Move Your Team's Footage from Dropbox into Shade's AI-Searchable Drives

Q: "Will Shade's AI search work on the files CloudsLinker imports?"

"Yes. Files landed in a drive through the API are ordinary drive content — Shade indexes dialogue and visuals automatically, and team plans include unlimited AI indexing, so a bulk import doesn't consume a quota."

Q: "Why does CloudsLinker need a Drive ID as well as an API key?"

"Shade organizes content into drives with per-drive permissions, and its API mirrors that: one connection maps to exactly one drive. You'll find the Drive ID in that drive's settings. To migrate into several drives, add each as its own connection — team plans include unlimited drives."

Q: "How does Shade's storage model differ from Dropbox's?"

"Dropbox Plus gives each user 2 TB of general storage. Shade allocates 500 GB of active storage per seat on the $20/seat team plan — designed for the working set, with wrapped projects expected to rotate out to archive storage rather than accumulate."

Q: "Is Shade appropriate for confidential client footage?"

"Shade holds SOC 2 Type II and TPN (Trusted Partner Network) certifications — the media industry's standard for pre-release content — alongside GDPR compliance. That's a stronger compliance posture for studio work than a generic file-sync service."

Q: "Does the folder structure survive the move?"

"Yes. Your Dropbox project hierarchy — bins, dailies, deliverables — is recreated inside the Shade drive rather than flattened, so editors find the structure they already know."

Q: "Can we migrate selectively rather than everything at once?"

"Yes. Pick specific Dropbox folders and filter by file type or size — for example, only .mp4/.mov masters over 100 MB — so proxies and clutter stay behind."

Q: "Are there file size issues with large camera originals?"

"Files already inside Dropbox transfer out through the API without the 350 GB web-upload cap, and CloudsLinker moves multi-GB originals with chunked, resumable copies. Ordinary camera files clear both services comfortably."

Q: "How is access secured on each side?"

"Dropbox connects via OAuth, revocable from its connected-apps settings. Shade connects with an API key you create in account settings — delete or rotate it there and access ends immediately, per drive."

Migrate a creative team's media library from Dropbox to Shade — AI search over dialogue and visuals, editor panels, review tools. Two migration methods.

Introduction

Shade indexes video the way search engines index text: dialogue, on-screen content and visual elements become searchable in plain English, with no manual tagging. For a creative team whose footage library lives in Dropbox folders, that is the difference between scrubbing through clips to find 'the take where she mentions the deadline' and just typing it. Dropbox stores the files reliably but knows nothing about what's inside them — no frame-accurate review, no Premiere Pro or Resolve panel, no dialogue search. Moving the media library into a Shade drive ($20 per seat/month with 500 GB of active storage per seat) is a one-time bulk transfer, and Shade's drive-scoped API makes it scriptable. This guide covers the manual route and a server-side copy with CloudsLinker.

Method 1: Download and Re-upload by Hand
Method 2: Copy Dropbox to Shade in the Cloud
Quick Comparison
Practical Tips
Frequently Asked Questions

What is Dropbox?

Dropbox is a general-purpose sync service — reliable folders on every machine, 2 TB per user on Plus ($11.99/mo). It stores media files without understanding them: no content indexing, no review tools, no editor integration.

2 TB per user (Plus); general file storage
Strong desktop sync, mature sharing
No media AI search or frame-accurate review
OAuth access for transfer tools

What is Shade?

Shade is cloud storage plus media asset management for creative teams: natural-language AI search across footage, review and approval, full-resolution streaming, and panels inside Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve. Team plans run $20 per seat/month.

$20/seat/mo — 500 GB active storage per seat
Unlimited drives and AI indexing; 15 seats, 150 guests
SOC 2 Type II, TPN, GDPR
API key + per-drive Drive ID access

Comparison: Dropbox vs Shade

Feature	Dropbox	Shade
Built for	General file sync	Creative/video team media libraries
Content search	Filename and text-doc search	AI search over dialogue and visuals
Pricing	Plus: 2 TB per user, $11.99/mo	$20/seat/mo, 500 GB active per seat
Editor integration	None native	Premiere Pro and Resolve panels; mountable drives
Compliance posture	General business certifications	SOC 2 Type II + TPN (media industry)
Connection in CloudsLinker	OAuth	API key + Drive ID (one drive per connection)

Sources: Dropbox: plans, Dropbox: file size limits, Shade: official site, Capterra: Shade pricing.

Preparing to Transfer from Dropbox to Shade

Map the library to Shade's drive model first: one drive per client, per show, or per department — team plans include unlimited drives, and permissions live at the drive level. Check the seat math: 500 GB of active storage per seat means a 5-seat team has 2.5 TB of working space, so decide what counts as the active library versus archive before the move, not after. In Shade, create the target drives, then generate an API key in account settings and note each drive's Drive ID from its settings page. On the Dropbox side, tidy the folder tree — the structure you migrate is the structure editors will navigate.

Method 1: Download and Re-upload by Hand

Step 1: Download from dropbox.com

Select the media folders at dropbox.com and choose Download. Footage-sized selections arrive as multiple large ZIPs — plan for local disk space equal to the library.

Dropbox web interface with media folders selected and the Download option packaging them as ZIP archives

Step 2: Upload into the Shade drive

Open the target drive in Shade's web app, recreate the top-level structure, and upload the extracted folders. Shade begins AI-indexing files as they arrive. On an office connection, a multi-terabyte library will occupy the uplink for days — the practical ceiling of this method.

Method 2: Copy Dropbox to Shade in the Cloud

Bulk-load the library while the team keeps editing

CloudsLinker connects Dropbox over OAuth and the target Shade drive through its drive-scoped API (key + Drive ID), then copies the folder tree server-to-server. No workstation stays tied up mounting drives and pushing terabytes through the office uplink, and Shade indexes each file as it lands.

Step 1: Connect Dropbox

Click Add Cloud → Dropbox and authorize on Dropbox's official OAuth page at www.dropbox.com. The token is revocable from Dropbox's connected-apps settings.

Connecting Dropbox in CloudsLinker via the Dropbox OAuth authorization page

Step 2: Connect Shade

In Shade, create an API key from account settings and copy the target drive's Drive ID from its settings page.

Shade web app showing a workspace with the Drive Directory tree and an open drive of AI-indexed media assets in a grid, with storage usage and AI-indexed counts in the corner — the Drive ID lives in this drive's settings

Then in CloudsLinker, click Add Cloud → Shade, paste the API key and the Drive ID. Each connection maps to exactly one drive — repeat per drive for multi-drive migrations.

CloudsLinker Add Cloud dialog for Shade with a display name field, an API Key input, and a separate Drive ID input field with placeholder text 'Drive ID (see drive settings)'

Step 3: Configure the Transfer

Set Dropbox as the source and tick the media folders; set the Shade drive as the destination. Filter by format or size to bring only masters and camera originals — proxies can be regenerated, so leaving them behind keeps seats under their 500 GB active allowance.

CloudsLinker transfer configuration with Dropbox footage folders checked as source on the left and a Shade drive destination selected on the right, file type filter showing video formats

Step 4: Start and Monitor the Transfer

Start the job and follow the Task List. The copy runs server-side; by the time it finishes, Shade's dialogue and visual indexing is already searchable on the earlier files.

CloudsLinker task monitoring view with an active migration in progress

Comparing the Ways to Transfer From Dropbox to Shade

Method	Ease of Use	Speed	Best For	Uses Local Bandwidth	Skill Level
Manual download / upload	Medium	Slow (office uplink)	One small project folder	Yes — twice	Basic
CloudsLinker	Easy	Fast (server-side)	Full library migrations, TB scale	No	Basic

Practical Tips for Moving Dropbox to Shade

Design drives before migrating: permissions live at the drive level in Shade — a drive per client or show maps cleanly, and unlimited drives means structure is free.
Bring masters, not proxies: filter the transfer to camera originals and finished masters; proxies regenerate and only eat the 500 GB/seat active allowance.
Migrate one drive at a time: each CloudsLinker connection is scoped to a single Drive ID — sequential drive-by-drive moves keep verification simple.
Let indexing finish before judging search: AI indexing runs on arrival; give a large import time before the team tests dialogue search.
Keep Dropbox until editors sign off: verify structure and spot-play files in Shade, then retire the Dropbox folders.
Rotate the API key after the project: Shade keys are account-level — delete the migration key in account settings once done.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Files landed in a drive through the API are ordinary drive content — Shade indexes dialogue and visuals automatically, and team plans include unlimited AI indexing, so a bulk import doesn't consume a quota.

Shade organizes content into drives with per-drive permissions, and its API mirrors that: one connection maps to exactly one drive. You'll find the Drive ID in that drive's settings. To migrate into several drives, add each as its own connection — team plans include unlimited drives.

Dropbox Plus gives each user 2 TB of general storage. Shade allocates 500 GB of active storage per seat on the $20/seat team plan — designed for the working set, with wrapped projects expected to rotate out to archive storage rather than accumulate.

Shade holds SOC 2 Type II and TPN (Trusted Partner Network) certifications — the media industry's standard for pre-release content — alongside GDPR compliance. That's a stronger compliance posture for studio work than a generic file-sync service.

Yes. Your Dropbox project hierarchy — bins, dailies, deliverables — is recreated inside the Shade drive rather than flattened, so editors find the structure they already know.

Yes. Pick specific Dropbox folders and filter by file type or size — for example, only .mp4/.mov masters over 100 MB — so proxies and clutter stay behind.

Files already inside Dropbox transfer out through the API without the 350 GB web-upload cap, and CloudsLinker moves multi-GB originals with chunked, resumable copies. Ordinary camera files clear both services comfortably.

Dropbox connects via OAuth, revocable from its connected-apps settings. Shade connects with an API key you create in account settings — delete or rotate it there and access ends immediately, per drive.

Conclusion

A small project folder moves fine by hand. A real library — seasons of footage, client folders, terabytes of takes — is a server-side job: CloudsLinker connects Dropbox over OAuth and the target Shade drive by API key + Drive ID, then copies the tree while the team keeps working. Migrate drive by drive, let Shade's AI indexing run on arrival, and keep Dropbox until editors confirm the new library is complete.

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