# Get started

Follow this page to open a video and export your first finished video. Start with a short video of a minute or two. Once you know the flow, move on to longer videos.

## What you need

- A Mac: an Apple silicon Mac (M1 or later) with macOS 12 or later.
- A video to cut: one camera video is enough. If you recorded your screen and camera separately, you can add both.
- A way to get a transcript: a subtitle file you already have (SRT or VTT) costs nothing. If you don't have one, sign in and use CutZal transcription credits, or transcribe for free on this Mac. [Transcription options](https://cutzal.ai/docs/en/transcription.md) explains how to choose.

## 1. Install

1. Download the Mac DMG file from [cutzal.ai](https://cutzal.ai), open it and drag CutZal into the Applications folder.
2. Open CutZal from the Applications folder.

You can open videos, import subtitles and edit without signing in. You need to sign in to transcribe with CutZal credits or to create AI sound effects, and exporting asks for a free sign-up first. The app downloads new versions on its own and applies them when you restart it.

## 2. Open a video

1. On the first screen, click **New project**. The **Import media** window opens.
2. Drag video files into the window, or pick them with **Choose files**. To add a whole folder, use **Choose folder**.
3. Check the list and click **Import**.

Importing is free. CutZal tells screen recordings and camera videos apart on its own, and joins takes you recorded in several parts in file name order. If you add an audio file you recorded separately with a microphone, CutZal syncs the video to that sound.

Your original files don't change. Every file CutZal makes goes into an `edit/` folder inside the folder that holds your video. [Original files and privacy](https://cutzal.ai/docs/en/files-and-privacy.md) has the details.

## 3. Choose a transcript

CutZal finds the cuts by reading the transcript (what you said, written down with timing). So if a video has no transcript when you open it, the **Transcription needed** notice appears. Choose one of the three methods and click the button below them.

- If you already have a subtitle file, choose **Import subtitles** and click **Choose subtitle file** to pick it. You go straight to the editor at no cost.
- To transcribe from scratch, choose **CutZal transcription** and first click **Sign in with Google**. Signing in gives you free transcription credits every month. When the notice shows the credits this will use and the credits you have left, click **Transcribe with CutZal**.
- To start without signing in, choose **Free local transcription** and click **Download and transcribe**. It transcribes on this Mac at no cost and downloads the model once, the first time. It's less accurate than CutZal transcription. [Transcription options](https://cutzal.ai/docs/en/transcription.md) compares them in detail.

Transcription only starts when you click a button. If the same video already has a transcript in the `edit/transcripts/` folder, CutZal loads it instead of transcribing again.

## 4. Review the cuts

When the transcript comes in, the editor opens. Places where the decision is clear, such as stretches with no speech, are already cut. Spoken retake cues are cut too, but for now only in Korean speech. Places where it's unclear aren't cut, only marked in **View original**. **Final transcript** in the **Review** tab on the right shows what remains now.

1. Press `Space` to play and listen all the way through. Click a transcript line to move the playhead there.
2. When you hear something else to cut, go to it with `↑` and `↓` and press `X`.
3. Cut parts show up as folded lines between transcript lines. Expand one to see why it was deleted, and click **Restore this section** to bring it back.
4. If you pressed the wrong key, press `Z` to undo.

To have AI read the context and clean up retakes and extra words too, use **Auto cut**. It needs your Claude Code subscription connected, and it uses your subscription allowance. [Chat and your agent](https://cutzal.ai/docs/en/chat.md) shows how to connect, and [Review loop and AI cut grades](https://cutzal.ai/docs/en/review.md) shows how to review quickly.

## 5. Your first export

1. Click **Export**.
2. Pick the quality: **Quick check (1080p)** to check the result quickly, or **Original quality** for a video you'll upload.
3. Under **Items to create**, check the video and **Subtitles**, then click **Start export**. If you haven't signed up yet, a free sign-up window opens first.
4. When it finishes, open the result with **Show in folder**.

If you export at **Original quality**, the finished video is `edit/final.mp4`, and subtitles with the cuts applied are `edit/final.srt` and `edit/final.vtt`. Files made with **Quick check (1080p)** start with `preview`, so they don't overwrite the finished video. Your original video stays as it was. [Export](https://cutzal.ai/docs/en/export.md) shows how to continue in another editor.

## Next steps

- [Review loop and AI cut grades](https://cutzal.ai/docs/en/review.md): finish your review quickly with the keyboard.
- [Layout, B-roll and sound effects](https://cutzal.ai/docs/en/layout.md): use a camera and a screen recording together, or add B-roll and sound effects.
- [Keyboard shortcuts](https://cutzal.ai/docs/en/shortcuts.md): the full list of shortcuts. You can also press `?` in the app.