The Classic Editor: Every Feature, Step by Step

Classic is the editor most videos start in: one canvas in the middle, settings on the left and right, and a play bar and Timeline underneath. Every section has a (?) on its header that explains it in place; this guide is the long version, in the order you would make a video.

1. The layout

• The canvas in the middle is the video. Drag the bar between the canvas and the Timeline to give either more room; the canvas can shrink a long way, and every panel scrolls on its own, so nothing is out of reach on a small laptop or an iPad.
• The left side holds Edit (every setting, in sections), Audio, Assets, Projects and Tools.
• The right side holds Canvas (what is on the canvas, its transform, keyframes, motion, backgrounds) and Layer (the selected item's settings), plus the Guide.
• Seldom used sections (Layer Asset Library, Text Style Library, Caption Style Library, Stream Overlay Templates and Music Recommendations) sit together under More at the end of Edit.
• On a phone, the same panels open as sheets from the bottom bar.

2. Add the song

1. Open Audio and choose a file from this device, or pick one from the Audio library and press Use.
2. Trim it on the play bar if you want only part of it.
3. Need the vocals alone, or a cleaner master? Split stems separates vocals, drums, bass and other (choose Vocals and instrumental or All four stems, quick for the fastest split), and Mastering sets the loudness for streaming. Both open as tabs; a stem goes on to Mastering with Send to, and either result can become the project's song.

3. Choose the look

1. In Edit, open Template. Choose an engine, then a preset or a mode.
2. Engine version plays an earlier release of the same look if you preferred it.
3. Visualizer controls set how hard the look reacts to the music; Theme and colours sets its palette; Engine parameters holds every fine setting of the engine.
4. Size and fit zooms and pans the look inside the frame.
5. Visualizer layers shows, hides, scales or recolours the look's own parts (its snow, lights or rings) and adds up to six more from the kit.

4. Select anything, move anything

One selection is shared by the whole editor. Click something on the canvas (the look, a picture, a shape, the title, the logo, a caption) or choose it in a Selected or Apply to dropdown or in Layers, and it is selected everywhere: its settings show at the top of Edit, its handles show on the canvas, and its row lights up in Layers and on the Timeline.

• Move by dragging it; size by dragging a corner; turn with the round handle. Arrow keys nudge it 1 px, Shift with an arrow 10 px.
• Moving near the centre, the frame's edges or another element snaps to it. Hold Alt to move freely.
• Canvas > On the canvas lists every element, top first: show or hide it, lock it so it cannot be moved by accident, and drag a row (or use the arrows) to put it in front of or behind others.
• Canvas > Transform takes exact values: position, size, turn, opacity and anchor.
• Hidden and locked layers can still be selected from the lists. Escape (with the canvas focused) or the X beside Selected lets go of the selection.

5. Animate with keyframes

A keyframe holds a value at a moment; the layer moves smoothly between keyframes. Everything you can animate has a diamond beside it.

1. Pick the layer in Apply to (or click it on the canvas).
2. Move the playhead, then press the diamond beside a value: a keyframe is added there. Move the playhead again and change the value: the next keyframe is added. The arrows beside the diamond jump between keyframes.
3. Or press a motion preset: the twelve starters (Fade in, Fade out, Pop in, Slide in from each side, Zoom in, Zoom out, Spin in, Pulse to the beat, Slow drift) come first, and each starts at the playhead.
4. Turn on Auto-key to add a keyframe at the playhead for every change you make, by dragging or typing. Turn it off to change a value everywhere instead.
5. On the keyframe strip and the Timeline: drag a diamond to move it, press Delete to remove it, right-click it to choose its easing.
6. Made a motion you like? Save it as your own preset and find it under Mine in Keyframes and in Motion and effects, in every editor.

6. The Timeline

• Press Timeline under the play bar and Start a timeline to make a video of several parts: more songs, other looks, title cards.
• Move the playhead and press Change here to start a new part with its own look.
• Click the square where two parts meet to choose a transition and its length, or Use on every change.
• Add effect lays an effect from the playhead for as long as you like; Beat sync effects pulse on the beat (never more than three flashes a second).
• Sounds and sound effects go on their own lanes; every layer has a keyframe lane (open its row for one lane per animated property). Double-click a still layer's lane to start animating it.
• Drag a part's edge to change its length. Selecting a lane selects that layer everywhere.

7. Backgrounds

• Background library puts a picture or a moving loop behind the look, or your own upload.
• Canvas > Backgrounds holds several: pictures, videos or gradients that change on sections, every few beats or by time. Select one in Layers to place it.
• Background Motion and Generate visualizer open as tabs (Tools) and send their loops back as the background.

8. Words: title, captions, intro and outro

• Text overlay: type the title and artist, choose the font, size and colour, and drag the text on the canvas. Text style library applies a ready-made look.
• Captions: type, paste or import (SRT, LRC or plain text), time each line or let the song's timing place them, style them, and drag them on the canvas. Caption style library styles them all at once.
• Intro and outro: a title card at the start or end. Choose a template, type its text, set how long it shows and drag it into place.

9. Pictures, logo and effects

• Visual assets: upload a background, a logo or an overlay picture; it shows at once and you drag it into place.
• Logo effects: glow, shadow and beat motion for your logo.
• Album cover: the cover picture a cover-based look takes its colours and shapes from.
• Beat FX: flash, shake, pulse and glow over the whole video (a preset, or Custom Mix), or beat motion on one layer under On one layer (choose it in Apply to).
• Feature toggles: switch particles, the title, captions, the logo and more on or off.
• Stream overlay templates (under More): scanlines, grain, light leaks and other overlays over the whole video.

10. Tools inside the editor

Every creation tool opens as a tab over the canvas, with its settings on the right, and what it makes goes into this project: Background Motion, Generate visualizer, Layers, Stem Splitter, Mastering, Transitions, Intros and outros, Motion graphics, Lyric video, Sound effects, Cover art, Thumbnails, Watermarks, Overlays, Convert and the libraries. Close the tab (its X, Ctrl+W or Escape) to come back. A finished file in one tool can go straight into another with Send to.

11. Export

1. Open Export. Choose a size, a frame shape (16:9, 9:16, 1:1) and a quality. Without a song, Export says so and offers Add a song.
2. Press Export and keep the tab open. Every frame is rendered on your device, so the video matches the preview frame for frame.
3. Changed your mind? Cancel export asks whether to stop; nothing is saved and your project is unchanged.
4. When it finishes, the video downloads. Send to carries it to Convert (another format or a smaller file for a platform) or the Thumbnail maker.

12. Save, open and share

• Projects save to your account when you are signed in; Projects reopens any of them, from Classic, Studio or a tool.
• Save as template keeps a look you built for reuse; post it and tick Share it as a community template so others can start from it.
• Delete projects and saved items from your dashboard or My Assets to free space.