Edit video by editing words.
Make a cut the way you'd edit a document — and keep every frame on your own computer. For journalists, and the Premiere editors they work with.
macOS (Apple Silicon) · Windows coming soon
Free for alpha users | NLE extension: paid at beta | textbased.video app: free for journalists and marketers
Who it's for
Journalists, marketers and producers who need an assembly cut today — from their own phone footage or from rushes an editor sent over — without learning a timeline. And Premiere editors who want those cuts back as a sequence, relinked to full-resolution media, ready to take from rough cut through to the finished edit.
Make an edit from your own footage
No project from an editor required — drop your clips in and start.
- INTERVIEW — every word is clickableWefoundthereefrecoveringfasterthananyoneexpectedYOUR EDITrecoveringfasterthananyoneexpected1Drop in your clips
Interviews get transcribed right on your machine — nothing is uploaded, ever. Every word becomes clickable: click it and the video jumps there.
- Recording voiceover…YOUR EDITthereefisteemingwithlife2Build the story
Copy the words you want into your edit — the video follows the words. Record a voiceover, drag b-roll over the sentences it should cover, and trim any overhangs right on the monitor.
- TRIM — drag the handle, the next clip stays snugExport video → ✓ story.mp4Job finished → one file for your editor3Finish two ways
Export an MP4 that plays anywhere — same resolution and frame rate as your footage, up to 4K. Or bundle the whole edit into one file and hand it to your editor however you like.
The app includes a two-minute guided tour that builds a practice edit in front of you.
The Premiere round trip
For editors handing off assembly cuts to the people who were in the room.
- textbased.videov0.3.2LicenseSecure SendProjectProfile — Dr Lin, Reef ResearcherModeSecure Send — no cloud, one filePackaging rushes…Building proxies…Writing one send file…Done · hand the file over yourselfSendSending…✓ Sent1Send from Premiere
The textbased.video extension packs proxies and a transcript into one send file. Nothing uploads: you hand the file over however you already move footage — your cloud, an SSD, a USB stick.
- Profile — Dr Lin, Reef ResearcherLINSo the question I get most is, can the reef actually come back from this.And the honest answer is yes, but only if we change what we're doing now.REPORTERWhat does that change look like, on the water?LINWell, you know, every site is different — there's no one fix that works everywhere.But I'll tell you what we've been seeing at the Lizard Island sites.Coral cover has rebounded fifteen percent in three years. That's real, and it's repeatable.2They cut the words
Your journalist opens the file in the free desktop app and edits by selecting transcript text — plus voiceover, b-roll and trims if they need them.
- Returns · Dr Lin1 new returnNo returns yet — recipient is editing.Dr Lin — Final Cutjust now12 cuts · 2:34Note from journalistHi Sam — pulled the strongest Lin thread into a 2:30 piece. Flagged a pickup at 1:40 to chat. — Jane3One file comes back
Their cut returns as a single file. The extension imports it as a sequence and swaps the proxies back to your full-resolution rushes automatically.
Private by design
Your footage never touches our servers — full stop. Everything, transcription included, happens on your computer, and there are no accounts for journalists. When work changes hands, you move it: your cloud, your SSD, your USB stick. Yes, that means the handoff is a step you do yourself — that's not a limitation, it's the product. Your content stays under your control, end to end.
Read how the round trip stays private → Full detail in the privacy policy.
Coming after 1.0
- · Server Send — an optional cloud handoff with emailed invite links, for teams that want it. Rushes would travel through your own cloud, with returns end-to-end encrypted.
- · A Windows build of the desktop app.
- · DaVinci Resolve support for the editor round trip.
- · More clouds for the optional handoff — Dropbox, OneDrive, SharePoint.
Currently in private alpha
We need alpha users right now — everything is free during alpha. After that, the editing app stays free and the Premiere extension is the paid product. Drop your email and tell us what you'd use it for.
One email when alpha opens up. No newsletter, no other use.
textbased.video is in private alpha. Vendor certification is partial: Google Drive OAuth verification is in preparation (users see an “unverified app” consent screen on first sign-in until it's granted), a Windows build is coming (early Windows installers may be unsigned — SmartScreen will warn), the Premiere extension ZXP is self-signed and installed via a third-party manager, and the macOS desktop app DMG IS signed with an Apple Developer ID and Apple-notarised (Gatekeeper opens it cleanly). Remaining vendor certifications arrive with the paid launch. See Privacy and Terms for the full picture.