Editing

This page lists the editing flows that the workspace and the MCP tools support. All of them go through the same validated operations, shared history and undo. For the parts of the workspace, see Getting started. For MCP details, see Agents and MCP.

Projects

Action	How
New empty project	File > New project
Open	File > Open project… or Ctrl+O
Save	File > Save project or Ctrl+S. Ctrl+S commits the field you are editing first.
Save to a new file	File > Save project as…
Recover	File > Recover last autosave
Settings	File > Settings… or Ctrl+,

Opening a project, starting a new one or recovering ends any active agent session.

Import and place media

• File > Import media / font… imports one file into the project without placing it. You can also drop local files into the Media panel.
• Drag an image or video from Media onto the canvas to place it at the playhead, or onto a compatible timeline row at the indicated time.
• Dropping files onto the timeline imports and places them as one undoable step. Up to 32 files can be dropped at once.
• Matching sources are reused by fingerprint.
• Import programmable component… in the File menu belongs to the experimental programmable runtime. See Current status.

Select a source in Media to see the clips that use it. Relink file points the asset at a moved file with identical contents. Folder relinking and replacing a source with a different file are not built yet.

Create text, shapes and grids

• The text tool in the viewer footer adds a text clip at the playhead, using bundled Inter. Change the typeface in Properties.
• The shape tool adds a rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse or grid at the playhead.
• The Motion library has Create grid, Add Gaussian blur and Edit camera.

MCP: text_create, shape_create, grid_create, asset_import, font_import, asset_place and asset_place_range. These need Edit directly mode and the structure grant.

Select and arrange on the canvas

• Click content to select it. Ctrl+click or Shift+click toggles it in the selection. Drag empty canvas to marquee-select.
• Drag to move. Drag a corner to resize uniformly. Use the rotation handle to rotate. The anchor handle moves the pivot without moving the object.
• Arrow keys nudge the selection by one composition pixel. Shift+arrow nudges by ten.
• Escape cancels the gesture in progress.
• Align aligns to the composition, or to each other when more than one object is selected.
• Mouse wheel over the viewer zooms around the pointer. The hand tool, H or a middle-button drag pans. Fit fits the composition. Pan and zoom do not change the project.

MCP: align_apply aligns granted objects using the renderer’s geometry.

Timeline editing

Action	How
Move a clip	Drag it, or set its start frame in Properties
Trim	Drag a clip edge, or use the trim controls in Properties
Split at the playhead	Ctrl+B, Edit > Split at playhead or the split tool. Both parts keep their lane and stacking position.
Slip the source	Timing > Source in in Properties. The picture and linked audio move within the available source; timeline position, duration and animation stay fixed. Out-of-range values are refused.
Delete	Delete key
Copy, cut, paste	Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V. Paste stays within the same project and creates a new clip at the playhead.
Duplicate at the playhead	Ctrl+D
Paste attributes	Edit > Paste attributes: transform and opacity, animation, or start and duration
Rename	Properties > Name, or the clip menu
Group and ungroup	Ctrl+G and Ctrl+Shift+G
Create a reusable composition	Ctrl+Alt+G, or Edit > Create composition from selection
Open a composition	The clip menu’s Open composition. Return to parent composition in the composition menu goes back.
Make independent	In Properties. Copies the nested composition so later edits to the source do not affect this instance.
Tracks	+ Track, and the track menu: add above or below, rename, move up or down, lock, delete

Overlapping clips on one track do not get separate sublanes, and snapping is not built yet.

The timeline zoom uses Fit, the plus and minus controls and Ctrl+wheel. The backtick key gives the timeline more room.

MCP operations in edit_apply include move, trim, split, slip, remove, duplicate, paste_attributes, rename_clip, group, ungroup, nest and the track operations. Agents do not read the system clipboard.

Transform, text and appearance

Properties edits the selected clip’s position, scale, rotation, anchor, opacity, text content, paragraph layout, typeface and font style, shape fill and outline, mask and audio gain.

• Text changes commit when the field loses focus.
• Scale is uniform.
• Audio gain ranges from 0 to 4 and is constant for each clip; it cannot be keyframed.
• Monitor volume changes only what you hear. It does not change project gain or export.

Typefaces, styles, variable axes, OpenType features, styled spans and missing-font recovery are not covered in detail in these docs yet.

Keyframes

• Add a key at the playhead from Properties.
• Choose Keyframes in the timeline, or Show keyframes in the clip menu, to show the selected clip’s key lanes.
• Drag a key to retime it. Left and Right move a selected key by one frame.
• Double-click a key to edit its time, value and interpolation, or to delete it.
• For a Cubic Bezier key, drag the two control handles in the curve editor and choose Apply. These handles stay within 0 to 1.
• A key cannot be moved onto another key on the same property.

Motion treatments in Properties preview Fade in, Fade out, Fade in + out, Slide from left and Wipe reveal without changing the project. Apply writes ordinary keyframes. These are single-clip keyframes, not transitions between two clips.

MCP: keyframe, move_key, remove_key for clip properties, and set_parameter_key, move_parameter_key, remove_parameter_key for typed parameters.

Masks, mattes, blends and effects

• Mask: add a mask fitted to the selected object. Its position, size, radius, inversion and reveal stay editable.
• Source matte: use another composition as an alpha or luma matte.
• Local effects: add, enable, reorder, remove and edit effects, and choose a blend mode. See Effects.
• Motion blur: an enable toggle and a shutter angle. See Motion blur.

Spatial, camera and controls

The 2.5D spatial section places a clip as a flat plane with Z position and X and Y tilt, viewed by one perspective camera per composition. Clips and compositions can expose numeric controls, and parameters can take a constant, keyframes, a link to a control, or a driver such as Seeded noise. Planes are flat; intersecting planes are not split by depth. The MCP side of spatial content is not covered in detail in these docs yet.

Playback

• Space plays or pauses, unless a text field, dialog or focused control owns the key.
• Left and Right step one frame when no key is selected.
• Click or drag the ruler to seek.
• Preview: Half / Full requests 960 by 540 or 1920 by 1080 preview frames. It is separate from canvas zoom.
• Clean fullscreen preview is in the viewer footer. Escape returns.

CPU preview can show fewer than 30 frames per second on very complex full-resolution scenes; audio keeps its normal speed rather than slowing down to match.

Transcripts

Select an imported audio or video source to see its transcript status. You can install the local Parakeet model from Settings or the source inspector, start or cancel transcription, search words and jump to matching placed clips. The model, its cache and its limits are not covered in detail in these docs yet.

Undo and redo

Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y, or the Undo and Redo buttons. Undo includes accepted agent edits. Inside a text field, these keys act on the text instead.