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Second, if background caching is enabled in the Project settings (it’s turned on by default), and you don’t make any changes to your project for a user-definable number of seconds (this is adjustable in the Master Settings panel of the Project Settings), caching will automatically begin during periods of user inactivity. So feel free to use this as an excuse to take those coffee, mate, or tea breaks; DaVinci Resolve will keep on working for you.
The Difference Between the Smart Cache and User Cache Modes
The Smart Cache option of the Render Cache submenu provides the easiest user experience when you want to “set it and forget it.” Choosing Smart triggers a variety of automatic caching behaviors designed to optimize playback in DaVinci Resolve by rendering clip formats, grading operations, and timeline effects that are known to be performance-intensive, while also letting you manually flag clips that you’d like to cache that the Smart Cache hasn’t.
The User Cache, on the other hand, does not automatically cache clips in processor-intensive formats, so this is a good option to choose when your workstation is capable of playing all media formats you’re using in real time. Ordinarily, the User cache relies on you to control what is cached and what is not by manually flagging specific clips and effects. However, the Master Settings panel of the Project Settings has three options you can enable for automatically caching transitions, composites, and Fusion Effects while in User Cache mode (these options are found in the Optimized Media and Render Cache group). Of these settings, only “Automatically cache Fusion Effects in User Mode” is turned on by default.
Here are the differences between the Smart and User cache modes for each type of caching DaVinci Resolve does.
Fusion Output Caching
— In Smart mode: For all clips with “Render Cache Fusion Output” set to either Auto (by default) or On, three types of effects are rendered. First, H.264, H.265, DCP, JPEG2K, or camera raw clips
that have been edited into a timeline are cached. Camera Raw clips are cached using the currently selected project or clip debayer settings. Second, Speed effects are cached at the source level, which makes it possible to move cached speed effects clips on the Timeline without needing to
re-cache them. Finally, Fusion Clips or clips with Fusion Effects applied to them are also cached, and manually flagged clips are also cached in Smart mode.
— In User mode: Clips with Render Cache Fusion Output set to On are cached, while clips set to Auto are ignored, except for clips with Fusion Effects, which are automatically cached in Auto mode when the “Automatically cache Fusion Effects in User Mode” Project Setting is on.
Caching Specific Nodes in the Color Page
— In Smart mode: DaVinci Resolve automatically caches all nodes that use Motion Blur, Noise Reduction, or Resolve FX and OFX plugins. Manually flagged nodes are also cached in Smart mode.
— In User mode: DaVinci Resolve only caches nodes that have been manually flagged by right- clicking them and choosing Node Cache > On to force that node to cache in User mode, along with all upstream nodes to the left of them.