A project opens against a restructured NAS and the timeline goes red. Here is how to bring offline media back online in DaVinci Resolve — and, more importantly, how to avoid the wrong-clip mislinks nobody notices until delivery.
Why media goes offline
Resolve stores a link to each clip’s location on disk. Anything that changes that location breaks the link: cards offloaded to new roots, originals returning from the field re-pathed, a NAS restructured, a project moved between machines, or files renamed to a house convention after the edit started.
The basic relink
- In the Media Pool, offline clips show with a red flag. Select them (or the whole pool).
- Right-click →
Relink Selected Clips. - Point Resolve at the folder or volume that now holds the media. Resolve walks the tree and rematches.
- Confirm the red flags clear and spot-check the timeline.
For most moves where filenames are unchanged, that is enough. The danger starts when filenames are not unique.
The mislink trap
Relinkers match on filename. If two cameras both produced C0012.mov, or an archive renamed clips so only the last digits differ, a naïve "match by last token" can connect the timeline to the wrong original. It clears the red flag, so it looks fixed — but the master now contains the wrong shot.
A cleared red flag is not proof of a correct link. Verify match correctness, not match count.
A safer method
- Match in priority order: exact filename first, then a unique key/token, then a substring, then numeric — never jump straight to a loose match.
- Hold the ambiguous ones. If a clip can plausibly match more than one source, leave it offline for a human rather than guessing.
- Diagnose before you act. Know which clips are offline and what each one is looking for, so you can confirm the proposal before committing.
- Use a watch mode for jobs still being offloaded, so media relinks as it lands.
Doing it deterministically
FORGE’s Relink tool runs exactly this priority-ordered, reviewed pass across the current timeline, selected bins or the whole pool. It shows every proposed reconnection before commit, holds anything below a confident match, and runs fully deterministic — no AI, no per-clip cost — so a finishing assistant’s clip-by-clip afternoon becomes one verified pass.
FAQ
How do I relink offline clips in DaVinci Resolve?
Select the offline (red-flagged) clips in the Media Pool, right-click and choose "Relink Selected Clips", then point Resolve at the volume or folder that now holds the media. Resolve rematches by filename and clears the offline state.
Why did Resolve relink to the wrong clip?
Relinking matches on filename. When filenames are not unique across cameras or archives, a loose match (e.g. by last token) can connect a clip to the wrong source while still clearing the red flag. Match in priority order — exact filename first — and hold ambiguous clips for manual review.
Can I relink automatically as media is offloaded?
Yes — a watch mode can resolve media as it lands on disk, which is useful for jobs still being offloaded from the field. FORGE Relink offers this alongside its reviewed, deterministic relink pass.
Relink with no silent mislinks.
FORGE relinks in priority order, shows every match before commit, and holds the ambiguous ones for you. See where your pipeline loses time — start with an audit.
Start the audit →