How to find footage fast in DaVinci Resolve and Avid Media Composer
In DaVinci Resolve, start with IntelliSearch, Smart Bins and transcription in the Media Pool. In Avid Media Composer, use Find, PhraseFind and ScriptSync. Both work within the current project. To search by what's in the shot, what's said or who appears across every project, add an AI search plugin like Jumper, which runs locally inside both editors.
Resolve and Avid both have built-in search, and often it’s enough. Here’s what each one does, where it stops, and what a plugin like Jumper adds.
DaVinci Resolve
Built in. IntelliSearch in Resolve Studio analyzes the clips in your Media Pool, then lets you search by visual content, transcript, or metadata. An optional face pass lets you name people, and you can save searches the way you use Smart Bins. IntelliSearch and transcription are Studio features, so the free version of Resolve doesn’t include them. Details are in Blackmagic’s Resolve 21 new features guide (PDF).
Where it stops. IntelliSearch only sees clips in the open project. It can’t search drives you haven’t imported or other projects, and the people you name stay in that project.
With Jumper. The Resolve plugin searches all your analyzed media, across projects and drives, by what’s on screen, what’s said, and who appears, and sends results to the Media Pool or timeline. Like IntelliSearch, it needs Resolve Studio. Resolve Studio 21.1 also has its own MCP server for AI agents, and DaVinci Resolve MCP explains how it works with Jumper’s.
Accuracy. In ProVideo Coalition’s independent visual search comparison, Jumper scored highest, ahead of Premiere and Final Cut. IntelliSearch wasn’t part of that test, but our users tell us Jumper’s visual search is much more accurate, especially with its higher-accuracy visual search models. Try it on your own footage.
Avid Media Composer
Built in. Find searches your bins and whatever was logged in the columns. PhraseFind AI searches transcribed speech, and ScriptSync AI lines clips up with a script. Check with Avid whether these are included in your license.
Where it stops. Find only knows what someone typed in. PhraseFind finds words, so a shot with nobody talking won’t show up.
With Jumper. The Avid plugin searches by picture, speech, and person, and sends results to a bin or sequence. Analysis can live on shared storage like NEXIS, so every bay searches the same index. Avid doesn’t ship an MCP server, but an agent can work with Media Composer through Jumper and write edits back as AAF. See Avid Media Composer MCP.
Built-in vs Jumper
| Resolve (IntelliSearch) | Avid (Find, PhraseFind) | Jumper in either | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search by what’s in the shot | Yes, in Studio | No | Yes |
| Search what was said | Yes | Yes, with PhraseFind AI | Yes |
| Find people | Yes, inside one project | No | Yes, on Jumper Pro |
| Scope | Open project | Open project | All analyzed media |
| Cost | Included with Resolve Studio | Check with Avid | From $169 lifetime. Jumper Pro, with faces and agents, from $49/month. |
If your facility works in more than one NLE, Jumper’s index and people catalog are shared between the plugins, so you only analyze footage and name people once. Install the plugins from NLE integrations, and see Jumper vs DaVinci Resolve for a longer comparison.
FAQ
Can DaVinci Resolve search footage by what is in the shot?
Yes, in Resolve Studio. IntelliSearch analyzes clips in the Media Pool and searches visual content, transcripts, and metadata in the open project. Jumper's Resolve plugin searches analyzed media across all your projects and drives.
Is IntelliSearch only in Resolve Studio?
Yes. IntelliSearch and transcription are Studio features, so the free version of Resolve doesn't include them. Jumper's Resolve plugin also requires Studio.
How do Avid editors find a specific moment in a large project?
Use Find for logged metadata and PhraseFind AI for spoken words. For a shot nobody logged, or a moment in another project, Jumper's Avid plugin searches the analyzed footage by picture, speech, and person.
What is PhraseFind, and do I need it?
PhraseFind AI is Avid's search for transcribed speech, and ScriptSync AI lines clips up with a script. They're useful for dialogue-heavy work. Check with Avid whether your license includes them.
Can I search across multiple Resolve projects?
Not with IntelliSearch, which only searches the open project. Jumper searches analyzed media from any project, including footage on a disconnected drive. Reconnect the drive to open the original.
Can I connect Claude to Resolve or Avid?
Yes, through MCP. Jumper's MCP server lets an agent search your footage in both. Resolve Studio also has its own MCP server for controlling the app. In Avid, the agent writes edits back as AAF.
Try Jumper free and run the workflow on a project you already know.