A macOS app that copies photos and video from cards and SSDs while verifying every single file.
Irreplaceable data deserves more than “it probably copied fine.”
macOS 14 Sonoma or later / Apple Silicon & Intel / Notarized
.Lab (“dot-Lab”) is a backup app for filmmakers and photographers. On a professional set or with your very first camera, it copies your footage safely and fast.
It’s built by a working DIT — the crew member whose job on a film set is to take custody of the footage and keep it safe — as the tool for their own daily work. Every feature exists because of something that happened on a real shoot.
One less person losing footage that mattered.
That’s why this app exists.
Method: same card, reader, SSD and Mac, run alongside an industry-standard offload tool; full xxHash64 comparison. Speed depends on your card, reader and destination (figures are measured examples). For reference: Finder never checks whether what it wrote is actually correct (no read-back, no checksums). .Lab completes that verification in roughly the time of a plain Finder copy.
If a card gets yanked or a reader freezes mid-copy, .Lab notices within seconds and stops safely. Plug it back in and it resumes, skipping everything already verified. Insert a similar-looking wrong card and it refuses. Built by literally ripping cards out, over and over.
Everything that keeps your data safe works identically in the free tier — no compromises. Pro adds multi-destination backups, automation and reports. Safety is never behind a paywall. That’s policy.
.Lab reads written files back and compares them, then reads the source card once more to double-check — only then does it say “done.” Paranoia is the default setting, catching even one-off glitches from readers and cables.
.Lab is developed by a professional DIT who safeguards camera data on real sets — and support goes straight to that same person. Field feedback often ships as an update the same day. No ticket queue, no tiers. English and Japanese both welcome.
Source media is opened read-only, by design. Overwriting or deleting originals is structurally impossible. Until your backup is verified, your originals stay exactly as they were.
Every step is journaled as it happens. After a crash or power cut, .Lab picks up where it stopped, skipping verified files. Half-written files never masquerade as finished ones.
Read the card once, write to multiple SSDs simultaneously (Pro). Chain copies for backups-of-backups, plus a watch-folder mode that copies new files as they appear.
Export verification results as a thumbnail PDF report or industry-standard ASC MHL (Pro). Hand clients evidence — and answer “did it really copy?” with receipts.
Auto-detects Sony, Canon, RED, ARRI and Blackmagic cards as well as regular SD cards (DCIM). Insert a card and it’s set as the source, reel name suggested automatically.
Double-click a finished reel to browse thumbnails, play clips and inspect metadata (for formats macOS can play). Get completion alerts by chime, macOS notification — or email when you’re away from the cart.
Payment is processed overseas by Lemon Squeezy; the exact amount on your card statement may vary by a small amount due to currency conversion.