Problem
Render previews are created with obsolete effect versions and remain in the timeline after the effect is updated.
Solution
Root Cause / Diagnostic:
NLE preview render engines store rendered effect buffers in a designated scratch cache directory. When an editor updates a third-party plugin version (e.g., updating a color grading or de-noising plugin), the NLE does not always recognize the plugin upgrade as an invalidation of existing render cache hashes. The timeline continues reading obsolete cached preview frames rendered with the older plugin version, masking newly updated effect behavior.
Actionable Fix:
1. Navigate to the timeline sequence menu and select 'Delete Render Files' to completely wipe out obsolete pre-rendered video frames.
2. In Preferences, temporarily disable 'Use Previews' in the export dialog to ensure that exports evaluate live plugins directly from raw source frames.
3. Re-render the timeline work area (Enter / Return) and verify that the visual output reflects the updated plugin algorithm.
Pro Tip:
Always purge timeline render caches immediately following any software, operating system, or plugin update to eliminate visual caching discrepancies.
NLE preview render engines store rendered effect buffers in a designated scratch cache directory. When an editor updates a third-party plugin version (e.g., updating a color grading or de-noising plugin), the NLE does not always recognize the plugin upgrade as an invalidation of existing render cache hashes. The timeline continues reading obsolete cached preview frames rendered with the older plugin version, masking newly updated effect behavior.
Actionable Fix:
1. Navigate to the timeline sequence menu and select 'Delete Render Files' to completely wipe out obsolete pre-rendered video frames.
2. In Preferences, temporarily disable 'Use Previews' in the export dialog to ensure that exports evaluate live plugins directly from raw source frames.
3. Re-render the timeline work area (Enter / Return) and verify that the visual output reflects the updated plugin algorithm.
Pro Tip:
Always purge timeline render caches immediately following any software, operating system, or plugin update to eliminate visual caching discrepancies.