DaVinci Resolve on Windows cannot export ProRes, in the free version or in Studio. Apple licenses the ProRes encoder for macOS only, so Blackmagic is not allowed to include it. Your two options: deliver DNxHR HQ instead (usually accepted), or export a DNxHR HQ master and convert it to ProRes 422 HQ with a separate tool such as Grabbit, HandBrake or Shutter Encoder.
If you have been hunting through the Deliver page convinced you missed a checkbox, you can stop. ProRes has never been an export option in the Windows build of DaVinci Resolve, and no setting, update or plugin adds it.
The reason is licensing, not engineering. Apple owns ProRes and grants the right to write it only on macOS. Blackmagic Design ships ProRes export in the Mac version of Resolve because it is permitted to; on Windows it is not. Reading is a different matter — decoding ProRes is widely licensed, which is why Resolve on Windows imports and plays ProRes footage without any trouble at all.
Upgrading to Resolve Studio, installing a "ProRes codec pack" for Windows, reinstalling QuickTime, or updating your GPU drivers. Studio is a licence between you and Blackmagic; the ProRes restriction is a licence between Blackmagic and Apple. They are unrelated.
Before you add a conversion step to your workflow, it is worth checking whether you actually need ProRes. Very often the request comes from an editor whose software simply needs a mezzanine codec, and DNxHR satisfies that completely.
| ProRes 422 HQ | DNxHR HQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Created by | Apple | Avid |
| Compression | Intra-frame | Intra-frame |
| Colour | 10-bit 4:2:2 | 10-bit 4:2:2 |
| Exports from Resolve on Windows | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Read by Premiere, Avid, Final Cut | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Typical use | Broadcast delivery, Final Cut workflows | Editing and grading, Avid workflows |
Ask whoever is receiving the file one question: is ProRes a hard requirement from a broadcaster or channel spec, or just what their editor is used to? If it is the latter, DNxHR HQ will almost certainly be accepted and you save a step. If it is a written delivery spec, you need actual ProRes — which brings us to option two.
This is the standard route for Windows finishing houses, and it is entirely normal practice. The important part is what you export from Resolve: get that wrong and you bake damage into the file before the conversion even starts.
Exporting H.264 from Resolve and converting that to ProRes gives you a large ProRes file wrapping already-damaged footage. H.264 is lossy and inter-frame; the artefacts and banding it introduces are permanent. DNxHR HQ is intra-frame and 10-bit, which is why it survives the round trip.
Once the master is on your drive, the conversion itself is straightforward. Grabbit's Converter module works on local files — it does not take URLs, so you point it at the file Resolve just wrote.
In practice, no. DNxHR HQ and ProRes 422 HQ are both intra-frame 10-bit 4:2:2 mezzanine codecs at comparable data rates, so the second encode has plenty of headroom to work with and the difference is not visible on a calibrated monitor.
Being precise about it: any re-encode is technically lossy, so this is not mathematically identical to a ProRes export from a Mac. It is, however, how ProRes deliverables have come out of Windows suites for years, and it is accepted across the industry. Where it matters is if you repeat it — going ProRes to H.264 to ProRes again several times will show. One clean pass from a good master will not.
Apple licenses the ProRes encoder for macOS only, so Blackmagic Design cannot include ProRes export in the Windows build. Resolve on Windows imports and plays ProRes normally — it just cannot write it, and nothing you install will add the option.
No. This is a licensing matter between Apple and Blackmagic, not a paid feature. Studio unlocks a great deal, but ProRes export on Windows is not part of it.
A DNxHR HQ master in a QuickTime container, with PCM audio and settings matching your timeline. It is intra-frame and 10-bit like ProRes, so the conversion afterwards costs you nothing visible. Never use H.264 as the intermediate.
Usually yes. DNxHR HQ sits at the same quality tier as ProRes 422 HQ and every professional NLE reads it. Confirm with whoever receives the file — if the requirement comes from their editing software rather than a written broadcast spec, DNxHR normally satisfies it.
That is Apple's decision, not Blackmagic's. The restriction has held for many years across every Resolve release, so it is not something to plan a workflow around.
Grabbit is free to download and its download features include a permanent free plan, but the Converter is a Pro feature at $8.99/month or $59.99/year. If you would rather not pay, HandBrake and Shutter Encoder do the same conversion for free — they just take more configuring.
Windows 10/11 · No file size limit · 100% local · Converter requires Pro — $8.99/mo or $59.99/yr