This quick start takes you from your footage to a finished, exported video in Selects. You direct the edit, Selects does the work, and you can step in by hand at any point.
You can edit with Selects chat, or with an AI agent you already use: your own Claude or ChatGPT subscription, or the Selects MCP. Learn more in Which AI setup should you use in Selects?.
Tip: Download the Selects app to get started. It's free to use, and new users get 3,600 free trial credits to try the native Selects AI features.
Step 1: Add your footage
To add your footage, open Selects and drag your video files or a folder anywhere onto the Home screen. Selects creates a project and opens it on the timeline. Nothing is synced or analyzed yet, and nothing uses credits until you say so.
You can also describe the video you want in the chat box on the Home screen. To include files, click the + in the chat box and choose [Attach a file] first.
Tip: No footage? Describe your idea in the Home chat box and Selects builds the video from scratch. You can also paste a link to a video you like and tell Selects what to take from it. The options under the chat box help you start either way.
Note: Shot with more than one camera, or recorded audio on a separate device? Sync those files so your angles and audio line up. Select the files in the [Project] panel, right-click, and choose [Sync]. Selects opens them as a synced timeline. Click [Sync clips] there to line them up. Learn more in Sync your files.
Step 2: Analyze your footage
Analyzing your footage gives Selects a transcript, speakers, topics, and a description of what is on screen. This is what chat, or any AI agent you connect, edits from, so your first cut is built on what you filmed.
Click [Analyze N clips] at the bottom of the [Project] panel. [Analyze media for edit] opens with every clip checked. Uncheck anything you do not want analyzed, compare the estimated credits with your balance, then click [Analyze].
We recommend analyzing your footage before you ask chat to build a draft. Without the transcript and visual analysis, chat does not have much to work with. If you ask chat first, it shows you the credits for analysis and waits for you to confirm.
You can keep working while analysis runs. Leave Selects open until it finishes.
Step 3: Check names and speakers
Once analysis is done, take a minute to check that names and key terms were transcribed correctly and that your speakers are labeled. Fixing them now saves corrections later.
Step 4: Ask chat for a first cut
To get a first cut, describe the video you want in chat. Chat builds the draft from your analyzed footage, so finish the analysis in Step 2 first.
Note: Editing by hand does not need analysis. Creating drafts with chat, removing silence, cutting filler words, and adding captions all need analyzed footage.
Chatting uses Selects credits unless you connect your own Claude or ChatGPT plan or use the Selects MCP. For example:
"Cut this down to a 5 minute highlight and open on the strongest moment"
"Tighten the pauses and cut the repeated words"
"Cut this to follow my script", then paste the script in
Your draft appears on the timeline when it is ready. If you would rather build the draft yourself, you can create one by hand.
Step 5: Refine your edit
To refine your edit, give chat notes the way you would to an editor, and it makes the changes. To pin notes to exact moments, switch the [Assistant] panel to [Comments], leave comments as you watch, then click [Send comments to chat]. To give chat more context about a specific file, type @ in the chat input and pick the file.
You can also step in yourself at any point: edit the transcript like a text document, or trim, reorder, and add B-roll on the timeline.
Step 6: Add captions, effects, and graphics
To finish your video, open the [Apps] tab beside [Project]. Use [Captions] to turn your transcript into styled captions, and [Effects] to add text, transitions, zooms, and sound effects. For titles and animated graphics, ask chat for motion graphics.
Step 7: Export your video
To export your finished video, click [Export] in the top right and choose [Video].
You can also publish your video straight to YouTube or TikTok. In the same menu, under [Socials], choose [YouTube] or [TikTok].
Prefer to finish in another editing software? In the same menu, under [Handoff to], choose [Adobe Premiere], [Final Cut Pro], or [DaVinci Resolve]. Your edit points, track layout, and speaker labels come across, linked to your original media. Captions, effects, color, and graphics you added in Selects do not carry over, so export a video if you want to keep them.
