efficiency and old cache files ?

I'm about to finally start editing a 6 camera multicam shoot using Optimized media in Resolve 16. 5 cameras are UHD and one is 1080 HD . Editing in a 1080 timeline. I expect to be doing a pretty fair amount of color correction , push ins, some masking and double exposures, so I'm concerned about it not getting bogged down.
Have a few different questions re workflow;

1. While figuring out how to do this , I've had to learn Resolve, experiment a great deal both with color and a variety of processor intensive effects from resolve & neat video, Dub my project numerous times so I have maybe 8 versions of it, and I made Proxy files in 1080 and 720 before i settled on using optimized media . Along the way I've experimented with noise reduction and had to make full dubs of some of the cameras to clean up noise so that I could edit without getting bogged down by the effects.
I'm concerned now that the Resolve database in general and all these project versions are littered with no longer needed cache files and god knows what else that will slow down the the whole program.

- Should I be concerned about this and if so how can I clean everything up so its not a mess in there?
I was thinking as a first step I could dub the most recent project to a new one and delete all the extra timelines and source files I no longer need. Secondly I could delete all the no longer needed earlier Project versions. But will that clean things up ? Is it even necessary to do that at all?

2. A related general question is how or whether I should in some way separate individual cache files and indeed old projects altogether from the Resolve database as time goes along and i do more and Resolve Projects. I knew how to do this back with FCP 7 but i don't understand Resolve project management that well.


3. This is a more minor question : I made most of my UHD optimized media at half resolution and ProRes Lite because that gave me an acceptable balance of image quality and playback smoothness. I need to make a new optimized version of the 1080 camera and didn't like how it looked at half res. I could make it at full res or Auto .Is Auto harder on the system ? Its OK to mix optimized at half and full right?

Thanks a great deal. I do consult the manual often and tons of tutorials but sometimes its hard to find this info. This Forum is a great resource.

Hi Leonard,

I recently migrated to DR Studio 17.0 from Premiere Pro cc2021 to begin two new projects.

I too littered my Resolve Database with all types of versions to experiment and learn how to properly use DRS.

My concerns were almost identical to yours, as well as frustration and my impatience on getting a handle on workflow, work speed, and reliability.

Ultimately I resorted to creating a new Database and saving each project to the new database.

Additionally, I used proxies, but quickly resorted to using Optimized HD Media. By using the optimized media, my playback improved by an order of magnitude, at full resolution (1080 from 4k).

Each project was broken down into multiple timelines for my edits, fusion FX, color grading, etc..

In a Master timeline, each timeline was added in place. Then the timeline would be converted to an Optimized clip. To make additional corrections, the original timeline was opened modified, and used to replace the optimized media, then reoptimizing the new timeline.

I am out of town and away from my workstation, so I can not provide detail steps at this time.

This weekend, 02/27/2021, I will be available for any additional assistance, if requested.

Enjoy your new work environment, I certainly do.

Kindest Regards,
Joseph Freeman

1. I don't believe concern is necessary.

2. There are maaaaaaany ways to organize things, and quite a few threads about database organization already exist. Give the forums a search for some ideas.

3. Auto will create proxies at source resolution for clips that match the timeline resolution, lowering that for clips whose resolution is higher than the timeline's. Mixed resolutions for OM are no issue.