A NodeTool timeline keeps editorial timing separate from generated media. You can compare variations, repair a shot, and adapt a cut for another format without rebuilding the sequence.
Compare takes without moving the edit
Every generated result is a take on its clip. A take records the generated asset and its generation context. Selecting another take changes the media in the clip, not its start time, duration, track, effects, or linked media.
Use takes when you want to compare alternate performances, prompts, or model results in the same cut.
- Generate a clip, then create another take with Regenerate as new clip or generate again.
- Select the clip, open History in the Inspector, and choose Preview Candidate to audition a take in place.
- Choose Use take on the take that belongs in the cut.
- Keep useful alternatives or remove candidates you no longer need.
The active take is the one used by preview, render, and interchange export. If a generated take fails, the previously active take remains in place.
Track a subject
A media track stores a subject’s position over source time. Bind a clip’s position, scale, or mask to that track when a title, graphic, or mask must follow a moving subject.
Create the track with the agent’s track_object tool (it needs a provider that implements track_object, and a box around the subject at the start of the range), then attach the dependent clip. The Inspector’s Tracking section lists a clip’s tracks. Its Follow object section binds the clip to a track in Position or Position + scale mode, with offsets and smoothing. The Subject matte section uses a track for a mask.
The binding follows trims and clip movement because it uses source time rather
than the timeline’s absolute position. A changed source asset makes its media
tracks stale. Re-run tracking before relying on a stale track.
Adapt a cut for another frame
Choose Adapt format in the timeline’s overflow menu (the three-dot button in the tab row). Pick one or more target formats (9:16, 1:1, 4:5), a strategy, and a safe margin of 0 to 30 percent. Each format becomes a new sequence that shares the source media. The source sequence stays unchanged.
| Strategy | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Center | Crops each clip around the center. |
| Smart Reframe | Uses subject tracks or authored framing. Unavailable until every visual clip has a current subject track or authored framing. |
| Follow selected object | Follows one ready subject track. Unavailable until a track exists. |
Review the derived cut, then open Smart Reframe in the Inspector for a clip. Choose its subject (auto, center, or a track) and add manual framing keys where the automatic crop needs direction. Framing is stored in source time, so it follows trims and moves. The section flags automatic framing as stale when the source asset changes. Preview and render use the same framing data.
Repair or extend a shot
Generative timeline edits (the AI Edit section for a video clip, or the agent’s ui_timeline_generatively_edit_clip tool) create a candidate take. They do not replace the
active media until you select the result.
Available operations include:
- Extend a shot at its start or end (
extend). - Replace a source range (
replace_range). - Remove or replace a tracked object (
remove_object,replace_object). - Restyle a shot (
restyle) or regenerate it (regenerate).
The clip must be a video clip with a current asset and a positive duration.
Object operations require a ready media track for the active source. Before running an edit, NodeTool checks the requested operation against the selected model’s capabilities. If the model cannot perform the edit, choose another model or change the operation.
Hand off a sequence
exportInterchange in @nodetool-ai/timeline writes an editable project document for another editor. No editor menu, CLI command, or agent tool calls it yet. Use it from code until one does.
| Target | Output | Carries |
|---|---|---|
| Final Cut Pro | FCPXML | sequence format, active media, timing, tracks, and markers |
| Premiere Pro | Legacy FCP XML | sequence format, active media, audio and video tracks, timing, and markers |
The export report names missing media and edits that need baking, including effects, transforms, masks, retimes, fades, captions, and unsupported clip types. Resolve or bake those items before delivery. NodeTool never reports an incomplete editable export as lossless.
Work with the agent
The agent can read each clip’s active take id through ui_timeline_get_state, select a take with ui_timeline_apply_take, create a media track with track_object, adapt a sequence format with ui_timeline_retarget_format, set framing with ui_timeline_set_reframe_subject and ui_timeline_add_reframe_keyframe, and request a generative edit with ui_timeline_generatively_edit_clip. Give it the
editorial intent and the target clip. For example: “Track the product in the
hero shot, attach the price graphic, then make a vertical version of this cut.”
Check the resulting takes, tracks, and framing before export.
Related features
- Video Editor — timeline, playback, clip editing, and MP4 export
- Workflow Editor — edit a workflow bound to a generated clip
- Asset Management — organize imported media