Zencastr Clips is a paid feature that transforms longer-form content into several shorter video clips optimized for a variety of social media platforms. Clips supports content in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. AI Clipping uses AI to select the clips from your content for you, while Manual Clipping allows you to select the specific segments to clip.
Before requesting Manual or AI-generated clips, you now can apply post-production enhancements to your Zencastr-recorded videos. This functionality enables customization of elements such as aspect ratio, video layout, background, logo, and title and caption styling, ensuring your clips reflect your distinctive brand or style preferences.
Manual Clips feature is available on all paid plans. AI Clips is available on the Grow plan or higher.
In this article:
Before You Clip
Before you customize your video and generate AI clips, keep in mind:
Postproduction elements can be applied for up to 6 participants at a time.
Certain elements, such as aspect ratio, video layout, video background, and watermark, can only be modified before the clips are generated.
Word correction and removal from transcript-based editing can only be done before the clips are generated.
Other elements, like title and caption styling, can be modified both before and after the clip generation process.
Accessing Postproduction Enhancements
To access and configure postproduction enhancements before requesting AI clips:
On your Dashboard, click on the Sessions tab in the left sidebar menu.
Under the ‘My Sessions’ list, click the name of the session that contains the recording you want to clip.
Locate the recording you want to clip and click the Preview button next to its name.
Click the Edit button.
In the top menu bar, click Audio & Video to customize the video’s aspect ratio, layout, background, watermark, and title and caption styling.
Adjusting Participants
In the Participants section manage participant selection and fine-tune individual video properties.
Participant Selection:
Click the check mark next to participants’ names to include or exclude them from the combined video.
Reordering Participants:
Drag and drop participants within the list to change their order in the combined video.
To manually rearrange participants within the video:
Layouts supported: Side Grid, and Symmetry layouts such as Horizontal, and Vertical available with even number of participants.
Click on a participant tile on the left side of the video preview, then drag and drop it to your desired position using your mouse.
Adjusting Individual Video Properties:
Begin by selecting the video aspect ratio and layout on the Audio & Video tab. These selections determine the appearance of individual participant videos within the combined video.
Next, under the Participants section, click the arrow (>) next to a participant's name to modify their video’s properties:
Name: Change the name of your participant.
Content Settings:
Replace Video: Upload an image to replace the video of the participant.
Horizontal: To adjust a participant's video within the frame. This lever allows you to shift the video left or right to achieve the desired placement within the frame.
Vertical: To adjust a participant's video within the frame. This lever allows you to shift the video up or down to achieve the desired placement within the frame.
Scale: Control how the participant’s video occupies its designated space in the layout. (Note: Scaling below 100 may result in frame gaps, prompting padding around these areas.)
Rotate: The rotate button allows you to adjust a video's placement within the frame by rotating it in degrees.
Opacity: Increase/decrease transparency levels of a participant's video.
Frame Settings:
Background Color: Add a background color to the video frame for each participant.
Horizontal: To adjust the participant's video frame within the layout, use the lever to shift the left or right to achieve the desired placement.
Vertical: To adjust the participant's video frame within the layout, use the lever to shift the video up or down to achieve the desired placement.
Width: To adjust the participant's video width within the layout.
Height: To adjust the participant's video height within the layout.
Border Radius: Adjust for straight or rounded corners on the participant's video.
Adjusting Audio Settings
In the Audio section select which audio enhancements are applied.
Adjusting Video Settings
Aspect Ratio
Aspect ratio is the width-to-height ratio. As this determines a video’s orientation and shape, selecting an aspect ratio is crucial for optimal display on various platforms. Zencast offers three aspect ratios:
16:9 – Horizontal, landscape orientation
9:16 – Vertical, portrait orientation
1:1 – Square
Different social media platforms recommend specific aspect ratios for uploads. Always refer to the respective platform's guidelines for the most up-to-date information.
Facebook In-Feed Video – 16:9
Instagram Reels – 9:16
LinkedIn – 16:9
TikTok – 9:16
YouTube Shorts – 9:16
X (formerly Twitter) – 16:9
To manage aspect ratios:
On the Audio & Video tab, under Aspect Ratio, select one of the available options.
Scale and Business plans allow customization of two separate videos with different aspect ratios prior to generating AI-clips.
Adding a Video: To add a video with a new aspect ratio, locate the "+" symbol at the top center of the screen to select the aspect ratio. Click the "Add" button next to the desired aspect ratio. To see a preview, click on the icon corresponding to each aspect ratio.
Removing a Video: Locate the "+" symbol at the top center of the screen to click the red remove button next to the corresponding aspect ratio.
Video Layout
The video layout determines the arrangement of participants' videos within the combined video. The layout options vary based on the number of participants. Some layouts offer adjustments for video position and participant size within the layout.
To select the video layout:
On the Audio & Video tab, under Layout, select one of the available options.
Video Background
By default, individual participant videos fill the entire combined video space. You can enhance the video’s look by adding an image, GIF, or video as a background.
To add a background:
On the Audio & Video tab, click the Upload button and select the media file from your computer.
For Images: The file type must be JPEG or PNG. The uploaded image will serve as the background behind the individual videos.
For GIFs: The file type must be GIF. The uploaded GIF will play continuously behind the individual videos.
For Videos: The file type must be MP4. The uploaded video will play on a loop, without audio, as the background of the individual videos.
Adjusting Watermark
On the Audio & Video tab, check or uncheck the check box beside Watermark to remove the Zencastr watermark or add your own watermark/logo to the combined video.
To remove the Zencastr watermark:
Next to Watermark, make sure the box is unchecked.
To add your own watermark/logo:
Next to Watermark, make sure the box is checked.
Click the arrow (>) to open the watermark properties.
Click the Upload Watermark button.
Select a JPEG or PNG file from your computer.
Position: Select where in the video you want the logo to appear.
Scale: Adjust the logo size.
Opacity: Increase/decrease transparency levels.
Adjusting Title and Caption Styling
In the Captions section customize the appearance and position of the clip title and captions.
Adjusting Title
To adjust the title:
Next to Clip Captions, make sure the box is checked.
Beside Clips Captions, click the arrow (>) to open the clip captions properties.
Next to Title, make sure Show is selected.
Position: Select the position of the title - top, center, or bottom of the video.
For top or bottom positions, further adjust the title's placement using the Vertical, Left, and Right spacing sliders.
Font: Change the title’s font, size, and color.
Outline: Opt for an outline or box style for the title, modifying the outline color, size, shadow color, and shadow offset.
Adjusting Captions
To adjust the captions:
Next to Clip Captions, make sure the box is checked.
Beside Clips Captions, click the arrow (>) to open the clip captions properties.
Next to Subtitle, make sure Show is selected.
Position: Select the position of the captions - top, center or bottom of the video.
For top or bottom positions, further adjust the caption placement using the Vertical, Left, and Right spacing sliders.
Font: Change the captions' font, size, and color.
Outline: Opt for an outline or box style for the captions, modifying the outline color, size, shadow color, and shadow offset.
Highlight Active Word: Toggle on/off to determine how many words display in the captions at a time.
‘Off’ displays one word at a time.
‘On’ displays two to six words at a time, highlighting the spoken (“active”) word in a different color. When selected, you can define the color and scale of the active word.
Applying Selected Enhancements to Clips
Once you've defined and reviewed all the desired settings, to apply them to your clips:
Click Content & Clips and click the film strip icon in the upper portion of the screen.
On the Customize your Clips insert, under Select Clip Frame, make sure the correct aspect ratio video is selected under Short Form Clips and Social Feed Clips.
Note: If you have a Scale or higher and are customizing two separate videos with different aspect ratios, ensure both videos have been tailored to your liking.On the Customize your Clips insert, click the Enable button.
Click the Apply button in the top right.
Click the Next button.
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 and clipping.
Result: A message indicates that clips are processing. When it completes, the necessary amount of credits will be deducted from your credits balance. Once clips have finished processing, they will appear on the Clips tab of your dashboard.