Short answer:
The Sort Media Pool script for DaVinci Resolve reads metadata from every clip, identifies the camera that shot it, and sorts everything into the correct bins — in one click. No manual dragging. No misplaced files. Grab it free at drrave.com/tools/sort-media-pool.
It works with BRAW, Canon, Sony, Nikon, GoPro, ARRI, audio files, timelines, compound clips and more. You can also sync multi-camera shoots when you’re running two bodies of the same model.
Why Manual Media Pool Sorting Wastes Your Time
You’ve just wrapped 3 cameras. 6 hours of footage. You crack open DaVinci Resolve and immediately face the grind — manually dragging every clip into bins.
Camera A here. B-roll there. iPhone clips somewhere else. You know the drill.
- Multi-camera shoots burn 30–60 minutes of sorting before you touch a single frame
- Same tedious work repeats on every project
- Clips vanish into the wrong bin, wrong camera, wrong folder
- Your creative energy evaporates before the edit starts
- The problem multiplies as your projects get bigger
Sorting clips isn’t editing. Every minute you waste here is a minute you don’t have for work that matters.
👉 Stuck on other workflow bottlenecks too? Top 10 Mistakes Every Beginner Filmmaker Should Avoid covers the rest of them.
What Editors Usually Do Instead (And Why It Fails)
You’ve probably tried at least one of these. None stick.
- Smart Bins — they help, but you’re still setting them up from scratch on every project
- Naming conventions — one client renames a file and the whole system collapses
- Dump everything in Master — you’ll waste half your edit day hunting for shots
- Third-party apps — they cost money, demand setup time, and do way more than you need
The gap they all miss is obvious once you see it: they ignore what’s already encoded in your files. The camera model, serial number, audio flag — it’s baked into the metadata. You need something that actually reads it.
Sort Media Pool — Free DaVinci Resolve Script
Sort Media Pool reads your clips’ embedded metadata and organizes everything automatically. That’s it. That’s the whole thing.
Run the script once and it:
- Pulls metadata from every video file in your Media Pool
- Determines which camera shot each clip
- Auto-generates the correct bins—zero manual work
- Moves clips into their proper folders
- Isolates audio, stills, and timelines separately
One click transforms your Media Pool from chaos into a navigable structure. Seconds. Done.
No manual bin creation. No dragging clips. No mistakes.
Grab it free at
How It Detects Cameras Automatically
This isn’t guesswork. The script reads actual metadata embedded in the file — different formats store it differently, and the script knows where to look.
- BRAW files → reads the
camera_typetag directly from the Blackmagic container - Canon MP4 → reads embedded EXIF data inside the CNDA binary block
- Sony XAVC → reads the ILME model string from the binary header
- Nikon → reads the NCTG metadata block
- Leica, GoPro, Panasonic, ARRI → similar format-specific detection methods
Multi-camera shoots get sorted automatically too:
- Two Canon R5 bodies → organizes as Cam 1 / Cam 2 via serial number
- BRAW cameras → organizes as A Cam / B Cam via the
camera_numbertag
Can’t identify a clip? It goes into Unknown — nothing disappears into the void.
A Simple Recipe
- Go to Preferences → System → General and set External scripting to Local
- Download the DrRave folder from drrave.com/tools/sort-media-pool
- Copy the folder to the correct Resolve scripts path for your OS (Mac or Windows)
- Restart DaVinci Resolve
- Open your project, then go to Workspace → Scripts → DrRave → Sort_Media_Pool
- Click run — your entire Media Pool is sorted in seconds
The Big Truth
The best editing workflow strips away every decision that doesn’t need your creative brain firing on all cylinders.
Your Media Pool becomes a liability the moment you stop thinking about organization. Don’t waste creative energy hunting for that one shot of the Venice canal at golden hour—sort it before you shoot, or sort it the moment you get home.
Create a naming convention and stick to it religiously. Something like YYYY-MM-DD_Location_Subject_ShotType works. Your future self won’t dig through “Footage_FINAL_v3_ACTUAL.mov” at 2 AM when a deadline hits.
Folder structure mirrors your thinking process:
- Sort by project first, then by date, then by location
- Use sub-folders for selects, rejects, and color-corrected versions
- Keep music, sound design, and graphics completely separate
- Create a “hero shots” folder for material that always works
The real win? Automate what you can. Most editing software lets you batch-rename files and auto-organize by metadata. Premiere pulls EXIF data, DaVinci reads timecode—use those tools instead of doing it manually.
Tag your footage as you cull. Mark selects with flags, add keywords, note the color grade you’re planning. You’re not adding busy work. You’re building a map so you can drop into an edit and move without hesitation.
Start every project with your Media Pool already breathing. No friction between the vision in your head and the footage in your hands—that’s where momentum lives.
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