How do I export a DaVinci Resolve project with all the media?

From the Project Manager, right-click the project and choose Export Project Archive (.dra). Resolve gathers the project database entry together with all referenced media into one archive folder. The other editor restores it by right-clicking in their Project Manager and choosing Restore Project Archive.

Why can't I just copy the project file?

Resolve doesn't keep projects as loose files the way Premiere does — they live inside a project library (a database). Copying a .drp out gives you the edit data only. Without the media and a relink, the other editor opens a timeline of offline clips.

How do I send a Resolve archive that's 200 GB or more?

Don't route it through a cloud service — free transfer tiers stop around 2 GB, and paid plans still make you upload the entire archive before the other person can begin downloading. Send it directly instead: AlterSend transfers the archive folder straight from your machine to theirs with no size limit and no upload step.

Can I make the archive smaller before sending?

Yes. Use Media Management to trim the media down to only what's used in your timelines, with a few seconds of handles either side. On a project where you shot far more than you cut, that's usually a much bigger saving than any compression, and it keeps the footage itself untouched.

Do LUTs, fonts, and Fusion titles transfer too?

Not reliably. A Project Archive covers media, but LUTs, fonts, OpenFX plugins and some Fusion elements depend on what's installed on the receiving machine. Copy your LUT folder and fonts into the same transfer so the other editor isn't chasing missing assets afterwards.

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Move a Resolve project. Media and all.

Q: What's the difference between .drp and .dra?

A .drp is a project export — timelines, edits, colour nodes and settings, but no footage. It's small, and it only opens correctly if the other machine already has the media and can relink to it. A .dra is a Project Archive: the project plus every media file it uses, bundled together. That's the one to send for a real handoff, and it's the reason the folder suddenly weighs hundreds of gigabytes.

DaVinci Resolve keeps projects in a database, not a file you can copy. Here's how to export a Project Archive that actually contains your footage — and how to get 200 GB of it onto another machine without an upload queue.

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AlterSend transferring a DaVinci Resolve project archive between machines

Resolve doesn't work like Premiere

There's no project file sitting on your desktop to hand over. Resolve stores projects inside a project library — a database — so the thing you'd normally copy doesn't exist as a loose file at all.

You get two ways out of that database, and picking the wrong one is the usual cause of a failed handoff. A .drp is a project export: timelines, edits, colour nodes, settings — and no footage. It's a few megabytes and it only opens properly if the other machine already holds the media and can relink to it. A .dra is a Project Archive: the project bundled together with every media file it references.

For a genuine handoff you want the archive. Which is exactly when the size problem shows up.

Step one: export a Project Archive

Open the Project Manager, right-click the project, and choose Export Project Archive. Resolve writes a .dra folder containing the project entry and all of its media. On the other end, the receiving editor right-clicks in their own Project Manager and picks Restore Project Archive.

Before you export, run Media Management and trim the media to what your timelines actually use, keeping a few seconds of handles. If you shot far more than you cut — and most people do — that shrinks the archive more than any compression would, without touching the quality of the footage you kept.

Worth knowing: an archive covers media, not your whole environment. LUTs, fonts, OpenFX plugins and some Fusion elements depend on what's installed on the receiving machine, so send your LUT folder and fonts along with it.

Step two: moving a very large archive

Your .dra is now somewhere north of 50 GB. Here's what colourists and editors normally reach for, and what it costs.

WeTransfer / cloud transfer link

Upload the archive, share a download link.

Free tiers stop around 2 GB. A Resolve archive is routinely 50–500 GB, and links expire.

Google Drive or Dropbox

Sync the archive folder and share it.

You buy storage you don't need and upload the whole archive before anyone can start pulling it.

Courier an SSD

Copy the archive to a drive and ship it.

Still the standard for feature work — but it costs days, and drives get lost or arrive corrupted.

Or send the archive directly

AlterSend moves the .dra folder straight from your machine to the other editor's — no upload step, no storage plan, no ceiling. Because nothing sits on a server in between, the transfer starts as soon as they accept.

No size limit

A 40 GB short or a 600 GB feature archive — same flow either way.

Folder structure preserved

A .dra is a folder. It arrives intact, so Restore Project Archive just works.

No upload step

Transfer begins immediately instead of after you've uploaded everything.

Unreleased footage stays private

End-to-end encrypted and never stored on a server — nothing to leak or subpoena.

Cutting in Premiere too? See sending a Premiere Pro project.

The whole handoff, in three steps

01
Export a Project Archive
Project Manager → right-click the project → Export Project Archive (.dra).
02
Pair the two machines
Install AlterSend on both, scan a QR code once. No account, no upload.
03
Send the archive folder
Drag the .dra across. Any size, encrypted, straight to their drive.

Questions

Ship the archive. No cap.

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