Best practices

Use this workflow to learn Composer with a small, reviewable project before building longer or more complex edits.

1 Check the index, 2 use the title filter, and 3 verify Ready status before searching. This view shows six new sources, not the entire 12-video archive. Nina and the five NOAA sources are all Ready. Media credits explain the licenses and source context.

Recommended first session

1. Confirm the intended source is Ready, then select it in Search.
2. Search for one clear moment, preview results, and save a focused Working Set. A set can contain up to 10 clips; three complementary moments are enough for the Nina exercise.
3. Open Produce, write a brief, choose shape and duration, and generate once. Follow progress in Produces until Studio is available.
4. Wait for caching in Studio, review the whole timeline, and adjust captions, framing, or brand treatment. Reopen the project to confirm edits were saved.
5. Render, download, and play the final MP4 outside Composer before delivery.

Write focused searches

A good Search prompt describes one moment that can be verified on screen or in speech.

Instead of	Try
dramatic scene	person enters a crowded station
important quote	speaker explains the project timeline
highlights	host introduces the main topic

Use Visual for scenes and actions, Transcription for exact words, and both when the picture and speech must agree.

Try two separate editorial exercises

Exercise	Source and query	Clip pool
Live-action drama teaser	Nina (2025), search leaving	Three verified windows: apology, reassurance, and missing each other. Follow the complete walkthrough.
Environmental explainer practice	Restoring Coral Reefs, try coral nursery	Preview the results and choose complementary restoration moments before writing a brief. This is a practice prompt, not a pre-verified result count.

Keep these stories in separate sets. Multi-source Search is useful for discovery; it is not a reason to mix fictional dialogue with educational reporting.

Keep the Working Set intentional

• Remove near-duplicates and weak matches.
• Check that every thumbnail, source title, and time range belongs to the intended scene.
• Arrange clips in a useful story order before Produce.
• Duplicate the set before making a substantially different version.
• Use a clear name that will still make sense in Produces and Studio.

Review the generated draft

The first cut is a starting point. Confirm:

• body clips and captions exist between Intro and Outro;
• video, audio, and captions remain aligned;
• framing and crop follow the active speaker or editorial focus;
• caption text, names, and numbers match the source;
• ratio and Brand Template suit the target channel, and saved edits remain after reopening the project.

Continue with Search → Working Set → Produce → Studio for a complete workflow.