Why does Resolve do this when lowering playback resolution??

I'm very confused why Resolve makes video tinier and tinier when trying to lower the playback 'resolution' for smoother playback?

Users only want to lower the quality of playback, in order to achieve smoother playback and less processor strain, when using HD (or higher) footage... Why would anyone actually want the resolution (ie. the size) of the picture to be reduced in their playback windows?? I cannot not think of any use case for this?

Every other NLE works as expected, by lowering the quality of the video, for smoother playback.

And yes, I understand that I could make proxies, but in many cases that's not necessary or it's too time consuming for the amount of the footage. I also understand that I can then increase the size in the record window, but this is an extra step and it's silly that this is the way Resolve works by default (IMO)...a simple way to just lower the playback quality (NOT the overall SIZE of the video) is needed.

Thank you!

Lowering playback resolution does not in itself reduce the size of the image. The size of the video window depends on monitoring settings as well as playback resolution.

How exactly are you lowering playback resolution and what are the monitoring and image scaling preferences?

Lowering playback resolution does not in itself reduce the size of the image.

It does for me (Studio Vs 19) - When I choose TImeline Playback Resolution from the Playback menu, and then choose Half or Quarter, the video image in my record monitor shrinks, by Half or 4 times.

EDIT: I've also just tested adjusting the monitor and output settings of the timeline, but that doesn't help either... this just seems like strange behaviour to me and not in line with how all the other NLE applications work for this type of thing.

I don't have the system in front of me, but I have no recollection of a setting called "TImeline Playback Resolution" under the Playback menu. Do you mean Proxy Playback, which offers 1/2 and 1/4 resolution choices?

Under normal circumstances Proxy playback does not alter the playback window size on either the UI or external monitor. However, you provided no information about your timeline, monitoring or image scaling settings.

You may not have a recollection of it, however there is indeed a "Timeline Playback Resolution" setting under the Playback menu (see attached image).

I am not using an external monitor, nor am I asking about that...

I'm trying to reduce the quality of playback so it's not crisp, full resolution in my record monitor...I'm wanting to lower it, to help with smoother playback. In every other NLE, you can just reduce the quality of the playback - which just makes the video appear softer, and allows for smoother playback when the system is having trouble... And this is also something that you can quickly go back and forth from (switch to half or quarter, then change it back to full, instantly)...

Resolve Studio 19 does not seem to have any other option to do this, other than the option I've mentioned.

It was apparently renamed in v19 (or perhaps even earlier), from Proxy playback. It appears to be the same function, however. It's always possible a bug was introduced in v19 (it worked as expected in the past),

That aside, you repeat the difficulty you're having in each post -- I got it the first time -- and object to my mention of an external monitor, but you still haven't supplied the asked for information. Maybe someone more insightful or clairvoyant, or who has encountered the same, will be able to help you. I can't. Sorry for wasting your time.

My timeline is HD, and my timeline setting is set to monitor and output the same (1920x1080)...

The reason I keep restating the issue, is that these timeline settings should have no affect on what I'm trying to do, or the issue I'm having. I should be able to have these set to HD, but then lower the quality of playback separately, and NOT have the image resize... Which once again, is how all other NLEs work.

I've seen enough issues reported when using Timeline Playback Resolution to suggest that you just...don't.

Keep it at Full and use other methods to improve performance.

OK, got it.... I'll do that, thank you.

[Peter Chamberlain]

I've seen enough issues reported when using Timeline Playback Resolution to suggest that you just...don't.

Keep it at Full and use other methods to improve performance.

This makes no sense to me Jim.. you do use this setting to reduce the processing required to playback the image... there should be no image resize, just res change.

If Mandy or others are seeing something different, please provide more details.. a drp might help.. but John did ask.. what are the timeline, monitoring or image scaling settings?

[Shrinivas Ramani]

Hi Mandy

In addition to Peter's request - an example project export file (DRP) - could you also detail your system setup (hardware, OS, drivers, peripherals etc) and Resolve version (build number, free vs studio). Please see the FAQ.

Lastly, some screenshots showing what you see would help. If you could further explain what you see and what you expect to see, it would make your original question unambiguous.

Thanks
Shrinivas

This makes no sense to me Jim.

For quite a while now folks have been reporting odd behavior when Timeline Playback Resolution is set to anything other than Full.

Mainly out of misunderstanding what it's supposed to do. And what it can't do, like scale titles.

For its intended uses, it's worked reliably for years.

Same here, it works as expected and the size on the display doesn't change.
Allow me to mention another option: in the project settings under Camera RAW you have a different way to reduce the decoded resolution. This can be very efficient with some formats, like the older R3D (wavelet) by Red.

Well... I've got a scenario where things don't work 'as expected'.

Setup:

HD Timeline, UHD clips set to Crop scaling so that you see a 'zoomed-in image'.

With timeline playback resolution set to Full and then Quarter - no difference, as expected.

Then introduce a Fusion comp component by switching to the Fusion page - anything really, even a non operation as long as the Fusion comp badge appears on the clip back in the edit page - Fusion sees the clip as UHD resolution, as expected, but when you switch back to the edit page, you can see that the clip has zoomed-out as if the clip is now at a lower resolution approximating that of the HD timeline and not the UHD clip.

Switching the timeline playback resolution back to Full and the clip is restored to the 'as expected' image.

So it looks like Fusion MediaOut node moves the output resolution to the timeline playback resolution...

To me this is unexpected. Can anyone else confirm assuming you can understand my ramblings?

Add - I can switch to the Fusion page, mouse click on the MediaOut node and just drag it a bit and when I switch back to the Edit page, the Fusion badge appears and this is enough to trigger the Faulty scaling I'm referring-to. This is the sort of odd behaviour that can really mess with your project when using the timeline playback resolution mode (and this is the sort of thing Jim was referring-to).

Resolve Studio 19.0.1, macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, MacBook Pro (see my signature).

I’m interested if the OP fell into this same set of circumstances.

(forgot quote)

I'm very confused why Resolve makes video tinier and tinier when trying to lower the playback 'resolution' for smoother playback?

Thank you!

I have your reason.

Under "Scaling" You have it set to center crop no resizing. I have the same issue.

Set your scaling to "scale entire image to fit" and it will work.

You’re right, GamerKitty but this shouldn’t be necessary and there are times when center crop is required.

You’re right, GamerKitty but this shouldn’t be necessary and there are times when center crop is required.

Completely agree! I wish they would fix it.

Completely agree! I wish they would fix it.

I wonder if that's possible. "Center crop" and resizing to full screen resizing are fundamentally at odds with each other. How simultaneously reduce playback resolution and retain the same size window without resizing the image to full screen?

In any event, you'll also note that "image scaling preferences" was asked for early on. And duly ignored.....

GamerKitty Euphoric Thank you! That must be it (because that is what my default setting for my timelines is set to)... When I return to this project (and Resolve), I'll be sure to play around with that, but it looks like you've solved the mystery...

I would never have thought that setting would affect the playback setting, so thank you!

Completely agree! I wish they would fix it.

I wonder if that's possible. "Center crop" and resizing to full screen resizing are fundamentally at odds with each other. How simultaneously reduce playback resolution and retain the same size window without resizing the image to full screen?

In any event, you'll also note that "image scaling preferences" was asked for early on. And duly ignored.....

I believe, they could break scaling prefs down even further

"imported PNGs" "imported video" "imported pictures" "timeline resolution" ect.

I believe having just the two is what is causing the utmost confusion. it took me AGES to figure out what the heck was happening.

Do you have Fusion in the mix when you see this issue? Without a Fusion comp, I don’t see the scaling issue with scaling set to Center Crop. From my tests there is some flaw in the way timeline playback resolution affects Fusion mediaout. Agreed?

Do you have Fusion in the mix when you see this issue? Without a Fusion comp, I don’t see the scaling issue with scaling set to Center Crop. From my tests there is some flaw in the way timeline playback resolution affects Fusion mediaout. Agreed?

no, it happens even without fusion

I'm not seeing this. There must be some other image processing pipeline that also introduces this. If I don't have Fusion in the pipeline, I don't see this issue (at least not with just a simple color grade). Maybe it takes some manipulation of the image with the inspector controls? I'll give it more testing to see if I can reproduce without Fusion.

For BMD - here's a link to a sample project illustrating this issue. The single clip is duplicated on a 720p timeline. The clip is UHD. The Timeline Playback Resolution is set to 1/4 (if this doesn't carry with the project archive, set it to 1/4 for this test). The second clip instance has the Fusion badge (but Fusion is just an Input -> Output pipeline, no transforms as you will see).

Looking at the two clips you will note that the first appears zoomed-in - this is UHD on a 720p timeline with project scaling set to centre crop no resize - totally expected. The second clip with the Fusion badge shows zoomed-out slightly (unexpected).

While looking at the second clip, change the Timeline Playback Resolution to Full and note that the image in the record monitor changes to match that of the first clip. I did not expect playback timeline resolution to affect the scaling pipeline.

GamerKitty claims that this same issue can occur even without having Fusion in the processing chain - I have not seen this yet but it wouldn't surprise me that one of the other sizing controls might have the same effect.

@Peter (BMD) - I hope your team can check this out and report back. Again - this is Resolve Studio 19.0.1 on my MackBook running Sonoma 14.6.1.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ne1Kr5xevhWB8Ql_nMmV2F2UOJexhf0s?usp=sharing

I’m hoping BMD will take a look at this Monday.

yeah I can show you how it still affects my clips even freshly loaded into the timeline (with 0 edits applied)

yeah I can show you how it still affects my clips even freshly loaded into the timeline (with 0 edits applied)

Please do. I am interested in what other processing pipeline or options in Resolve trigger this phenomenon.