DaVinci Resolve Render Multiple Timelines Into One Client Review Link
How I queue every cutdown in the Resolve render queue with one review preset, name the files so nobody mixes them up, and send the client one link instead of ten.
One hero spot in DaVinci Resolve usually turns into eight cutdown timelines in my agency, right, because the brand wants a 60, a 30, a 15 and a 6, and each of those needs a 16:9 version for the feeds and a 9:16 version for Reels and Shorts. That is eight renders before the client has watched a single frame, and the second round of notes adds another eight, so done the old way you end up with sixteen exports and sixteen separate links sitting in somebody's inbox.
So this post is basically about volume and not about settings, because the settings are honestly the easy bit. I want to show you how I get DaVinci Resolve to render multiple timelines in one pass through the render queue with a single review preset, how I name every file so nobody confuses the vertical 15 with the horizontal 15, and how the whole package lands in one PlayPause project so the client opens one link instead of ten.
To be very honest, the render side took me one afternoon to sort out, and the part after it, the uploading and the sending and the who said what about which cut, is where my editors were really really losing their evenings.
When you need DaVinci Resolve to render multiple timelines
In my agency this shows up almost every week, right, and on top of the lengths there are often a couple of alternate hooks on the 6 second version so the media buyer can test them, and so on. Every one of those is its own timeline inside the same Resolve project, because duplicating the hero timeline keeps the grade, the mix and the titles consistent. And since DaVinci Resolve as an application holds editing, color, audio and delivery in one place, every cutdown inherits the same finishing.
The other case is options, where I build each creative direction as its own timeline, and I've written about presenting multiple video options to a client so they actually pick one.
The catch here is the habit of rendering the timeline in front of you, waiting, switching to the next one and rendering again until the evening is gone, even though Resolve has had a proper render queue for years. If your timelines follow a naming and versioning habit, the kind I describe in my post on DaVinci Resolve version control, filling that queue becomes very very simple.
Setting up the DaVinci Resolve render queue with one review preset
The first thing I do on any cutdown project is build a review preset once and then never think about it again, right. On the Deliver page I start from a plain H.264 MP4, keep horizontal review files at 1080p, and set a sensible restricted bitrate with AAC audio. I make sure Render is set to Single clip rather than Individual clips, then save it from the options menu at the top of the render settings as a new preset called Client Review. I keep a twin of it at 1080 by 1920 for the verticals, and those timelines get their own timeline settings with Use Project Settings unticked, because a 9:16 timeline rendered at a 16:9 frame size is a mistake you only make once.
If you want the reasoning behind the codec and bitrate, I covered it in my post on export settings for fast review links, and YouTube's help page on recommended upload encoding settings is a decent sanity check for where a 1080p review file should sit.
Once the preset exists, a batch render in Resolve is basically a loop. I pick the first timeline from the timeline menu above the viewer, check that the render range reads Entire Timeline and not an old In/Out range somebody left behind, apply Client Review, point the location at one folder for the whole package and hit Add to Render Queue. Then I repeat that for every timeline until the whole package is sitting in the queue on the right, press Render All and walk away.
The catch here is that jobs already in the queue keep the settings they were added with, right, so if you tweak the preset halfway through, the earlier jobs need updating. If the package is spread across more than one project, for instance when a different editor cut the verticals, the render queue options include Show All Projects, which lets you render jobs from several projects in the same database in one run. Blackmagic's own DaVinci Resolve training covers the Deliver page properly, and I'd lean on it over forum threads because the menus shift a little between versions.
A worked batch render for one launch package
Here is how that looks on the launch package from the top of this post, right. I keep a Timelines bin with eight timelines named from Launch_60s_16x9_MV1 down to Launch_6s_9x16_MV1, the four horizontal ones get Client Review, the four vertical ones get the vertical twin, and all eight jobs point at one folder called Launch_Round1. Before pressing Render All I count the jobs in the queue against the timelines in the bin, because eight timelines and seven jobs means somebody skipped one, and finding that out after the client link has gone out is really really embarrassing.
When the queue finishes, I sort the folder by name and scrub the first and last second of every file, which catches things like a missing end card or a vertical that rendered letterboxed. For round two I duplicate each timeline, rename MV1 to MV2, make the changes and render into a fresh Launch_Round2 folder, so the two rounds never mix on disk.
Naming renders so every cutdown is identifiable
Trust me on any level, a bad file name costs more than a slow render, right, because a confusing name wastes the client's attention, which you really cannot buy back. Resolve can build the render file name from the timeline name, so I do the naming once, on the timelines themselves, and every render inherits it.
My pattern is simple, and every editor in the agency follows it:
- Brand and project, kept short, so the files group together when sorted.
- Length in seconds, like 15s or 6s, so the duration reads at a glance.
- Ratio written as 16x9 or 9x16, because a colon in a file name causes trouble on some systems.
- Version tag, MV1 for the first round, MV2 for the next, and so on.
So a timeline ends up called something like Launch_15s_9x16_MV1, which looks boring, and boring is exactly what you want when a client is scrolling through a dozen cards on their phone. I use the same MV1 and MV2 labels that PlayPause puts on its version stacks, so the file name and the version on the card never disagree.
For alternate hooks I add a letter after the length, so 6sA and 6sB, and that letter stays fixed across rounds. If the hook that was A in round one quietly becomes B in round two, every note the client left stops making sense, you see what I mean here.
- Timeline name carries brand and length
- Ratio written as 16x9 or 9x16
- Version tag reads MV1 or MV2
- Alternate hooks keep a fixed letter
- Every job points at the same package folder
Using bulk upload for client review of the whole package
Because every job points at one folder, the finished package is already sitting together on disk, and that folder is what goes up. I open the PlayPause desktop app, which runs on Mac and Windows, create a project for the package, select every file in the round folder and drop them in together, and batch uploads take it from there, right, with 100+ files in one go, so a sixteen file round is nothing.
While the files process, PlayPause makes a streaming copy for browser playback and leaves the original untouched. On Creator the max upload is 10 GB per file, which is plenty for H.264 review renders and only matters if somebody insists on ProRes for review, which I argue against in my post on never sending a raw master.
One package at review quality is small, but a year of packages for a busy client adds up, which is where the 250 GB on Agency or the 1 TB on Enterprise comes in. Pricing is flat per workspace instead of per person, so adding the colorist and the motion designer as members does not change the bill as long as you stay inside the plan's member limit, and our page on PlayPause for DaVinci Resolve shows how this fits a Resolve shop.
When round two comes, I upload each MV2 onto the card of its MV1 so the versions stack, and on Agency I open side-by-side version compare to check that the logo note on the 15 was actually fixed.
Giving the client one link for every version and length
This is the part the client actually feels, right. Instead of an email with ten links they get one share link, they open it in a browser without an account or an install, and every cutdown is sitting there with a readable name. They click the vertical 15, pause on the frame they don't like, and their comment sticks to that exact frame, and they can draw on the frame to circle a caption sitting too low.
Vertical cutdowns get judged on tiny details like caption placement and the first second of the hook, which is why I wrote about short-form video review on its own page and about reviewing YouTube, TikTok and Reels cutdowns from a single link.
ten links in one email, notes arriving in three places and nobody sure which 15 they mean
one link, readable names, frame accurate comments and a status on every cutdown
You can password protect the link while a campaign is under embargo and revoke it instantly if it gets forwarded somewhere it shouldn't. Link lifetime depends on the plan, 30 days on Creator where the files expire, 90 days on Agency, and never expiring on Enterprise. With who-watched analytics I can see who opened the link, when and from which city, so when an account manager says the client hasn't looked yet, I check instead of guessing.
Tracking approval per cutdown without a spreadsheet
For years I tracked cutdown approvals in a spreadsheet that was always one step behind, because it only knew what someone remembered to update. Now every card carries a custom status like Needs Changes, Client Approved or Delivered, so at the end of the day anyone on the team can see that the 60 and the 30 are approved while the vertical 15 still needs changes.
The second piece is Slack, right. With the Slack connection on, every client comment posts into our team channel, so the editor who owns the verticals sees a note as it arrives and jumps into PlayPause to reply in the thread or @mention the motion designer. And because the file names carry the length and the ratio, nobody has to guess which cutdown a note is about.
If the client has to ask which file is the vertical one, the naming failed long before the render even started.
Then the notes have to get back into your edit, and I want to be clear about this, right, PlayPause has no panel that lives inside Resolve. The loop is export, upload, review, and then you work through the timestamped notes with the timeline open, and I've written the exact way we do that in my post on getting timestamped notes into Resolve.
Render in Resolve, upload the package, collect frame accurate notes in the browser, then work through them with your timeline open.
The last piece is Playbooks, on Agency and up. I keep a brand playbook with permanent rules like captions inside the safe area on verticals, plus a folder playbook for the campaign with a checklist that isn't done until someone ticks it, and the editor runs that checklist before any MV2 goes up. There is a longer walkthrough in my post on approving a dozen social cutdowns, does that make sense, right.
Frequently asked questions
Can DaVinci Resolve render multiple timelines at the same time?
On the machines in my agency the render queue works through the jobs one after another, right, and that is fine because nobody is sitting there watching it. You queue every timeline with the review preset, press Render All and leave it. If the timelines live in different projects, the queue options include Show All Projects, so you can render jobs from several projects in one run.
Should the review render use the same settings as the final delivery?
No, and I'm pretty sure this is where most slow review rounds start. The delivery masters go to the platforms or the media buyer with their own specs, but the review render only has to play smoothly in a browser and show the edit, the grade and the text clearly. A light H.264 at 1080p is enough, and it uploads and processes much faster than a heavy master.
Does PlayPause work inside DaVinci Resolve?
No, it works alongside it, and I would rather say that plainly. You export from Resolve, upload to PlayPause, the client reviews in the browser with frame-accurate comments, and then you work through those notes with your timeline open. Premiere Pro is the one editor with a PlayPause panel, while Resolve, Final Cut Pro and After Effects all follow the export and upload route.
How many cutdowns can go into one PlayPause project?
Bulk upload takes 100+ files at once on every plan, so the upload itself is never the bottleneck, right. What you actually watch is storage across a year of rounds and, on Creator, the 30 project cap if you open a fresh project for every package, which is one reason busier clients sit better on Agency with unlimited projects. Review renders are small, so even a big package of verticals fits comfortably.
If you want to run your next cutdown package this way, have a look at PlayPause pricing. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial, so you can queue the renders, drop the round folder in and send your client one link before you decide anything.
So yeah. That's my way of saying it.
Saumyajit co-founded PlayPause after years watching review and approval quietly eat creative teams' deadlines. He writes about the workflow side of video, feedback, versioning, and getting to a clean sign-off.
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