When you first install Davinci Resolve on your computer and start using it, playback will probably feel really slow and clunky, especially if you are trying to edit 4k footage. While this isn't great it is 100% normal as Davinci Resolve is configured for high end machines and maximum quality. However with a little bit of fine tuning, a few settings can be tweaked to get it to run great on most desktop PCs and laptops. So follow along as we guide you through the best Davinci Resolve performance tricks.
Takeaways:
- Why does Davinci Resolve feel so slow, even on a high-end PC?
- The best settings to use for faster editing in Davinci Resolve.
Table of Contents
How to Make DaVinci Resolve Run Faster: Improve Playback Speed in DaVinci Resolve
Resolve prioritizes quality and precision over ease of use. Out of the box, it plays footage at full resolution, processes heavy formats, and encourages advanced editing steps early. For newbies, this can make Davinci Resolve seem slow, especially on older machines. But there are actually a lot of things you can do to fix this.
Lower Timeline Playback Resolution
Go to Playback, then Timeline Playback Resolution. By default, Resolve plays your timeline at full resolution, which is unnecessary while editing. Set this to Half Resolution. If playback is still choppy, use Quarter Resolution.
This setting only affects how smoothly your timeline plays during editing. It has no impact on export quality. Most users see immediate improvement after changing this.
Footage Format Matters More Than Your Computer
Highly compressed formats like H.264 and H.265 are common in modern cameras and screen recordings, but they are difficult for Resolve to play back smoothly. Even powerful computers can struggle with them. So you will need to change a few things inside of Davinci Resolve to better handle these files.
Use Optimized Media
- Go to Playback and enable Use Optimized Media if it is available.
- Then open the Media Pool, select your clips, right click, and choose Generate Optimized Media.
- Resolve creates easier to play versions of your footage and uses them automatically during editing.
Use Proxy Media for Even Better Performance
You can also generate proxy media.
- Right click your clips and choose Generate Proxy Media.
- Resolve creates lower resolution files automatically.
- After proxies are created, go to Playback, Proxy Handling, and set it to Prefer Proxies.
Resolve will use proxy files while editing and switch back to the original footage when exporting. This does not reduce final quality and often fixes lag instantly. You can check out a fully detailed guide on this process below. How to Create Proxy Files Fast in DaVinci Resolve | Edit Faster for YouTube Using Proxies
Fix Lag with Render Cache Smart
- Go to Playback, then Render Cache, and set it to Smart.
This allows Resolve to cache parts of your timeline so it does not repeatedly reprocess the same frames. Without this, effects and color work can slow playback significantly. Render Cache Smart helps Resolve work efficiently rather than constantly recalculating. This works well when used alongside proxies.
Don't Apply Certain Things Too Early! (Work Flow Tip)
Davinci Resolve has a mountain of features you can use and doesn't really show you which order to do things in so don't start things like color grading or adding effects early in your editing process. This will hurt performance while you are still cutting, and organising your projects.
- During the editing phase, avoid heavy color nodes, timeline effects, and detailed polish.
- Focus on structure and timing first. Save all the fine tuning and colour work till last.
Edit at 1080p not 4K (Timeline Resolution)
Go to Project Settings and check your timeline resolution. If you are editing in 4K but do not need to see full 4K detail while cutting, lower the timeline resolution to 1080p.
You can switch back to 4K before export. Timeline resolution is an editing choice, not a quality commitment. Lower resolutions improve performance and speed.
Don't Mess Around with Performance Settings
Unless you are having major issues with stabilty of crashing don't mess around with Davinci Resolves perfromance settings. Everything is set up automatically and for 99% of people will work great. On the odd chance you do have problems, you can check out our Davinci troubleshooting guides here.
