Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, even Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve. The media offline error is usually shown when DaVinci Resolve cannot read your footage successfully.

This could be because of unlinked clips, 4K 60FPS H.265 footage, VFR, and issues like that. Some issues you definitely won’t need to worry about are DaVinci Resolve’s safety and watermarks.

Identifying the root issue can help you figure out how to fix DaVinci Resolve issues quicker.

Also Read: Is DaVinci Resolve Safe?, Does DaVinci Resolve Have a Watermark?

Unlinked Clips

This is by far the most common reason for the media offline issue. You might be wondering what are unlinked clips. It’s when your imported clips lose their link to the source footage in your Hard Drive.

This usually happens when you move your source footage by accident, to a different place.

How to fix Unlinked Clips on DaVinci Resolve

• Navigate to Media Pool
• Click and select your offline media clips
• Right-click on your selected clips
• A dialog box appears
• On it, locate the folder that contains your the source footage
• Click Ok

Media Offline Error after Recent Import

To understand this issue you need to know that all the clips you import onto DaVinci Resolve go offline when the import is complete. That being said, when you can only hear the audio when you’re playing from the timeline and can’t view your video. It’s a playback issue, that is usually caused by a problem with H.265 or HEVC codecs.

This also happens when you use DJI Mavics and GoPros that encode in High Resolution and then compress it into H.265’s.

Cameras that are mirrorless like Fujifilm XT4 and Sony A7S3 also use H.265 codec.

Also Read:How to Update DaVinci Resolve?, Where does DaVinci Resolve Save Projects?

How to fix Media Offline Error after Recent Import on DaVinci Resolve

To fix the HEVC or H.265 codec decoding inability you need to:

• Type “ Microsoft HEVC Video Extensions” on Google or the Microsoft Store search bar.
• Click on Buy “This purchase is for $0.99
• Download and install this extension
• Restart your PC or Laptop
• Resolve should now be able to decode the H.265 video.

As discussed in DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Studio, both versions support H.265 decoding, but only Studio supports massive GPU acceleration.

Flashing issues or Frames having Media Offline Errors

During your scrubbing or timeline playback, you might notice that a few frames display the media offline error. This sometimes happens when your video footage is shot on your smartphone.

How to fix Flashing issues or Frames having Media Offline Errors on DaVinci Resolve

• Check if your DaVinci Resolve is updated to its latest version
• If you use Resolve Studio, go to “ DaVinci Resolve” > Preferences > System> Memory and GPU > GPU Configuration
• GPU Processing Mode> Instead of CUDA or Open CL, choose Auto
• Then go to “Decode Options” and uncheck “ H.264/H.265 using hardware acceleration”
• Restart Resolve and see if it’s working

DaVinci Resolve Media Offline due to Missing Clips

When a clip is missing, Resolve denotes it with a question mark in the timeline. If you accidentally delete a file from the Media Pool it automatically means you get a missing clip in the timeline.

How to fix Media Offline Error due to Missing Clips on DaVinci Resolve

Re-import the deleted media into the Pool from your source folder.

A Foolproof Way when all else fails

When all the methods mentioned above fail, try transcoding your footage. This is nothing but re-encoding your footage into other codecs, Here’s how to do that:

• H.264, Mpeg-4, VP9 etc. Are highly compressed codecs which can demand a lot from your desktop
• Batch transcode footage into a codec that DaVinci can decode like H.264
• Import the footage into DaVinci Resolve > Deliver Tab > Export the footage into the required format and post friendly codec
• These exported videos are huge in size but easier for you to edit

Now go ahead and edit!

Conclusion

It is imperative to ensure that you are using the latest version of Resolve and the latest GPU drivers for Studio. You can also avoid these errors by making sure your codec is DaVinci friendly. Alternatively, using DaVinci Resolve and other popular post-production tools on Postudio frees you from any worries with regards to updates. Join our community to make creative work convenient.