01
AudienceWho is it for?
Know your audience
It starts with knowing the audience.
- What viewers care about
- What they already know
- How much to explain
- Examples you choose
- What they should take away
Editing video
with Codex
You can’t edit a video without knowing what you’re making. Codex also needs to know what files it has, what was said, and what to inspect in the picture before it starts making cuts.
01What are we making?Audience · Story · Length · Format · Feeling
02What are we working with?Cameras · Screens · Audio · Graphics
03What did they say?Dialogue · Timing · Speakers · Selects
04What can Codex see?Footage · Screens · Continuity · Quality
Four questions before
the first cut.
Answer these questions in order so Codex does not have to guess.
01. What are we making?
You can’t edit a video without knowing what you’re making. Codex needs this even more than a human editor.
02
StoryWhat needs to land?
Make the point land
Once we know who we're making it for, we need to give the story some structure. Codex can definitely help here but make sure it's locked in before asking it to edit.
- Opening hook
- Core message
- Order of key moments
- What gets cut
- Final takeaway
03
LengthHow long should it run?
Every second counts
There is no perfect video length. A video should be as long as the story needs it to be. That said, having a general range will help Codex make better decisions.
- Target runtime
- Number of story beats
- Time spent on each
- What can be removed
- Pacing between moments
04
FormatWhere will people watch?
Fit the format
Is this video a long form 16:9 video or are we creating a 90-second reel for social media? Being explicit with these decisions helps Codex when choosing where to place elements on screen and composing clips in the edit.
- Aspect ratio
- Platform requirements
- Text readability
- Screen composition
- Safe areas and cropping
05
FeelingHow should it feel?
Set the right tone
This one is a little harder to specify to Codex but even something as simple as “upbeat launch animation” or “documentary style explanation” will help Codex understand the type of video it is making.
- Editing rhythm
- Music and sound
- Color and visual style
- Energy and tone
- Moments to linger on
02. What are we working with?
Picking up where we left off yesterday, now that we know what we’re making we need to create an inventory of the assets we’ll use for the video.
Cameras
What footage was captured?
Know your footage
This usually starts with camera footage. Have Codex analyze all of your footage so that it knows what it is working with.
- Available camera angles
- Strongest takes
- Speaker visibility
- Picture quality
- Camera and audio sync
Give Codex this job
Check every clip, flag picture or sound problems, and group different versions of the same line or moment.
Screens
Are the demos complete?
Review the screens
If this is a demo that will include screencasts, have Codex take a peek at these too. Is everything readable? What are the focal points of the demo? (e.g. cursor movement, typing, etc.) Is sensitive information shown that might need masked? Codex can help with this and more.
- Recorded workflows
- Key product moments
- Cursor movement
- Interface readability
- Missing demo coverage
Give Codex this job
Watch the recording from start to finish. Mark key clicks, hard-to-read text, missing steps, and anything private that should be hidden.
Audio
Which sound should we use?
Find the best audio
While Codex can't “listen” to audio, it does have ways to analyze it. For dialogue, have Codex transcribe it both in a traditional and word-by-word format. Have it analyze for director cues like “that was perfect” which indicates a good take.
- Dialogue recordings
- Director/Producer cues
- External audio files
- Noise and dropouts
- Music and SFX
Give Codex this job
Transcribe dialogue in normal and word-level formats, then search for cues like “that was perfect.”
Graphics
What visuals are needed?
Gather visual assets
Help Codex with any other graphics that are needed: titles and L3 styles, including any pre-installed templates; brand guidelines; motion graphics templates and guidelines; and any other logos, screenshots, etc. that you want to use. Specify these upfront to avoid surprises!
- Titles and lower thirds
- Approved brand assets
- Logos and icons
- Screenshots and stills
- Motion graphics
Give Codex this job
List every file, template, and brand rule. Locate or request anything that is still missing.
03. What did they say?
Up next we have one of the core fundamentals of Codex video editing: transcription. Codex can’t “watch” a video the way we do. Transcription gives it the words; the next phase covers what it can inspect in the picture.
01
DialogueWhat did they say?
Capture every word
Models are fantastic with words though and many videos have a lot of them.
- Complete spoken dialogue
- Product names and terms
- Corrections and restarts
- Filler words and pauses
- Hard-to-hear phrases
This helps with
Finding any line quickly and seeing exactly what was said in each take
02
TimingWhen does each line happen?
Timing is everything
Audio transcription has a lot of options. The most important one for editing with Codex is creating both a normal and a word-level transcript. Word-level transcripts give Codex extra precision in knowing when words are spoken and where pauses occur which helps with making cuts.
- Word-level timestamps
- Sentence boundaries
- Source clip timecodes
- Pauses between lines
- Exact quote ranges
This helps with
Making cleaner cuts and jumping back to the original clip
03
SpeakersWho is speaking?
Identify the speakers
Another transcription must is speaker diarization. This tells Codex who is speaking. Codex can distinguish between a presenter and director or between multiple people in an interview. This can help with auto-switching cams in interviews or ignoring non-presenter lines in cuts.
- Presenter dialogue
- Interview responses
- Voiceover narration
- Director/Producer cues
- Overlapping speakers
This helps with
Switching cameras when the speaker changes and leaving directions out of the cut
04
SelectsWhich moments are strongest?
Find the best takes
The transcript is usually what decides the best clips to use. Codex can determine: Did they stutter? Did the producer react positively? Which take matched the script best? Which take had the best pacing? This is very powerful for a model that can't “see” or “hear.”
- Strongest deliveries
- Quotable moments
- Duplicate or alternate takes
- Script adherence
- Missing dialogue
This helps with
Making a short list of the clips worth using first
What Codex can check in transcription
Codex can compare the words, timing, and reactions in each take, then explain why one should be used.
What to checkQuestionWhat to do
DeliveryDid they stutter or restart?Use another take or cut around it
ReactionDid the producer respond positively?Mark the take the team liked
AccuracyWhich take matched the script?Use the take that says the right thing
PacingWhich read moved best?Start with the take that flows best
04. What can Codex see?
We’re editing video so let’s talk about what Codex can see 👀
01
FootageWhat's on camera?
Study each shot
- Shot composition
- Speaker expressions
- Camera angles
- Background details
- Useful visual moments
02
ScreensWhat is in the screencasts?
Inspect the screens
If you have a demo, let Codex take a look at it. Some things this can help with:
Are you revealing unreleased info? (we would never...) Do the demos show what the script says they should? Is it easy to read what's on screen?
I've seen Codex catch things I 100% missed.
- Demo completeness
- Check for sensitive info
- Cursor movement and clicks
- Text readability
- Script coverage
03
ContinuityAre the visuals consistent?
Check continuity
Consistency is very very important when making videos. Viewers are sensitive to a lot of things they might not even be aware of (e.g. keeping camera moves consistent).
Codex can be an extra set of “eyes” to look at an edit and determine whether anything is inconsistent.
- Matching camera angles
- Consistent screen states
- Wardrobe and appearance
- Lighting between takes
- Movement across cuts
04
QualityIs each shot usable?
Spot visual issues
Speaking of consistency, one of the biggest sources of inconsistency is simple errors that might be present in one shot but not others.
If Codex finds a mistake in one take you can have it look to see if it can find a take without the mistake automatically!
- Focus and sharpness
- Exposure and contrast
- Motion blur or instability
- Cropping and safe areas
- Visual glitches and artifacts
Codex is great at analyzing camera footage. It'll use ffmpeg and ffprobe to analyze it. You can get as fine grained with this as you want. I often start with scene detection and go from there.
After Codex knows where the scenes are you can get even more detailed.
For instance, if I want to replicate an animation I like I will provide a video of it to Codex and have it analyze it frame by frame and figure out the animation curve. It's pretty powerful!