Disclosed are systems and methods for storage device access control initiated by a non-linear editor (NLE). In one embodiment, a storage device access controller can include: a storage device configured to store clips, such as audio, graphics, or video clips, arranged in frames; an NLE coupled to the storage device for requesting one or more of the clips; and a buffer engine coupled to the storage device and the NLE. The buffer engine can include: buffers for storing data from the storage device; a data index for indicating a location of data in a clip on the storage device; and a reader configured to control an access of the data using the data index in response to one or more parameters. Embodiments of the present invention can provide for improved data access performance from a disk where the data is requested in clip form from an NLE.