The first thing to look at is your audio waveform. Press spacebar and begin to preview audio and video.

Red = Cut

Green = Keep

Orange = FastForward

If the playhead delays when at a red section, chances are you recorded in Zoom or PowerPoint as VFR (Variable Frame Rate). See 'Got Ya' section below for the fix.

NOTE: For video over an hour segments are organized into 45 minute ‘Chunks’ but still output as a single file. Click 'Next Chunk' to access additional parts of your timeline.

AUDIO NORMALIZATION SETTINGS

If audio boundaries are not clearly defined and flat, for example you capture on a Road wireless mic or no mic, go to ‘Settings’ button, turn on ‘Volume Increase’, and restart app.

The audio waveform is now enhanced so cutting in TimeBolt is easer.

NOTE: If you turn on audio enhancement in settings the audio is degraded for PREVIEW ONLY and will still export normal.

CHANGE PREVIEW SPEED

•  Click the dropdown and select a default preview value such as 1.5x
•  Or, click the 'L' key to review up to 4x speed.

PREVIEW SILENCES ONLY

•  To preview only the silence to be cut —> ‘Flip Timeline Selection’ below the waveform. 

SAVE TIMELINE CUTS

Click Save Timeline Cuts blue icon below the waveform to save cuts as a JSON file. 

To reopen a saved project click 'Apply Timeline Cuts' and select the JSON. 

NOTE: Only paid accounts can save their work!!!

1) If the playhead won't play the cause is often a video recorded in Zoom or PowerPoint where the option 'enable for 3rd party editing software' is not clicked, so the file is recorded as a Variable Frame Rate. Your video needs to be in Constant Frame Rate. If recording in PowerPoint, use OBS or TimeBolt to capture.

For existing video files we recommend HandBrake to reencode at a constant frame rate. See article.

2) No zoom feature for the timeline

3) Only paid accounts can save

Video Tutorial:

| How to Edit Zoom video

| Flip Timeline Selection
 

| How to edit reaction videos on two separate audio tracks

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 For the vast bulk of recordings default settings are already best!

FILTER BELOW SOUND LEVEL

To capture more or less audio use 'Filter Below' sound level. (Not left/right padding)

Test a range between -30db to -45db. Increase to capture more audio, decrease to capture less. Any more or less is generally a bad idea.

REMOVE SILENCES LONGER THAN

Controls the number of cuts. If rendering in TimeBolt a value of .5 or greater is the recommended value.

Any value less than .5 seconds can result in too many cuts!

For less cuts, increase to .75 seconds or more.

IGNORE DETECTIONS SHORTER THAN

Used to remove random mic strikes, and filler sounds.

A value greater than .75 may cut off important connector words and is not recommended. To preview what's in the red super fast click flip timeline selection. 

LEFT PADDING

Left padding is the buffer amount before you start speaking.When you start to talk, audio is defined, so you can be aggressive with left padding, at .01 (but never less).

RIGHT PADDING

Right pads the end of a sentence. To catch long S and P sounds, leave right padding at .15. Any value less than .15 is not recommended.

If using transitions in TimeBolt, set left and right padding to .10 greater than the transition duration.

Click  'Update Silence Detection' button.

- Any value for right padding less than .15 is not recommended, and will cut off words.
- MKV files not supported
- If you use transitions, set transition duration to .1, and L/R padding to .15.

- If your audio timeline is all white to fix add '-' minus sign before filter below db level value. 

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| Default Settings in TimeBolt

Video Tutorial:

| Filter Below Setting
| Remove Silences Longer Than
| Ignore Detections Shorter Than
| Padding

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TimeBolt utilizes on-demand transcription services to transcribe the audio in the cloud, and return a cut list as a json to look for filler words (like, um, ah, so) and specific phrases.

The cost to run Umcheck is $3.00 for one hour of video. Your first three uses of Umcheck are on TimeBolt! 

STEPS TO RUN UMCHECK

1. Umcheck icon --> Start Audio Transcription
2. Pay the transcription fee. A new browser tab opens after the audio is uploaded, the cost per minute is shown,. Click proceed to pay, enter details, click pay.
3. After payment, allow two minutes for every ten minutes of video for Umcheck to run. Go for a walk, when you come back, and look at TimeBolt, you will see the transcript and filler words to be removed. You don't have to do anything, just let it populate. Do not stop the process. Just make sure you paid. An email with a link to the transcription is also sent.
4. Umcheck comes pre-populated with common filler words and phrases. To add your own simply type and separate by commas. Or click any word in the transcript.
5. Click 'Apply Timeline Cuts' to auto remove in TimeBolt

UMCHECK is in Beta.

1. Transcriptions are used only to auto detect filler words. To add overlays and captions to your video please use an NLE like DaVinci Resolve or our favorite for adding text to video, ClipScribe.
2. We have only tested on English dialect. We are interested to hear experience in other languages!
3. Umcheck is a TimeBolt technology that is a paid service. The type of word-by-word time coded transcriptions cost money to utilize. 

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Any word or scene can be cut or kept. To manually turn scenes on and off click the bar above the playhead. There is a split timeline selection button as well. 

Instead we recommend this: 

Click ’S’ to split the timeline
Click ‘L’ to start / speed up the playhead.
Click ’O’ to turn scenes on / off
Click 'P' to Punch in & out, and Alt/option + arrow keys to select the focus area.

Click 'M' for Markers

- If playback is glitchy or stutters, your file type is likely captured in Variable Frame Rate and that's not good. See 'Preview' section to troubleshoot. 

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| Edit Timeline Shortcuts

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Have to visually describe something? Make a rule to stop talking and then speed-up the scene in TimeBolt. Or fast forward silences under a specific duration to account for curser movements.

Click the bar above the playhead. Segments to be sped up are shown in orange.

You can choose to mute audio or keep in tact. Note that sped-up audio doesn't sound like a chip munk.

1. You cannot preview footage at sped up speed.

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| Export FastForward to FCPX

Video Tutorial:

| FastForward Silences

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Make chapters for YouTube faster than anyone on earth, or mark clips to combine into a highlight reel. 

- To create a marker click 'M'.

- Right Click --> Remove Marker. 

MAKE A SHORT

1. To mark a scene --> M.

2. To see just the marked scenes click 'Keep only Marked Cuts'.

3. Render a video in TimeBolt or export Marked clips XML.

4. To return to your cut timeline click 'Command + Z' for undo. 

YOUTUBE CHAPTER MARKERS

1. Click 'M' --> Right click and type in a title (no character limit).

2. Click the 3-dot icon  'Download Markers Text File'. The txt file is formatted to copy and paste into YouTube description. 

*If you enable TURBO MODE, download a corrected Markers TXT file on the TURBO screen. 

- Actual MARKERS do not export XML yet.
- Before clicking 'Keep only Marked Cuts', save your timeline. To switch back from Keep only Marked Cuts, click CMD/CNTL Z, or reapply Timeline cuts from the saved JSON file.

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| How To Use Markers

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Click the letter P to Punch in 125%, 150%, and 175%. 

Then: Alt/Cmd + Arrow Keys to select the zoom area.

Click P three times to reset. 

OR

Right Click, select the zoom amount, then zoom area.

- Not yet automated

 Blog:

| Announcing Punch

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Click drop down, select transition, and transition duration.

You must put left and right padding to .15, which is .05 higher than the transition duration. If you do not, the transition will make a popping noise when rendered.

- Transitions cannot be exported
- VIDEO WILL CLICK if you enable transitions, and do not make left/right padding .5 sec greater than the transition duration.

Video Tutorial:

|Transitions

Blog:

|Transitions

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Add background audio by selecting an mp3 file and ratio to music volume.

None

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To activate TURBO MODE click the three-dot icon.

Enter the values to save video down to meet a specific time constraint, or talk faster by a factor of your choice. 

EXAMPLE: To increase my words per minute by 10% I'd used a speed multiplier of 1.10. 

Click Add to Render Queue -- > Start Rendering

NOTE: If using MARKERS to make YouTube chapters all the timestamps will be too slow with TURBO on.

So with TURBO open, click the 3 dot icon for new chapters txt file with TURBO accounted for!

- Turbo mode will not export 

- Warning: people may be disappointed when they speak to you in real life :)

Video Tutorial:

|Turbo Mode

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To make a quick video you can render in TimeBolt.

1. Click —> Add To Render Queue
2. Click —> Start Rendering (button bottom right)

TimeBolt renders a video that comes close to matching the quality of the source file.

RENDER AUDIO ONLY FOR PODCAST

Click 3 dots next to ‘Add To Render Queue’ and select ‘Add to Queue as WAV’.

FOR LOSSLESS AUDIO / VIDEO

If you have additional design elements to add, or you just want to maintain lossless audio, we recommend you export XML into a free editor like Davinci Resolve. Learn more.

Limit of 136 kbs WAV audio. To render with lossless audio we recommend exporting XML to Da Vinci Resolve (free).

TROUBLESHOOT

Rendering video takes forever.

The issue is likely you set 'Remove Silences Longer than' to a value less than .5, thereby creating too many cuts.

TimeBolt errors out half way through when rendering. 

Three possible causes:

1. No hard drive space.  Either free up space or move to new HardDrive. 
2. The video name OR folder has an odd character in the name. (#%&). Rename it and try again. Make sure to save timeline cuts first!
3. You're on a PC with CUDA enabled in 'Settings' and your PC is having an issue with it. 

Playback is glitchy

The likely cause is your video is captured as Variable Frame Rate vs Constant Frame Rate. If so, use Handbrake to re encode at a CFR.

Note: This often happens when recording in 3rd party capture such as PowerPoint and Zoom (when 'Optimize for 3rd Party Editor' is not selected). Read Zoom blog post

After rendering with transitions, I hear a popping noise in the audio.

The problem is transition duration is not .05 less than your left/right padding. If your transition duration is .15, set left / right padding to .2

Video Tutorial:

|Render With Timebolt

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An XML is a lightweight text file with cut instructions from TimeBolt which can be imported into DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro.  

WHY USE XML?

•  Lossless audio / video quality rendering
• FastForward and PUNCH export XML
•  Cuts have full drag handle control

WE RECCOMEND

Do all cut work and enhancements inside TimeBolt, and then export a fully cut timeline into your design editor of choice. We recommend DaVinci Resolve as a free design editor if exporting XML. 

EXPORT XML

1. In TimeBolt: Click ‘Export XML’
2. In Resolve: Add raw source file to Media Manager
3. File —> Import —> Timeline
4. Uncheck ‘Auto import source clips into media pool', and Change Mixed Frame Rate Format to ‘Resolve’
5. Click OK.

NOTE

•  In Resolve you must enable additional audio tracks if recording multi track audio.
•  If your audio-video drift out of sync, your file was captured recording at a Variable Frame Rate format. You need to capture at a Constant Frame Rate. There is a button in Zoom settings to enable for 3rd party editors.

KEEP SILENCE

To keep only marked cuts but don’t delete detected silence in XML go to Settings —> Enable.

1. You must enable audio tracks in Premiere after export for all tracks to work. See video included.

2. Resolve doesn't link XML tracks. We can't control that. But you won't need to worry about cutting up a timeline because you did it all faster in TimeBolt! 

3. If Resolve crashes when applying the XML file, relocate the source file to a new drive or desktop. If that fixes the problem, Resolve can't find the file so deep in your folder structure. 

4. Markers do not export XML yet. For Premiere users to export Markers use TimeBolt extension.

Blog:

| XML into Premiere Blog Post

Video Tutorial:

| XML Into Resolve YouTube Tutorial

| Multi Track Audio XML into Premiere Tutorial 

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Export a fully cut timeline into Final Cut Pro. Each cut has full drag handle control in FCPX.

PROCESS

1. Select 'Export FCPXML'
2. Double Click the File in the Render Q
3. Open in Final Cut Pro
4. Double click the project

To detect silence but keep all the cuts, go to Settings --> Create Splits but don't delete detected silence.

PUNCH in/out and FastForward Silences will also export XML. 

FCPXML ERROR

If you get an error where FCPXML can't be found there are two possibilities:

1. You have an odd character symbol in the file name (%!&#_ect). OR one of the folder names has an odd character in it. Rename and it will work!
2. Final Cut search can't find it. Relocate raw source file to a closer directory in Documents. Start with your desktop. 
3. The video is recorded as a variable frame rate (not a fixed frame rate). This often happens with video recorded in PowerPoint, or in Zoom without enabled for 3rd party editor checked.

MULTI TRACK VIDEO

To edit multi-track video learn SHIFT for FCPX.

None. For any errors see troubleshooting in 'How to Operate' above. 

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The advantage of the plugin for Adobe over XML is the ability to cut multi-track camera footage.

1. Click 'Save Timeline Cuts'
File is saved as a JSON

2. Apply cuts with extension
Apply JSON File to each video and corresponding audio track.

Make sure master audio starts at 00:00 on timeline!

3. Cut the extra.
Silences and cut clips are stacked at then end of your timeline. (We cannot control this.)
Select and bulk delete.

To Install Adobe Plugin:

1. Download Extension
- MAC
- WINDOWS

2. Install the extension with the ZXP Installer for Mac / Windows.

3. After installed select Premiere Pro from the Side Panel. Drag and drop the TimeBolt Extension .zxp file into the ZXP Installer.

Once completed your extension can be found in Premiere Pro under Window > Extension > TimeBolt Extension.

- Video on how a recording error can cause Premiere extension to go out of sync and how to identify the issue here. 

I can’t get the ZXP installer to work.

•  Use the exact installer recommended here or the zxp will not install properly. You cannot use another installer other than the one recommended.
•  Still not working? Note the AEScripts ZXP Installer is a stand alone program from the AE Scripts Plugin Manager.

The TimeBolt extension shows in Premiere, but nothing happens when I click it.

•  Do a fresh install of TimeBolt. Follow these exact instructions or it won’t work:

Delete program

1. Delete folders Documents —> TimeBoltData & TimeBoltScratchPath
2. Empty trash
3. Restart
4. Reinstall TimeBolt here

Search Office Hours:

| How to use Plugin

Blog:

| Edit Multi Track Video in Premiere

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The advantage of the integration for Resolve over XML is the ability to cut multi-track camera footage / tracks now link!

Sorry about copy / pasting with the drop down. (You have to click off the dropdown then drag). See Blog in resources for clickable links.

TO INSTALL

1. ONLY RIGHT CLICK to save this file: https://timebolt-update-server.s3.amazonaws.com/TimeBoltResolveIntegration.lua 

FOR WIN

• Now copy / paste the .lua file into the folder in path:
  • ‘C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Support\Fusion\Scripts\Comp’
  • You can also open the same folder by put the following path in your File Explorer: %appdata%\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Support\Fusion\Scripts\Comp

FOR MAC

• Now copy / paste the .lua file into the folder in path:
  • ‘/Library/Application\ Support/Blackmagic\ Design/DaVinci\ Resolve/Fusion/Scripts/Comp’
  • You also open this folder by typing the below command in the terminal: open /Library/Application\ Support/Blackmagic\ Design/DaVinci\ Resolve/Fusion/Scripts/Comp
  • Or by clicking ‘Help → Developer’ and following the folders to ‘Fusion → Scripts → Comp’ in Davinci Resolve.

HOW TO USE
Do all your timeline cut work in TimeBolt. Then save as a JSON and apply in Resolve. 

Steps

1. Open the video file in TimeBolt and adjust the cuts to your liking.
2. Save .json from TimeBolt.
3. In Resolve, open the integration from…
   • ‘Workspace → Scripts → Comp → TimeBoltResolveIntegration’.
4. Click on the Apply JSON File button and navigate to the .json file saved from TimeBolt.
5. Click open and bam! Your cuts are ready.

The video and audio cuts are now also linked! 

See Blog Post how to configure:

- Single audio track

- Single video with single audio track

- Single video with multiple audio tracks

- Multiple synchronized video and audio files

- (March 31, 2023) At this time PUNCH and Markers export via the integration. Only FastForward silences does not transfer, yet. Once this happens there is no reason to use XML again. 

Search Office Hours:

| Coming soon

Blog:

| How to edit different track configurations in Resolve with the TimeBolt extension!

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TimeBolt now supports exporting timelines in a non-destructive manner to Camtasia. The export is supported on both Mac and Windows, although the process is slightly different on either platform.

The idea is to create a timeline with just the media file that you’d like TimeBolt to work on in Camtasia. Then have TimeBolt alter the TSCPROJ/CMPROJ through the TimeBolt Interface.

For BOTH WINDOWS AND MAC CLICK HERE

YES. No matter how you record video and save, follow these instructions or video-audio will desync. 

Search Office Hours

| How to get video into Camtasia

Blog:

| Instructions for WIN and MAC users

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When all you do is cut dead-air from long Zoom recordings, drop an entire folder of videos into Batch and walk away. The settings default to last used.

Click Utilities --> Batch Processing --> Select All Videos

But once you run out of videos to mass export, don't forget you can also use TimeBolt to sculpt the perfect video and categorize it with chapter Markers for YouTube.

1. Unable to export XML at this time. Only render to desktop.

2. TimeBolt cannot assemble clips into a single longer clip at this time.

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You can capture your screen + webcam right in TimeBolt (beta). Allow permissions when capture is first opened for screen, microphone, and camera. Because capture is a desktop software any part of your screen is game. 

- We have a lot planned for this feature

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With TimeBolt’s shift feature, you sync cameras on a timeline in Premiere or FCXP, calculate shift distances, cut a master file in TimeBolt, apply those cuts to the other cameras, and export XML back into your NLE.

Make sure all video is captured at the same Frame Rate or cuts won't sync. 

Blog:

| How to Use Shift

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For gaming content creators, by recording multi-track audio in OBS, you can ignore game audio and just cut to your voice. Random noise won't interfere with cutting to the action.

If your video is recorded as multi-track, click the dropdown to select which tracks to combine or ignore. When exporting XML, multi track audio is maintained.

Rendering in TimeBolt flattens multi-track audio into one MP4 track. To maintain tracks export XML or Plugin for Premiere. 

Video Tutorial:

| Multi Track Audio XML into Premiere Tutorial 

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Two options to help edit multi track video projects.

1. Adobe -- See TimeBolt Extension for Premiere. 

2. DaVinci Resolve -- See Integration for Resolve

3. FCPX -- See Multi-Cam export for FCPX

- We do not have a native plugin to easily manage multi cam projects for FCPX. But once you do it, the workflow gets far easier.

Blog:

|Plugin for Premiere

|SHIFT for FCPX & Resolve

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