davinci resolve and cloud storage: what goes where
by sumit paul · last updated
davinci resolve's own cloud option is blackmagic cloud: it hosts project libraries so several people can work on one project, offers cloud storage for shared media, and adds presentations for client review. if your footage already lives in google drive or dropbox, you can keep it there and edit from it, as long as the project library, the cache and the proxies stay on your mac's own disk. those three are written constantly and don't belong on a cloud drive.
what blackmagic cloud does
- project libraries. you create a blackmagic cloud id, set up a project library there and invite collaborators by their ids. editors and colorists can then work on the same timeline at once.
- cloud storage. blackmagic describes it as an online space for media and other files: shared files, personal files and the media in shared project libraries. resolve can sync media between computers so each collaborator has a local copy.
- presentations. publish a timeline or clip from resolve, reviewers comment in a browser, and their markers come back into resolve.
- proxies. the blackmagic proxy generator, free with resolve, makes proxies from camera originals, and several blackmagic cameras can record a small h.264 proxy that uploads to blackmagic cloud.
blackmagic cloud store is a different thing: a line of network disks for your office, not an online service.
if you collaborate in resolve, blackmagic cloud is the path built for it. if you work alone and already pay for google drive or dropbox, you don't need it to keep footage in the cloud.
the three things resolve stores
| what | where it should live | why |
|---|---|---|
| project library (the database of your projects) | your mac, or blackmagic cloud for shared projects | written to constantly; a sync app working on it at the same time invites conflicts |
| media (camera files, audio, graphics) | anywhere resolve can read as a file: local, external, nas or a cloud drive | large but only read, never changed by resolve |
| cache, proxies, optimized media, gallery stills | a fast local disk | written during playback and renders; easy to regenerate |
set resolve up for media in the cloud
- in the project manager, keep your project library on your mac's own disk.
- open project settings › master settings › working folders and point the proxy generation location, cache files location and gallery stills location at a folder on your mac.
- in preferences › system › media storage, make sure the first entry is a local disk. resolve uses it as the default place for cache files.
- add clips to the media pool from your google drive or dropbox folder in finder.
- for heavy formats, right-click the clips and generate proxy media, then edit from the proxies. switch back to the originals for the final render.
to keep a copy of the project in the cloud, use file › export project to save a .drp file and drop that in google drive or dropbox. it's small and easy to restore.
getting google drive or dropbox footage into resolve
resolve needs the clips to look like files on a disk. there are three ways to get that:
- sync the folder (google drive for desktop in mirror mode, or dropbox with the folder available offline). most reliable, works offline, and needs the full size of the footage free on your disk.
- online-only files (google drive stream mode, dropbox online-only). files stay in the cloud until resolve opens them, then download in full and stay on disk. importing a big shoot can trigger a lot of downloading, and you end up holding the footage anyway.
- a streaming drive. feather drive puts google drive and dropbox in finder and fetches only the byte ranges resolve reads, so clips don't take their full size on your disk. the limits: macos 26 or later, google drive and dropbox only, it only sees files you put in it (not your whole drive), you need a connection while you work, and it's a paid app with a 3-day free trial.
whatever you choose, playback straight from the cloud needs a connection faster than the footage's bitrate. typical h.264 or hevc camera files often play fine; prores and raw usually need proxies. the guide to editing with footage in the cloud covers bitrates and proxies in more detail.
caveats worth knowing
- paths matter. resolve links media by path. if the cloud folder moves or the drive mounts under a different name, clips go offline and you relink them.
- generating proxies reads every clip once. with online-only files that means downloading everything once; with a streaming drive it means reading it all over the network once.
- don't put the library in a synced folder to share it. for a project several people edit, that's what blackmagic cloud project libraries or a network project server are for.
- offline work. footage that lives only in the cloud can't play without a connection. keep the current project's clips or proxies local if you travel.
related
- how to edit videos on a mac with your footage in the cloud
- the best cloud storage for video editors
- premiere pro and google drive
- how much storage you need for video editing on a mac
common questions
does davinci resolve have its own cloud storage?
yes. blackmagic cloud hosts project libraries for collaboration and has cloud storage for media and other files, plus presentations for review. you sign in with a blackmagic cloud id.
can i keep my davinci resolve project in google drive?
keep the live project library on your mac's own disk. to back a project up, use file › export project to save a .drp file and put that in google drive or dropbox.
can davinci resolve edit footage stored in google drive?
yes, as long as the clips appear as files on a disk. with a sync app they download in full when resolve reads them; with a streaming drive only the parts resolve reads are fetched. keep the cache and proxies local either way.
where should the resolve cache go?
on a fast local disk. set it in project settings › master settings › working folders, along with the proxy and gallery stills locations.