How do I add and manage media in the video editor?

You can add media to your video, whether uploading personal files, selecting from videos uploaded from ZenVideo, or selecting stock footage (for Standard, Advanced, Pro, Business, Premium, and Enterprise accounts). 

Once media is added to the video editor you can begin editing instantly.

In this article: 

• How to add media
• How to crop media 
• Duplicating media
• Reordering media
• Trim or extend media 
• Splitting media
• Removing media from the Timeline
• Deleting gaps between media
• Deleting uploaded media
• Fading the audio of the media in or out of scenes

How to add media

You can add photos or videos to your video in the video editor. Media will appear as element blocks in the Timeline. 

Supported file formats include: 

• Photo file types: JPG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PNG
• Video file types: 3GP, AVI, MOV, MP4, MPG, MTS, M2TS, WebM

To add new media:

1. Select Media from the left-side toolbar. 
2. Select the source of your media from the tabs at the top of the menu. 
   • Upload: Upload photos or videos from your device to the video editor. 
   • ZenVideo Record: Record your screen and/or the camera on your device.
   • Uploads: Choose from photos and videos you've previously uploaded to ZenVideo.
   • My Library: Choose from videos saved in your Library.
   • Stock (Standard, Advanced, Pro, Business, Premium, and Enterprise subscribers): Add footage from our stock footage collection.
3. Select the thumbnail of the media to add it to your Timeline. You can also select and drag the media to the Timeline. 

⚠️Note:  If you encounter a "Technical Difficulties" error while adding media, try again. If the issue persists, contact Support for further assistance. 

You can also incorporate pre-designed elements into your video and customize them to suit your video's needs. Learn more at 'How do I work with templates in the video editor?

How do I crop media? 

The inspector toolbar allows for manual or ratio-based auto-cropping of media.

To crop media: 

1. Choose the media you want to crop on the canvas.
2. Select "Crop" on the Inspector Toolbar.
3. In Custom crop mode, drag the anchor points on the bounding box to adjust the crop area.
4. Click the blue checkmark to finish.

Cropping by Ratio

To crop using a preset ratio (16:9, 9:16, 1:1), select "Ratio" mode in the Inspector Toolbar once more to activate the setting. 

How do I duplicate media? 

You can create exact copies of video clips, audio files, images, or other supported media types directly within the Timeline editing interface to quickly reuse media assets without needing to re-import or re-create them from scratch.

To duplicate media: 

1. Select the media element that you want to duplicate in the Timeline.
2. Right-click the media and select Duplicate from the menu.
3. A copy of the media will appear above the original in the Timeline at the position of the playhead.  Select and drag the media to the position you’d like it to play

💡Tip: You can also select Copy from the same menu and Paste the media on the Timeline in the position you’d like. 

How to reorder media

To change the order of your media, select the corresponding element block on the timeline and drag it to a new spot on the timeline.

💡Tip:  When you place media clips on top of each other so they are stacked on multi-tracks, they will overlap and play simultaneously. To ensure that your media plays in a sequence, arrange the clips horizontally along the timeline unless you would like multiple media to play simultaneously (e.g., you have multiple video clips playing simultaneously or are displaying photos while playing videos at the same time).

How to trim or extend media

You can trim or extend media in the Timeline.

To trim or extend media: 

1. Select the media clip in the Timeline to trim or extend. This will highlight the clip and display its adjustment handles.
   
2. Drag the handles 

• Shortening the Clip: Select and drag the edge towards the center of the clip to reduce its duration.
• Lengthening the Clip: Select and drag the edge away from the center of the clip to increase its duration. This will reveal more of the clip's content in the Timeline.

Note: If you've previously shortened a clip, you can always lengthen it again up to its original duration.

How to split media

The Split button divides a single media block into multiple. The media that you would like to split must be longer than 0.5 seconds. 

To split media: 

1. Select the media that you would like to divide in the Timeline
2. Drag the time indicator needle to the position that you would like to split the media element. 
3. Select the Split button on the top-left of the Timeline or select the S key on your keyboard.
   
4. Your media will be divided into two parts.

💡Tip: The Split icon will be grayed out if the needle indicator is less than 0.5 seconds from the beginning or end of the clip. Make sure to position the needle at least 0.5 seconds away from the edges to enable splitting.

How to remove media from the Timeline

Delete media from the Timeline by selecting the element block in the Timeline and selecting the Backspace/Delete key on your keyboard. 

You can also delete media by right-clicking the element block and selecting Delete from the overflow menu.

How to delete gaps between media element blocks 

If you have a space between media after rearranging or removing it, you can get rid of this space by selecting the Delete gap button when you hover over it.

 This will delete the gap and place the clip directly next to the clip before the gap. 

How to delete uploaded media

You can delete media you've uploaded to the video editor in the Uploads tab of the Media pane. 

To delete uploaded media: 

1. Select Media from the left-side panel. 
2. Select Uploads. 
3. Hover over the thumbnail of your media to display the Expand button.
   
4. Select the Expand button. 
5. Select the trash can icon in the lower right corner of the expanded menu. 

How to fade the audio of the media in or out of scenes

You can adjust the fade-in and fade-out of your audio track, regardless of whether you're using media from the Media Library or your own uploaded files. This can be adjusted in the inspector toolbar. 

To adjust the audio fade in/fade out: 

1. Choose the media block containing the background audio you want to adjust.
2. Select the Media Sound button in the Media Inspector toolbar to open the Media Sound menu.
3. In the Media Sound menu, under the Fade In/Fade Out sections, drag the slider or enter the desired duration in seconds to set the fade-in and fade-out points for the audio.