Installation

Download

Clipthesis is a macOS desktop app. Download the latest .dmg from the releases page.

Choose the right build for your Mac:

Chip	File
Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)	Clipthesis-x.x.x-arm64.dmg
Intel	Clipthesis-x.x.x-x64.dmg

Not sure which chip you have? Click → About This Mac. If it says "Apple M…" you want the arm64 build.

Install

1. Open the downloaded .dmg
2. Drag Clipthesis into your Applications folder
3. Launch Clipthesis from Applications

First launch

macOS may show a security prompt the first time. Click Open to continue. If you see "cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified", right-click the app → Open → Open again.

Requirements

• macOS 12 (Monterey) or later
• FFmpeg — Clipthesis bundles its own copy, so you don't need to install it separately
• No internet connection required (the app works fully offline)

Data Locations

Clipthesis stores its data in your Application Support folder:

Item	Path
Database	~/Library/Application Support/Clipthesis/clipthesis.db
Thumbnails	~/Library/Application Support/Clipthesis/thumbnails/
Scrub frames	~/Library/Application Support/Clipthesis/scrubs/
Backups	~/Library/Application Support/Clipthesis/backups/

Updates

Clipthesis checks for updates automatically. You can also check manually from Settings → App Updates → Check for Updates. When an update is available you'll see a download button, and after downloading a restart button to apply it.

Next Steps

Ready to bring in some footage? Head to First Import to index your first drive.