DaVinci Resolve Playback Choppy or Laggy

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Generate Optimized Media or proxies

   Copy steps
   1. Right-click the clips in the Media Pool > Generate Optimized Media (or Generate Proxy Media)
   2. Choose ProRes Proxy or DNxHR LB in Project Settings > Master Settings
   3. Enable Playback > Use Optimized Media If Available
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Lower the timeline resolution

   1. Playback > Timeline Proxy Resolution > Half or Quarter
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Use render cache

   1. Playback > Render Cache > Smart or User, then cache the heavy sections
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Reduce raw decode quality

   1. Project Settings > Camera Raw: set decode quality lower for raw footage
   Did this fix it? Yes No

5. 5. Move media to a fast drive

   1. Use an SSD instead of a slow external HDD
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Timeline playback stutters, drops frames, or audio and video drift apart.

Why it happens

• Long-GOP compressed camera files (H.264/H.265)
• Heavy color grades, noise reduction or Fusion effects
• Footage on a slow external drive
• Not enough GPU memory or RAM
• Raw footage decoded at full quality

This guide also covers

• davinci resolve playback choppy
• davinci resolve lagging
• why is davinci resolve so slow
• davinci resolve laggy playback

The same problem in other apps

All audio, video & device problems guides →

• Premiere Pro No Audio in Timeline (Adobe Premiere Pro)
• LumaFusion Playback Lagging or Choppy (LumaFusion)

Other DaVinci Resolve errors

• DaVinci Resolve "GPU Memory Is Full" Error
• DaVinci Resolve Media Offline Error
• DaVinci Resolve Crashing on Startup
• DaVinci Resolve Render Job Failed Error
• DaVinci Resolve No Audio on Linux (AAC Codec)
• DaVinci Resolve "Unsupported GPU Processing Mode" Error
• DaVinci Resolve Keeps Crashing or Freezing
• DaVinci Resolve Studio License Activation and Transfer