ClutchCut Video Help

ClutchCut Video opens to an empty project. To begin, import media (toolbar → Import or ⌘O), drag files onto the timeline, or start with a new project (⌘N).

• Supported formats — MP4, MOV, M4A, WAV, MP3, PNG, JPG, WebP, HEIC, SRT, VTT, .tts.json.
• Add tracks — video, audio, text, image, effect, and emoji tracks via the toolbar or right-click on the track area.
• Save / Open — projects save as .clutch JSON bundles. Auto-save runs periodically.

All edits support unlimited undo/redo (⌘Z / ⌘⇧Z).

• Split clip — position playhead, press B or right-click → Split.
• Trim — drag the left or right edge of a clip. Hold ⌥ for ripple trim.
• Move clip — drag the clip body. Hold ⌘ to disable snap.
• Ripple delete — select clip, press ⌘⌫ to delete and close the gap.
• Multi-select — click then Shift-click or drag a selection box. Nudge all selected with , / ..
• Snap to grid — toggle with S.
• Freeze frame — press F to insert a still at the playhead.
• Zoom — ⌘+ / ⌘- to zoom in/out, ⇧Z to zoom to fit.

• 11 cinematic effects — Snow, rain, lightning, particles, dust motes, fireflies, ink wash, paper texture, light leaks, fog, and more. Applied as overlay tracks.
• Ken Burns animation — 7 presets (zoom in/out, pan left/right/up/down, drift). One-click batch-apply across an entire image lane.
• Page Flip transitions — 3D page curl and paper slide for slideshow tracks.
• Emoji overlays — 12 built-in emojis with 6 animation types (bounce, pulse, float, spin, wiggle, static).
• Freehand drawing — Draw directly on the canvas with shape and drawing tools.
• Smart Crop — AI saliency tracking dynamically crops horizontal video to 9:16 vertical, keeping the subject centered.

AI Story to Images (Pro)

Feed in a script — AI reads the full narrative, splits it into scenes at natural story boundaries, and generates a unique image for each scene. Images are placed on the timeline in sync with audio narration. Character consistency is maintained via a visual reference extracted from the full script.

AI Auto-Masking (Pro)

Toggle masking on any video track. Apple Vision framework isolates subjects, removes backgrounds, or blurs faces — all on-device. Layer masked subjects over other video or image tracks for compositing.

Auto-Captions (Pro for unlimited)

Speech recognition generates timed subtitles. Free tier supports the first 5 minutes; Pro removes the limit. Import/export as .srt, .vtt, or .tts.json.

Text-to-Speech (Pro)

Generate narration audio from text directly in the timeline. Uses the same Kokoro engine as ClutchCut Audio.

AI Single Image (Free)

Generate a single AI image from a text prompt. Placed directly on the timeline at the playhead.

• Export presets — Gaming Highlight (60 fps / 20 Mbps), Tutorial (30 fps / 15 Mbps), Podcast Video (30 fps / 5 Mbps), or custom.
• YouTube direct publish — authenticate once, then publish to YouTube without leaving the app.
• Subtitle export — SRT, VTT formats alongside video.
• Watermark — Free tier adds a watermark after 5:00. Pro removes all watermarks.

ClutchCut Shadow exports a .clutchmeta session manifest with all clips, markers, and audio-track metadata. Open it in Video to assemble clips on the timeline with markers pre-placed.

• Dual-track audio — Shadow's App Audio and Microphone tracks appear on separate lanes in Video's timeline.
• Session markers — Clutch, chapter, highlight, mistake, decision, and bug markers carry over.

After purchasing ClutchCut Video Pro:

1. You will be shown your CCV-… license key immediately after payment.
2. Open ClutchCut Video. Click the ClutchCut wordmark in the toolbar to open the About sheet.
3. Paste the key and click Activate Key. Pro features unlock instantly — no restart required.

Your key works on any Mac you personally own. Contact support@clutchcut.studio if you need help.