DaVinci Resolve Extension · Windows · v1.0 · Mac & Linux Coming Soon

The text is the timeline.

Built for the Sync Pass — where story is found in language. Read your rushes as text, compile the story, and apply it to your Resolve timeline at word-level precision with one click.

Or let AI do the heavy lifting. The SyncPass Automation Tool uses your favourite AI assistant to build a structured Sync Pass instantly — then you refine it with the judgment only an editor has.

Get SyncPass → See How It Works

Runs entirely locally · No cloud · No subscription · No account · Free installer

DaVinci Resolve is famous for finishing.

But the story isn't built in the colour suite — it's built in words.

Every NLE connects footage to a timeline. None of them connect the words to the timeline — not in a way that works both directions. The moment you start cutting, text and edit diverge and stay diverged.

SyncPass changes that.

Use it to build your initial structure - Sync and Voice Over - the script and the timeline the same thing — then move on to the next stage with your edit script and timeline skeleton ready to be crafted.

The Problem

Every NLE forces you to choose between thinking in text and working in a timeline.

Documentary editors have always lived between two worlds — and every tool forces them to abandon one to use the other. SyncPass is built for the sync pass: the initial assembly stage where you work purely with sync sound, finding the story in the words before adding GVs, music, or effects.

Approach 01 — Paper Edit

The Word Document

Read transcripts. Mark up lines. Lift them into a Word doc with timecodes. Rearrange on the page until the structure feels right. Then manually execute every cut on the timeline.

The moment the edit exists on the timeline, the document becomes a maintenance burden — constantly out of sync with what's on the timeline.

Approach 02 — NLE Transcript Panel

The In-App Transcript

Modern NLEs like DaVinci Resolve let you select transcript lines and add them to the timeline. A genuine improvement — but with one fatal limitation.

Once material lands on the timeline, the text relationship is broken. Assembly begins, text-based thinking ends.

"The edit and the script are always fighting each other."

The Missing Mode — SyncPass

The Text IS the Timeline

A third mode: one where the timeline and the text document are the same thing, represented two different ways simultaneously. Edit the text, the timeline updates. Reorder a paragraph, the sequence changes. Delete a sentence, the clip disappears.

And when the sync pass is complete, export a fully-structured edit script — with speaker labels, scene headers, and VO notes — as a Word document. The handoff document your Edit Producer needs, generated automatically from the edit itself.

Word-level precision. One click to apply. One click to export.

How It Works

Five steps from rushes to rough assembly.

Transcribe Once

Run the SyncPass Transcriber from inside Resolve. It scans your media pool, passes each clip through OpenAI Whisper (running locally on your machine — no internet required after initial download), and saves a transcript sidecar file next to each media file on disk. Transcription is a one-time operation per clip.

~5 min per hour of audio · CPU · Base model · No cloud

Read Your Rushes as Text

Open SyncPass from the Resolve Workspace menu. The Rushes tab shows your media pool as a bin tree — identical folder structure to Resolve, but only showing transcribed clips. Click a clip, its full transcript appears — every word, with natural paragraph breaks. Toggle timecode on or off. Fix any typos and label contributors (optional). Highlight any passage, add it to your pull list.

Apply to Timeline

When your pull list reflects the edit you want, click Apply to Timeline. SyncPass places each selected passage on the timeline at the correct source in and out points — to the frame.

Build the Edit Script

Switch to the Script tab. Your timeline is now displayed as editable text — one paragraph per clip sequence, speaker labels in bold. Cut and paste text to rearrange the edit. Delete a line to remove a clip. Move a sentence and SyncPass moves the frame-accurate clip data with it.

Add VO notes inline. Insert scene headers. Mark beats. Click Apply to Timeline to rebuild to your new version. When the sync pass is complete, export the whole thing as a formatted Word document — the edit script you, your Edit Producer or the Director takes forward as the cut evolves beyond the sync pass.

Or: Skip Straight to Structure with AI

Don't want to build the sync pass manually? Export a word-tagged transcript package to any AI assistant — Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or anything else. Prompt your AI with instructions for how you want your sequence (this is the part that will always require a creative brain to input) - the AI reads your full rushes as text, proposes a structured edit, and SyncPass imports the result, building the timeline from it.

Hours of rushes can become a rough sync pass in minutes. You review, reshape, and apply your editorial judgment to a structure that already exists — rather than building from nothing. The creative decisions stay yours. The mechanical sorting doesn't have to be.

Features

Everything you need.
Nothing you don't.

⬛

Word-Level Precision

Moving a word in the Script tab moves the exact frames it represents — some trimming may still be required, but you'd need to trim if you were punching in Timecodes too!

↔

Bidirectional Sync

Edit the text, the timeline updates. Reorder a paragraph, the sequence changes. Changed the sequence? Click "Reload from Timeline" and the script updates. The two representations are always in sync. There's no translation step between thinking and doing.

🔒

Private by Design

Transcription runs entirely offline using Whisper after initial model download. No audio, video, or transcript is ever sent anywhere. The only external step is the optional AI Automate export — and that's always something YOU choose to do.

📄

Sidecar Architecture

Transcript files live next to the media, not inside the project. Move a drive, change a machine, hand off to a colleague — the transcript travels with the media. Any machine that has the file has the transcript.

🏷

Speaker Labels

Assign speaker labels by right-click. Labels appear inline in the Script tab and colour-coded in the Rushes browser. Automatic diarisation is on the roadmap for v2.

⌛

Timecode

Toggle the timecode on and off - useful for finding the moment in the rushes if you need to check how it really sounds!

🔍

Full-Text Search

Find any word or phrase across all transcribed clips instantly. Click a result to jump directly to that moment in the Rushes browser.

↩

Undo Support

Every Apply to Timeline operation creates a snapshot of the previous timeline state. Step back through your edit history at any point.

📝

Export the Edit Script

Export your Script as a formatted Word document — speaker labels, scene headers, VO notes, timecodes, and all. The handoff document you need to manage the cut as it evolves beyond the sync pass.

Feature Detail

Four tabs. One workflow.

Full media pool bin tree — identical folder structure to Resolve, transcribed clips only
Full word-level transcript with natural paragraph breaks at pauses
Timecode toggle — shows real in-camera source timecode at each paragraph
Speaker labels — colour-coded, assigned by right-click, persistent across sessions
Pull list — add, reorder, remove selections before committing to timeline
Used-range highlighting — selected words turn green immediately on Add
Word search — find any word or phrase across the full transcript instantly
Right-click word correction — fix Whisper errors, saved back to the sidecar file

Live read of current Resolve timeline displayed as editable text — one paragraph per clip sequence
Speaker labels inline and in bold: John: Hello, how are you today?
Standard cut/paste editing with full word-ID tracking — move a sentence and the frame-accurate clip data moves with it
VO rows — write voice-over copy or production notes inline, positioned exactly where they sit in the edit
Header rows — insert scene or section titles to structure the script as a production document
Beat rows — mark a timed pause or breath point at any position in the sequence
Partial clip moves — cut half a sentence, paste it elsewhere, the timeline splits correctly at the word boundary
Export to .docx — generates a formatted Word edit script: speaker labels, headers, VO notes, timecodes. The document your Edit Producer takes forward when the cut moves beyond the sync pass
Reload from Timeline — re-sync the script view to the current Resolve timeline state at any time

Export an AI package in one click — a date-stamped .zip containing word-tagged transcripts, a word registry, and a production brief for the AI to work from - all you need to do is tell it the story YOU want to tell, and a style to tell it in.
Works with any AI assistant — Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or anything capable of reading a structured document. No API key, no locked-in platform, no subscription beyond the AI you already use
The AI reads your full rushes as text, proposes a structured sync pass in the correct .syncpass_edit format, and SyncPass imports and builds the timeline from it
Session token matching — cryptographic ID embedded in every export verifies the AI response came from this exact package, not a previous session
Hours of rushes, minutes of work — an experienced AI can propose a coherent story structure from 4+ hours of interviews in the time it takes to make coffee
Editorial judgment stays human — the AI proposes, you decide. Reshape, reject, rebuild. The creative work is yours; the mechanical sorting doesn't have to be
Populates the Script tab automatically — your edit is ready to review, refine, and apply to the timeline immediately

Audio track selection — A1 to A8, any combination, saved as global default
Timecode preferences — persistent across sessions
Speaker colours — automatically assigned from palette, fully customisable
Keep on Top — window floats above Resolve for side-by-side working
Backup and restore — session state snapshots for safety
Limitations — honest, in-app documentation of the current boundaries of v1

For Edit Producers

The edit script, generated automatically from the cut.

The sync pass produces a timeline. It should produce a document too — one that stays in sync with the edit rather than being maintained by hand across every version.

The problem SyncPass solves for EPs

Whether you're doing the sync pull yourself, or your editor is working "Stream of Consciousness" - someone has to update the script. The edit moves on, but the document is constantly wrong. Keeping an edit script current is time-consuming manual work that scales badly across a long cut.

What SyncPass generates

The Script tab always reflects the current Resolve timeline. Speaker labels, scene headers, VO notes, and timecodes are all inline. When the sync pass is complete, one click exports a formatted .docx — the document to take forward as the cut evolves into full picture editing.

Building the script during the sync pass

As the editor works through the sync material, they add VO rows (voice-over copy or production notes), scene headers to divide the structure, and beat markers for pacing. These aren't notes about the edit — they're part of the edit document. By the time the sync pass is done, the basic script is already written.

The handoff moment

When music, GVs, and coverage begin — when the edit moves beyond the sync pass — SyncPass steps back and Resolve takes over. At that point, theer is a complete, structured Word document to manage manually through the rest of post. Not a transcript. Not a rough timeline printout. An edit script.

What Makes It Different

Not another transcript viewer.

Every other tool treats words as navigation aids. SyncPass treats them as the edit itself.

Words are the clips

In every other transcript tool, words are labels on clips. You find a word, you find the clip, you add the clip. In SyncPass, words are the clips. Moving a word moves the media it represents. There is no translation step. There is no gap between the thinking and the timeline.

The sidecar travels with the media

Resolve's own transcript data lives inside the project file. Move a drive, change a machine, hand off to a colleague — the transcript stays behind. SyncPass sidecars live next to the media file with the same name. They follow the media everywhere.

Augments Resolve — doesn't replace it

SyncPass doesn't try to be an NLE. It works with Resolve's own infrastructure — media pool, timeline tracks, audio channels — and hands control back to Resolve the moment the editor wants it. An editor who uses SyncPass still works in Resolve.

Two tools, one workflow

SyncPass is two things in one: a text-based editing tool that drives the timeline, and a script generator that produces the document your Edit Producer needs. Most editors build the edit and then document it separately — or don't document it at all. SyncPass makes the document a byproduct of the edit, not extra work after it.

Word-to-word timing

SyncPass knows when a word starts more reliably than when it ends. It cuts where the next word begins, not where the current word ends. The result is consistently cleaner cuts.

Philosophy

Built for editors and Edit Producers.

SyncPass was built by an editor, for editors and the Edit Producers they work with. The design question at every step was the same: what part of this process requires creative judgment, and what part is just mechanical labour?

The sync pass produces a timeline. It should also produce a script — a living document the Edit Producer can take forward as the cut evolves, updated automatically from the edit rather than maintained by hand.

Scrubbing hours of rushes for a half-remembered line SyncPass

Deciding which version of that line is right for the cut Editor

Moving a clip from the end of a sequence to the beginning SyncPass

Deciding that the sequence works better that way Editor

Getting a first structural pass from an AI on 4 hours of rushes SyncPass + AI

Reading that pass, disagreeing with most of it, rebuilding it Editor

Keeping the edit script updated as the cut evolves through versions SyncPass → .docx

Shaping the edit script into a production document for the director Edit Producer

Who It's For

Made for story editors and Edit Producers.

Story Editors

Working in DaVinci Resolve on Windows (Mac & Linux in development)
Currently using paper edits, Word docs, or printed transcripts as thinking tools
Working with interview-heavy material where structure is found in language
Want to work faster without sacrificing creative control

Edit Producers

Taking rough assembly scripts forward into full edit management
Responsible for keeping the edit script in sync with the cut as it evolves
Working with directors who need a readable document, not a timeline screenshot
Want an automatic first draft, not a blank page after every rough cut version

Also Useful For

YouTube film-makers who want a quick way to scan their footage and quickly compile their edits
Producers doing rough selects before handing to an editor
Journalists and long-form content creators editing to camera
Corporate and training video editors with talking-head material
Post houses looking to streamline documentary assembly workflows

Not the Right Tool For

Narrative fiction — structure comes from picture and performance, not transcript
Music videos and heavily visual content
Editors working primarily in Avid Media Composer or Premiere (v1 is Resolve-specific)
Mac OS & Linux: Windows-first for v1.0, cross-platform versions in active development

v1.0 Scope

Scoped to the sync pass — the initial rough assembly
Single video track + up to 8 locked audio tracks
Contiguous blocks — no L or J cuts in v1
A tightly scoped tool is a tool that works reliably

Current Limitations

Honest about what v1.0 does and doesn't do.

SyncPass v1.0 is built for one stage of the documentary process: the sync pass. Before B-roll. Before music. Before colour. If you're in that stage, it does everything you need. Once the cut moves beyond it, you export your script and hand back to Resolve. A tightly scoped tool is a tool that works reliably.

Not in v1.0

L cuts and J cuts — audio and video tracks move together as locked blocks
Multi-camera and coverage editing
Automatic speaker identification — assigned manually by right-click
Source viewer playhead control — Resolve API limitation
Click-to-jump from word to source viewer — same API limitation
Mac OS (now in development)

On the Roadmap

Automatic speaker diarisation via WhisperX or pyannote.audio
L/J cut representation in Script mode
Multi-camera coverage switching from the text view
Mac OS support

FAQ

Common questions.

Does SyncPass send my footage or transcripts to the cloud?

No. Transcription runs entirely on your machine using Whisper, which runs offline after the initial model download (roughly 140MB for the base model). No audio, no video, and no transcript is ever sent anywhere. The only exception is the optional AI Automate feature — an explicit export action that you initiate.

How accurate is the transcription?

Very good for English. Whisper's base model handles accented English well and produces word-level timestamps accurate to within approximately 2 frames. It's forced to English by default to prevent misidentification on regional accents (including Scottish English). The small and medium models improve accuracy on technical vocabulary at significant speed cost.

How long does transcription take?

On a typical Windows workstation using the base model on CPU, approximately 5 minutes per hour of audio. Transcription is a one-time operation per clip — the sidecar is checked before processing and skipped if it already exists. GPU acceleration via CUDA can significantly reduce this time.

What version of DaVinci Resolve does it require?

Any version of DaVinci Resolve with the Python scripting API enabled. The free version of Resolve includes the scripting API. SyncPass runs from Workspace > Scripts in the Edit menu.

When should I stop using SyncPass and hand back to Resolve?

SyncPass is designed for the sync pass — the stage before B-roll, music, colour work, or effects enter the picture. While you're working with sync sound and building story structure from words, it's the right tool. The moment you start adding coverage, laying music, or making L and J cuts, that's your cue to export the edit script and hand back to Resolve. From that point, SyncPass steps back and Resolve takes over. Non-destructive apply — which would preserve colour grades and audio levels across versions — is planned for a future release.

Does it work with NAS-mounted or network drives?

Yes — SyncPass has been tested with NAS-mounted media including standard Windows drive mappings (e.g. Y:\). The sidecar file is written next to the media file wherever it lives.

Is Mac OS or Linux supported?

v1.0 is Windows-first. Mac OS and Linux versions are in active development — the plan is to package SyncPass for all major platforms once the Windows version is stable and tested. If you're on Mac or Linux, get in touch and we'll let you know when your platform is ready.