Why isn't AutoSave on by default?

[william howell]

It's something you only think about when it's too late.

I'm not sure any other professional piece of software I've used in the last decade doesn't automatically back up the file once you've saved it. I absolutely love Resolve, but honestly don't care what excuse BlackMagic Developers would give when confronted with the question... In today's fast paced world, this is a total fail.

(I've submitted support requests in the past addressing this issue, so I don't feel so bad venting here right now... since... I just lost a few hours work on my new machine)

****** And... yes.... it's happened to me before... so shame on me for not turning it on when I installed resolve... If it happens to me a third time, I'm quitting my day job for something easier... like... standing in front of the camera ******

 

[Peter Chamberlain]

A lot of users want it on, a lot want it off.
You can turn it on and make that your default for every new project using the default preset in the project manager.

 

[william howell]

I hear you Peter.

As an apple user, I've had to install/reinstall/upgradeMyOS/DowngradeMyOs multiple times in the past few months due to the dreaded high Sierra OpenCL/Metal switch... In the end we ended up getting a new computer last week, which is why my autosave wasn't enabled.

Like I said.. it's happened to me before, and I just need to remember whenever I install this software to turn on autosave. I got burned yesterday and the sting of losing a few hours of my life hurt...

 

[Marc Wielage]

Like I said.. it's happened to me before, and I just need to remember whenever I install this software to turn on autosave. I got burned yesterday and the sting of losing a few hours of my life hurt...

We had discussions with daVinci Systems going back 25 years to ask them to have Auto-Save on by default. We were not successful.

One workaround is to create several empty "template" files that setup every possible working parameter in advance, then use those for each new project you start. Auto-Save can be turned on manually, then it's on forever in the templates (and subsequent sessions). You can also choose specific bin structures, color spaces, track layouts, and so on.

 

[jake blackstone]

A lot of users want it on, a lot want it off.

What is the reason given by the users, that want it off?

 

[Les Hillis]

I've noticed compound clips can make autosave take a long time to complete, long enough to interrupt the workflow.

I totally get the frustration behind the original post though, having lost unrepeatable combinations of adjustments in the past (not with Resolve though).

Even worse is when you're using software that autosaves but loses those autosaves when it crashes, requiring an actual restart of the program every few minutes to properly save progress (and making Russian Roulette out every interaction with the program along the way).

I think it's just one of those facts of life that not every particular end-use scenario can be catered to by default, and that not every end-user is going to be on the ball and have everything set up properly 100% of the time.

 

[jake blackstone]

I think it's just one of those facts of life that not every particular end-use scenario can be catered to by default, and that not every end-user is going to be on the ball and have everything set up properly 100% of the time.

This is BS pure and simple. Bad design is bad design. There is color grading software (I don't want to derail this thread, so I'm not going to name it, but that's the one I use), when it crashes (yes, occasionally any software can crash), when restarted, it simply asks if user wants to recover the changes, that were made from the time the program was stated till it crashed. When you select to recover, EVERYTHING that was done comes back. And that software does not even have an option for enabling or disabling the autosave. Which begs a simple question- why would anyone in the right mind would not ALWAYS want to save their work? As a side note, the saves are always happen in the background and as a result, there are NO user interruptions. This software uses the same saving mechanism by utilizing the Postgres database, like Resolve, so that too can't used as an excuse. And that is an example of a good user-friendly design. Everything else is just trying to justify bad design...

 

[Les Hillis]

Cool story bro.

 

[Rakesh Malik]

It really should be on by default... especially with the live save option, since that alleviates the workflow interruption by auto saving every operation, like most of the other color grading suites do.

 

[jake blackstone]

It really should be on by default... especially with the live save option, since that alleviates the workflow interruption by auto saving every operation, like most of the other color grading suites do.

Save "Autosave ON" as a part of your preset, so when you recall it, it also recalls the Autosave state, problem solved...

 

[Kevin Wild]

Ha ha...this is funny. We have been running FCP X for the past few years. At least Resolve has a "Save" command at all! We are switching away from FCP X over the past month or two and I have really enjoyed having options in menus again. It's not perfect but BM sure is showing that they care a lot about this software with the frequency of their updates and how great it is already. I have edited on AVID for years and recently did 5 shows on Premiere...but Resolve is looking very good compared to the others. It definitely has some bugs, but I'm confident that BM will continue to improve this stuff.

I'm very excited to see where it goes...but for now, go check that "auto save" box. ;-)

 

[Johnny Hurberg]

I don´t know, is this a big problem? For me its a habit of saving manually, switched Premiere to not autosave. Sometimes I go apeshit and try out new things in projects and after some serious changes starts to think: thank god this isn´t on autosave, just keep calm and exit the program without saving changes.