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DaVinci Resolve features three types of project file storage locations, Disk, Network, and Cloud. Resolve displays a project manager upon launch which allows for working with these storage locations and managing the projects contained within them.
By default, the Disk location stores Resolve project data on the local workstation. This is project data used by Resolve, not the media accessed by that Resolve project. That media should be stored on PowerScale storage. If only a single user is going to be editing the Resolve project, leaving the project data on the workstation is appropriate.
The Network option can be used if there is a Resolve Project Server on the local network. The Resolve Project Server allows for collaborative editing and bin locking of a Resolve Project. Network is the best option for facilities with multiple Resolve suites that need to move Resolve Projects between rooms or have multiple users work on the same project simultaneously.
The DaVinci Resolve Project Server is offered as a separate free (as of this writing) download from the Blackmagic Design support website.
Figure 9 DaVinci Resolve Project Server
Hosting project data on a DaVinci Resolve project server allows for the advanced features made possible by PowerScale, for instance allowing multiple users access to the same project simultaneously. The DaVinci Resolve project server database can either be hosted on a user workstation or a dedicated machine acting as the project server.
The machine acting as a project server does not need access to the PowerScale storage that contains the media files in use in the projects themselves. The project server is only hosting a database that contains project data. See the simplified diagram below for an example of this configuration.
Figure 10 Project Server architecture
Collaboration must be enabled on each individual project. Collaboration can be enabled in the Resolve Project Manager by right-clicking the project name and selecting Enable Collaboration.
Once enabled, individual users can lock bins within the project and even chat with one another from within the application. For collaborative projects to work properly, it is critical that Application Settings, System, Media Storage be configured appropriately on each workstation accessing the shared projects. These settings are described in the Error! Reference source not found. above.
Figure 11 Resolve project manager Network location