edit by words
transcribe a clip's speech, then cut the film by deleting words from the transcript like text.
The Script tab shows the speech in your film as words. Delete a word and the video editor cuts the clips around it and closes the gap. It works on a voice-over, an interview, or any clip with sound.
open the script
- Open a video editor that has a clip with sound.
- In the right panel, open the Script tab.
- If a clip has no transcript yet, a Transcribe button shows how many clips it will do, for example Transcribe 2 clips. Click it.
Until a track has sound, the tab says "No track has sound yet".
A file is transcribed once and the transcript is kept, so opening the same file in another cut reads it for free. Transcription is billed per audio minute to your org's credits, and a file larger than 500 MB can't be transcribed.
pick the speech track
The track menu defaults to the track that carries speech, marked "(speech)". Choose another track to edit its words instead.
cut words
- Click a word to put the playhead there.
- Drag across words, or click one and <kbd>⇧</kbd>-click another, to select a run. The footer counts them and their seconds.
- Press <kbd>⌫</kbd> or click Cut ⌫. <kbd>Esc</kbd> clears the selection.
The cuts menu sets what closes up. close up this track only keeps other tracks where they are. take the time out of every track cuts the pictures and music too, so the film stays in sync.
Words that were cut stay in the script, struck through. Click them to bring them back.
clean up in one click
| Button | What it cuts |
|---|---|
| Fillers (n) | every um, uh, er |
| Repeats (n) | a word said twice in a row (the first of the two) |
| Pauses (n) | pauses longer than the first number, shortened to the second |
The two small number fields next to Pauses default to 0.6 s and 0.3 s. A pause also shows inline as ⏸ with its length. Click one to shorten just that pause.
Filler words are shown in italics, repeats are dotted-underlined, and hovering a word shows its time and how sure the transcriber was.
undo
Every cut is an ordinary edit on the timeline. <kbd>⌘</kbd> <kbd>Z</kbd> undoes it, and you can keep trimming by hand afterwards.
limits & good to know
- Cut the voice-over first, then lay the pictures to it, or use take the time out of every track.
- Transcripts are made once per file. Replacing the file makes a new one.
- Only people who can edit the canvas can transcribe or cut.
related
checked against the product · 2026-10-23