Managing Projects
The Desktop app keeps all your projects inside the app itself and keeps them in step with the Cloud platform. There is no project file to open, save, or email around — you pick a project from a list and start working. This page explains the project manager, the three states a project can be in, and how to create, open, and remove projects.
One project, two places
A Glambot Studio project is the hub for a single event or client job, and it's the same project whether you touch it in the Cloud or on your Mac. The Desktop app holds a local copy and mirrors it to the cloud whenever you're online, so you can:
- Create a project on your Mac and create its cloud project later, or
- Open a project that already exists in the cloud, which downloads a working copy to your Mac.
You don't manage files to do this. Your video files still live in the import and transcode folders you choose, but the project — its videos, settings, submissions, and emails — travels with the cloud link automatically.
The project manager
When you launch the app you land on the project manager: a grid of cards, one per project. Each card shows the project's name, a state badge in the top-left corner, and a Recent marker in the top-right if you opened it recently.
From the header you can:
- New Project — create a project on this Mac.
- Connect to cloud — sign in to enable syncing (shown when you're online but not signed in).
- Organization selector — switch between the organizations you belong to.
- Log out — sign out of your account.
If you quit the app with a project open, that project reopens automatically next time you launch. You can switch projects at any time by returning to the project manager.
The three project states
Every card carries one of three badges. The badge tells you where the project currently lives and what you can do with it.
| Badge | State | What it means | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💻 Local | On this Mac only | You created it here and it doesn't have a cloud project yet | Create its cloud project to start syncing (see below) |
| ☁️ Server | In the cloud only | It exists in your cloud account but isn't on this Mac yet | Double-click to open it — a copy downloads to your Mac |
| ✅ Synced | Both places, up to date | Present and current on your Mac and in the cloud | Just work — changes flow both ways automatically |
A Server project is read-only on your Mac until you open it: opening downloads the working copy and the project becomes Synced.
Working with project cards
- Double-click a card to open the project.
- Right-click a card to Delete Project (available for projects stored on this Mac). Deleting removes the project from the app; your video files on disk are not touched.
Create a project on your Mac
- On the project manager, click New Project.
- Give it a descriptive name, for example Jean & Marie Wedding.
- The project starts as Local and in Draft mode. You can import and process footage right away, even offline.
- To put it in the cloud, open the project and use the Create your cloud project banner: click its button to open your browser, create the project on the cloud, and the app syncs it down. The project then becomes Synced.
Until a local project has a cloud project, it stays in Draft mode — transcodes carry a watermark and uploads are capped at a short preview limit. Creating and publishing the cloud project removes those limits.
Open a cloud project
- Sign in to your account — click Connect to cloud on the project manager, or use Glambot Studio → Login in the menu bar.
- Find the project with the Server ☁️ badge.
- Double-click it. The project downloads to your Mac and becomes Synced.
If you don't see the project you expect, confirm you're in the right organization with the organization selector, and that the project exists at dashboard.glambot-studio.app.
Project lifecycle: Draft, Published, Archived
A project also has a status — Draft, Published, or Archived — that controls what it can do. You publish and archive from the Cloud platform, and the Desktop app reflects the status. See Lifecycle & Limits for the full picture; here is what each status means while you work on the Mac:
| Status | What you see in the Desktop app |
|---|---|
| Draft | The project isn't live yet. Transcoded videos carry a Glambot Studio watermark, and uploads are capped at a short preview limit (about 5 minutes). |
| Published | The project is live. Transcodes are produced without a watermark, with the full minutes limit. |
| Archived | The project is read-only — you can review it, but importing, transcoding, and editing are disabled. |
The Desktop app treats a project as Draft — with the watermark and preview upload limit — whenever any of these is true:
- you're not signed in,
- the project hasn't been published in the cloud, or
- the 36-hour offline grace period has expired (see Sync & Offline).
To deliver clean, full-length videos, sign in, create the project's cloud project, and publish it.
Delete a project
Right-click a Local or Synced card and choose Delete Project. This removes the project from the app. Your source and transcoded video files on disk are not touched — delete those separately in Finder if you no longer need them.
Next steps
- Sync & Offline — how syncing behaves, including working without a connection
- First Setup — sign in, working folders, and default settings
- Import Services — watchfolders and disk detection
Need help? Check the Troubleshooting section.