DaVinci Resolve Cloud Collaboration: Media Sync and Handoff

A Blackmagic Cloud workflow holds up when you keep two decisions apart: the shared Resolve project and the media sync choice. The Cloud Project Library carries project access and collaboration changes. Blackmagic Cloud Storage, depending on one project setting, uploads no media, Resolve proxies only, or proxies plus originals. So an invitation doesn't mean every file you need for editing or finishing is already on your drive. Settle three things first: what will sync, what has to travel another way, and which machine owns the authoritative originals.

Before anyone cuts a frame, decide whether collaborators get originals, proxies or a hybrid set. Give everyone the same relative folder structure, make sure their clips open locally, and keep the full-resolution originals on one known finishing station. That simple split prevents most of the “the project opened but everything is offline” handoffs.

What Blackmagic Cloud Syncs—and What It Does Not

Blackmagic Design’s cloud-project guide lists three choices under Synchronize Storage with Blackmagic Cloud, and the DaVinci Resolve 21.1 Reference Manual uses the same three names. They're media rules inside the shared project workflow:

• Don’t Sync Media: the project stays collaborative, but nothing you import gets uploaded to Blackmagic Cloud Storage. You'll need a separate transfer, a shared storage path or some other local-media route.
• Sync Proxies Only: proxy media created by DaVinci Resolve is uploaded for collaborators. The originals still need their own path to the finishing system. Tick Generate proxies automatically and pick a codec under Proxies are created as, and Resolve builds those proxies in the background on the Media, Cut, Edit and Fairlight pages.
• Sync Proxies and Originals: both sets go up. Access gets simpler, but the manual warns that originals can use an extremely large amount of cloud storage, depending on how much footage you have and how big it is.

You can change the selection later under Project Settings > Blackmagic Cloud. Treat that as a workflow change, not a quiet toggle. Check pending uploads, make sure collaborators have fully downloaded the files you meant them to have, verify local media paths, relink from a scoped project root if you need to, and confirm the finishing station is on originals before export. The small cloud icon in the upper-left corner of each Media Pool clip helps here: three dots mean proxy media is still processing, a yellow cloud with an up arrow means the clip is queued for upload, and a checkmark means it has synced.

Choose Originals, Proxies, or a Hybrid Handoff

The sync mode decides what Blackmagic Cloud Storage uploads. The handoff plan decides what each person actually needs. Sharing every camera original gives collaborators the same source quality, but the transfer gets bigger and storage gets duplicated. Proxy-only editing is lighter, yet the final machine has to keep or receive the originals before delivery. A hybrid handoff keeps originals on the finishing system, sends proxies to remote editors, and adds only the full-resolution files someone needs for specialist work. In a project that syncs proxies only, right-click those clips in the Media Pool and choose Sync Original Media to pull originals for just those files.

• Use originals when the media set is manageable and collaborators need full resolution for reframing, keying, noise reduction or final color work.
• Use proxies for editorial review, assembly, selects, dialogue work and a lot of remote cutting.
• Use a hybrid when remote editors cut on proxies and one designated machine owns the final conform and export.

Don't treat render cache as project media. Cache files are temporary acceleration data; they can be cleared, rebuilt or kept somewhere specific to one machine. In a collaborative project Resolve does give every collaborator the same render cache format settings, so on a mixed Mac, Windows and Linux team pick a cache codec all of those platforms support. The Resolve render cache guide covers that system separately. For collaboration, the handoff has to survive with every cache folder empty.

Set the Folder Plan Before You Invite Anyone

A consistent relative structure makes cross-platform relinking easier even when the absolute paths differ. One editor might keep the job on an external drive on macOS while another uses a different drive letter on Windows. Nobody needs matching user names or identical root paths, as long as everything below the project root stays predictable.

A practical project root can look like this:

Project_Name/
  01_Originals/
    Camera_A/
    Camera_B/
  02_Audio/
  03_Graphics/
  04_Proxies/
  05_Exports/
  06_Project_Snapshots/

Keep file names stable after the first sync. Renaming a camera card, proxy or audio file halfway through an edit doesn't solve an organizing problem; it creates an identity problem. If the team wants editorial labels, use metadata, keywords, clip color or bin organization inside Resolve and leave the source file names alone.

Pick one person to own folder changes. When every collaborator reorganizes the same media on their own, relinking turns into a recurring chore and the finishing station can't tell which layout is the real one. Write the agreed project-root name and proxy location into the handoff note, so a new editor doesn't have to work them out from an offline timeline.

Create the Cloud Project Library and Invite Collaborators

Blackmagic’s official collaboration page describes Cloud project libraries as the shared layer for projects, timelines, edits, grades, markers, metadata and collaborator updates. Create or connect to the right library, put the project there, and invite only the people who need access. Then choose the media sync mode on purpose instead of assuming project access moves every file. Give the project a name that identifies the production and version; a generic label such as “New Project 3” helps nobody.

Before the team starts, confirm four things:

1. Every collaborator can see the right project in the right library.
2. Project frame rate, timeline resolution, color-management settings and audio configuration are agreed before substantial editing starts.
3. Everyone knows whether they're working from originals or proxies.
4. The finishing editor is named and has access to the authoritative originals.

Cloud collaboration means you stop passing a new project file around after every edit, but it doesn't remove change control. Use clear timeline names, avoid unexplained duplicates, and speak up before you replace a sequence someone else is reviewing.

Verify Local Media Before Editing

A project that opens isn't proof the media handoff is complete. Open representative clips from every source group: each camera, production audio, music, stills, graphics, and any compound or multicam source that depends on those files. Scrub near the start and end of long clips. Check a few audio waveforms and make sure picture and sound durations add up.

If clips are offline, stop before you make more edits. First check whether the files really exist on the local disk. Then relink from the narrowest useful folder instead of searching the whole computer. The Media Offline troubleshooting guide handles the broader diagnosis: missing files, moved folders, unsupported media and path problems.

Don't accept a partly online project without writing down the exceptions. A timeline can look healthy while an unused interview angle, a second audio recorder or a graphic you'll need later is still offline. The handoff is ready when every planned source group is online, not when the first visible shot plays.

Generate and Distribute Proxies Predictably

Blackmagic's collaboration page describes the Proxy Generator that comes free with DaVinci Resolve: you choose a proxy size and type (H.264, H.265 or ProRes) and point it at one or more watch folders. The 21.1 manual adds the detail that matters for a handoff. Proxies land in a subfolder named Proxy at the same level as the original media, and the drive needs room for both. New originals dropped into a watched folder get matching proxies without anyone inventing a separate naming system.

Keep the proxy relationship boring. A proxy should keep the source base name and sit in a folder relationship anyone can follow later. Don't rename proxies to editorial descriptions. If two source files share a name, keep enough of the card or camera folder structure to tell them apart.

Before you send a proxy package, compare it against the source inventory. “Some proxies” isn't the goal. Every clip assigned to proxy editing needs a matching file Resolve can associate with the original. Send production audio and graphics separately, because a video proxy doesn't replace them.

After transfer, each collaborator attaches or relinks the proxy set and checks playback. A finished cloud or drive sync doesn't mean Resolve can see the files. A sync client can report success while a folder is excluded, stored as online-only placeholders, or mounted under a different local root.

Relink from a Scoped Root

When paths differ, point Resolve at the project's local media root or the specific missing source folder. A scoped search is easier to reason about and less likely to grab the wrong file from another job. When several cards hold repeated names like C0001, searching a whole archive drive can hand you a clip that's technically online and simply wrong.

Relink one source group, inspect a few clips, then move on. Check reel, duration, resolution, frame rate, timecode and the picture itself where those details matter. In a proxy workflow, confirm whether Resolve is playing proxy media or camera originals before you judge image quality or call the conform finished.

Where the project library lives is a separate question from media paths. Our guide to where DaVinci Resolve projects are saved explains local libraries and project backups. Moving a project database doesn't move camera files, and moving camera files doesn't update every project path for you.

Use Locks, Updates, and Timeline Comparison Deliberately

Resolve collaboration comes with update notifications, bin and timeline locking, multi-user timelines, chat and timeline comparison. They work best when the team agrees on what each signal means.

• Locks stop two people from silently rewriting the same work. Opening a bin locks it and its contents: others can still look inside, but they can't make organizational or editorial changes there, although Fusion compositions and Color page grades stay editable. Selecting another bin releases the lock. Treat a locked timeline or bin as someone's work in progress, not an obstacle to get around.
• Update notifications tell collaborators the project state has changed. Resolve shows them as refresh badges on the Timeline Viewer, the bin and the modified clips, and nothing updates until you click one. Review the changes before you pull them into a critical sequence.
• Timeline comparison shows the edits between versions. Use Compare With Current Timeline when you merge a returned sequence or check what changed after a handoff; Accept Change brings one scene's changes back into the original timeline.
• Chat keeps short coordination notes saved with the project, but important delivery decisions belong in the handoff record too.

Use separate timelines for genuinely separate editorial branches. Don't make a new timeline for every small adjustment, and don't overwrite the approved cut with an experiment. A simple naming pattern of production, sequence, purpose and date keeps the shared library readable. Just don't mistake a name for a full version-control system.

Bring the Project Back to the Finishing Station

The finishing station owns the authoritative originals and the final online checks. Once editorial is approved, open the current shared timeline on that machine and confirm every required source resolves to the originals. If Resolve is still using proxy media, switch back to originals before you judge sharpness, noise, reframing, keys or final color.

Then check the spots most likely to expose a bad conform:

• first and last frames of replaced or trimmed shots;
• speed changes, freeze frames, retiming, and optical-flow sections;
• multicam angles and synced production audio;
• Fusion compositions, titles, stills, and external graphics;
• reframed shots that depended on source resolution;
• color grades using clip groups, shared nodes, remote grades, or tracked windows;
• delivery range, audio buses, subtitles, data burn-in, and output naming.

Rebuild cache where you need it; don't carry an old cache into the final decision. The finishing check should prove the shared project points at the right durable media and produces the intended timeline without leaning on another editor's temporary files.

Keep a DRP Snapshot and Use DRA for a Closed Handoff

A shared Cloud project is the live workspace. A project export still works as a dated snapshot before a major conform, timeline merge or delivery. Store that snapshot outside the live project library with a clear date and purpose. The team gets a recoverable project state without turning every exchange into a chain of emailed project files.

A project archive earns its place when you want a closed handoff that bundles the project with selected media: moving a finished job to another system, sending a self-contained package, or making a deliberate archive. It's a poor everyday transport for an actively shared project, because every new archive duplicates media and sidesteps the collaboration controls.

So: the active Cloud project for ongoing changes, a DRP-style project snapshot for project-state recovery, and an archive when the recipient needs a bounded project-plus-media package. Three tools, three different problems.

Common Collaboration Failures

The collaborator can open the project but every clip is offline

The project data arrived; the media didn't. Transfer or sync the planned originals or proxies, then relink from the local project root. Don't rebuild the timeline or import duplicate clips before you've checked the handoff paths.

Some proxies attach and others do not

Compare the missing clips against proxy coverage and naming. Look for duplicate base names, renamed files, a broken card-folder structure, or source groups that never got included. Fix the smallest source group first and verify the match before relinking the rest.

Two editors created conflicting timelines

Keep both timelines, work out who owns each one and which branch it belongs to, then use timeline comparison to inspect the changes. Merge deliberately into a named review timeline. The newest timestamp doesn't win by default.

The final export is using proxies

Go back to the finishing station, restore the originals and confirm the active media choice before export. Spot-check resolution-sensitive shots and effects. A proxy-quality output can be technically complete and still be the wrong master.

Cloud sync says complete but Resolve cannot find files

Make sure the files are fully downloaded rather than placeholder entries, that the storage volume is mounted, and that the local folder root matches the relink target. Project Settings > Blackmagic Cloud shows the Folder Location Resolve uses for cloud project media, so start there. Sync status and Resolve's path resolution are related, but they're separate checks.

A project archive became larger every round

The archive has turned into the active collaboration transport. Move ongoing edits back to the shared project library and send collaborators only the media additions they need. Save a new archive for a deliberate closed package or a recovery milestone.

Cloud Collaboration Handoff Checklist

• The team distinguishes shared project data from transferred media.
• Originals, proxies, or a hybrid workflow is chosen before editing.
• The relative project folder structure is documented and stable.
• Source file names are not changed after proxy generation or sync.
• Each collaborator can open representative files from every required source group.
• Proxy coverage is checked against the source inventory.
• Relinking is scoped to the correct project root or source folder.
• Locks and timeline ownership are respected.
• Important updates are reviewed before they replace approved work.
• The finishing station has the authoritative camera originals.
• Originals are online before final color, effects review, and export.
• Temporary render cache is not treated as handoff media.
• A dated project snapshot exists before major merge or delivery steps.
• A project archive is used only when a bounded project-plus-media package is needed.

DaVinci Resolve Cloud Collaboration FAQ

Does a Blackmagic Cloud project upload all my video files?

Not automatically. Blackmagic Cloud can be set to Don’t Sync Media, Sync Proxies Only, or Sync Proxies and Originals. Even with storage sync on, collaborators should check that the intended files are fully downloaded and linked locally before editing, and the finishing station needs the authoritative originals before the final conform and export.

Do all collaborators need the same absolute media path?

No. A stable relative folder structure and scoped relinking cope with different drive names, mount points and operating systems. What has to stay consistent is everything below the agreed project root.

Can editors work only with proxies?

Yes, if their tasks don't need full-resolution source media. The finishing station still has to keep or receive the originals and switch back to them before the final conform and delivery.

Should I send a project archive for every revision?

No. Use the shared project library for active collaboration, keep dated project snapshots for recovery, and save an archive for a deliberate self-contained handoff or a long-term package.

Can render cache replace missing source media?

No. Cache is temporary performance data. A durable handoff depends on originals or linked proxies, plus the separate audio, graphics, fonts and other assets the project needs.

Jason Miller I run DaVinci Resolve Club as an independent publication: hands-on edits, color grading breakdowns, Fairlight sessions, Fusion tests, and honest notes on where Resolve gets in the way.