AI analysis is what turns raw files into footage you can search, read, and edit. Selects transcribes every file, breaks it into topics, identifies who is speaking, and reads what is on screen.
Nothing is analyzed automatically. You decide when to run it, and you are only charged for what finishes.
Start analysis
You choose what to analyze, and you can run it at any time, not just when the project is new.
Click [Analyze N clips] at the bottom of the [Project] panel. You can also hover any clip and click [Analyze].
[Analyze media for edit] opens with your clips listed. From [Analyze N clips], every clip starts checked. From one clip's [Analyze], only that clip starts checked. Check or uncheck clips to choose what gets analyzed.
The credit estimate updates as you change the selection, shown against your current balance. When it looks right, click [Analyze].
Files you have already analyzed are left out of the estimate and are not charged again.
Tip: If you shot multicam or recorded audio separately, sync those files into a synced timeline so the transcript follows the right audio. Sync and analysis can happen in either order. See Sync your files.
Note: A sync that came out wrong can be fixed after analysis. Because analysis runs on your individual files, correcting a sync does not throw the transcript away. The correction reaches every draft straight away, but clip positions and lengths, the cut structure, and topics and subtopics do not rebuild themselves.
What happens while analysis runs
Selects works through each file in turn: preparing the audio, detecting silences, transcribing, dividing the transcript into topics, and finding key visual moments.
While it runs, the pill reads [Analyzing N clips] with a rough time remaining.
Click the pill to open the progress list and see every file, which one is running, and which have finished or failed.
You can keep working in Selects while analysis runs. Just leave the app open, because analysis stops if Selects quits.
Tip: Leave [Keep this computer awake] switched on. It sits at the top of the progress list. If your computer sleeps partway through, analysis can fail. Your display can still turn off, but closing a laptop lid will still put the machine to sleep.
To stop a file that is running, cancel it from its row in the [Project] panel. Anything that already finished is kept, and you are not charged for it again.
What you get after analysis
Transcription. Every file gets its own transcript, with every word time-stamped, so you can edit by reading rather than scrubbing. Analysis runs on your individual files, so a synced timeline is never analyzed as a unit. It reflects whatever the files inside it carry. See Transcript and timeline editing.
Topics and subtopics. Just like the transcript, every file gets its own topics and subtopics. Selects reads the transcript and organizes each file into topics and subtopics, so you can see what the footage covers at a glance. See What are topics and subtopics?.
Speaker detection. Selects identifies each speaker in a file and works out which audio sources belong to them. On multicam footage, it also scores the camera angles against each speaker, which is what camera switching uses later. You can rename, reassign, or add a speaker at any time.
Visual analysis. Selects reads what is on screen and writes a short description for each clip. This is what scene search matches against, so you can find a moment by describing it. See Search your footage: text and scene search.
Shot quality is not part of analysis. Selects can mark the stretches that are shaky or out of focus, per camera angle, but only when you ask chat to check. See Find shaky and blurry shots.
Every file stands on its own. Each one gets its own transcript, topics, subtopics, and speakers, whether it is a single video, an audio file, or a synced timeline.
When analysis finishes, Selects shows a short notice saying how many clips were analyzed.
Analyze files you add later
Files added after a project is created are not analyzed automatically either.
Hover a file in the project panel and click [Analyze] to run it on its own. The same button appears on any file whose analysis failed, so you can retry just that one. While a single file is running you can click [Cancel] to stop it.
You can also analyze from the timeline. Selects shows you the files and the estimated credits first, then starts once you confirm. See Add media to an existing project.
Credits
Analysis uses credits from your plan balance:
Video analysis: 1 credit per 10 seconds (6 credits/min, 360 credits/hr)
Audio analysis: 1 credit per minute (60 credits/hr)
You only pay for analysis that succeeds. Files that fail are never charged, files you have already analyzed are never charged twice, and stopping partway does not re-charge the files that finished.
Analysis is not the only thing that uses credits. Chatting with the Assistant uses them too. See Edit with chat and Selects app: plans and pricing.
FAQs
Does Selects analyze my footage automatically?
No. You choose when to run it. Dropping files into a project, or adding them later, does not start analysis or use any credits.
Can I analyze only some of my files?
Yes. Click [Analyze N clips], or hover a clip and click [Analyze], and [Analyze media for edit] opens. From [Analyze N clips], every clip starts checked. From one clip's [Analyze], only that clip starts checked. Check or uncheck clips to choose what gets analyzed. Nothing is analyzed until you confirm.
How long does analysis take?
Roughly 20 minutes for every hour of video, though it varies with your internet connection and your machine. The pill gives you an estimate once it has enough to go on. We are working on making this faster.
Can I use Selects while analysis is running?
Yes. You can move around the app and keep working while it runs. Leave Selects open, though, because analysis stops if you quit the app.
What happens if analysis fails on some files?
The rest carry on and finish as normal, and you are not charged for the ones that failed. You can retry a failed file on its own: hover it in the project panel and click [Analyze].
Can I stop analysis and pick it up later?
Yes. Cancel a running file from its row in the [Project] panel. Anything that already finished is kept, and analyzing the rest later does not charge you twice for the finished ones.
What languages does Selects support for transcription?
Selects supports transcription in over 90 languages.
Supported languages: Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Assamese, Azerbaijani, Bashkir, Basque, Belarusian, Bengali, Bosnian, Breton, Bulgarian, Burmese, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Finnish, Flemish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Latin, Latvian, Lingala, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Macedonian, Malagasy, Malay, Malayalam, Maltese, Maori, Marathi, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian, Norwegian Nynorsk, Occitan, Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Sanskrit, Serbian, Shona, Sindhi, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Spanglish, Sundanese, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tajik, Tamil, Tatar, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, Turkmen, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish, Yoruba.
Note: Transcription accuracy can vary by language and by audio quality, such as background noise or overlapping speakers.