When you get into a project nothing is more annoying than hitting play and then getting that stutter in your video. It usually turns into an annoying experience as you slog through it or you go digging through settings to get things tuned right for real-time review.
Real-time playback is important for actually previewing your work and even if you can’t just buy the most powerful PC around you can still get make it happen. If you want to find the quickest and easiest way to get real-time playback in DaVinci Resolve there is a nice video from Waqas Qazi.
This tip is purely focused on getting real-time playback. Qazi did take some ARRI footage and did a correction followed up with a grade, but now it is time to get into it. Now, his computer is powerful and he is doing just fine. But, when he tosses on some noise reduction it all comes crashing down.
Now, if this is the last step of your process then you might be totally fine just getting the project done even with lower than real-time playback. If you have a client over your shoulder then you might want to make sure they are getting a good look at everything and it’ll make you look better.
Image Credit: Blackmagic Design
To fix this you should head to Project Settings and under Master Settings there is the timeline Resolution. You likely have this set to your target resolution of say 4K. If you head here and change it to Full HD the project will render at that resolution and you should get much better playback.
The resolution does drop and it can be visible, but it usually isn’t something your everyday user will pick up on.
Just remember before you hit export to change it back to your full resolution and you will get all the quality you expect in your final version.
Do you have any other solutions for getting real-time playback?
[source: Waqas Qazi]
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