# Web Editor basics

The Web Editor lets you cut a Drama Studio film in the browser, from the takes the film already has. You can make several **edits** of one film, for example a 16:9 full film, a vertical trailer and an ad, all from the same media pool. Nothing is copied.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
  P["Film media pool<br/>(takes, episode cuts, uploads)"] --> E["Edit<br/>timeline + preview"]
  E -- "Render a draft" --> D["Draft file<br/>(for review)"]
  D -- "Send for approval" --> A["Approved"]
  A -- "Export final" --> F["Final file<br/>(back in the media pool)"]
```

## Open the editor

1. Open the film in Drama Studio and press **Edits** in the project header.
2. Press **Create edit**, give it a name and pick a frame: **16:9 · Landscape**, **9:16 · Vertical**, **1:1 · Square** or **4:5 · Portrait**.
3. Press **Create and open**. The editor opens with the film's whole media pool.

In a workspace, the director, editors, the Owner and Admins can create and change edits. Your changes are saved automatically.

## The screen

- **Centre:** the preview. It shows exactly what the render will draw.
- **Bottom:** the timeline with video, text and audio lanes.
- **Right:** the inspector for the selected clip.
- **Left:** the panels below.

| Panel | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Media pool** | Everything the film has made, plus your uploads. Click to add at the playhead, or drag onto the timeline. |
| **Text** | Adds a 3-second text clip at the playhead. Edit the words in the inspector. |
| **Transitions** | Eight transitions, such as fade, fade to black, zoom and wipe, applied to the cut after the selected clip. |
| **Visual** | The edit's frame, and crop, scale, position, rotate, flip, speed and opacity of a clip. |
| **Audio** | Music and sound effects: your uploads, or the built-in library of free (CC0) music and effects. Volume, mute and fades for any clip. |
| **Subtitles** | Generated from the film's dialogue, or imported from an .srt or .vtt file. |
| **Finish** | Filter, colour and video fade of a clip. |

## Uploads

You can add your own files to the media pool:

| Type | Formats | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Audio | MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV, OGG, Opus, FLAC | up to 100 MB and 10 minutes |
| Video | MP4, M4V, MOV, WebM | up to 250 MB and 2 minutes |
| Image | PNG, JPG, WebP | up to 20 MB |

Uploads are converted on our servers before you can use them. You must have the rights to anything you upload.

## Render a draft

Press **Render** to make a draft file you can watch and share for review.

- Choose the **Resolution** (720p or 1080p) and **Frame rate** (24, 25 or 30 fps). Drafts default to 720p.
- Optionally tick **Normalize loudness** (sets the film to −14 LUFS) and **Burn in subtitles**.
- The dialog shows the **Estimated cost** and which wallet it is **Paid from** before you start.
- Rendering runs on our servers, so you can close the tab. If a render fails, the credits come back automatically.

### What a render costs

| Resolution | Credits per minute of the edit |
|---|---|
| 720p | 6 |
| 1080p | 10 |

The minimum is 2 credits per render. Clips that take more work to draw cost a little more: sped-up, rotated or dimmed clips, colour changes, video fades and burned-in subtitles each add a share. The dialog always shows the exact price.

### Limits

- **An edit can be up to 10 minutes long.** Longer edits are refused before anything is charged.
- **Up to 2 renders can run at once per person, and 3 per workspace.** Extra renders show **Waiting for a free render slot…** or are refused until one finishes.

## Approval and final export
In a workspace film, an edit is approved before it is exported as final:

1. **Render** the current version first, so the approver sees exactly what you send.
2. Press **Send for approval**. The workspace Owner and Admins are notified, and the version is locked. Press **Withdraw** to keep editing.
3. The Owner or an Admin watches the render, then presses **Approve** or **Send back** with a note.
4. After approval, press **Export final**. The final file is the approved cut at full quality, and it joins the film's media pool when it is ready.
5. To change an approved edit, press **Start new version**. The new version needs approval again.

On a personal film there is no approval step: you can press **Export final** whenever you like.

Viewers and other workspace members see only the approved edits of an approved film, with their final exports.