Problem[01]
We shot that already
The client wants an aerial of the harbor. You flew it two jobs ago, but nobody remembers which project folder, so the drone goes out again.
For Small studios
Find the shot you already have
Five years of client jobs on the NAS, one folder per project, and only the person who shot it knows what's inside. Index it once, and anyone in the studio can ask for the harbor at dusk.
14 days free, then $59 a year or $7.99 a month. Works with your Claude or ChatGPT plan; timelines need DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1+. Clip descriptions are optional and use your own API key, billed by Anthropic or OpenAI.
Works withA Mac with Apple silicon · macOS 26+
ClaudeClaude Desktop and Claude Code
ChatGPTThe ChatGPT Mac app and Codex
DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1Timelines through its own MCP server
Any drive or NASThe Prewatch folder travels with the media
Problems
What slows Small studios down
Problem[02]
Nobody owns the archive
Each editor names and logs their own way, or not at all. When a freelancer moves on, what they knew about the footage goes with them.
Problem[03]
Fixed fee, open-ended searching
The quote covered the edit, not two hours of scrubbing old cards for a cutaway. On a three-person team, every one of those hours comes out of the margin.
What Prewatch gives you
Your footage, already watched
Prewatch indexes every clip on your Mac, so Claude or ChatGPT knows what is in your footage and can build the cut with you in DaVinci Resolve Studio.
| What you get | Where it runs | What it does for you |
|---|---|---|
| Search across every project | On your Mac | Lines spoken and things seen, across every folder Prewatch has indexed, from one question in Claude or ChatGPT. Leave out the folder and it searches them all. |
| Index once, read on every Mac | On your Mac | One Mac indexes a folder on the share; every other Mac reads the same index, even with the NAS mounted at a different path. |
| The index stays with the job | On your Mac | A Prewatch folder beside each project's footage, so it moves with the media to an archive drive, a synced folder or a client handoff. |
| Clips described in words | Claude or OpenAI | A summary, tags and the best moments of every clip, so “harbor at dusk from the air” finds the shot. With your own Claude or OpenAI API key. |
| Old footage, checked for problems | On your Mac | Soft, dark, overexposed and frozen takes flagged, and each shot's camera motion noted, before a reused clip goes into a client's cut. |
| Plain files on your storage | On your Mac | Markdown, JSON, TSV and JPEG on your own NAS, readable without Prewatch. No team account and no cloud copy of client footage. |
Prewatch · ClipsMac app
The screenshot arrives with the app
Ask it
One question instead of a day of scrubbing
You ask in Claude or ChatGPT. Prewatch answers with the clips, the seconds and the timecode, and your assistant builds the timeline in DaVinci Resolve Studio.
01
Do we have aerial footage of the harbor at dusk?
Matching clips from every indexed project, with the project folder, the times and the best moment of each.
Your AI app02
What did we shoot for the bakery last spring?
The days and scenes of that shoot, a summary of each, and the interview lines with timecode.
Your AI app03
Build a showreel timeline of our best drone shots from this year.
A timeline in DaVinci Resolve Studio with the moments rated most usable, steady shots first.
Your AI appDoes every Mac need to index the footage?
No. One Mac watches a folder on the share and writes its Prewatch folder beside the footage. Every other Mac reads that index and picks up new clips as they are added, so the work is done once.
Is client footage uploaded anywhere?
No video or audio leaves your Mac. With descriptions on, keyframes, one contact sheet and transcript text go to Claude or OpenAI, with your own key. Locations and anything about speakers are never sent.
Does it replace our asset manager?
No. Prewatch has no check-in, permissions or review links. It adds a searchable index next to the project folders you already keep, in plain files that stay readable without it.
Does it work with the free version of DaVinci Resolve?
Building timelines by chat needs DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1 or later, whose built-in MCP server lets your assistant work in Resolve. With the free version you can still index your footage, search it and ask Claude or ChatGPT about it, then place the clips yourself. A file handoff that the free version can import is planned.
How does the free trial work?
Prewatch is an App Store subscription with a 14-day free trial: $59 a year or $7.99 a month after it. You manage or cancel it in your Apple Account's subscription settings; cancel before the trial ends and you are not charged.
Try it on your own footage
Point Prewatch at a folder you have already shot, then ask about it in Claude or ChatGPT.
14 days free, then $59 a year or $7.99 a month. Works with your Claude or ChatGPT plan; timelines need DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1+. Clip descriptions are optional and use your own API key, billed by Anthropic or OpenAI.