to the left of them.
Chapter – 6 Improving Performance, Proxies, andthe RenderCache 211