Working With Video

Waveform can load a video file alongside your Edit so you can score to picture — write music, edit dialogue, or design sound effects while watching the footage play in sync with the timeline. This chapter covers importing a video, working with the video window, and (on Pro) rendering your mix back out to a finished video file.

What You Can Do at Each Edition

Video support comes in two tiers. The basics — importing standard video, the playback window, and the timecode overlay — are available in Waveform Free, OEM, and Pro from version 12.5 onward. A second set of features is Pro-only, or unlocked by the Pro Video Expansion add-on.

Capability	Free / OEM (v12.5+)	Pro / Pro Video Expansion
Import standard video, playback window, timecode	✓	✓
Import image sequences (.png / .jpg)	✗	✓
Multiple simultaneous videos	✗ (one at a time)	✓
Render Video / Replace Audio in Video	✗	✓

📝 Note: On Free and OEM you can only have one video enabled at a time. Loading a second video quietly disables the first rather than playing both.

Importing a Video

There are three ways to bring a video into your Edit:

• From the transport bar's Video menu, choose Load video file…
• From the File menu, choose Load video file…
• Drag a video file straight onto the Edit.

The file picker is titled Select a file to import and lets you select more than one file at once.

The standard formats Waveform accepts are .mov, .avi, .webm, .wmv, .mp4, .m4v, .mpg, .mp2, .mpeg, .mpe, .mpv, and .mkv. Image sequences — folders of .png, .jpg, or .jpeg frames — require the Pro video features.

When you import, Waveform does a few things automatically:

1. It transcodes the video to an internal working copy (capped at 1920 pixels wide and 30 frames per second), showing a Processing video… progress bar.
2. It extracts the video's audio to a WAV clip on a new audio track (Processing audio…). If the video has no audio, you get a silent WAV of the same length.
3. It links the video to that audio clip, so the two stay in sync as you work.
4. It opens the video window so you can see the footage right away.

From here you mix and edit against that extracted audio, with the picture following the playhead.

📝 Note: Waveform keeps your original video file as the source it uses when rendering later. Don't delete or move the original after importing, or rendering won't have a picture to work from.

The Video Window

The video window is a floating, resizable monitor that shows the single frame sitting under the playhead. It opens automatically on import, and you can show or hide it any time:

• From the Video menu, choose Show video window.
• Use the Show or hide video window command (assignable on the Keyboard Shortcuts page).
• Right-click a video-linked clip and choose Show video window.

The window starts at 720×405 and remembers its size and position between sessions. It stays on top of the main window so it doesn't get buried, and it auto-hides when you switch away from Waveform to another application. Where there's no footage — before the video starts or in a gap — the window simply shows black.

📝 Note: The video window is display-only. There are no play, offset, aspect-ratio, or volume controls in it — playback is driven entirely by Waveform's transport. Think of it as a passive reference monitor that mirrors wherever the playhead is.

Timecode Overlay

From the Video menu, toggle Show video timecode to overlay the current timecode on top of the picture. It uses the Edit's own timecode format, which is handy when you're matching cues to a spotting sheet or talking timings through with a director.

Thumbnail Size on the Clip

The Video menu also has a Video Thumbnail Size submenu with choices of 100%, 75%, 50%, and Disabled. This controls the strip of thumbnail frames drawn along the video clip in the timeline — not the video window itself. Turn it down or off if the thumbnails are cluttering your view or you want to lighten the display.

Rendering Video (Pro)

If you have the Pro video features, two extra items appear in the Video menu for getting a finished video back out:

• Export: Render to a file… — combine the video picture with a fresh mix of your audio into a new file.
• Export: Render and replace audio track in video… — keep an existing video's picture and swap in your new audio mix.

Both always write a .mov file.

Render Video Options

Choosing Render to a file… opens the Render Video dialog. The options are:

Video format (Choices: H.264, H.265) — the video codec for the output. (Default: H.264)

Output resolution (Choices: Original, 4K, 2K, 1080P, 720P) — the frame size of the rendered video. (Default: Original)

Sample rate (Choices: 44100, 48000) — the audio sample rate. (Default: matches your Edit)

Bit depth (Choices: 16, 24) — the audio bit depth.

Normalise — scales the output so its loudest peak hits a target. Turning it on reveals a Peak level field (−30 to 0 dB). (Default: off)

Adjust based on RMS — scales the output to a target average (perceived) level instead. Turning it on reveals an RMS level field (−30 to 0 dB). Only the Peak or RMS field is shown at a time, depending on which is active. (Default: off)

Render marked region only — renders just the region between the In- and Out-markers. This option only appears when a marked region longer than about 50 milliseconds exists, and when it appears it defaults to on.

📝 Note: Watch the Render marked region only option. Because it defaults to on whenever you have a marked region, it's easy to render only part of your video without realising. Turn it off if you want the whole Edit.

Replace Audio in Video

Render and replace audio track in video… opens the same dialog with the video-format and resolution options hidden — it reuses the existing video's picture, so only the audio settings apply. Use this when you've been handed a finished cut and just need to lay your new mix onto it.

⚡ Things to Watch Out For

• Rendering needs an enabled video. If nothing's enabled you'll see This edit does not have any enabled videos to render. On Free and OEM, remember only one video can be enabled at a time.
• Output is always .mov. Even when you pick H.265, the file is wrapped in a .mov container. H.265-in-MOV doesn't play everywhere, so test your delivery target if you choose it.
• Don't move the original. Rendering pulls the picture from your original video file, not the internal working copy, so keep it where it was when you imported.
• Rendering requires a full or demo licence, in addition to the Pro video features.

Moving On

You now know how to bring footage into Waveform, score to it in the video window, and (on Pro) render a finished video back out. For more on the audio side — mixing the soundtrack and the render settings shared with audio exports — see the Mixing Down chapter.