ClipABit - DaVinci Resolve Plugin

A semantic video search plugin for DaVinci Resolve that allows you to search through your media pool using natural language queries and automatically add matching clips to your timeline.

Features

• Semantic Video Search: Search your media pool using natural language (e.g., "woman walking", "car driving")
• Smart Upload Management: Track which files have been processed and upload only new files
• Background Job Tracking: Monitor upload and processing jobs with real-time status updates
• Timeline Integration: Add search results directly to your timeline with precise timing
• Dark/Light Theme: Modern UI with theme toggle support

Prerequisites

• Python 3.12+
• uv (recommended) or pip
• DaVinci Resolve Studio (paid version required for scripting support)

Quick Start

1. Install Dependencies

# Navigate to plugin directory
cd plugin

# Create virtual environment and install dependencies
uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e .

# Or install globally via pip
pip install PyQt6 requests watchdog

2. Preview the Plugin (Standalone)

You can preview the UI without DaVinci Resolve:

# Navigate to plugin directory
cd plugin

# Activate virtual environment
source .venv/bin/activate

# Run the plugin
python clipabit.py

# Close the window (Cmd+Q on Mac) and re-run to see new changes

3. Install in DaVinci Resolve

Copy the plugin to DaVinci Resolve's Scripts folder:

macOS:

cp "plugin/clipabit.py" "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve 20/Fusion/Scripts/Edit/"

Windows (PowerShell):

Copy-Item "plugin\clipabit.py" "$env:APPDATA\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Support\Fusion\Scripts\Utility\"

Linux:

cp "plugin/clipabit.py" "$HOME/.local/share/DaVinci Resolve/Fusion/Scripts/Edit/"

4. Run in DaVinci Resolve

1. Open DaVinci Resolve
2. Open or create a project
3. Navigate to: Workspace → Scripts → clipabit
4. The plugin window will open

Note: Scripting is only available in DaVinci Resolve Studio (paid version). The free version does not support Python scripting.

Development Workflow

Making Changes

# 1. Make changes to clipabit.py in your editor

# 2. Run to preview
cd plugin
source .venv/bin/activate
python clipabit.py

# 3. Close the window (Cmd+Q) and re-run to see new changes

# 4. When ready, copy to Resolve
cp "clipabit.py" "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve 20/Fusion/Scripts/Edit/"

Using the File Watcher (Optional)

For automatic copying during development:

# From the repository root
source plugin/.venv/bin/activate
python watch_clipabit.py --source plugin/clipabit.py

This watches for changes and automatically copies to Resolve's Scripts folder.

Usage

Searching Videos

1. Enter a natural language query in the search box (e.g., "person walking", "sunset scene")
2. Click Search or press Enter
3. Browse the results in the grid view
4. Click Add to timeline on any result to insert it

Managing Uploads

1. Click the ⚙ (settings) button in the top-right
2. Select files to upload for processing
3. Monitor progress via Active Jobs/Debug button

Theme Toggle

1. Click ⚙ (settings) button
2. Click Toggle Dark/Light Mode

Configuration

Environment Settings

Set the CLIPABIT_ENVIRONMENT environment variable:

• dev (default) - Development environment
• prod - Production environment
• staging - Staging environment

File Locations

Platform	Scripts Location
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Blackmagic Design/DaVinci Resolve 20/Fusion/Scripts/Edit/
Windows	%APPDATA%\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Support\Fusion\Scripts\Utility\
Linux	~/.local/share/DaVinci Resolve/Fusion/Scripts/Edit/

Release Flow (Automated)

Staging prereleases

• Pushes to staging run semantic-release automatically.
• Tags are created as vX.Y.Z-staging.N.
• plugin/CHANGELOG.md and plugin/pyproject.toml are updated.

Promote to main (manual trigger)

• Use GitHub Actions workflow Promote staging to main.
• It asks for release type (patch, minor, major).
• It merges staging → main, then runs semantic-release on main with the chosen release type.

Permissions probe

• Run Permissions Probe workflow to verify whether GITHUB_TOKEN has write access.
• If it fails, org-level settings likely block write permissions.

Troubleshooting

Scripts Menu Shows "No Scripts"

• Likely cause: You're using the free version of DaVinci Resolve
• Solution: Scripting requires DaVinci Resolve Studio ($295)

"Resolve API not available"

• This is normal when running standalone (outside of Resolve)
• The UI will still work, but media pool features are disabled

Plugin Doesn't Appear After Copying

1. Restart DaVinci Resolve completely
2. Make sure you copied to the correct folder for your Resolve version
3. Check Preferences → System → External scripting using is set to Local

File Structure

plugin/
├── clipabit.py          # Main plugin file
├── pyproject.toml       # Dependencies
├── README.md            # This file
└── uv.lock              # Dependency lock file

watch_clipabit.py        # Development file watcher (in repo root)

Architecture

• PyQt6 Interface: Modern, responsive UI with dark/light themes
• Modal.com Backend: Serverless video processing
• Pinecone Vector Database: Semantic search with CLIP embeddings
• Cloudflare R2: Video file storage