Playhead jumping to clip beginning in color page

I have several overlapping clips in a timeline and when (in the color page) I click on one of the underlying clips the playhead jumps to the beginning of that clip, which is sometime way off screen (when I'm zoomed in). This is really annoying and disorienting, and adds many more steps to what should be a simple edit. I just want the playhead to stay stationary. Am I missing some setting somewhere?

In the Colour Page the playhead will go to wherever you click, by design.
The assumption is that you are colour grading and wish to see the clip you select.
I can't make the playhead go off screen on my setup.
If you are doing a "simple edit" you should be on the Edit Page.

Maybe post a short screen capture to show what is happening.

I have several overlapping clips in a timeline and when (in the color page) I click on one of the underlying clips the playhead jumps to the beginning of that clip, which is sometime way off screen (when I'm zoomed in). This is really annoying and disorienting, and adds many more steps to what should be a simple edit. I just want the playhead to stay stationary. Am I missing some setting somewhere?

Any luck finding a workaround for this? Dealing with the same issue here. I can't believe it's 3 years later and this is still the expected behavior... or that there isn't at least an option to turn this off.

The playhead doesn't move when you switch pages. Quite a brilliant design, I think.

The top clip under the playhead will be the one selected when you switch to Color. Clip selection on Edit won't have any impact here.

I have several overlapping clips in a timeline and when (in the color page) I click on one of the underlying clips the playhead jumps to the beginning of that clip, which is sometime way off screen (when I'm zoomed in). This is really annoying and disorienting, and adds many more steps to what should be a simple edit. I just want the playhead to stay stationary. Am I missing some setting somewhere?

It's a feature of the DVR that the playhead always jumps to the beginning of the clip after you click on the clip. This is also described in the manual.

But it's a stupid feature! E.g. Assimilate Scratch remembers the last playhead position in each clip. You jump from one clip to another and see the clip in the place where you last worked. It is very convenient to evaluate the differences during grading.

None of the options of the DVR match that. It's one of the things that bothers me the most about DVR.

Assimilate Scratch remembers the last playhead position in each clip.

That would make a nice option under Preferences>User>Color.

+1 x 1,000,000 times!!

I have had this problem too.
if you have 17 + layers of video, each with orchestrated opacities (the off line editor created a visual feast!). It is true that when you go into color from edit, the play head is in the place you would expect but when you realise that you needed layer 12 instead of 15, clicking on layer 12 takes you to the head of the shot and not where you wanted to see the interaction. This can be a time consuming pain... go back to the timeline park on layer 12 adjust...try layer 8...jumps to the head of the shot. Now, some of these shots might be 12 seconds, others might be 45 seconds or more, thus explaining how the OP had the play head disappear "off screen".

It would be good if the play head stayed where you left it! If you wanted to evaluate "that frame" across multiple vision layers, be prepared for a long night.

I understand that this is not a common problem as few are trying to grade across varying opacities across multiple vision layers.
They're not rushing to find cures for rare diseases either....
at least no lives are at stake.

Honestly I'm just blown away by the number of different scenarios that people have shared so far (in this post and others) where this type of playhead behavior does NOT make any sense at all and in fact - becomes a HUGE PITA to the point of almost being a dealbreaker for some workflows. The fact that this is not only the default behavior but also the ONLY behavior we're allowed to have is absurdly ridiculous. Simply unacceptable from a software that prides itself on playing in the big leagues.

This. is. NOT. ok!

BMD needs to address this immediately.

I absolutely agree that the current behaviour is a major hindrance! It annoys me every time I work in the color page.
Blackmagic, please make it an option to retain cursor position!

It would be good if the play head stayed where you left it!

It does if you Disable the tracks above it, rather than select the clip.

Jim, when you have so many layers that all contribute just a small percentage to the output picture, you need to see things in context. If it takes you to layer 12 in the color page at the frame you were on in edit, why isn’t it that frame when you then choose layer 6? I want to be able to adjust the reds in layer 6 to see how it effects layer 12 at that frame. The current behaviour is pretty indefensible. I complained about it a year or so back - no action because it is such a rare need. I am surprised to see someone else got caught by it too. I was using Dynamic grade animations to match in with the opacity animations the offline editor created across 17 layers.

Jim, when was the last time you graded 17 interactive layers of vision?

+1, play head should not go at the beginning of the clip in this scenario

+1 for an option to turn on off


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+1, this has always been a huge annoyance


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If it takes you to layer 12 in the color page at the frame you were on in edit, why isn’t it that frame when you then choose layer 6?

Because when you select a new "clip", you're not so much selecting a new "layer". That your edit in this case is set up that way isn't the norm. (As you noted yourself).

That's really more of an explanation than a defense though. I thought Vit's idea has merit, worthy of a proper Feature Request.

viewforum.php?f=33

I agree that 17 layers is a bit much. But what about 2 tracks? Is that still too much?? We're talking about the most common interview set up ever - two cameras: wide and close up. Going back and forth between the too is a complete nightmare. The truth is - the current behavior is problematic in majority of shot matching scenarios. You don't need 17 layers to tell that this is a problem that needs to be fixed.

I'm glad to see so many other people coming forward and expressing their frustration with this obvious "flaw". But I'm not happy that BMD is so controlling and not letting us have that as an option. I can't imagine it would be that big of a deal for them to implement a feature like this but it would make things so much easier for so many of us.

[Peter Chamberlain]

Just curious, for shot match, why r u not using timeline gallery wipe still, or selecting to enable/disable a track on the mini timeline header, or C mode sort?

Just curious, for shot match, why r u not using timeline gallery wipe still, or selecting to enable/disable a track on the mini timeline header, or C mode sort?

Dear Peter,

I know that DaVinci offers several tools to work comfortably in Color Page, but none will replace the simplicity and efficiency that remembering the last playhead position should make for each clip.

In Blackmagic, consider introducing this feature, pls.
It would be great!

+1
Adding my voice. Would love to have an option to jump to last playhead position per clip when jumping clips in the color page. Sure grabbing stills or selecting multiple clips and enable compare view is also an option but it requires several steps with a mouse and keyboard (or control surface?) when flicking back and forth is easy.
For flat timelines I use the multiple playheads for this, but I can imagine that some timelines can be very complex given the fact that Resolve is not just color grading software anymore. New methods should become available.

But what about 2 tracks?

Then just Disable the top track to see the one underneath. The playhead won't move.

I do this frequently matching wide and close up shots.

Again, not an argument against improvement, just info on something we can already do.

+1

I notice this behaviour is also present in Fusion.
I have an image layer above Fusion and want to sync some Fusion points to that layer. (the layer zooms back to reveal the Fusion comp)
I line up the play head to the frame I want to see something happen and go to Fusion.
Fusion delivers me to the overlaid footage, I use "Clips" to navigate to the Fusion composition and now I am in the Fusion composition on the first frame and not the frame I have just lined up in Edit.
I realise there are ways of working around - like incorporating the overlay footage into the Fusion comp but....

EDIT: maybe I have been a little hasty in describing this issue with Fusion. It seems inconsistent - perhaps the difference being whether "Clips" is active or not?

Ideally, the playhead is god. Whether switching to Fairlight, Fusion or Color (or that other thing...) you will always land on the playhead position and nothing will corrupt that.

Turn off "Selection Follows Playhead"

Turn off "Selection Follows Playhead"

It is not related - I have “selection follows” off.

If I am parked on a frame in a timeline on any page of Resolve I should be able to jump into Fusion (or any other page), invoke the “Clips” navigate and select another clip with the playhead still where I left it until I choose to have it show me another frame somewhere else. It should show me a new clip without the playhead going for a trip.
Maybe, at that point in the timeline, I want a new caption that is a derivative of a previous Fusion comp. I should be able to use clips to navigate to the previous, copy the node or nodes that I want, return to the starting clip and paste the nodes in with the playhead still, faithfully and reassuringly, in the same place. The current behaviour: the playhead jumps to the start of a clip is counter productive.

+1
Please add an option to disable this behavior!

This has been addressed in quite some other threads as well.
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=105563
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=161422

This issue has been maddening for us here, as well, and going by this thread it seems clear that we really need at least an an option for allowing the Color page to follow the Edit as well as Cut pages' timeline navigation behavior - where something so simple as just moving back by a single frame will bring you to whatever frame will be active in "the" timeline.

Under the Color page's current behavior, jogging around will correctly bring up whichever clip is next - according to the Edit/Cut page's timeline - but rather than the going to the actual frame that is visible in "the" timeline it will jump to the beginning of that clip (in our case almost always buried underneath another clip). This current (mis)behavior is (depending on the editor's workflow, obviously) extremely disorienting and completely impractical.

+ 1

But what about 2 tracks?

Then just Disable the top track to see the one underneath. The playhead won't move.

I do this frequently matching wide and close up shots.

Again, not an argument against improvement, just info on something we can already do.

Yes, but as soon as you SELECT the other clip to grade it, the playhead jumps to the first frame of said clip.

+1, totally agree, we definitely need an option for that

But what about 2 tracks?

Then just Disable the top track to see the one underneath. The playhead won't move.

I do this frequently matching wide and close up shots.

Again, not an argument against improvement, just info on something we can already do.

Jim if you are evaluating a composite or for example two or three images that are blending with each other, you need to be able to see the blend/comp all the time, not one image at teh time, so, if my playhead it is at frame 01:02:03:04 and in the mini view i tap the clip on the second layer (and the playhead intersect it) the playhead should not move from 01:02:03:04.

now the current behaviour is to slam it at the beginning frame of the clip the is unhelpful....

I found a work around that work for me

Go Color / Active Playhead / choose B than in split screen mode go to playhead instead of selected clips
You have to make your color page time line visible and there you can move independently up to 4 playhead meaning you can compare precise frames from 4 clips at a time .
Go to 6:10 for the video
But still it could be easier if blackmagic wanted to upgrade his playhead behaviour

+100 This would be so easy to fix.

My editor friends also say this drives them crazy, and they've been using resolve for years.

I'm all for coming up with workarounds to overcome idiosyncrasies, but this particular behavior of Resolve's color page drives me bonkers, lol. It definitely gets in the way of color grading. If I have several clips that occupy the same playhead location, there's no reason to move the playhead when moving between those clips. Jumping to the beginning of the clip only makes sense when the clip does not intersect the current playhead location.

If I had to make an estimate, I would say that this little glitch alone slows down my grading by 3%. Which is significant for such a small quirk...

If I had to make an estimate, I would say that this little glitch alone slows down my grading by 3%. Which is significant for such a small quirk...

In my estimation, it is certainly more than 3%, and above all, it is not a comfortable job. When I'm doing daily coloring and I've done a few takes and I find a reference place to grading, I always have to look for it again. Sometimes it is necessary to keep the place exactly, so its loss is not pleasant for work. I know that I can also use other tools in the DVR, but when I have e.g. 8 takes, even Active Playheads won't help.
This is simply a bad feature of the DVR.

Go Color / Active Playhead / choose B than in split screen mode go to playhead instead of selected clips
You have to make your color page time line visible and there you can move independently up to 4 playhead meaning you can compare precise frames from 4 clips at a time .
Go to 6:10 for the video
But still it could be easier if blackmagic wanted to upgrade his playhead behaviour

Thank you so much for this workaround, really feels like tinkering but works nicely.

The default feature is so annoying, especially for me since I use Resolve only for color compositing.

PLEASE provide an option to not budge the timeline when selecting clips or adjustment layers in the color page!

I don't know if this was there before or if it's a new annoying behavior of the Color page playhead. When I use "p" to go to full-screen viewer, then go back to viewing the timeline, the playhead is pinned to the left of the screen. Who ever thinks this is useful? Leave the damn playhead position alone! This behavior is infuriating. Please give us the option to center the playhead on the color page, no matter what else we are doing.

Yes.

I don't know if this was there before or if it's a new annoying behavior of the Color page playhead. When I use "p" to go to full-screen viewer, then go back to viewing the timeline, the playhead is pinned to the left of the screen. Who ever thinks this is useful? Leave the damn playhead position alone!

Very hard to argue with that. I agree, the playhead position should stay where it was.

Massive +1 to this 'feature'. In reality this is not a feature, it is to just leave things as they were. In this case leave the playhead where it was. The feature here is a bug IMHO, it adds nothing to my workflow but headache.

I cannot believe!

"Feature" to turn off this behavior is still not added.
This topic starded at 2017. Wow.

Maybe some well-known colourist should politely ask BM to add this eventually.
We are too small beetles to be heard.

+1

I cannot believe!

"Feature" to turn off this behavior is still not added.
This topic starded at 2017. Wow.

Maybe some well-known colourist should politely ask BM to add this eventually.
We are too small beetles to be heard.

+1

I'm a "well known colorist", but as you can see, o there is little pull for this...

This behavior is still driving me nuts. I'm at the point of screaming at Resolve. Please, Blackmagic, fix it.

It isn’t considered a fault by the devs.
They have never had to grade 17 layers of orchestrated opacity over a 90 second sequence.
Maybe it should be a feature request?

One workaround can be
In color page:

1) press M (it will set a marker in the playhead's position)
2) select the other clip
3) press [Shift] + Down (the playhead will go back to the marker)
4) press [Alt] + M. Only if you don't need that marker anymore, but you can keep it for a while if you need to come back again.

cheers,
Dorin

One workaround can be

I would laugh if it wasn't so sad that this is the most practical way to do “this”.
BM, please

There is also this, for some days now

more details are here
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=210163

cheers,
Dorin