Appearance
Editorial export Pro
If you're taking your selects into an edit, Editorial export writes timeline files instead of rendered video — files that open directly in your NLE with every visible shot already cut, in order, pointing back at the source file you imported into this board.
That last part is the scope of the feature, so it's worth being precise about. A board holds one video, so a timeline holds one video: every event references the file you imported, at that file's frame rate. If you imported a rendered cut or a stringout, the timeline conforms to that file — not to the camera originals behind it, whose filenames, reels and source timecode a rendered file never carried. StoryFolder also writes no AAF, and imports no timeline format at all — EDL, XML, FCPXML, AAF and OTIO are all write-only here.
Editorial timeline files are available on the Pro plan. The Selects reel described below is a separate toggle and is free on every plan.
Which file should I use?
No single timeline file opens in every editing app — that's true of timeline interchange in general, not a StoryFolder limitation. StoryFolder writes three files so you can pick the one(s) your software reads:
| File | Opens in | Doesn't open in |
|---|---|---|
Selects.edl (EDL) | Premiere, Resolve, Avid | Final Cut Pro — it has had no EDL import since Final Cut Pro 7. |
Selects.xml (Final Cut Pro 7 XML) | Premiere, Resolve, Avid | Final Cut Pro — despite the name, this is the older interchange format; current Final Cut only reads its own FCPXML. |
Selects.fcpxml (Final Cut Pro XML) | Final Cut Pro, Resolve | Premiere — it reads .xml, but has never read .fcpxml. |
If you edit in Premiere, Resolve or Avid, check EDL or Final Cut Pro 7 XML (either works; the XML also carries clip names). If you edit in Final Cut, check Final Cut Pro XML — it's the only file that opens there.
How do I export timeline files?
- Press X to open the Export view.
- Set your destination folder.
- Toggle Editorial on.
- Check the box for each format you want.
- Click Add to Queue.
- The files land in an
Editorialfolder inside your destination, alongside aREADME.txtthat repeats the source, frame rate and timecode details below.
How do I relink the media in Resolve?
Resolve needs to already know about your source clip before it can conform an EDL or XML to it:
- Open your project in DaVinci Resolve.
- Bring your source clip into the Media Pool first — File → Import Media, or drag the file in.
- File → Import → Timeline → Import AAF, EDL, XML…
- Choose
Selects.edlorSelects.xml, set the frame rate to match your source, and click Import. - Resolve builds a new timeline, matching each event to the clip already sitting in your Media Pool.
Importing the EDL before the source is in the Media Pool is the most common reason a timeline "imports but nothing links."
Why does the timecode read 00:00:00:00?
That's the normal case, not a fault — most cameras, screen recorders and downloaded video never stamp a start timecode into the file at all, so there's nothing to write except zero. What your NLE actually uses to find the right clip for each event isn't the timecode — it's the eight-character reel name (SF001) on every line. That's the field editing software matches source media by. The real filename still travels with the export, in a comment line your NLE can display, so you can always confirm which file SF001 refers to.
What if my source has a variable frame rate?
A timeline file works by writing one fixed number — "this many frames per second" — at the top of the file, and counting every cut point against it. A source with a variable frame rate (it speeds up or slows down instead of holding one steady rate) has no single such number, so cut points drift slightly the further into the file you go.
That no longer stops the export. StoryFolder writes the timeline at the file's nominal rate and states the measured drift across the whole file in README.txt, so you know how much to expect before you trim. The Selects reel is unaffected either way — it's a rendered video, so ffmpeg reads the real per-frame timing off the source and re-encodes to a steady rate.
Why did my export skip a timeline format?
Two cases, and README.txt names whichever one applies:
- An EDL at 100 or 120 fps. A CMX3600 EDL counts frames in a two-character field, so it cannot spell a number past 99. At those rates the EDL is skipped and any other format you checked is still written — Final Cut Pro 7 XML and FCPXML both carry the rate exactly, so check one of those instead.
- A source with no expressible frame rate at all. Nothing readable to build a timeline from. You get the
Editorialfolder with aREADME.txtexplaining it, rather than an empty folder under a completed job. Every other output in the export is unaffected.
What is the Selects reel, and why is it H.264?
Selects reel is a separate toggle, next to Editorial in the Export view — one video file containing every visible shot, back to back, in board order. It's the fastest way to watch your selects without opening an NLE, and it's free on every plan.
The reel is always encoded to H.264 at one fixed quality setting — there's no format picker. It's built to be watched, not cut from. If you need full-quality footage to edit with, use the EDL/XML timeline files instead and conform them to the source file you imported — that's the file those events point at. Going further back than that, to the camera originals behind a rendered source, is a conform your NLE does from the timeline that made the render; a rendered video carries nothing StoryFolder could use to get there.
What if my source file is offline?
Editorial timeline files still export — they only need the technical details StoryFolder already has on file (frame rate, dimensions, audio), not the source file itself. The Selects reel does need the file, since it's rendering new video from it; if the source is missing, that toggle shows the same offline notice as Clips.
Does this respect my filters?
Yes. Hidden shots are excluded, and an active search narrows the export the same way it does for every other output. If you hide a shot and re-export, the remaining clips renumber Shot 1..N consistently across the timeline files, the Images folder and the shot list spreadsheet.
Why isn't the Editorial toggle available?
If it's greyed out with an upgrade prompt, you're on the Free plan — timeline files are a Pro feature. See Compare plans to upgrade. The Selects reel toggle next to it is always available.