Short answer: yes, but only with the right kind of cloud storage. A sync app has to download the whole file before Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve can open it, which makes the cloud a slow copy of your drive. A streaming cloud drive mounts in Finder and fetches only the frames you play, so camera 4K H.264 and H.265 edit live on a 100 to 300 Mbps line and ProRes 422 on gigabit. ProRes 422 HQ needs a local cache or proxies on any home connection.
Why does editing from a sync folder feel so slow?
Sync apps mirror. Every file in the synced folder is copied to every Mac that has the folder, which is the storage problem you were trying to escape. Most of them now offer “online-only” placeholders that take no space until opened, but the moment you double-click a clip, or Premiere tries to read it, the app downloads the entire file before handing it over.
A 2.69 GB ProRes clip on a 300 Mbps line takes about 80 seconds to arrive before the first frame plays. A 200 GB shoot takes about an hour and a half before you can start scrubbing, and then it is sitting on your Mac in full.
What does “editing directly” actually require?
Three things, and a sync folder fails the third.
- A path the app can open. Premiere and Resolve need a mounted volume or a folder, not a browser tab.
- Random access. When you park the playhead on frame 4,000, the app reads that part of the file, not the 3,999 frames before it. The storage must serve arbitrary byte ranges, which is why streaming drives fetch in small blocks rather than whole files.
- Bitrate with headroom. The line must deliver the codec’s bitrate faster than realtime, or playback stutters.
What bandwidth does each codec need?
The rule of thumb is that the connection should carry the codec at about two times realtime for comfortable scrubbing. A 300 Mbps home fibre line typically delivers around 263 Mbps in practice. Measure yours with the line-speed test before deciding.
| Codec | Bitrate | Streams live from | 100 Mbps home line | 300 Mbps home line | Gigabit office line |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proxies (720p–1080p) | 10–30 Mbps | ~40 Mbps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1080p H.264 | 25–50 Mbps | ~40 Mbps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 4K H.265 | 60–100 Mbps | ~100 Mbps | Borderline | Yes | Yes |
| 4K H.264 | 100–200 Mbps | ~100–200 Mbps | No | Yes | Yes |
| ProRes 422 4K | ~490 Mbps | Gigabit | No | No | Yes |
| ProRes 422 HQ 4K | ~740 Mbps (24 fps); ~1,155 Mbps to stream raw with headroom | LAN cache or proxies | No | No | Cache or proxies |
Measured on the Driveless engine prototype in September 2026, camera-native 4K H.264 and H.265 played at 2.17 times realtime on a 300 Mbps line, which is the headroom you want. ProRes 422 HQ did not fit a home line and needed the office cache, measured at 3,257 Mbps on LAN, or the automatic proxies.
What actually works in Premiere and Resolve on a Mac?
Import from the mounted path exactly as you would from an external SSD. Keep media cache, scratch disks and render cache on the internal SSD; they are written constantly and belong on the fastest local disk. Media stays on the cloud drive.
The first pass over a clip fetches its blocks; the second pass comes from the local cache. On the prototype, opening a 2.69 GB ProRes 422 HQ file fetched 8 MB and started playback in under a second, and re-opening it fetched nothing. Exports read every frame used in the timeline once, so a 12-minute cut exports at roughly the speed the line can feed it, which for camera 4K on 300 Mbps is faster than realtime.
Multicam is where the maths bites. Four angles of 4K H.264 at 150 Mbps is 600 Mbps of simultaneous reads. Cut multicam with proxies and switch to full resolution for the export.
For working offline, pin the project folder. It downloads fully to the Mac, edits sync back, and the app never notices the difference. What a virtual drive on Mac is covers how a cloud volume looks like a normal path to the app.
When is a sync app or an SSD still the right tool?
A single 1 TB project you need on a flight belongs on an external SSD. A 20 Mbps connection in a small town cannot stream 4K, and proxies at 10 to 20 Mbps are the only cloud workflow that fits. A ProRes 422 HQ master edited alone from home with no office cache needs either proxies or a local copy. External SSD vs cloud storage lays out where each wins over three years.
Where Driveless fits
Driveless is a streaming cloud drive for Mac, launching in India in January 2027. The library mounts in Finder, files take 0 KB on the Mac, and Premiere, Resolve or Final Cut stream the frames they touch in 4 MB blocks through a three-tier cache: your Mac’s SSD, an optional studio cache on the office LAN, then the cloud. Paid plans make proxies for heavy masters automatically. The waitlist is open; Solo is ₹999 a month for 1 TB, or ₹699 locked for life for founding members.
Frequently asked questions
Can Premiere Pro edit directly from cloud storage?
Yes, if the cloud storage appears on the Mac as a mounted drive and can deliver the file’s bitrate on demand. A sync app only works once the full file has downloaded. A streaming drive lets Premiere open the file and play while blocks are fetched, so nothing has to finish downloading first.
What internet speed do I need to edit video from the cloud?
About 40 Mbps for 1080p and proxies, 100 Mbps or more for camera 4K H.264 and H.265, and gigabit for ProRes 422. ProRes 422 HQ 4K needs about 1,155 Mbps to stream raw, so it needs a local cache on the office LAN or automatic proxies.
What happens if the internet drops while editing from the cloud?
With a streaming drive, blocks already in the local cache keep playing and anything not cached waits for the connection. Pinning a project folder downloads it fully so it behaves like a local drive on a flight or a slow connection.