Your experience reverting from 20 back to 19?

20 just has way too many bugs for me and I'm exploring solutions, most notably reverting back to 19. I'm wondering if you've ever gone backwards in versions. I'm scared to tbh, I was hoping projects would be backwards compatible, but as you know, they are not.

I did backup my library before upgrading though so doing this 2 step process of reinstalling 19 and then employing my old library... it's daunting because the last thing I want is to add even more problems into my DaVinci life you know?

Another potential solution is waiting for the next release that hopefully addresses the bugs but who knows when that version will be out. Just feel stuck.

There's a bug report database on The Unofficial DaVinci Resolve Forum (https://DRForum.net) you can use.

20 just has way too many bugs for me and I'm exploring solutions, most notably reverting back to 19. I'm wondering if you've ever gone backwards in versions. I'm scared to tbh, I was hoping projects would be backwards compatible, but as you know, they are not.

As a general rule, software is rarely backwards-compatible, particularly (as with Resolve) they change the internal structure of the application.

You cannot open up a v20 project in 19 -- you can only go forward, not back. This kind of problem goes all the way back to (I think) Resolve 14 and 14.5. They established a policy of "forward compatibility only," meaning that once you upgrade, you can't go back and use the session with a previous version. To protect against that, you have to save the original session file as a backup.

Here's a way you can "kind of" salvage a DRP that's been altered with a new version:

1) from within your current session and the new version of Resolve, export an XML.

2) also from within the new version of Resolve, export all the Gallery stills as individual DPX files. (Be warned that the DRX grade files will not work.)

3) optional: render a flattened video file for use as a reference movie.

Next, de-install the new version of Resolve and re-install the old version of Resolve. Create a new session and do the following:

1) import the XML and connect it to all the source media files. Now you've at least rebuild the conform and the edit (and one hopes it's all correct).

2) import the stills to the Gallery, so you now have reference frames. (Even better, import the rendered flattened file as a Reference Movie and sync it to the timeline.)

This will not rebuild or recreate the Resolve Color for the sessions, but if you have a reference, you can at least get it in the ballpark and re-color-correct it as needed.

I agree, it would be nice to have a Resolve Translation Tool that would convert from Resolve 20 to Resolve 19 (or Resolve 19 to 18), but we don't have that. At least now with Resolve 20, you can see your past Resolve Projects in the Project Manager, but each individual project will only be updated to 20 if you actually open them up in 20.

It goes without saying that backup sessions are a must.

There's a bug report database on The Unofficial DaVinci Resolve Forum (https://DRForum.net) you can use.

Thank you for this link!

20 just has way too many bugs for me and I'm exploring solutions, most notably reverting back to 19. I'm wondering if you've ever gone backwards in versions. I'm scared to tbh, I was hoping projects would be backwards compatible, but as you know, they are not.

As a general rule, software is rarely backwards-compatible, particularly (as with Resolve) they change the internal structure of the application.

You cannot open up a v20 project in 19 -- you can only go forward, not back. This kind of problem goes all the way back to (I think) Resolve 14 and 14.5. They established a policy of "forward compatibility only," meaning that once you upgrade, you can't go back and use the session with a previous version. To protect against that, you have to save the original session file as a backup.

Here's a way you can "kind of" salvage a DRP that's been altered with a new version:

1) from within your current session and the new version of Resolve, export an XML.

2) also from within the new version of Resolve, export all the Gallery stills as individual DPX files. (Be warned that the DRX grade files will not work.)

3) optional: render a flattened video file for use as a reference movie.

Next, de-install the new version of Resolve and re-install the old version of Resolve. Create a new session and do the following:

1) import the XML and connect it to all the source media files. Now you've at least rebuild the conform and the edit (and one hopes it's all correct).

2) import the stills to the Gallery, so you now have reference frames. (Even better, import the rendered flattened file as a Reference Movie and sync it to the timeline.)

This will not rebuild or recreate the Resolve Color for the sessions, but if you have a reference, you can at least get it in the ballpark and re-color-correct it as needed.

I agree, it would be nice to have a Resolve Translation Tool that would convert from Resolve 20 to Resolve 19 (or Resolve 19 to 18), but we don't have that. At least now with Resolve 20, you can see your past Resolve Projects in the Project Manager, but each individual project will only be updated to 20 if you actually open them up in 20.

It goes without saying that backup sessions are a must.

Very thorough reply! thank you!

I've been really good with backups, have always backedup before upgrading, so I would think that if I just uninstalled 20 and then reinstalled 19 and reloaded the backup that I did right before I upgraded to 20 I would be fine. No?

I hope I'm not repeating myself, I'm just digging through your reply and I'm not sure I'm understanding my train of thought.

Yes, that is accurate. You'll just (of course) lose any work you did in your database since updating to 20.

In the past I have always taken a system image before updating. Any major problem allows a roll back. Only work lost is that done after updating. These days just save a copy of the project file to an external drive as the working media is common to both v20 & v19.

Thank you for this link!

Of course!

Every time I do this kind of experimentation I have two database for two installation.
Never risk a work.
I used newer 20 magicmask to produce a better matte, exported like video to use on 19.
The same for some depth map.

I played with 20 to help beta testing but I have separated database to test and not causes problems


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

Yes, that is accurate. You'll just (of course) lose any work you did in your database since updating to 20.

Yea that's the big blow, losing the work done since updating. When I first started using 20 it was working fine for a week or two and then just bombed. Which is weird, you would think that would be the case from the start.

This is just going to be a tough lesson learned--I can't upgrade to a beta, too big a risk not enough reward. I upgraded because I saw a bunch of new AI shiny toys. I have some down time from editing from irl events so maybe the next version is out in a month or less and I can get back to work.

Thanks for the help.

In the past I have always taken a system image before updating. Any major problem allows a roll back. Only work lost is that done after updating. These days just save a copy of the project file to an external drive as the working media is common to both v20 & v19.

Yea that's the big blow, losing the work done since updating. When I first started using 20 it was working fine for a week or two and then just bombed. Which is weird, you would think that would be the case from the start.

This is just going to be a tough lesson learned--I can't upgrade to a beta, too big a risk not enough reward. I upgraded because I saw a bunch of new AI shiny toys. I have some down time from editing from irl events so maybe the next version is out in a month or less and I can get back to work.

Thanks for the help.

Every time I do this kind of experimentation I have two database for two installation.
Never risk a work.
I used newer 20 magicmask to produce a better matte, exported like video to use on 19.
The same for some depth map.

I played with 20 to help beta testing but I have separated database to test and not causes problems


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

But this doesn't get around work you've done in 20 that you can no longer access even if going back to 19 on a backup of the database from 19.