01
Can the automatic choice be switched off?
On any paid plan, yes. You supply the timestamps and everything downstream carries on as normal: the vertical framing that follows the speaker, the words on the picture, the hook and the styling. Automatic is the default because it saves the most time, not because manual control is missing.
02
Automatic against chosen
Choosing your own timestamps is available on paid plans. Pricing does not change with the mode.
| Situation | Let it choose | Choose yourself |
|---|---|---|
| You know the moment already | Wasteful | Right |
| Long recording you have not reviewed | Right | Slow |
| A specific quote you need | May miss it | Right |
| Looking for what you would not have picked | Right | Defeats the purpose |
| A series with a fixed format | Inconsistent | Right |
03
Marking a moment so it starts and ends cleanly
Start a beat before the first word, not on it. Half a second of lead-in lets the viewer's eye settle and stops the first syllable from sounding clipped. At the other end, let the sentence land and include the reaction: a laugh, a nod, a pause that tells the viewer the point was made.
Avoid cutting in the middle of a breath or a hand gesture. If the speaker raises a hand at the start of a thought, begin before the hand moves. Viewers rarely notice a clean edit, but they always notice a clip that begins with half a word and a person already mid-motion.
04
When choosing by hand beats leaving it automatic
You were in the room. The person who recorded the conversation often remembers the one exchange everybody talked about afterwards, and that memory is a better signal than anything in the recording itself. If a guest said something that later got quoted in an email thread, mark it yourself.
Promotional deadlines are another case. When a clip has to support a launch, a sale or an event date, you usually need a specific statement in it, not the most entertaining minute. Sponsored segments, legal wording that must appear intact, and moments a client has already approved all fall into the same category.
05
A simple log that saves an hour later
Keep a plain note open while you record or while you watch the recording back. Each time something lands, write the rough minute and three words about it: "23:40 pricing story", "41:10 guest disagrees". You do not need exact seconds; you need enough to find the spot again in under a minute.
After a few episodes the log becomes a map of what your audience reacts to. If most of your marked moments are disagreements, that tells you what to book more of. If they cluster in the last fifteen minutes, it may be worth tightening the warm-up at the start of the show.
Share the log with whoever else works on the show. A co-host or producer often marks different moments than you would, and the overlap between two lists is usually where the strongest clips sit. When both of you wrote down the same minute independently, that is a moment worth cutting first.
06
Automatic when you want it, manual when you do not
- Upload the video. Any supported address or an uploaded file.
- Enter your timestamps. On a paid plan, in place of letting it choose.
- Everything else still runs. Framing, captions, hooks and styles all apply.
Try the automatic pass on a free video first, then decide. No card needed.
Questions people ask
- Is this on the free video?
- No, the free video uses the automatic choice.
- Can I mix both in one video?
- One mode per video. Run it twice if you want both.
- Do manual clips cost differently?
- No, the same credit rules apply.
- What about clips over ninety seconds?
- They double that video's credits, however the moments were chosen.
- Is there a limit on how many I can set?
- Up to a hundred per video on the paid plans, ordered in blocks of ten.