Dynamic Project Switching - make it more intuitive

Whether "Dynamic Project Switching" is turned ON by default in Davinci 18, I don't know - since I turned it on when I had Davinci 17. So I don't know if the settings carried over when I upgraded from 17 to 18.

But I think it should be on by default.

The reason is, for simple features like this, it is best if Davinci works like all other software in the marketplace, so that it is more intuitive.

I recall it was so un-intuitive to find out how to be able to switch between multiple projects that are simultaneously open. It required the user to go to Project Manager, place the cursor in the open area (no indication that this would trigger a menu), then right-click and select DYNAMIC PROJECT SWITCHING. Even after doing that, the user had to figure out where to choose between opened-projects (the menu is under the title of the project, at the top-middle of the screen).

There is no way a person could stumble across that my fiddling around. Hence, it is non-intuitive.

I suggest that project-switching should function like in Microsoft Word. That all projects, that are open, should be accessible from the main dropdown menus (as per Microsoft Word).

Right now, the "switching" is achieved by going to a pulldown menu that is located at the title of the project, right in the middle of the top of the screen. That's fine after you discover that that's where it is. But I would have never gone there to look for it unless someone pointed it out. Hence, it is non-intuitive because it does not follow conventions used by the major software that people are used to.

I have been using Davinci Resolve for around 4 years, so I am comfortable with most daily tasks - but I still remember how it was a horror-show trying to learn Davinci, because so many basic tasks are hidden away in non-intuitive places.

+1
Totally agree. Hoping that, at some point, BMD decides to focus dev on intuitiveness and discoverability. Eventually!

Whether "Dynamic Project Switching" is turned ON by default in Davinci 18, I don't know - since I turned it on when I had Davinci 17. So I don't know if the settings carried over when I upgraded from 17 to 18. But I think it should be on by default.

One reason it isn't on by default all the time is that if you open (say) 5 projects in a row, and they're all dynamically open at the same time, it'll use up a lot of RAM... especially if you have the option to open all timelines when an individual project is opened.

What I've found is it seems that if I exit Resolve when Dynamic Project Switching is turned on, then I re-launch Resolve, Dynamic Project switch is still on. So the feature you're asking for is already there.

There are a bunch of modes that get turned off or turned on by default when you exit, but this isn't one of them. To try to combat that, I use a bunch of pre-built templates which do have those configs and modes set the way I want, and that "generally" seems to work (except for hated features like Live Preview, which is my nemesis).

One reason it isn't on by default all the time is that if you open (say) 5 projects in a row, and they're all dynamically open at the same time, it'll use up a lot of RAM... especially if you have the option to open all timelines when an individual project is opened.

It'd be akin to web browser design (Chrome, Firefox etc) when a user has numerous tabs open, it consumes large amounts of RAM. Hence, do browser designers therefore restrict the user to having only one tab open at a time, with multiple-open tabs being an opt-in feature that must be turned on?

So many issues in life, the decision is whether to make it opt-in or opt-out.

I think that most people, above a certain basic level, would realise that having many Projects open would consume more RAM. Hence, if you design the UI for people like that, the focus is on making life speedier for those types of people; and easier for new users.

Whereas, if you design the UI for people - who are unaware that more opened-projects leads to higher RAM usage - then the focus of the UI designer is to save people from their own lack of awareness.

The choice between these two paradigms is an allegory of countless legislative decisions in society.

Whereas, if you design the UI for people - who are unaware that more opened-projects leads to higher RAM usage - then the focus of the UI designer is to save people from their own lack of awareness.

What if the people using the UI actually read the manual?

And for the stuff not specifically in the manual... you can ask a question here, and there's a good chance it'll be answered. Which I did.

Some of us think making the UI intuitive is very important.
Others think it's all fine as long as whatever the UI is is documented in the manual.

BMD hasn't (and presumably won't) comment on their point of view.

I suggest that project-switching should function like in Microsoft Word. That all projects, that are open, should be accessible from the main dropdown menus (as per Microsoft Word).

Right now, the "switching" is achieved by going to a pulldown menu that is located at the title of the project, right in the middle of the top of the screen.

What you are asking for is already there. That's why it's advised to RTFM.
If you go to File there is a button to switch between currently open projects. Available from every page.

BTW, switching between project is also present in drop down menu justa above the viewers: if only one project is open, nothing is there, if multiple are open, the current active is there: clicking and you have all the other ones.

One click switch.

What if the people using the UI actually read the manual?

Sorry, but having to consult the 4,000+ page Resolve manual or ask online for basic tasks that should be intuitive (especially for those who have used other DAWs/NLEs) is pretty frustrating. I've felt this way many times while using Resolve.

Sorry, but having to consult the 4,000+ page Resolve manual or ask online for basic tasks that should be intuitive (especially for those who have used other DAWs/NLEs) is pretty frustrating. I've felt this way many times while using Resolve.

You can always do a search of the PDF. There are also smaller, free user guides used to help new users learn the software:

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/produc ... e/training

The section on the Project Manager (including Dynamic Project Switching) is an entire chapter (Chapter 3), in the first 100 pages of the manual. I found it in 2 seconds. The default for this mode is something you'd have to ask about here on the forum, and I gave you an answer... which is that it already acts the way you want. Set it once, and it stays in that mode even if you exit and restart the program.

Sorry, but having to consult the 4,000+ page Resolve manual or ask online for basic tasks that should be intuitive (especially for those who have used other DAWs/NLEs) is pretty frustrating. I've felt this way many times while using Resolve.

You can always do a search of the PDF. There are also smaller, free user guides used to help new users learn the software:
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/produc ... e/training

The section on the Project Manager (including Dynamic Project Switching) is an entire chapter (Chapter 3), in the first 100 pages of the manual. I found it in 2 seconds. The default for this mode is something you'd have to ask about here on the forum, and I gave you an answer... which is that it already acts the way you want. Set it once, and it stays in that mode even if you exit and restart the program.

I'm not the original poster, I just agreed that many basic tasks in Resolve are unintuitive. I am very familiar with researching solutions, but my point is that for many of these basic tasks it shouldn't be necessary.

One possible alternative, if you try to open another project show a pop-up window where you can choose to close the current project or keep the current project open. If you choose to close the current project and changes had been made since the last save, then prompt to save before closing. A checkbox to "remember this setting" will avoid having the extra pop-up dialog window every time if you don't want it. And to really cover the bases here, in the first pop-up window include a statement:
"Opening multiple projects will use more RAM and could cause performance issues. For best performance, close all other projects that are not in use."
or something like that. This is very intuitive and even protects new users from themselves with no need for manual hunting.

And it's not just one thing, I've had this frustration many times while trying to do simple tasks that are unintuitive or require hacky work arounds in Resolve. That is my main point here. One small thing on its own isn't that big of a deal, but when these kinds of things frequently pop up, it makes using the program as a whole far more frustrating that it needs to be.

I think it should be on by default.

Hard NO on that!

Users who want it on should have to turn it on.

I think it should be on by default.

Hard NO on that!

Users who want it on should have to turn it on.

+1

however, per database, already ir remember the previous state, so it is one click away....

having to consult the 4,000+ page Resolve manual or ask online for basic tasks that should be intuitive (especially for those who have used other DAWs/NLEs) is pretty frustrating. I've felt this way many times while using Resolve.
…
And it's not just one thing, I've had this frustration many times while trying to do simple tasks that are unintuitive or require hacky work arounds in Resolve. That is my main point here. One small thing on its own isn't that big of a deal, but when these kinds of things frequently pop up, it makes using the program as a whole far more frustrating that it needs to be.

+1 to this. We’re on the same wavelength. There are a bunch of folks with the opposite point of view - and they’re long-time users who post very frequently here.

Too bad we can’t tell what percentage of Resolve users is in what camp.

Too bad BMD won’t comment.

+1 to this. We’re on the same wavelength. There are a bunch of folks with the opposite point of view - and they’re long-time users who post very frequently here.

Yeah, I’ve seen those comments from long time users... but who knows, maybe they’ve used Resolve for so long that they don’t notice how backwards Resolve can be on very simple tasks? lol

I know I mention Reaper frequently, but it is a great example of how nice things can be when a strong effort is put into workflow and customization. I used Samplitude for about 18 years before switching to Reaper and making the change was a fantastic experience because I could set Reaper up the way I wanted so that it was comfortable for me. Even though Reaper has a lot of customization options which can seem complicated, a lot of thought went into how to implement it and the Action List makes accessing these features very straight forward.

Moving from Vegas Pro to Resolve has been a very mixed experience. Some aspects are the best I’ve seen (Fusion and Color are incredible) while others have been the worst of any editor I’ve used (with the exception of my very first DAW Cakewalk Pro Audio 9, which was a destructive editor).

Too bad BMD won’t comment.

Agreed! I know they’ve said before they don’t talk about what they are working on, but I think a little communication here would go a long way. We are certainly not asking for BMD to divulge new ground breaking features they are working on, but the kinds of things we are talking about here aren’t ground breaking. It would be nice for BMD to engage with us on the workflow and layout of the program as a whole to have a cohesive application that is intuitive and enjoyable to use.

+1 for more intuitive project switching.

Just remove the option to turn it on, and keep it on by default, because having two projects open on today's hardware is not a problem, and removing a legacy hardware option like this will simplify the overall experience. Furthermore, make it more visible/standard.

I use Houdini a lot, an app where if you're doing simulation work, the recommended amount of RAM is 128 GB (you can easily hit that limit with one scene and less than 100 frames). Still, Houdini lets you open as many instances of the app as you want and open as many projects at one time as your system will allow.

To take the Apple approach that your user base needs to be handheld is not the way for a professional application. Let the user take responsibility, especially if you are expecting them to go through your non-indexed, not-online, several-thousand-page manual to begin with.

You can't have it both ways - to tell the user to RTFM and then also babysit the user. Just put it in the manual that having multiple projects/timelines open at the same time can potentially lead to performance issues.

default to it turned on and there will be a flood of folks wingeing about their machine hanging
i work on features, if i touch three projects in a day resolve will be eating 100+ gig of ram
i have substaintly than 100g so i'm all good,
and i can figure out how to toggle it on and off
but think of the folks with 16g sys ram - that's alot of the semi-pro and enthuisast crew useing Resolve, now imagine someone with 16g of sys ram opening up mutiple projects = hang = coming on here and crying that Resolve is hanging.....

default to off just to save the bandwidth, and user frustration

I support the idea of making the software more intuitive, however, I believe the solution is not to enable it by default. The pros and cons of this setting are relatively equal, but the cons slightly outweigh the pros due to the potential confusion it could cause. For example, users may struggle with switching between projects or understanding why Davinci Resolve is consuming a lot of RAM and slowing the system down.

Davinci Resolve is a feature-rich software with numerous options and settings. Despite this, it is not possible to make all of these options easily accessible how much there are. There will always be relatively hidden settings.

Instead of continually making small changes just to please those who don't want to take a "one-time" extra step, I would suggest implementing a search function for all settings and more within Davinci Resolve. This would save a significant amount of time and is a feature that is commonly found in other software such as IDEs and Affinity Photo (that's what I use). I will be submitting a feature request for that.

Just remove the option to turn it on, and keep it on by default, because having two projects open on today's hardware is not a problem

That's the worse take on this subject lol.

"I have a workstation with an RTX a6000, 32 cores Threadripper and 256 Gb of RAM, I can have 30 projects opened at the same time. Please remove the option for the majority who don't have the same hardware as me". Come on

Imagine if gamers were like that (some are lol) and if all the game developers were listening to them. You look at the Steam Hardware & Software Survey, and you realize that the "peasants" who can't game at 120 fps on 4k monitors are the 95% of the users.

But again, just turn it on for yourself and, voilà, you don't have to touch it again.

It's a non issue

per database, remember the previous state

I would even vote no on that.

Despite all my griping about Stickies, DPS should have to be manually re-engaged after every startup.

Instead of having a default state, a simple pop-up when you try to open a new project with a project currently open would address this in an intuitive way. Then you can choose what you want to do, have an option to "remember this setting" and it can even display a warning message that opening multiple projects will use more RAM and may cause performance issues.

Davinci Resolve is a feature-rich software with numerous options and settings. Despite this, it is not possible to make all of these options easily accessible how much there are. There will always be relatively hidden settings.

I don't think anything needs to be "hidden" per say. An option in the preferences would be better as you would intuitively think to look there to change settings. The current method of right-click a blank spot on the project manager to enable switching projects isn't intuitive.

I would suggest implementing a search function for all settings and more within Davinci Resolve. This would save a significant amount of time and is a feature that is commonly found in other software such as IDEs and Affinity Photo (that's what I use). I will be submitting a feature request for that.

+1 That would be great!

Most programs don’t have a single/multi project mode. You just open a second project. The way Resolve has chosen to do this is overly complex.

As far as I know there’s no reason Resolve can’t manage this efficiently without the user having to turn on a special mode. Of course we can’t know for sure as we can’t look inside the code. But I sure hope they take another look at this because everyone else has managed without a special mode so I bet Resolve can too.


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Most programs don’t have a single/multi project mode. You just open a second project. The way Resolve has chosen to do this is overly complex.

I wonder how much of this is due to Resolve's database system, which honestly, I'm not a fan of. I much prefer having individual project files like every other application I've ever used. Launching another project file opens the project in a new instance of the application so both projects are open.

I can see the database being useful for things like real-time collaboration, but I'm not doing anything like that so the database structure is only a nuisance for me.

Just remove the option to turn it on, and keep it on by default, because having two projects open on today's hardware is not a problem

That's the worse take on this subject lol.

You're only under the impression that it's a bad take because of how badly Resolve currently implements multiple open projects. Everything is hidden, and the user has no immediate, top-level feedback on how many projects are open.

I can't think of another app that handles something this basic this badly.

In any other app that can handle multiple open files, you can see via the Taskbar/Alt+Tab/Dock/etc. or via the app's UI itself that you have multiple open files.

No other app needs to first enable multi-files (in a secretly hidden option), then have you open a special window to load that 2nd file, then just straight up hide your previous file, and then give you no further top-level indication that you have 2 files loaded. It's absurd, and it can get a lot better, and a lot simpler.

"I have a workstation with an RTX a6000, 32 cores Threadripper and 256 Gb of RAM, I can have 30 projects opened at the same time. Please remove the option for the majority who don't have the same hardware as me". Come on

Imagine if gamers were like that (some are lol) and if all the game developers were listening to them. You look at the Steam Hardware & Software Survey, and you realize that the "peasants" who can't game at 120 fps on 4k monitors are the 95% of the users.

This argument is a non-starter because not every project is necessarily resource intensive. (I already addressed this in my post that you replied to, using Houdini as an example).

To use your own analogy, not every game needs elite hardware, and can be run just fine on "peasant" hardware.

Furthermore, if you are using a professional app, I would hope that the user of that app is aware that loading multiple, resource-heavy projects simultaneously will put some pressure on their hardware. If not, RTFM, like so many here like saying.

The way Resolve has chosen to do this is overly complex.

We're talking about right-clicking and selecting the option ONCE in the project manager. How is this overly complex?

The way Resolve has chosen to do this is overly complex.

We're talking about right-clicking and selecting the option ONCE in the project manager. How is this overly complex?

it seems... too difficult.....

The way Resolve has chosen to do this is overly complex.

We're talking about right-clicking and selecting the option ONCE in the project manager. How is this overly complex?

it seems... too difficult.....

Complexity is not necessarily synonymous with difficulty, your unwarranted snark notwithstanding.

The contention is that it's an unnecessary barrier to a trivial task that has been a solved problem in other professional apps for decades now, and we can want to have Resolve be simpler to use.

I hope that that position is not too difficult to understand.

The way Resolve has chosen to do this is overly complex.

We're talking about right-clicking and selecting the option ONCE in the project manager. How is this overly complex?

I think this post sums it up very well...

I can't think of another app that handles something this basic this badly.

In any other app that can handle multiple open files, you can see via the Taskbar/Alt+Tab/Dock/etc. or via the app's UI itself that you have multiple open files.

No other app needs to first enable multi-files (in a secretly hidden option), then have you open a special window to load that 2nd file, then just straight up hide your previous file, and then give you no further top-level indication that you have 2 files loaded. It's absurd, and it can get a lot better, and a lot simpler.

It's more than just the one setting. As I said before, if it was just one thing then that's not really a big deal... but Resolve frequently adds unnecessary complexity for tasks that should be simple and intuitive, especially for those who have experience in other DAWs/NLEs. Resolve tried to reinvent the wheel for many standard tasks and ended up square wheels in stead of round. What we're saying is let's just stick with the round wheels, those work the best.