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Offline media, timecode and frame rate

The Premiere XML opens in Resolve, but some clips are red, point to the wrong media or land one frame off. The most common causes, and how to fix them.

Guide updated on 3 November 2026. By Théo Vervier, filmmaker and author of GRADEFLOW.

Why clips come in offline

Resolve finds each clip in the XML by its file and by its source timecode. If either one doesn't match, the clip stays offline or links to the wrong place. The cases that come up most:

  • The files have moved since the edit: renamed drive, moved folder, project edited on another machine.
  • The edit was done on proxies and the XML points to them, or to files whose names differ from the original media.
  • The timecode doesn't match: timecode changed in Premiere, files without timecode, or media whose timecode Premiere and Resolve read differently.
  • A frame rate was reinterpreted in Premiere (a 50p clip played at 25p for slow motion, for example). Resolve reads the file at its real frame rate, and the XML no longer lines up.

Relinking media, step by step

  1. Import the original media first into the Media Pool, from where it lives now.
  2. Then import the XML with Automatically import source clips into media pool unticked: Resolve then links the timeline to the clips already there instead of looking for the old paths.
  3. If the names differ only by extension (a .mov instead of an .mxf, for example), tick Ignore file extensions when matching in the same window.
  4. For clips still offline, select them in the Media Pool and use Resolve's relink command (right-click, Relink; the exact name depends on the version), pointing it to the media folder.
  5. For a timeline clip linked to the wrong file, Reconform from Bins, in the clip's right-click menu, lets you pick the right one from the project's media.

If the edit was done on proxies, check before exporting that the sequence really points to the full-resolution files, and not to the proxies.

Timecode offsets and frame rate

A constant offset of one or two frames across a whole clip almost always comes from timecode or frame rate. Check in this order:

  1. The Resolve timeline frame rate must match the Premiere sequence, set before the import. A 23.976 sequence is written in the XML with a base of 24 and the NTSC flag: if Resolve reads it as true 24, everything slowly drifts.
  2. Drop-frame on 29.97 media and sequences must be the same on both sides.
  3. Reinterpreted media: undo the interpretation in Premiere before exporting, then redo the slow motion with a speed change, or render those clips to a file.
  4. Mixed frame rates in one sequence (23.976, 29.97 or 59.94 in a 25p sequence): Resolve has a project setting for mixed frame rate timelines, which must match the source application. Then compare the start and end of the clips involved with the reference movie: an offset shows at the end of a long clip.

If you open the XML in a text editor, the sequence's timebase and ntsc tags show the frame rate it describes. It is a good way to tell whether the error comes from the export or the import.

The fallback: grading a single file

When the conform won't behave, many editors export the sequence as a single high-quality file (ProRes, in log if the media is), then cut it up in Resolve with scene cut detection (Scene Cut Detection). It works, but you lose handles, RAW latitude and the ability to reframe inside the original clip. Keep it for emergencies.

What GRADEFLOW does

GRADEFLOW writes the XML from Premiere pointing to the original media, at the right source timecode, frame rate and drop-frame included. A 50p clip in a 25p sequence, or a 23.976, 29.97 or 59.94 clip in a 25p sequence, lands on the same frame as in Premiere, from the start of the clip to the end.

A clip that was moved or left at an old path is found by its name and folder. An unplugged drive is named in the send report, with the clips involved, instead of showing up as red clips in Resolve.

GRADEFLOW runs on Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 15 or later, with Premiere Pro 2025 or 2026 and DaVinci Resolve Studio 21. You grade and export in Resolve: nothing goes back to Premiere. The details are on the Features page, and common questions in Help. Sales are not open yet; a free 3-day trial starts from the panel.

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