TL;DR
No project is locked out of syncing. Add media and build synced timelines in any project, at any time, old or new.
Your sync work is never lost. The project exists from the moment you add files, and everything after that saves as you go.
The Prep page is gone. Adding files creates your project and opens it straight on the timeline.
On September 9th, 2026, everything the Prep page did moved into the editor. Below is what that fixes, and what it changes day to day.
What this solves
No project is locked out of syncing
Before, you could add new files to an existing project, but you could not group those files into a new synced timeline. Syncing was something that happened once, at the beginning, and that was your only chance.
Now you can add media and build synced timelines whenever you want, in any project. Finished a shoot, then got the second camera's card a day later? Add it and sync it.
Learn more in Sync your files and Add media to an existing project.
Your sync work is saved from the start
Prep was a staging area that sat outside your project. If you spent an hour lining up a difficult multicam shoot and closed Selects before analyzing, the project had not been created yet, so the sync went with it. Next time you opened Selects you started from scratch.
That is gone. The project exists the moment you add your files. Everything you do after that is saved as you go: the synced timelines you build, the clips you nudge into place, the folders you sort things into.
Close Selects halfway through a sync, come back tomorrow, and it is exactly where you left it.
The Prep page is gone
Adding files to Selects creates the project for you and opens it on the timeline. There is no separate setup step to get through first. Your files land in the [Project] panel and you work from there.
Everything Prep used to do is still available. It just happens in the editor now.
Nothing runs on its own any more
Prep used to set up your main timeline and run the sync as soon as your footage was in. That does not happen now.
Your files are added to the project and nothing else happens to them. They are not synced, not analyzed, and not placed on a timeline. They sit in the [Project] panel until you do something with them.
You decide three things, in whatever order suits you: which files belong together, when to sync them, and which ones are worth analyzing.
When a project opens, chat offers to check your footage for you, but it waits for you to click before it does anything.
The trade is a little more deciding in exchange for a lot less waste. You are not spending credits on footage you were never going to use.
Where things moved
In Prep | Now |
The + button at the bottom left of the [Project] panel | The + button at the top of the [Project] panel |
[Add media files] | + > [Media] |
[Import a synced timeline] | + > [Import synced timeline] |
[Analyze media for edit] | Select your files, then [Analyze N clips] |
[View synced] | Right click a synced timeline and choose [Edit synced timeline] |
Prep set up your main timeline for you | Right click a selection and choose [Create synced timeline with selection] |
Synced timelines you made before this update are locked
Open one and Selects tells you "This timeline is analyzed and can't be edited." Its clips cannot be moved, added, or removed.
Older synced timelines were analyzed as a single unit, so the analysis is attached to the timeline rather than to the files inside it. Changing the alignment would leave that analysis pointing at the wrong places.
You can still open one, play it back, and build drafts from it exactly as before. If you do need to change the alignment, select the same files in the [Project] panel and create a new synced timeline from them. This works in older projects as well as new ones.
Synced timelines you build now are not locked by analyzing them, because analysis runs on the individual files.
FAQs
Do I need to do anything to my existing projects?
No. Your projects, drafts, and analysis are all still there and still work exactly as they did.
Will I lose my sync if I close Selects halfway through?
No, not any more. Your project is created as soon as you add files, and everything you do after that is saved as you go. This was the main thing Prep got wrong.
Why is my old synced timeline locked?
It was analyzed as one unit, so its analysis is tied to the timeline rather than to the individual files. Selects locks it rather than let a change leave the analysis pointing at the wrong footage.
My old synced timeline is locked. How do I re-sync those files?
Select the same files in the [Project] panel, right click, and choose [Create synced timeline with selection]. You get a fresh synced timeline you can edit normally. This works in older projects too.
Where do I analyze my footage now?
In the [Project] panel. Hover a single file and click [Analyze], or select several and click [Analyze N clips] at the bottom of the panel. Selects shows the estimated credits and your remaining balance before it starts.
Do I have to sync before I analyze?
No. The order is up to you, and you can do either without the other. Learn more in Sync your files.
Why does nothing happen when I add my footage?
That is intentional. Selects waits for you to say what belongs together and what is worth analyzing, so you are not charged for work you did not ask for.
Where did the Prep chat go?
It moved to the timeline. When a new project opens, Selects Agent offers to check your footage, sync your angles and audio, or suggest a first cut.