How to use CutBot

Tip: open this page in a separate tab (it opens automatically from the dashboard) so you can reference it while working on a project.

Simple mode

The 4-step Simple flow

A guided wizard. You don't need to know anything about video editing.

  1. 1

    Upload your media

    Drag photos and videos onto the drop zone, or click to browse. Mix formats freely — phone video, DSLR footage, stills from a shoot. CutBot stores them in its own media library so you can re-use them across projects.

  2. 2

    AI Review

    CutBot's AI watches your footage, picks the strongest moments, orders them, and proposes a cut with a pace suited to the content. A preview plays automatically. Like what you see? Keep going. Don't? Jump to the tweak step or bounce to Editor mode.

  3. 3

    Tweak

    Push a few sliders: length (15s / 30s / 60s / as-long-as-needed), energy (calm to high-impact), style (commercial, social, documentary), music (pick a track or let CutBot choose). The preview updates live. No destructive edits — tweak as much as you want.

  4. 4

    Export

    Pick an aspect ratio (16:9 for YouTube, 9:16 for Reels / TikTok, 1:1 for feed posts) and a quality. CutBot renders on dedicated hardware — most clips finish in under a minute. Download the MP4 or push it straight to a connected social platform from the Publish page.

Editor mode

The Editor, in 6 pieces

Every major part of the interface and what it does.

1. Sidebar — your asset library

Left edge of the editor. Five tabs:

  • Media
    Your uploads
  • Transitions
    Crossfade, wipe, cut
  • Text
    Titles & captions
  • Effects
    Color, blur, speed
  • AI
    Auto-cut, captions

Drag any item from a sidebar tab onto the timeline below.

2. Preview player

Top center. Shows whatever the playhead is over on the timeline. Press Space to play/pause. Updates live as you cut.

3. Toolbar — your cutting tools

Above the timeline. Three main tools and their keyboard shortcuts:

  • SelectV— move clips around, adjust lengths from the edges
  • Cut / SplitC— click a clip to split it at the playhead
  • TrimT— pull clip edges to tighten or extend

4. Timeline — where the edit lives

Three kinds of tracks stack vertically:

  • Video tracks — main footage and B-roll. Higher tracks render on top.
  • Audio tracks — original audio, voiceover, music beds, sound effects.
  • Text tracks — titles, lower-thirds, captions.

Zoom in/out with + and -. The playhead (vertical line) is what the preview shows.

5. AI panel — automation on demand

Tucked into the sidebar. A few things it'll do to your selection or the whole project:

  • • Auto-cut on silence (great for talking-head footage)
  • • Auto-caption (burns captions into a text track)
  • • Suggest B-roll inserts based on spoken content
  • • Beat-sync cuts to the music track
  • • Color match between clips

6. Save & Export

Save with Ctrl+S (it's also auto-saved after idle). The edit is a non-destructive EDL — your originals are never touched. Export opens a dialog for resolution, aspect ratio, and codec. Rendering happens on a GPU-backed worker; you'll see progress and can keep editing while it runs.

Handy shortcuts: Ctrl+Z undo · Ctrl+Shift+Z redo · Ctrl+C copy selected · Space play/pause.

Every hotkey above is also listed by hovering a toolbar button.

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