Guide
Search video footage by description.
You remember what the shot looked like, not what the file is called. Here’s how to find it by typing what you remember.
In short: To search video by description you need an app that looks at the picture itself. Add your footage folders to Sift once, wait for it to index them on your computer, then type what you remember (“kids hugging at the door”). Sift shows one card per clip with marks where each matching moment is.
No editor needed. Sift works on its own as a desktop app on Mac and Windows: search, preview, build Selects and share footage by link without opening an editor. The editor panels are optional.
The problem
Camera files are called C0412.MP4. Folders say “Day 2”. By the third shoot you’re scrubbing clips to find the one where someone walks into the sun. Logging every clip by hand fixes it, and nobody has time to do it.
Three ways to do it
| By hand | Your editor’s built-in search | Sift | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How | Name files, keep a spreadsheet, scrub | Import into a project, let it analyze, search | Add folders or drives, let it index, search |
| Covers | Whatever you logged | Media imported into the open project | Every folder and drive you add, imported or not |
| Effort up front | High, and it never ends | Import and analysis per project | One-time indexing; new footage is picked up as you shoot |
| Best when | A handful of clips | The footage is already in one project | Footage is spread over drives and past jobs |
Premiere and Resolve both search imported media now. If your footage is already in one project, try that first: our comparison says where it stops.
What makes a good search
- Describe what’s visible: a place, an action, an object, a mood. “Woman laughing in a kitchen” works better than “happy”.
- Editor terms such as drone, close-up and POV work.
- If results are too broad, filter by folder, file type, shot date or match strength, or add a detail.
- Found something close? Use “find more like this” from that result.
What it won’t do
Sift finds moments that look like your description. It isn’t perfect, and you should check each result before it goes in a cut. It searches pictures and spoken words, not sound effects. Camera RAW such as R3D or BRAW needs proxies; the Help page lists supported formats.
Step by step.
- Add your footage
Open Sift and add folders or whole drives. It indexes them on your computer and keeps watching for new files.
- Wait for the first batch
You can search what’s done while the rest indexes in the background. How long it takes depends on how much footage you have and your computer.
- Describe the shot
Type what you remember. Results come back one card per clip, with marks showing where each match sits.
- Check the moment
Scrub the card or step through matches. Save good ones to Selects, or send them to your editor.
Questions
Do I need to tag or log my footage?
No. Sift reads the picture itself. You can add notes to clips, and notes are searchable too.
Is my footage uploaded to search it?
No. Indexing and search run on your computer. Setup downloads the search models once.
How is this different from searching file names?
File-name search only helps if the name says what’s in the clip. Visual search matches the content of the frames.
Does it find exact frames?
It finds moments that match your description and marks them inside the clip. It isn’t frame-accurate object detection, so check the result.
Updated 2026-10-22
Keep reading.
Try it on your own footage.
Free for 3 days or 25 searches. No card. Then $99 a year for one computer, Mac or Windows. Everything in Sift, including the optional editor panels and one free link to share footage.