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Editing tools in Selects

Learn where the editing tools live in Selects and what each one does, from the floating toolbar to the one-click cleanup passes.

Written by Nandita Kothari

Selects keeps its editing tools in two places. The floating toolbar on the timeline holds the tools you use while cutting, and the [Apps] tab in the project panel holds the one-click cleanup passes that run across a whole draft, along with the other built-in apps. This guide covers both.

Note: To build or rework a draft by describing the edit instead, use chat. Learn more in Edit with chat.

The floating toolbar

The floating toolbar sits at the bottom right of the timeline. Hover a button to see its name. Selection and Razor also show their shortcut, and the More menu shows the shortcut next to each item that has one.

Selection and Razor

Selection and Razor are the two tools with their own buttons, because they are the two you switch between constantly.

  • [Selection]: the default cursor. Pick clips, move them along a track, drag them between tracks, and drag their edges to trim.

  • [Razor]: splits a clip at the point you click.

The More menu

The More menu, the button with three dots, holds four more actions and two switches.

  • [Zoom]: click the timeline to zoom in on it.

  • [Hand]: click and drag to scroll the timeline without moving any clips.

  • [Add marker]: drops a marker on the clip under the playhead.

  • [Shortcuts]: opens the full keyboard shortcut reference.

  • [Snap]: a switch. Clips and the playhead snap to nearby edges while you drag.

  • [Multi-cam view]: a switch. Opens every camera angle and audio track of the multi-cam clips in your draft out into its own lane, so you can see which angle each clip is using. Switch it off to fold them back into one.

Speakers

Speakers, at the bottom of the toolbar under a divider, opens the panel where you set which speaker maps to which face on camera and which audio track. Camera switching follows those assignments.

The Apps tab

The Apps tab holds the cleanup passes that run across a whole draft at once, alongside apps like Captions and Effects. It sits at the top of the project panel, beside [Project]. Click [Apps], then click the one you want.

  • [Remove silence]: tightens the pauses between sentences. Pick how much room to leave, or choose [Restore] and click [Apply] to put every pause back.

  • [Cut filler words]: removes hesitations, hedging, and repeated phrases. Pick which categories to cut and how aggressive to be.

  • [Speaker audio settings]: choose whether a speaker's assigned tracks play only while they are talking, or stay on throughout.

  • [Check names and terms]: corrects names and jargon the transcript got wrong, before they reach your export.

Note: Every tool is listed even when you are looking at a source file rather than a draft, and clicking one that edits a draft will ask you to pick a draft first. [Cut filler words] works only when at least one file in the draft was transcribed in English.

Keyboard shortcuts

Selection, Razor, Zoom, Hand, Add marker, Snap, and Adjust audio gain each have a keyboard shortcut, and Selects ships presets that match Premiere, Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve. Adjust audio gain opens the audio settings of the selected clips in the [Adjust] tab. It is [G] on the Premiere and DaVinci Resolve presets and [Ctrl + Alt + L] on the Final Cut Pro preset. Open the full reference from [More] then [Shortcuts] in the floating toolbar, or from [Keyboard shortcuts] in the settings menu.


FAQs

Where did Cut tools go?

Cut tools moved out of the floating toolbar. Remove silence and Cut filler words now live in the [Apps] tab of the project panel, next to the [Project] tab, alongside Speaker audio settings and Check names and terms.

Where are the camera switching settings?

There is no camera switching settings panel any more. Camera switching runs through chat, so ask for it in the [Assistant] panel and describe how you want the cameras to cut. The [Speakers] button at the bottom of the floating toolbar is still where you assign each speaker to a face on camera and an audio track, which is what switching follows. Learn more in Set up speakers, cameras, and audio for multi-cam.

I cannot find the Zoom and Hand tools

Zoom and Hand are in the [More] menu, the three-dot button in the floating toolbar. Only Selection and Razor have their own buttons. You can also press Z for Zoom and H for Hand on any preset.

Cut filler words says it isn't available

Cut filler words needs a draft where at least one file was transcribed in English. If your footage is in another language, the app opens with "This app isn't available for this timeline". When you are looking at a source file rather than a draft, the app still opens, and pressing its button shows "Select a timeline to work on".

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