Setting preferences and scratch disks in Video by Zaweba

Out of the box, Video by Zaweba works without any setup. Spend a few minutes in its preferences, though, and it will run better on your particular machine, especially once projects grow. The most important part is choosing where the app keeps its working files.

Where to find them

Choose Edit > Preferences. The settings are grouped into general, playback, timeline and scratch disks. General covers the app as a whole. Playback covers how the preview behaves as you watch. Timeline covers how editing on the timeline feels. Scratch disks covers where working files go.

It is worth opening the window on the first day rather than waiting for a problem. Look through general, playback and timeline once when you start using the app, so you know what is there. You may not change much, but knowing the options means you will recognise when one of them would fix something that bothers you later.

Scratch disks

An editor makes a lot of files of its own while you work. Video by Zaweba lets you choose where four kinds go: proxies, previews, autosaves and working files.

Proxies are lighter copies of heavy footage, used for smooth editing. Previews are the rendered stretches that let demanding parts of the timeline play smoothly. Autosaves are the regular safety copies of your project. Working files are the other temporary material the app needs as it goes.

Proxies and previews can take a lot of room on a busy project, so they deserve a drive with plenty of space. A fast drive helps too, since the app reads them during playback. Autosaves are small but precious, so put them somewhere reliable, ideally a drive that is backed up.

A sensible layout

If your computer has one drive, leaving everything on it is fine, provided there is room. Keep an eye on free space, since a full system drive slows everything down.

If you have a second fast drive, point proxies and previews at it. That keeps the heavy, throwaway files off your system drive and spreads the reading between two disks. Keep autosaves on a drive you trust and back up.

External drives work, but a scratch disk on a drive you unplug will leave the app looking for files. If you swap drives between machines, choose scratch locations on internal drives.

Clearing up

Proxies and previews can always be made again, so they are the first thing to clear when space runs short after a job ends. Autosaves are different; keep them until the project is safely finished and archived.

Because you chose where everything goes, clearing up is simple. You know which folders hold rebuildable files and which hold work you must keep.

Settings that come along with you

Preferences pair with the playback performance settings, render previews and the portable copy for setting the app up to suit your hardware. A portable copy keeps settings beside the program itself, so scratch choices travel with it. If you ever wonder where a folder full of large files came from, this is the place to look first. Set them once to match your drives and Video by Zaweba will quietly keep its working files where you want them.