Prewatch
Menu

Setup guide

Claude Desktop, DaVinci Resolve's MCP and Prewatch

Connect both MCP servers to Claude Desktop, then search your footage and build Resolve timelines in one conversation.

Updated 2026-10-18. Written for the launch version of Prewatch, Claude Desktop and DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1.

Before you start

  • A Mac with Apple silicon on macOS 26 or later
  • A Claude account for Claude Desktop
  • DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1, for building timelines from the chat
  • A folder of footage (MOV or MP4) on a local drive, an SSD or a NAS

Steps

  1. Install Prewatch

    Prewatch runs on Macs with Apple silicon and macOS 26 or later. Install it from the Mac App Store; the 14-day free trial starts when you subscribe.

  2. Add a footage folder and turn on Watch and Index

    Add a folder with ⌘ O, then turn on Watch and Index in the folder view. Prewatch indexes every clip and keeps up as new files arrive.

    By default the index is written to a Shotlog folder beside the footage, so it travels with the media. Choose a library on your Mac instead if you want to work while the footage drive is unplugged.

    The first clip with speech downloads the Whisper speech model once (about 1.6 GB). Everything else is in the app.

  3. Optional: turn on descriptions with your Claude API key

    Transcripts, speakers, scenes and search work without a key. For a written description of each clip and the moments an editor cuts on, open Settings → Descriptions, paste an API key from the Anthropic Console and save it to the Keychain. Test key checks it without spending tokens.

    Prewatch shows the estimated cost for the folder before it describes anything. Anthropic bills that use to your own account.

  4. Install Claude Desktop and connect Prewatch

    Install Claude Desktop and sign in. In Prewatch, click Connect to Claude. Prewatch adds itself to Claude Desktop; depending on the route, macOS asks you to confirm Claude's settings folder once, or Claude Desktop shows an install prompt. Accept it and restart Claude Desktop if asked.

    Prewatch shows Connected when Claude Desktop can reach it. You do not edit any configuration file by hand.

  5. Connect DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1

    DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1 has an MCP server for AI assistants built in. Reports place its setup under File → Setup AI Assistants; the DaVinci Resolve 21.1 reference manual has a section on using Resolve with AI assistants. Follow Blackmagic Design's instructions there to add Resolve to Claude Desktop.

    Keep Resolve open with the project you want to edit.

    Free version of Resolve: the MCP server is reported as a Studio feature. You can still index footage and ask Claude about it. A file handoff (FCPXML) for free Resolve and Final Cut Pro is planned.

  6. Ask your first question

    Start a new chat in Claude Desktop. Both Prewatch and Resolve should appear in the chat's list of connectors and tools. Then ask about your footage:

    • “What happened on day 3?”
    • “Find the clips where we talk about the route.”
    • “Which clips are flagged as black or frozen?”

    Claude answers with clip names and the seconds where things happen. When it asks to use a tool, you can allow it once or always.

  7. Build a cut in Resolve

    Ask for an edit: “Make a string-out of day 1 in capture order” or “Cut a 60-second teaser from the best moments.” Claude picks clips and in and out points with Prewatch, then imports and places them with Resolve's MCP server. Review the timeline in Resolve, then keep refining in the same chat.

Troubleshooting

Prewatch does not appear in Claude Desktop

Quit Claude Desktop completely (⌘Q) and open it again. Then open Prewatch's troubleshooting view from the Connect to Claude screen, which shows what it found.

Claude says the folder is still being indexed

Answers cover the clips indexed so far. Prewatch's status tells Claude how far indexing has got; ask again when it is done.

Descriptions or moments are missing

They need descriptions turned on and a working key (Settings → Descriptions → Test key). The inspector says why a clip has no description.

Resolve's tools do not appear

Resolve must be running, and the MCP server is part of DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.1. Check Resolve's AI assistant setup and restart Claude Desktop.

A clip is not indexed

Raw formats such as Blackmagic RAW and REDCODE are listed but not analysed. Files still being copied are indexed once they settle.

What Claude sees

Prewatch's answers become part of your Claude conversation: clip names, times, transcript lines and descriptions, and a frame when Claude asks to check one. Your video files stay on the Mac. Where each step runs.