Render Overnight, Send the Client a Link in the Morning: Auto-Upload for Videographers

Most client deliveries end the same way. The render finishes in the middle of the night, and the next morning you open a browser, drag a multi-gigabyte file onto an upload page, keep the tab open, wait, copy a link and only then write to the client.

DCAST Mini Uploader takes the morning part off your plate. You export into a folder the app watches; when the file is finished, the app uploads it on its own; by the time you wake up the video is in your DCAST library and its link is one click away.

The app is free, runs on Windows and Linux, and works with a free DCAST account. Here is the whole workflow, the export settings that keep it reliable, and what to check before the link goes to the client.

The workflow in five steps

1. Queue the export in Premiere Pro, Media Encoder, DaVinci Resolve or any other editor, with the destination set to your watched folder.
2. The render finishes. The app notices the new video file in the folder and waits until the export has finished writing it.
3. The app uploads it in the background, in pieces, so a dropped connection does not mean starting again from zero.
4. DCAST prepares the video for playback. As soon as the first version is ready, the video plays and its link works. After that DCAST keeps improving the quality in the background, on the same link.
5. In the morning you open the app, find the video in the list and choose Share → copy the link, or send it straight from the same menu by email, WhatsApp or Telegram.

No browser tab has to stay open overnight, and you do not have to be at the desk when the render ends.

Set it up once

1. Install the app and sign in

Download the app from the DCAST Mini Uploader page: an installer for Windows, or a .deb package or AppImage for Linux. There is no Mac version at the moment.

The current Windows build is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen shows a warning the first time. Click More info → Run anyway.

On first launch, create a DCAST account right in the app or sign in with your email, Google or Facebook. If you already have a dcast.tv account, use the same login.

2. Make a delivery folder that only holds finished exports

Create an empty folder, for example D:\Deliveries. Keep it for finished exports only, for two reasons:

• Files already in a folder are uploaded too when you add it to the app. An empty folder means nothing old goes up by accident.
• The app watches only the files directly inside the folder, not subfolders. Point your exports at the folder itself, not at a project subfolder inside it.

3. Add it as a watch folder

In the app, open the folders view, click + Add folder, choose the folder and set:

• File extensions. The defaults are .mp4, .mov, .mkv, .mts and .m4v. Keep only what your export preset produces, so nothing else that lands in the folder is uploaded.
• Minimum size. Files under 5 MB are skipped by default, which keeps tiny test exports out.
• Default quality. The highest resolution you want DCAST to prepare. Your plan's ceiling still applies: up to 720p on the free plan, 1080p on STAR, 4K on PRO.
• After the upload. Keep leaves the file where it is, Archive moves it into a .dcast-archive folder inside the watched folder, Delete removes it from the disk. If the export is your only copy of the master, choose Keep.

4. Leave it running in the tray

Closing the window does not stop the app; it keeps working from the system tray. In the tray menu, turn on Start when I sign in, so the app is running again after a restart.

The computer itself has to stay on. If it goes to sleep after the render, the upload picks up again after it wakes, but your client will not see anything until then. If you render overnight, set the power plan so the machine does not sleep for the next few hours.

Export settings that keep the night uneventful

Premiere Pro and Media Encoder. Set the output location of the export to the watched folder. You can queue several sequences in Media Encoder; each one lands as its own file and the app uploads them one after another.

DaVinci Resolve. On the Deliver page, set the render location to the watched folder, add the jobs to the render queue and render them. Resolve runs on Windows and Linux, so this works on both versions of the app.

Final Cut Pro runs only on macOS, and the app has no Mac version yet, so this workflow is for editors on Windows and Linux for now.

Three habits make the result predictable:

• New version, new file name. Name revisions ClientName_v2.mp4, ClientName_v3.mp4. The app reacts to new files, so a new name is what tells it there is something new to upload. It also gives each version its own link, which makes client feedback easier to follow.
• Export straight into the folder. The app uploads a file only after your editor has finished writing it, so you can point the export at the watched folder and go to bed.
• One video, one upload. If the same video lands in the queue twice, for example from two watched folders or under a second name, the app recognises the content, uploads it once and marks the copy as skipped.

Before you send the link: who can watch

Every video in DCAST has its own visibility, and you can change it in the app's video list or on dcast.tv:

• Unlisted. Anyone with the link can watch; the video is not listed anywhere on DCAST. This is the usual choice for client review and delivery.
• Private. Only you can watch it. Your client would see a "This video is private" message.
• Public. Anyone can find and watch it.

Check the visibility of the video before you send its link. It takes one click and prevents both "I can't open it" emails and a client's wedding film appearing on your public channel.

The link itself, in the form https://dcast.tv/watch/…, opens a player page in any browser. The client does not need an account or an app, and the player adapts the quality to their connection.

If the video should live on your client's website or in your portfolio, open it on dcast.tv and take the embed code from its Share menu.

What the free account covers

• The app is free, with no trial period and no time limit.
• The free plan gives you a 10 GB video library. Uploaded videos play at up to 720p.
• Uploading video does not use the live-streaming hours that come with the free plan. Videos are limited by storage space only.

That is enough to try the workflow on real projects and to deliver previews and drafts. When you deliver finals in 1080p or 4K, or need room for a season of weddings, the paid plans add resolution and space. Compare them on the pricing page.

When something goes wrong at 3 a.m.

• The internet drops. The app retries on its own for several minutes. If the connection is still down after that, the file shows an error in the list with a Try again button, and the upload continues from what the server already received.
• The computer restarts. When the app starts again, the unfinished file is picked up again and continues from where it stopped, not from zero.
• A file with the same name and size is already in your account. The app asks whether to upload it anyway, and that file waits for your answer. On a night run, it will be waiting for you in the morning.
• Your library is full. DCAST refuses the upload and the file shows an error in the list. Free up space or move to a plan with more.

The footer of the app keeps the score: "Uploaded N of M", plus how many files are active and how many failed.

Moving your back catalogue

If your past deliveries live on another platform and you want them in one place, the same folder trick moves them: download the files, drop them into a watched folder, and the app uploads them one after another. If you are moving from another video platform, see how we help you move.