Photo @kriss_films / Unsplash
Your footage stays on your computer.
Unreleased cuts are the most sensitive thing a production has. So by default Shutter never takes them: your browser reads the file from your drive and plays it there. A clip only leaves your computer if you're on Pro or Studio and choose to upload it.
What's stored, and where.
Shutter keeps as little as it can. Here's everything.
| What | Where it lives | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Your footage | Only on your drive | Read by your browser while you review. Not uploaded or copied unless you choose to. |
| Clips you upload | Cloudflare Stream (Pro and Studio) | Only clips you pick. Playable by you and friends you send the review to, through links that expire after a few hours. Deleted when you delete them. |
| Notes and marks | This browser, on this device | Saved as you write them, under your account. They only reach Shutter's server if you send a review to a friend. |
| Card previews | This browser, on this device | One small image per review, about 320 pixels wide, taken from the frame you last marked. |
| Settings | This browser, on this device | Your name on notes, default frame rate, start timecode, category, tool and appearance. |
| Your account | Clerk | Email, name if you give one, and how you sign in. Clerk runs sign-in for Shutter. |
| Username and friends | Shutter's database (Cloudflare) | Your username, the name you show, your picture link, and who you're friends with. |
| Messages and sent reviews | Shutter's database (Cloudflare) | What you write to friends, and the notes in reviews you choose to send. Never the footage itself. Deleted when either of you removes the other. |
What that means day to day.
Coming back to a review
Your dashboard remembers every clip and its notes. Because Shutter never kept the footage, it asks for the file when you reopen a review. In Chrome and Edge that's one click; other browsers have you choose the file again.
Renamed or re-exported the clip? Shutter matches files by name and size, so a new export starts a new review. Import the old notes from a .json export to carry them over.
Switching computers
Notes don't sync between devices yet. In Settings, choose Download backup on the old machine and Choose backup on the new one. Notes you already have are kept.
Clearing your browser
Clearing site data for shutter.ruytha.dev deletes your notes along with it, and nobody can recover them. Download a backup first if you might need them.
Deleting everything
Settings has a button that removes every review on the device you're using, after asking you to confirm. Your footage files are never touched. To close your account, use Manage account in Settings.
The privacy policy has the full list of services your browser talks to.
Review without handing over the cut.
Make an account, open a clip from your drive, and start marking.
Start a review