Quality settings

The Quality picker in the Chart group controls the rendering quality stack: supersampling level, motion blur sample count, and anti-aliasing mode. Default is Auto.

Quality levels

Draft

No motion blur, minimum supersampling. Renders fastest — every scrub frame returns near-instantly. Use for layout and color work before delivery.

Standard

2× supersampling, 4 motion blur samples. Suitable for client previews and low-bitrate exports where render time matters more than peak quality.

Cinematic

4× supersampling, 8 motion blur samples. Broadcast-safe output for 1080p/4K deliverables. Good balance of quality and render time.

Ultra

8× supersampling, 16 motion blur samples. Maximum quality — sub-frame motion blur, physically correct AA. Takes longer per frame but produces the best possible output.

Auto Recommended — this is the default.

Renders Draft while you scrub the timeline viewer. Switches to Ultra automatically when Resolve starts a Deliver job. Also switches to Ultra when the playhead is parked (not moving) for a clean still-frame preview.

How Auto works

Auto detects the rendering context from Resolve's render request:

  • Deliver job — Resolve requests a sequential range of frames starting from frame 0. framechart detects this as an export and switches to Ultra for all frames in the job.
  • Parked playhead — when you pause on a specific frame without scrubbing, framechart re-renders that single frame at Ultra quality so still-frame previews look sharp in the viewer.
  • Scrubbing — any other render request (interactive playback, jog) uses Draft so the viewer stays responsive.

You don't need to remember to switch to Ultra before exporting — Auto handles it. Pin a specific level only when you need consistent behaviour in both contexts (e.g. always Ultra for a comparison screenshot workflow, or always Draft to keep a complex timeline snappy when you're not exporting yet).

Motion Blur and Quality

Motion blur in framechart is sub-frame accurate: each motion blur sample renders a partial-frame offset of the animation. The Quality level controls how many samples are accumulated:

QualityMB samplesEffect
Draft0 (off)No motion blur
Standard4Light, fast
Cinematic8Clean broadcast-quality trails
Ultra16Sub-pixel-accurate, cinematic

The Motion Blur toggle in the Effects group lets you disable blur entirely regardless of Quality level. Shutter Angle controls the trail length (180° = standard film; up to 720° for a stylised long-exposure look).