SyncShot

Different bodies, same job shape.

Action cams and drones write a lot of files, often with structure that matters — GoPro chapters that have to stay together, DJI sidecars that pair to specific clips. The offload that keeps the structure intact is the offload worth doing.

Body over USB or card in a reader
Both supported. The body is easier on the day. The card in a Thunderbolt or USB4 reader is faster on bigger jobs because the bus is dedicated to the read.
Chapter chains stay together
FAT32 caps single files at 4 GB, so GoPro splits long clips across GH01/GH02/GH03 files. SyncShot selects the whole chain when the parent folder is selected — no orphan chapters left behind.
DJI sidecars come too
.SRT subtitle files (per-frame telemetry: GPS, altitude, gimbal angle) and .LRF low-resolution proxies travel with their clip. Editors that depend on them get a clean import.
Destinations mounted
Working SSD for the edit, archive NAS for the long-term, cloud bucket for off-site insurance. Pick any combination.

Step by step.

  1. 01

    Pick the source — the body or the card

    Both work. GoPro and DJI bodies show up over USB as mass storage when plugged in. The card pulled and dropped in a reader is faster on big shoots; the body is easier on small ones. SyncShot reads both the same way.

  2. 02

    Mount every destination first

    Working SSD, archive NAS, cloud bucket — anything that has to receive a copy needs to be visible to macOS before the job starts. Less to reconnect mid-copy, fewer ways for the job to stall.

  3. 03

    Open SyncShot and select the source

    GoPro: DCIM with chapter-split clip families (GH010123.mp4, GH020123.mp4 — same scene, split for FAT32). DJI: DCIM for stills, MOVIE / Videos for clips, plus the .SRT and .LRF metadata sidecars when the body wrote them.

  4. 04

    Select by event, not by file

    GoPro chapter chains belong together. DJI flight directories belong together. Selecting at the folder level keeps the chain intact across every destination — no orphan chapter, no missing sidecar.

  5. 05

    Add every destination at once

    One read, every write. The card or body is read exactly once and the bytes are fanned out to every destination in parallel. Slow destinations don't hold up fast ones — each runs at the speed it can sustain.

  6. 06

    Start and walk away

    GoPro footage is often shorter clips and lots of them; DJI flight files are larger and fewer. Either way, the bus pacing is automatic. Don't pull the card or unplug the body until every destination is verified.

  7. 07

    Verify across the board

    Every chapter, every flight file, every sidecar gets BLAKE3-checked end to end. Green report means the bytes that left the source match the bytes that landed — across every destination. Eject before unplugging.

After it's done.

The card or body can clear once the report is clean. Until then, leave it alone — the green status is the only signal that says every destination has the chain intact.

Open the job report
Verify every chapter, every flight file, every sidecar landed at every destination. Filter for anything not green. If the report is clean, the shoot is safe.
Save as a workflow
Standard GoPro day or standard drone day — save the source-to-destination layout. Next time it's one click.
Eject before unplug
Card in Finder, body in SyncShot. Ejecting cleanly avoids the half-second of confusion most action bodies have when the cable is pulled mid-session.

GoPro-specific quirks? See GoPro deep dive. DJI flight-file specifics? DJI deep dive. More guides at the user guide hub.