Media Offline Error on local storage

I'm bumping this thread because I'm having the same issue. It's pretty crazy this has been going on for a few years. Windows 10, not sure what the codecs of the files are but they're 1080p 60FPS iPhone 8 recordings.

Cellphone recordings are a very, very, very bad choice for post. They're 8-bit, they're highly compressed, they have no timecode, and the framerate usually varies (not a constant speed). All very bad.

If you transcode them to a simpler format like 60fps DNxHD or ProRes 422, the machine will handle it better. It's also a wise idea to come up with a solid workflow where all the file names are properly created in a way that you can distinguish one from the other and you won't have any clashes during the conform.

There are enough cheap and even free tools which can transcode, fix the frame rate, generate a reel/tape name (from the creation date, or folder, for example) and a fake TC (from the creation time).

The resulting files will not give you headaches in post anymore.

I'm bumping this thread because I'm having the same issue. It's pretty crazy this has been going on for a few years. Windows 10, not sure what the codecs of the files are but they're 1080p 60FPS iPhone 8 recordings.

Cellphone recordings are a very, very, very bad choice for post. They're 8-bit, they're highly compressed, they have no timecode, and the framerate usually varies (not a constant speed). All very bad.

If you transcode them to a simpler format like 60fps DNxHD or ProRes 422, the machine will handle it better. It's also a wise idea to come up with a solid workflow where all the file names are properly created in a way that you can distinguish one from the other and you won't have any clashes during the conform.

I get that, but I'm poor and just getting into video editing and can't afford a good camera right now. I'm working with what I got.

There are enough cheap and even free tools which can transcode, fix the frame rate, generate a reel/tape name (from the creation date, or folder, for example) and a fake TC (from the creation time).

The resulting files will not give you headaches in post anymore.

What program would you recommend? easefab was the only one I saw that transcoded to DNxHD and it will only do up to 3 minutes for free.

Shutter Encoder is pretty good: www.shutterencoder.com/en/

Just had the same thing happen.. Two days into a project and the dreaded 'Media Offline' message appears instantly out of nowhere. Only 2 minutes previously I was working away & everything was fine.

Luckily I spotted MarcusJB's post who suggested setting the Render Cache to None. Instantly my files re-appeared. Phew!

Thanks Marcus

I hope this can be fixed so that we can use the Smart Rendering again.

Also suddenly struggling with "Media Offline". In my case it is shown in the Project Manager, but when opening the project, all files are in place, can be played etc., nothing really offline. Only this annoying message in the "Project Manager".

now getting this with the new version.... 16.2.4

I got this error. I then "converted" the file with VLC without changing any settings or parameters (same encoding etc). Then it worked.

I don't know if this will be of any help anyone, but..

I had a project that suddenly started displaying Media Offline in my Edit Timeline, even though all the clips were present/linked in the Media Pool. In fact, I could play them out of the Media Pool just fine. The Timeline, no luck.

I went into my Settings (gear icon in the bottom right corner) and clicked on Master Settings, scrolled down to the Working Folders section, and checked the location of my Render Cache. It was set basically to nowhere. I selected the a folder on my local HD and, viola, the Media Offline disappeared.

A month or so ago, I noticed all of my GoPro Hero9 Black MP4s would say media offline using DaVinci Resolve 16.X on my Windows 10 Pro PC. These files played perfectly fine in VLC (which bundles their own codecs). My projects definitely at one time played back these MP4s (H.265) but not any longer . The "offline media" files would play the audio, but no video. So here's what I tested.

FYI: None of the actions worked me, so they aren't necessary for you to do for yourself.

1. Verified HEVC was installed via the Microsoft Store (Get-AppxPackage -Name "*HEVC*") returned "Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtensions_1.0.33233.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe"
2. The usual "relink media" within Resolve
3. Delete Optimized Media
4. Disabled "Use Optimized Media If Available"
5. Reset Resolve preferences to default
6. Uninstalled & Reinstalled each of the following versions of Resolve 16.1 16.2.2 16.2.7
7. Patched NVidia Drivers

Here's what I believe the actual issue was followed by the solution.
CVE-2020-17108 required Microsoft to patch their implementation of HEVC, which for whatever reason doesn't play nicely w/ DaVinci Resolve 16.X, this happened sometime in November of 2020.

SOLUTION
Uninstalling my current version of HEVC from the Microsoft Store then manually installing "Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension_1.0.31823.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe" (June 30th 2020) fixed everything. A few notes and words of caution.

1. This may make your machine vulnerable to CVE-2020-17108 - do so at your own risk
2. You'll need disable Automatic Updates from the Microsoft Store
3. I believe you'll need to be an Administrator on your machine
4. You'll need to allow side loading of Appx: Settings : Update & Security : Developer Mode : enable “Install apps from any source, including loose files”. - Do so at your own risk
5. If you Google Search for "Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension_1.0.31823.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx" I'm sure you can find a download
6. You'll need to allow side loading of Appx: Settings : Update & Security : Developer Mode : enable “Install apps from any source, including loose files”. - Do so at your own risk
7. Run all downloads (.Appx) through VirusTotal.com - before install
8. Verify the .Appx signature via the right click context menu then properties and the "Digital Signatures" Tab
9. Recommend you long term store a copy of the working HEVC .APPX - hopefully in the future we'll get a patched version from Microsoft that works in Resolve 16.x

Any questions or comments, Google first then reach out politely. Hope this helps others.

I have the same problem...

The 2 files on the right have "Media offline", the 2 files on the left work fine...

I have an Macbook Air 2020 with M1 chip
MacOS Big Sur 11.5.1

Can you post one of those that don't work to a cloud service for testing?