Tusk is a Mac app that automatically backs up your project folders to multiple locations and tracks where every file lives — even when your drives aren't connected.
Shotput Pro has been a fixture in professional media workflows for years. Verified offloads from cards to drives, with a PDF report at the end of every transfer showing a full file manifest, timecode data, codec information, and thumbnails for each clip. On productions that require a paper trail, it's the obvious choice.
The question is whether you're actually on a production that requires that paper trail. If you are, Shotput Pro is hard to beat at the price. If you're not, you're paying $169 for a report you never hand to anyone.
TL;DR: OffShoot at the same price if the reports aren't part of your deliverables. YoYotta at $110/year if you need reports and LTO archiving. Silverstack for full on-set DIT work at production scale. Tusk if you want ingest and ongoing project backup in one tool at a lower price.
What Shotput Pro Actually Does
Shotput Pro copies media from cards to drives and confirms every file arrived intact. After the transfer, it generates a PDF with a full file manifest: timecode data, codec breakdowns, clip durations, and a thumbnail for every clip. That report is the thing that sets it apart.
The checksum verification underneath is the same baseline every dedicated ingest tool uses. It computes a hash of each file before the copy and again after. If the hashes match, the file is intact. If they don't, the transfer failed and you still have the card. Finder doesn't do this. Any dedicated ingest tool does.
Pricing is $169 for a perpetual license with 12 months of updates included. After the first year, updates cost $60/year (or $49/year on auto-renew). There's also a $60/30-day rental for single-project use.
OffShoot (Formerly Hedge)
OffShoot is the most direct swap for Shotput Pro. Verified offloads, multiple destinations simultaneously, fast transfer speeds, clean interface. The offload workflow itself is functionally the same.
The main difference: no PDF reports. OffShoot doesn't generate a file manifest after the transfer. If your workflow doesn't involve handing transfer documentation to a post house or producer, OffShoot and Shotput Pro are equivalent at the same $169 price. The choice comes down to interface preference.
The Pro tier at $249 adds S3 cloud destinations, which Shotput Pro doesn't offer at any price. If cloud backup is part of your offload workflow, that's a meaningful difference.
If you're coming from Hedge specifically, it's the same product. OffShoot is Hedge after a 2024 rebrand and pricing restructure.
Best for: Productions where verified offloads matter but PDF transfer reports aren't a deliverable. Anyone already on the Hedge workflow who wants continuity.
YoYotta
YoYotta is built for post-production environments where documentation is part of the job. It copies from camera cards to multiple destinations simultaneously, calculates both MD5 and xxHash checksums on every file during the copy, and generates PDF reports that can be automatically emailed to your whole team.
Where it differs from Shotput Pro: the reports are more technically detailed on the checksum side, and the auto-email distribution means collaborators get the report without any manual step. Shotput Pro's reports include richer media metadata, including thumbnails and timecode. Both serve the same purpose of documented proof of transfer, but the detail flavors differ.
YoYotta also handles LTO tape archiving, which is well outside the scope of card ingest tools. If your workflow eventually involves long-term tape storage alongside the offload, YoYotta covers both under one subscription.
Pricing is $110/year for the base plan covering ingest and reporting. LTO drive support is an add-on at $80/drive/year.
The subscription math is worth thinking through. YoYotta is cheaper than Shotput Pro in year one. By year two you've spent $220 versus Shotput Pro's $169. By year three, $330 versus roughly $229 if you're keeping Shotput updates. Perpetual wins on long-term cost unless the LTO features or team report distribution are actively part of your workflow.
Best for: Post-production studios and productions that need automated transfer reports sent to remote collaborators. Any workflow that combines card ingest with LTO tape archiving.
Silverstack
Silverstack is a different category. It's not a drop-in for Shotput Pro. It's a full on-set DIT station.
The feature that sets it apart is cascade transfers. Silverstack copies to a fast local SSD first, then distributes from that SSD to slower destinations in the background while you're already on the next card. On a day with a high card volume this cuts waiting time significantly.
On top of ingest, it handles metadata editing, audio sync, and proxy generation that starts while transfers are still running. For a dedicated DIT running a full production workflow, it covers most of what you need in one place.
The price reflects it. Silverstack XT is €799/year as a subscription. Short-term licenses: €99 for 10 days, €179 for a month, €319 for two months. For a freelance editor doing occasional offloads, the math doesn't work. For a production company with daily shoots, it does.
Best for: On-set DIT work at production scale. Cascade transfers, proxy generation, and audio sync alongside the offload.
Tusk
All four dedicated ingest tools stop when the card comes out.
After that, keeping track of what's where is on you. Files spread across drives over time. Local copies get deleted when space runs out. Six months later, finding a specific clip means digging through drives and hoping you remember which one has it.
I built Tusk because backup should be simple and you should always know where your files are. When you offload a card, Tusk copies directly to all your destinations and confirms everything arrived intact. The card is safe to reformat.
From there, Tusk keeps going. It watches your project folders and picks up every change automatically: re-edits, new exports, autosaved project files. All of it goes to your backup destinations in the background. And it tracks every file's location across all your drives, even when those drives are unplugged. Months after a shoot, you can find a specific clip without connecting anything.
One honest gap: Tusk doesn't generate PDF transfer reports. If documentation is a deliverable on your productions, it's not the right tool for that requirement.
Pricing is $79 one-time, or $49 during the current launch offer. 14-day free trial with no credit card or email required.
Best for: Photographers, video editors, and content creators who want SD card ingest and ongoing project backup in one tool, without the transfer report requirement.
Side by Side
| Shotput Pro | OffShoot | YoYotta | Silverstack | Tusk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checksum verification | Yes | Yes | Yes (MD5+xxHash) | Yes | Yes (BLAKE3) |
| Multiple destinations | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDF reports | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Auto report email | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| LTO archiving | No | No | Yes (add-on) | No | No |
| Cascade transfers | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Proxy workflow | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Continuous backup | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| File tracking | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Cloud support | No | Pro only | No | No | Yes (S3, GDrive) |
| Price | $169 one-time | $169 one-time | $110/year | ~€800/year | $79 one-time |
Which One Fits?
If transfer reports are part of your deliverables, Shotput Pro and YoYotta are the two real options. Shotput Pro wins on long-term cost for straightforward workflows. YoYotta wins if you need automated report distribution or LTO archiving alongside the ingest.
If the reports aren't a requirement, OffShoot does the same job at the same price.
For on-set DIT work at a production level, Silverstack is the only tool built for it.
If you want ingest plus everything that comes after it, Tusk covers the full workflow at less than the cost of any dedicated ingest tool.
FAQ
It depends on why you're looking. If you need PDF transfer reports, YoYotta is a strong alternative at $110/year with automated report distribution and optional LTO archiving. If you don't need reports, OffShoot does the same verified offload workflow as Shotput Pro at the same $169 price. For a tool that covers ingest plus ongoing project backup and file tracking, Tusk is $79 one-time and handles the full workflow after the card is out.
For most offloads, they're functionally the same. Both verify transfers with checksums, copy to multiple destinations simultaneously, and cost $169. Shotput Pro adds PDF transfer reports with file manifests, timecode data, and clip thumbnails. If those reports are part of your deliverables, Shotput has a clear advantage. If they're not, the choice comes down to interface preference.
Not one that does verified offloads. Finder is free and copies files, but it doesn't verify transfers. For large video files, a corrupted copy can look identical to a successful one at the file system level until you try to open the clip. Any dedicated ingest tool uses checksum verification to confirm the copy arrived intact before you reformat the card. Tusk is the cheapest paid option at $79 one-time with a 14-day free trial that doesn't require a credit card or email.
Shotput Pro copies footage from camera cards to drives and verifies every file with a checksum, so you know the copy is intact before you reformat the card. After each transfer it generates a PDF report with a full file manifest, timecode data, codec information, and clip thumbnails. It's used by filmmakers, photographers, and post-production teams who need documented proof of every transfer, especially on productions where those reports go to a post house or producer.
If your clients require transfer documentation, yes. The PDF reports are the specific thing Shotput Pro does that most alternatives don't. If your workflow is just getting footage off cards and onto drives reliably, the reports aren't adding value and you're paying for a feature you don't use. OffShoot at the same price handles the offload without reports. Tusk at $79 handles the offload and also covers ongoing project backup and file tracking, which most freelancers need more than transfer PDFs.