Edit video by editing the script

In Rooster the script is the edit. Every word in it is tied to the moment it was said, so removing words from the script removes that stretch of the video, and the timeline and the export follow.

Your recording is never changed. A cut is an instruction the project keeps, which is why every cut can be put back.

Move around the script

• Click a word to move the playhead to the moment it was said.
• Select some words to move the playhead to the first of them, ready to play the selection.

Cut words from the video

1. Select the words you do not want - a stumble, a repeated take, a tangent. A small bar appears just above the selection.
2. Press Delete, or press Cut in that bar.

The words leave the script and playback skips them. A ¦ mark stays in their place, so you can always see where something was cut.

You can also right-click a selection, or press More in the bar, and choose Cut from the video, which shows how long the cut is.

Put a cut back

1. Click the ¦ mark to select it.
2. Press Restore in the bar that appears over it.

Or right-click the ¦ mark and choose Restore removed media. To step back through your last few edits instead, use Undo (⌘Z) and Redo (⇧⌘Z).

Fix a misheard word without touching the video

Outside Correct mode, typing in the script changes nothing - Rooster shows Typing does not change the script and says how to fix words instead. To fix the transcript itself:

1. Select the wrong words within one sentence.
2. Press Correct in the bar over the selection, or the C key. A box opens at the selection.
3. Type the right words in Corrected text and press Return.

The words and the captions change; the video and its length do not. For a run of fixes, Correct mode lets you type over the script itself. See Correct the transcript.

Remove words from the transcript but keep them in the video

Sometimes the words are wrong but the moment is right - music, a cough the transcript turned into a word. Select them and choose Edit > Remove from Transcript (⌥Delete). They leave the script, and the video keeps playing through them.

Cut and paste do not move video

Rooster does not reorder a video by cutting and pasting words. Outside Correct mode, Cut and Paste in the script show a note - Cut does not move media in Rooster, or The script cannot be pasted into - rather than move anything. To move part of a video, drag its clip on the timeline.