Save a timeline selection as a reusable template

If you build the same opening in every video, such as a title over a clip with a sound under it, you can save that arrangement once and add it back with one click. DepCut calls this a template. This post shows how to save one, store it in the Library and reuse it.

What a template stores

A template keeps the items you selected on the timeline, along with the edit that arranges them.

• Video clips with their trim points and speed.
• Sound clips with their volume and fades.
• Titles and other overlays, such as shapes.
• Caption cues.

The template refers to the source media files and keeps the edit on top of them, so after you add it to a project every clip, title and caption is editable again. Stickers that rely on an image file are left out of a template.

Save a template

1. Click an item on the timeline, then Shift-click or ⌘-click the other items you want to include. Clips, sounds, titles and captions can all be part of one selection.
2. Click the folder-plus button in the timeline toolbar. Its tooltip reads "Save the selection as a reusable template (kept by reference)". When the toolbar is short on room, open Timeline tools and choose Save template.
3. Look for the check mark that replaces the button icon for a moment. In the menu the row reads Saved.

The template appears as a card at the top of Media, in the Assets view of that project. It is named "Template" at first. Open the card's menu and choose Rename to give it a proper name.

Look inside and extend it

Click a template card to expand it. It lists each clip, sound and title with its length, plus a count of captions. Hover a clip row to see a floating preview, or hover a sound row to hear it.

To add another file to the end of a template, drag a media card from Assets onto the template card.

Reuse a template

Inside the same project, click the + button on the card, Add to timeline, or drag the card onto the timeline. The clips go to the end of the main track, and the titles, sounds and captions line up with them. A template with no main-track clips lands at the playhead or at the point where you drop.

To reuse a template in other projects, put it in the Library:

1. Open the template card's menu in Assets.
2. Choose Add to Library.

Now open any project, go to Media, switch to Library, and find the template card above the media. Click +, Add to this project, to copy its media into the project and add the clips to the end of the main track, with the titles and captions lined up on them. You can also drag the card onto the timeline, or onto the Media tile on the left panel to store it in that project's Assets without placing anything.

Templates also show up at the top of the Library page, where you can rename them from the card's Template options menu, delete them, or file them into folders.

Next step

Select a title and the clip beneath it in DepCut, save them as a template, and add the template to a second project.