Zencastr Editing is a paid feature that enhances and combines your separate recorded audio and video files into a polished mixed file. Select and apply audio and video enhancements so your mix sounds and looks great. With text-based editing, adjust the transcript to make cuts to your mix.
This guide shows how to run a postproduction for recordings done in the ‘Record Audio, No Video’ mode or the ‘Record Audio. Show Video’ mode.
In this article:
Related Questions
Before You Edit
Editing can be run for up to 6 participants at a time.
Editing can be started after the host stops the recording and participants’ files are uploaded.
Audio and video postproduction enhancements are available for recordings done in all languages.
Text-based editing is available for recordings done in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish only.
Overview of Editing Steps For Audio
The following is a high-level overview of all the steps to use Zencastr editing for audio recordings. For more detailed information of each stage of the process, please see the other sections of this guide.
To mix, enhance, and edit a recording done in the ‘Record Audio, No Video’ mode or the ‘Record Audio. Show Video’ mode:
From your Dashboard: On the Sessions tab, under the ‘My Sessions’ list, click the name of the session.
On the Sessions tab: Locate the recording you want to edit and click the Preview button next to its name to open the preview of the recording.
On the Preview Page: Click the Edit button at the top right to open the Editor.
Note: If you want to use default audio and video enhancements, you can skip to step 7.In the Editor on the Audio & Video tab: Customize enhancements by selecting participants, applying audio enhancements, uploading images to your video mix, and adding bumpers.
In the Editor on the Content & Clips tab: Refine your content by applying smart filters, editing the transcript, and creating manual or AI-generated clips.
In the Editor on the Content & Clips tab: Click the Apply button at the top right to return to the Preview.
On the Preview Page: Click the Next button at the top right.
On the Review and Confirm insert: Review the summary of what you are getting and the credits cost, then click Run Now to start the postproduction.
Result: The postproduction will begin to run, and the necessary amount of credits will be deducted from your credits balance when the postproduction completes.From your Dashboard: Once the postproduction is complete, click the Sessions tab under the ‘My Sessions’ list, click the name of the session that you ran the postproduction on.
On the Sessions tab: Click the Postproductions list to display all postproductions run on this session.
From the Postproductions list: Locate the postproduction you want to download and click the 3-dot menu next to the name of the postproduction.
From the dropdown menu: Select Download to start the download of the postproduction.
Result: All your postproduction files will be zipped and downloaded to your computer.
1. Opening the Preview and Editor
To open Preview:
From a Recording page, click the Preview button.
ORFrom your Dashboard, on the Sessions tab, under the ‘My Sessions’ list, click the name of the session.
Locate the recording you want to edit and click the Preview button next to its name.
To open the Editor, click the Edit button in the top right corner of the Preview page.
Note: If you prefer to use the default enhancements, you don't need to click the Edit button and can skip ahead to the “Running the Postproduction” section.
2. Adjusting Audio and Video Settings
The Audio and Video tab in the Editor allows you to enhance the sound and appearance of your final combined file. You can select and customize audio enhancements for better sound quality and video enhancements for an improved visual experience.
Adjusting Participants
Under the ‘Participants’ section:
Select Participants: Check/uncheck participants to include/exclude in the mix.
Rename Participants: Click on participants to change their namesfor the video mix for certain layouts.
Reorder Participants: Drag and drop participants within the list to change their order in the mixed video.
Adjust Individual Participants’ Video Properties: Click a participant’s name to adjust their individual video settings such as position, scale, opacity, and frame.
Adjusting Audio Settings
Under the ‘Audio’ section:
Output Settings: Click to enable or disable individual audio enhancements such as the separate enhanced tracks option.
Soundboard: Check if you used the soundboard feature while recording to ensure it is included in the mix.
Adjusting Video Settings
While many audio-only creators might not consider using the video mix, customizing it can help repurpose your content for social media, especially for clips. If you'd like to tailor the video mix, see below. If not, you can skip this section.
Under the ‘Video’ section:
Aspect Ratio: Aspect ratio is the width-to-height ratio that determines a video’s orientation and shape. Click to select whether the mixed video is in landscape (16:9), square (1:1), or portrait (9:16) aspect ratio.
Layouts: Select a layout to add imagery to your video mix. You can add an uploaded image, GIF, or video for the entire merged video or individual images for each participant.
Watermark: Click to adjust or remove the default Zencastr watermark, or upload your own to appear on the mixed video.
Clip Captions: If you are creating manual or AI-generated clips, click to define the style, position, font, and color for the clip titles and captions.
Adjusting Bumpers
Under the ‘Bumpers’ section:
Intro: Click to add audio/video at the beginning of the mix.
For audio recordings, the intro can be an audio or video file in MP3, WAV, MP4, or MOV format.
Outro: Click to add audio/video at the end of the mix.
For audio recordings, the outro can be an audio or video file in MP3, WAV, MP4, or MOV format.
3. Adjusting Content and Clips
The Content and Clips tab allows you to refine your audio and video content with both AI-powered features and manual text-based editing. You can automatically enhance audio quality with smart filters, use the transcript to make precise cuts to your mix, and create shorter video clips either manually or with AI.
Adjusting Smart Filters
Remove Long Pauses: Toggle on to automatically shorten long pauses to a defined length.
Remove Filler Words: Toggle on to automatically remove basic filler words “um” and “ah” and/or advanced filler words such as repeated words and other fillers.
Clipping
AI Clips: Toggle on to let AI pick clips from your recording.
Manual Clips: Highlight text and select ‘create clips’ to create clips from your recording.
Note: Clipping features are only available for recordings in English, French, German, Portuguese, or Spanish. Additionally, AI Clips is only available on the Grow plan or above.
Transcript-Based Editing
Correct Word: Click on a word to correct how it appears in the transcript, without changing the audio in the mix.
Mute: Highlight text and select ‘mute’ to mute that audio in the mix but leave it in the transcript.
Remove: Highlight text and select ‘remove’ to cut that selection from the mix and the transcript.
4. Running the Postproduction
To run the postproduction:
On the Editor, click the Apply button to commit your selections.
Note: If you didn’t make any changes to the default enhancements, you can skip this step.On the Preview Page, click the Next button at the top right.
Note: If you aren’t hosting a podcast on Zencastr, skip filling out the Episode Info on the right section as it is for publishing an episode to a podcast.On the Review and Confirm insert, review the summary of what you are getting and the credits cost.
Click Run Now to start the postproduction.
Result: The postproduction will begin to run, and the necessary amount of credits will be deducted from your credits balance when the postproduction completes.
5. Getting and Downloading Postproduction Files
Once the postproduction is running, you can either close the Preview Page or stay on it. The postproduction will run in the background and you will receive an email when it completes.
Downloading Files From the Preview
If you stayed on the page while the postproduction ran, click the Download button in the top right corner of the Preview Page to download postproduction files.
Result: All your postproduction files will be zipped and downloaded to your computer.
Downloading Files From the Sessions Tab
To download postproduction files from the Sessions Tab:
From your Dashboard, on the Sessions tab, under the ‘My Sessions’ list, click the name of the session.
Click the Postproductions tab.
Click the 3-dot menu next to the name of the postproduction.
Select Download from the dropdown.
Result: All your postproduction files will be zipped and downloaded to your computer.
Downloading Files From the Recording Page
To download postproduction files from the Recording Page:
From your Dashboard, on the Sessions tab, under the ‘My Sessions’ list, click the name of the session.
Click the Join Session button at top.
On the Recording Page, locate and click the recording name that you ran the postproduction on.
On the Podcast Mixes track click the Download Audio Podcast and Download Video Podcast buttons.
Result: The individual files will download to your computer.
Note: The postproduction transcript is downloadable from the Preview Page or the Postproductions list on the Sessions tab, but can’t be downloaded from the Recording Page.
Related Questions
How long does it take for the postproduction to finish?
Postproductions normally finish in under an hour. The exact time can vary depending on the recording length and the number of participants selected.
Which languages is text-based editing available for?
Transcripts are automatically generated for all Zencastr recordings done in English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese, and can be obtained for uploaded content in these languages. Since text-based editing, which is available on the Content & Clips tab, relies on the transcript, it is available for these supported languages.
For recordings in other languages, you can still benefit from Zencastr’s powerful postproduction features available on the Audio & Video tab, including audio enhancements, AI-powered smart filters, and video layouts and customization, ensuring your content is polished and saving you significant manual editing time.
Can I turn off the video mix for my audio recording? And why do I even get a video mix when I only recorded audio?
At this time, it is not possible to turn off the video mix. However, you receive both a separate audio mix and a video mix so that you can choose to use only the mix(es) you need. Also, postproduction credits are deducted based on the overall recording time and not based on the number of files included in the postproduction.
The video mix is provided to help audio-only creators repurpose their content for other platforms like social media, especially if they are creating clips. By customizing the video mix, you can add a visual element to your content, making it even more engaging, versatile, and shareable on social media and other video-centric platforms.
Can I upload an audio file that I recorded elsewhere to edit?
Yes, you can upload a audio file that was not recorded on Zencastr to use with Zencastr Editing, but the features available will be more limited. This is because Zencastr cannot read source file information such as individual participants from audio not recorded on the platform at this time.
For uploaded audio, you can use most of the features on the Content & Clips tab. These include applying AI-powered smart filters to remove filler words and long pauses, using the text editor to remove words or segments from your final video, correcting words in your transcript, and creating manual or AI-powered clips.
The features you can use on the Audio & Video tab are more restricted. You won't be able to use audio enhancements to change the sound or most of the video enhancements. Despite these limitations, Zencastr Editing still provides valuable tools to enhance your uploaded audio files.