Media Cache File Location?

[danielb81037208]

Hey,

This is question applies to both Pr & Ae. 

In Edit > Preferences > Media & Disk Cache, you're given the option where you would like to store media cache files. For years I've been told to keep them in a seperate drive from your OS drive.

So I've always used my D drive which happens to be a 1TB SSD and is usually where I store my footage and project files. Now I'm noticing a disclaimer which states "For improved performance, choose a SSD seperate from your footage" 

So which one is it, OS SSD or D drive SSD? Thanks!

[Michael Grenadier]

Great info in this thread.  

as a side note to this discussion, I strongly recommend that you check to make sure there's sufficient empty space on all your drives.  I always heard that 10% was sufficient for everything but your system drive which should have at least 20% free space.  I have no idea where I heard that so take it for what it's worth.   But, cache files which are written automatically can quickly fill a drive up and, at least on a mac, I've seen drives get seriously corrupted when they were filled to the brim.   and as has been stated here many times, performance will drop off as your drive gets full...  

TechTool pro has a utility that will warn you when your drives reach a level that you choose.  I imagine there are other options out there, but manually checking your drives regularly will also work...  

[John T Smith]

I build my own, so what I did for my most recent build

Samsung 256Gig SSD Boot http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147193
- 256Gig SSD Boot for Win10 64bit Pro and ALL program installs, about 80Gig is used

Crucial M550 512G input http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148792
- 512Gig SSD data for all input... video/sound files and pictures from camera

Crucial M550 256G temp http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148791
- 256Gig SSD data for temporary and video project files
- Create project here, work files follow, so my boot drive is not used for the media cache folders and files

Crucial M550 128G out http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148790
- 128Gig SSD data for all exported output video files

[Jonah5ED8]

Hi. How fast does this work? Do you edit 4k, and what's the typical length of your videos?

[Richard van den Boogaard]

This is smart! I have nearly the same set-up. My current system is from early 2017 and it still works fine, even with 4K and 6K sources (either ProRes or BRAW). I mainly notice that doing a multicam edit with 3 BRAW sources proves too much for the system to handle, but I hope a new system with a current GPU (nvidia 4070 or sth) will help solve that in 2023.

Also, I notice that using a long GOP file (like one from a DJI drone) does grind down the system almost instantly. As long as you stick to edit-friendly codecs, you can go a long way with ample RAM and separating content from apps and temps.

[dminches]

Would setting up a virtual drive in RAM be a potentially good option for the temporary cache?

[Michael Grenadier]

would depend on how much ram you have installed...  but I doubt it's a good idea....unless you have a better handle than I have on how the OS and apps handle RAM.   A SSD for the cache is probably a better solution.  And as Richard van den Boogaard said, probably not a good idea to use an external drive for the cache... Iff for some reason the external drive is not connected when you launch your project.  You may have issues....  Generally speaking, Premiere has a robust ability to reconnect if files are offline when you launch the project, but on a large project with a large cache, not sure how dependable it would be.  

[dminches]

Right now my temporary drive is on an M.2 SSD which is likely good enough.  I work with big files in Audition so anything that will improve write speed is a plus.

Thanks.

[Michael Grenadier]

might get a more informed answer in the audition forum (I assume there's an audition forum)

[Richard van den Boogaard]

I don't know what the relationship is between RAM and temp files in Audition, but I do know that deciding to implement 128GB of RAM did raise a number of eyebrows back in 2017, but it is a decision I never regretted for any of the Adobe Video apps. But separating data from apps and temps will go a long way too.

[Michael Grenadier]

my only concern is the possible repurcussions from using ram to setup a virtual drive.  And caches have the tendency to quickly increase in size unless you are monitoring it...  

[Conrad C]

…You may have issues....  Generally speaking, Premiere has a robust ability to reconnect if files are offline when you launch the project, but on a large project with a large cache, not sure how dependable it would be.  

By @Michael Grenadier

That’s good advice because it’s true. My laptop is my editing computer and performs well for that, but it doesn’t have enough internal space for an effective media cache. So I keep the media cache on an external SSD has lots of free space that I plug in before editing. Works great.

But sometimes, Premiere Pro forgets that I set the media cache externally, and resets it to the default path on the system drive. I can never predict when it’s going to happen, it can happen even if I made sure to connect the SSD before starting any Adobe video application. So I have had to get into the habit of checking the Media Cache path in Preferences after starting Premiere, before opening a project.

As far as the RAM disk idea, RAM disks were great when hard drives were so much slower than RAM. But today’s fastest SSDs are actually faster than the RAM we used several years ago (when connected through a fast enough interface). So although an SSD is still slower than current RAM, the difference is a lot smaller than it used to be. If you need access to all your RAM (like if you’re also going to open After Effects and preview a lot, or also open Photoshop), it’s still better to use a big fast SSD for the Media Cache instead of walling off a lot of RAM for it. Because depending on your project, to be effective a Media Cache might need hundreds of GB.