# Workflows

> Step-by-step recipes for the videos people make most: a car edit to phonk, a travel montage, a talking video for YouTube, captions for a reel, a lyric video and more.

https://driftedit.app/manual/workflows/

Each recipe below uses the tools of the other chapters in the order an editor would. Follow one end to end, or take the parts you need.

## A car edit to a phonk track
A fast car montage: hard cuts on every kick, flashes, and a frozen frame into the drop.

1. Import your car clips and the phonk song ([Importing](https://driftedit.app/manual/media/)).
2. In **Auto**, choose the song, the **Phonk** style, 15 to 30 seconds, **9:16**, and **Energetic**. Press **Listen** to check the part around the drop.
3. Press **Make the edit**. Try **Another take** or **Versions** until the drop lands on your best shot.
4. Replace any weak shot: select it and press `Delete`, drag a better clip from the bin into the gap, and trim it to fit.
5. Add a **Still frame** before the drop: select the first drop shot, move the playhead to the car's best frame, and press **Drop intro** in Techniques.
6. Add **Lens hit** to the first shot after the drop.
7. Put a **Looks** grade on an adjustment layer over everything.
8. Export at 1080p, 60 fps. With Pro, try **Perfect quality (AI)** for the sharpest picture.

## A travel montage
Smooth and cinematic, telling the trip in order.

1. Import the clips and photos, and a song you have the rights to (or a Library beat).
2. In **Auto**, choose **Narrative** to keep the footage in order, or **Cinematic** for long, slow shots. Choose 30 to 60 seconds and **16:9** for YouTube or **9:16** for a reel.
3. Long videos: press **Choose parts** on each and pick the moments you want.
4. Before **Make the edit**, open **All settings** and type the trip's name under **Opening text**.
5. Photos: apply **Move in depth** to the best ones so they come alive.
6. Add a dissolve or a zoom transition on a few cuts, or choose the **Smooth** style before making the edit.
7. Export.

## A talking video for YouTube
One person talking to the camera, cleaned up and captioned.

1. Import the recording and any B-roll clips.
2. Put the recording on the timeline and select it.
3. In Techniques, under **Talking-head video**, press **Edit a talk**: the voice is cleaned, the pauses come out, jump cuts get a closer framing, captions are written and the music is lowered under speech. To choose which pauses go, press **Remove pauses** instead, then the rest one by one.
4. Press **B-roll on the words**: where your B-roll shows what is said, it is cut in over the speaker.
5. In **Captions**, choose a style, the **Bottom** position, and **Burn into the video** (or export SRT for YouTube's own captions).
6. Add a title at the start from **Text**, and a lower third with the speaker's name.
7. Export at 1080p or 4K, 16:9.

## Captions for a reel
1. Put your clip on the timeline, 9:16.
2. In **Captions**, press **From speech** and choose the language. Check each line under **Lines** and fix any word.
3. Choose a caption style that marks the spoken word, **Middle** position.
4. Turn on **Safe areas** to keep the captions clear of the app's buttons.
5. Pick key words in the inspector and give them **Emphasis**: a colour, bigger, a highlighter.
6. Export at 1080p.

## A still-frame drop intro
1. Have the song's beats on the timeline (an auto edit, or **Find the beats**).
2. Select the clip that starts on the drop, and move the playhead to a frame where the subject stands out.
3. In Techniques, under **Still frame**, press **Rise in**, **Drop intro** or **Parallax**.
4. The still goes on the two beats before the clip. To change its moves, right-click the technique and choose **Make your own**: add moves to the **Subject** and the **Background**.
5. Add **Riser into the drop** for the sound.

## A beat-synced edit by hand
For full control without auto mode.

1. Put the song on an audio track and press **Find the beats** in Techniques. The kicks, bars and the drop appear; the music grid shows the bars.
2. Drag clips onto a picture track. With snapping on (`N`), their edges snap to the kicks.
3. Use `Shift+ArrowRight` to step a beat at a time and `S` to split on it.
4. Press **Snap cuts to the kicks** (`Shift+K`) to land every cut exactly on a kick.
5. Add **Impact on the kick**, **Punch in** or a technique of your own on the hits that matter.

## A lyric or text video
1. Put the song on the timeline, and **Find the beats**.
2. In **Text**, add a title for each line, with an animation **In** by word.
3. Select a title and press **Words on the beat**: each word appears on a kick.
4. Add a background: a clip, a photo with **Move in depth**, or an overlay from **Overlays**.

## A music visual with stems
1. Put the song on the timeline and press **Split into stems**.
2. The drums are on their own track: cut and flash on them. Mute the vocals for an instrumental, or keep only the vocals for an a cappella moment.
3. Add VFX on the hits: **Shockwave ring**, **Lightning strike**, **Sparks**.

## One edit in three shapes
1. Make the edit in 16:9 for YouTube.
2. In Export, under **Also in**, tick 9:16 and 1:1. Each shape is reframed for you, and all the files come in one zip.