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).
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.