Hello
If I switch on the cache (orange dots) on lots of nodes, do the cache files go out with the archive or are they only saved on the system by the number of days set in preferences.
Confusing multiple uses of the word Cache on the archive page.
This Cache Media is talking about saving a copy of your media on the archive.
The blue button underneath also uses the word Cache but as far as I know 
it is talking about timeline Renders and those Cache nodes you are talking about @johnag
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So you reckon that the cache files that flame makes from within batch (orange dot) only is part of the system and doesn’t get put out with the archive?
maybe @fredwarren can verify this?
I imagine that if you Include Renders and Cache in your archive then all of your timeline renders and all of your cache nodes in batch would be included in your archive 
I would need to test before I could say with 100% confidence but this is how I understood those archive options.
I tend to turn them all of in an effort to keep the archive as small as possible but I do remember a heated discussion about 5 years on this very topic of Cache and Cache
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Another possibly dumb question on the topic.
If keep history is on for rendered clips, does the history carry the cached files saved away?
History is just a memory of the process a clip has been run through. Think of it like a BFX or OpenClip that you can expand and restore the batch. History was great when we worked more on the desktop. You could do all of your work and then explode the history and make a batch from it.
Unlikely it will carry any rendered/cached material @johnag
I understand but if a batch setup refers to a cached clip is it saved in the flamestore?
… and here lies the confusion.
“Cached clip or a node with cache turned on” @johnag
A clip that is cached is a clip you import from the server and save on your framestore.
This is not the same as the yellow button on your nodes.
I thought the Cache Media on Archive button forced the system to load soft imported media and save it to the archive. Any media that was already cached is going to be archived unless you unlink and only save the unlinked sequences. I may be wrong since I am of the school that caches EVERYTHING (the joys of short form) and archive everything as well.
The frames stored for the Batch Cache are not archived (since the 2013/Anniversary edition).
The frames stored for the History pipeline can be cached, but it may not depending of what you selected in Preferences > General > History.
- Keep None: No frame will be archived.
- Keep Source: Only the media of the first clip in the History will be archived.
- Keep Source and Intermediates: All media in the History will be archived.
Finally, @PlaceYourBetts the screenshot you posted for the archiving options is out of date. That UI has been changed a year or two ago to make the option easier to understand.
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That updated UI does seem to clear up some of the confusion. So no batch cache archived. Thanks @fredwarren
Thanks for clearing that up.
I completely forgot about those other options. Now there’s another place to tweek how big the archives get in size.
When I worked at a facility that’s exactly how I did it. Bigger archives yes but not having to worry about where the footage came from made it easy to restore projects on any flame
Batch Cache is far broken. Tis far more efficient and useful to work a combination of proxies and/or prerenders and/or BFX. Each one of those has its pros and cons, but, almost all of them individually and in unison are superior to Batch Cache. There are just too many times when it gets all bent out of shame and can’t be trusted.
Somewhat related, I wish it were not so easy to accidentally activate batch cache on nodes. Because it isn’t a truly functional caching system, I almost never intend to use it. But it’s an easy accidental click that you don’t notice till a whole bunch of nodes have orange dots, and it’s just wasted space.
Would be nice if activating it required a more explicit and purposeful user action.
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