Clips, takes & transitions

Combine videos and add transitions in one project: other videos, new takes and recordings, in any order, joined with a cut, fade, crossfade or slide.

Combine videos in one project #

To combine videos on your Mac, add them to one ScreenCameo project as clips. A clip can be another video, such as an intro, b-roll or a phone video, or another ScreenCameo recording. Recordings keep their cursor, clicks, camera and automatic zooms.

Clips sit side by side on the Video lane and play as one video. To cut parts out of a single clip instead, see cut and trim. When you’re done, export the whole thing as one file.

Add videos or recordings #

1. Click Clips in the timeline toolbar.
2. Choose Add Videos or Recordings at Playhead…, Add at the Start… or Add at the End….
3. Select one or more files and click Add. Hold Cmd to pick several; they’re added in the order you selected them.
4. Or drag files from Finder straight onto the timeline. A blue line shows where they’ll go. Drop them on the preview to add them at the playhead.

ScreenCameo copies each file into the project, so it keeps working if you move or delete the original. Phone videos are turned upright automatically.

Record another take #

Missed a step? Record a fresh take without leaving the project.

1. Click Clips → Record Another Take. The editor steps aside and the Capture Bar opens.
2. Record as usual. Press Option+Shift+6, or click Stop, when you’re done.
3. The new take is added to the end of the project with its own automatic zooms, and the editor comes back.

Reorder, trim and remove clips #

1. Drag a clip left or right on the Video lane to move it. A blue line shows where it will land. A single click only moves the playhead.
2. Double-click a clip to select it. You can also click it again in the same spot.
3. Drag a selected clip’s edges to trim it. The preview shows the frame at the edge.
4. Press Delete to remove the selected clip.

Right-click a clip for more:

A selected clip also shows these settings in the inspector, under Speed, Audio and Transition into this clip. More on speed and mute in Speed up or mute a clip.

Add transitions between clips #

A transition is how one clip hands over to the next. Every join starts as a plain cut.

1. Click the round marker between two clips on the timeline.
2. Choose Cut, Fade through black, Crossfade or Slide.
3. Open the marker again and pick a Length: 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.5 or 2 s. New transitions last 0.5 s.
4. Click Use for all clips to put the same transition on every join.

Fade in and out of black #

You can also fade the whole video in from black at the start, or out to black at the end.

1. Click Clips → Fade In and Out, then Fade In from Black (1 s), Fade Out to Black (1 s) or No Fades.
2. For another length, drag the white dot at the top corner of the first or last clip.
3. Or right-click that dot and pick None, 0.5, 1, 1.5 or 2 s.

Start from a video you already have #

You don’t need a ScreenCameo recording to start. Any MP4 or MOV video can become a project.

1. On Home, drop videos onto the Start from a video you already have card, or click Choose Videos… on it.
2. You can also click Create from Video… in the Home toolbar, or choose File → Create Project from Video….
3. Pick one or more videos. A new project opens with them on the timeline, in the order you picked.
4. Add zooms, a device frame, captions, text and transitions like you would on any recording.

Captions on every clip #

Open the Captions tab and click Generate Captions. ScreenCameo transcribes every clip with sound: your recording, other takes and imported videos. Each caption stays with its clip when you reorder, and .srt subtitle files use the right times. More in Captions.

Effects on any clip #

Zooms (Z), spotlights (H), text (T) and blur areas work on imported clips too. Move the playhead onto the clip and add them as usual.

Shortcuts on this page#

See every shortcut

If something’s off#

Transitions Between Clips is greyed out

It needs at least two clips. Add a video or record another take first.

I can’t delete the last clip

A project always keeps one clip. Create a new project to start over.

The video got shorter after adding a transition

That’s expected for Crossfade and Slide: both clips play at once during the shared part. Pick Fade through black to keep the length.

Zooms on an imported video aim at the middle

Imported videos have no cursor data. Select the zoom and drag the purple dot to aim it.