Project Locations

I recently purchased DaVinci Resolve after using the free trial version. After upgrading to the purchased version all the projects I had worked on were gone. How do I retrieve these projects or where are they stored?

I have a similar problem - I had to reinstall fresh Windows and forgot that Resolve Projects are not in the folders with my other project-realted files. So now I lost all my Resolve projects!

Fortunately there is a Windows.old folder with a backup of all the previous system files in there so I guess I can copy the database or files from there... The question is - where are this data files?

Please help!

On Final Cut Pro Studio you could save your projects anywhere. Most times I kept the project file in the same folder as the footage. But FCP also had an Autosave Vault that save a backup up of projects as you were working on them. I can't tell you how many times that Autosave Vault saved my butt. If I had a crash before saving or if I found out that previous version of an edit needed to be recalled, I could always count on the Autosave Vault to save me.

I'd sure like to recall the project I was working on with the free version. I had done lots of tests with color and masks, and while I could rebuild it, it seems like it should be someplace accessible on the system.

[Dwaine Maggart]

Resolve stores projects in a database. There are 2 types of database that can be used.

But the default database type is a Disk database.

But it's hard to tell you the location without knowing any of your system details.

But I'm going to take a wild guess that you are on a Mac, and are using Apple App store versions of Resolve. If so, due to Apple sandboxing requirements, we have to keep the database locations for the free and Studio versions in separate sandboxed paths. So if you were using App Store Resolve Lite, and upgraded to App Store (or BMD) Studio version, those App Store Lite projects would not be visible to the new Studio version.

When you install App Store Studio, it leaves App Store Lite undisturbed. So the easy solution, assuming you didn't manually trash the Lite version, is to launch the Lite version and either:
1. Backup the database, and then Restore that database in the Studio version. Or:
2. Export the desired project(s) and Import them into the Studio version.

Hi Dwaine,
Thanks for the input. Yes, I am on a Mac. I downloaded the Free version from your Black Magic website. Once I decided to buy, I purchased through B&H Photo so I could get the activation card. When I installed the new version it appears that it covered over the free version completely. At least I don't see any sign of on in my Applications folder. It's not that big of a deal. I was able to rebuild the project quickly and actually learned some new things in the process.

I'll just plan to export backups on a regular basis just in case. I will say that the Node based Color Correction module of DaVinci is mine-blowing. The audio module is good too. One thing I wouldn't mind seeing is a spectrum analyzer to assist in notching out offending hum frequencies. Thanks!

it's onerous to keep making manual backups when you have multiple active projects. We rely on this Resolve automated backup http://www.hdhead.com/?p=857. Just this year it saved me two times from a catastrophic loss.

[Dwaine Maggart]

If you have the BMD free version, and you then install the Studio version, it indeed installs over the free version.

However, all the project data and user preferences are untouched. Any projects you had in the free version should still be exactly the same when you load Studio. Only if you are using different App Store versions are there issues of projects apparently disappearing.

The only way projects would disappear if you install BMD Studio over the BMD free version, would be if you install a newer Studio version, it might tell you that the existing database has to be Upgraded. Once you do that, the projects should all be there.

Or, if you manually deleted the Resolve preferences and data paths before installing Studio.

A Resolve Uninstall from the Resolve folder in the Mac Applications folder will not remove any user or project data.