Offline and online editing
The terms come from the days when offline suites were cheap and online suites were expensive, so the creative cut happened first on low-quality copies. The logic survives today for a different reason: storage and playback. Offline editing runs on proxies, so the timeline plays smoothly on any laptop and the editor focuses on story, pacing, and structure without worrying about disk space or dropped frames.
Once the cut is locked, online editing takes over. The edit decisions are conformed back onto the original camera files, then colour grading, visual effects, and titles are applied at full resolution before export. Keeping the two stages separate means a freelance editor can cut anywhere on a light machine, while the heavy originals stay in one place for the finish.
Examples
- •An editor cuts a 90-minute documentary offline on 720p proxies
- •The locked cut is conformed online onto 6K originals for grading
- •A remote editor works offline on a laptop while originals stay in the cloud
In Sanbila
Sanbila is built for this split: you edit offline on proxies generated in the cloud, and when the cut is locked, Smart Relink switches the used clips to full-resolution streaming for the online finish, with no manual download.
Frequently asked questions
How is Sanbila different from the proxy generator built into my NLE?+
Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro and Avid all generate proxies locally, but they keep the original full-resolution files on the same SSD — so the disk fills up twice. Sanbila stores the originals in the cloud (Cloudflare R2) and keeps only the lightweight proxies on your machine. At export, Smart Relink streams the originals back via a local WebDAV mount, so you finish at full quality without ever downloading the source files.
Does Sanbila work offline?+
Yes for editing — once a proxy is cached on your SSD, you can cut, trim, color and arrange your timeline without an internet connection. You only need network access for the initial import (uploading originals to the cloud) and for the final export (streaming originals back via WebDAV).
How much cloud storage does the free plan include?+
The free plan includes 5 GB of cloud storage and one project, with no credit card required. Paid plans start at $49 per month for 2 TB and 50 projects, going up to 25 TB on the Enterprise plan with overage billing for teams that need more.
What upload speed do I need to use Sanbila?+
Any broadband connection works for the initial upload — Sanbila chunks files into 50 MB parts and uploads in parallel, so a typical 100 Mbps fiber line uploads 1 hour of 4K H.264 footage in about 6 minutes. After upload, day-to-day editing happens on local proxies, so your connection speed only matters again at export time when originals are streamed.
Which video formats does Sanbila support?+
Sanbila handles 22+ formats out of the box: MP4, MOV, MXF, R3D (RED RAW), BRAW (Blackmagic RAW), ARRI proxies, ProRes, DNxHR, DNxHD, H.264, H.265, plus WAV and AAC for audio. Both 4K and 8K sources are supported up to 200 GB per single file (URL imports have no size limit).
Related terms
Sources
- Proxy workflow in Premiere Pro · Adobe
- DaVinci Resolve reference manual · Blackmagic Design