Sudden and inexplicable playback lag.

After video-editing with Resolve for a couple months, I started randomly getting playback lag. Now, every time I edit 4k footage the playback FPS drops down to around 0-4 FPS which is very strange since I used to have 60fps while editing 4k footage.

This leaves the following options: Changing project frame size, rendering cache, 1/8th proxy resolution and cutting on some special effects.

Most of the time I have clients watching and thinking along during the editing progress. So having playback lag is very inconvenient. Changing the resolution isn't ideal since the reference screen is quite big and it makes pixel perfect edits hard to pull off. Rendering cache takes too much time.

My problem, I have too little knowledge about Computer specifications/settings/cores to know what is the culprit. So can anyone give me some insight on this situation and possibly come up with a solution?

As far as I know, my specs are very capable of editing 4k. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Best,

Thijs

Have you run the BM Disk Speed test? That'll let you know what you can do although I suspect it'll show that you can process much more than you actually can. Mine says I'm good for everything except 12k H.264 but I only get about 3fps using the smallest 1080 proxies. Everything in DR is set to low res in viewers and proxies and even optimized media because why not. It's weird because I'm on 18.5 and it was working great until a week or two ago.

Hopefully some day everyone can get back to raving about Resolve because nothing but bug reports all over the internet is getting really old.

Have you run the BM Disk Speed test? That'll let you know what you can do

I have not actually. I can give it a try.
Thank you!

The way your playback FPS just dropped from one day to the other is very relatable. Maybe it has something to do with a specific update. Who knows... Let's hope someone comes with a solution that can get our playback back to how it was.

What kind of footage, Thijs? From what camera?

Oops, forgot to say this.

I work with multiple camera's and they all have playback lag when trying to play them in DR18.

BMPCC 6K PRO
DJI Drone - FC220
Canon EOS-R

Only my iPhone footage doesn't lag.

For the record, the most lag happens with the BMPCC clips. I shoot ProRes 422HQ Film-LOG.

Thank you for your reply!

Oops, forgot to say this. I work with multiple camera's and they all have playback lag when trying to play them in DR18.

What happens if you change your timeline settings to 1080p?

If that doesn't do that, consider editing half-res 1080p proxies in DNxHR SQ, and then switching back to 4K camera files for your final render.

Oops, forgot to say this. I work with multiple camera's and they all have playback lag when trying to play them in DR18.

What happens if you change your timeline settings to 1080p?

This is usually my last resort. And this works, but since my reference screen is quite big (for the clients to watch), and I have to make pixel-perfect adjustments, changing the timeline to 1080p isn't ideal.

But I rather find out why the playback is lagging now all of the sudden and getting to the root of the problem. Because it used to give me 60fps even with 6k footage. Prevention is better than cure

Did you try deleting the "cacheclip" folder entirely? That resolves issues most of the time.

You need to have Resolve closed before you do that. AFAIK the folder is safe to delete. You can also delete from within Resolve but a actual proper delete is always the best route in my experience.

Are you using free version of DR or Studio?

Also check your Memory and GPU configuration in Resolve System Preferences, you maybe switched to CPU instead of GPU processing.
Check Playback Settings in Resolve User Preferences, Performance mode may be deactivated, try "Auto" if disabled.
Try lowering Scopes quality settings.

Check your RAM usage in windows, 32GB may be your bottleneck.
Check your HDD/SSD, they may be full or slow for some reason.
Check Nvidia drivers.
...


Reinstall Resolve.
...

the most lag happens with the BMPCC clips. I shoot ProRes 422HQ

OK.

Those files are actually larger, and hence more difficult to play, than BRAW clips. It could be that your storage just can't keep up.

Thanks for the reply's. Very helpful.

To clarify some things:

- I'm running the Studio version.
- Deleting the "cacheclip" folder doesn't help. By the way... DRS can't save backups and and such. (Maybe because I put the folders in a different hard drive)
Maybe the playback issue has something to do with this?
- I will switch to BRAW from now on. Thank you Jim!
- My RAM usage indeed is 32GB, but only 9GB are in use.
- Performance mode "auto" was active.

- GPU processing mode was actually disabled. It's turned on now.
- HHD/SSD are quite full.
Hope this helps.

QUICK SOLVE: RESET STABILIZATION IN COLOR TAB

So, I had this problem too. All of the sudden my Footage (BMPCC4K, BRAW, 8:1) which was working perfectly fine in my current project and also other projects started lagging hard. Like 4pfs hard with sound stutters.

Searched the internet. Found no help. Tried stuff around.

What worked for me was resetting all Video, BRAW and Audio Effects. Then the playback was smooth again, but my grade was gone. Added my powergrade I saved before messing around and started lagging again.
Turns out Stabilization was somehow turned on, although I bypassed it and also did a reset in the editing tab, it was still "active" in the background. (probably from transfering the grade via a still from another shot)
When i did a reset in the Color Tab it actually reset and after that everything worked as it should.

Hope this helps someone in times of despair.

What worked for me was resetting all Video, BRAW and Audio Effects. Then the playback was smooth again, but my grade was gone. Added my powergrade I saved before messing around and started lagging again.

Great tip, but too much of a workaround for me. What worked for me is stabilizing the clip and then resetting it. This gave me 60fps without changing playback resolution etc. It's like the clips render during the stabilization process. However when u grade or restart the project the render, and therefore, the smooth playback are gone. Maybe this was obvious, but for me it wasn't.