Use text, shapes and stickers to point at what matters

Emphasis answers one question: where should the viewer look right now? DepCut gives you titles, shapes, stickers and a zoom effect. Each one works best when it answers that question for a single moment and then gets out of the way.

Make one word the loudest

Press T to add a title at the playhead. It runs for three seconds and starts with the words "Your text". Type your line in the Text tab of the right panel, then use the tabs beside it.

• Words lets you click a word, or Shift-click a run of words, and give it bold, italic, underline, a color, or a Box behind it. One colored word in a plain line pulls the eye there.
• Backdrop puts a plate behind the text, with its own color, opacity and radius.
• Bubble places the text in a Speech, Oval, Thought or Burst balloon, with a tail you can put on the top or bottom edge.
• Behind sets the text behind the person in the shot. It needs a clearly separated subject, and with no person detected it shows as a normal title.
• Animate has In, Out and Loop slots. Entrances such as Pop, Zoom, the slides and Typewriter read well when kept short. Loops such as Pulse and Wiggle work once per scene at most.

Point with a shape

Open the Elements tab. It holds Rectangle, Ellipse, Line and Arrow. Click a tile to pick it, and drag it onto the timeline to place it.

Select a shape to set its color. For a Rectangle or Ellipse, Fill opacity lets the footage show through, so a semi-transparent rectangle can highlight an area without hiding it. A Rectangle also has Corner radius and an Outline. Rotate a Line or Arrow to aim it. One arrow at the right moment is enough.

Add a sticker

Open the Stickers tab and describe what you want in the box, for example a corgi in sunglasses. Click Create sticker. DepCut draws the image, cuts out the background, adds a white outline, saves it, and places it on the timeline. The Create sticker button changes its label to Drawing…, then Cutting out…, then Saving….

Sticker creation uses image generation, so it spends credits from your account. Every sticker you make stays in the tab as a tile, ready to reuse. Drag a tile onto the timeline or click the + on it, and use Size in the right panel to scale it. One or two stickers per scene is plenty.

Punch in with Zoom

Open the Effects tab, switch to Moving, and drag Zoom onto the timeline. In the right panel, drag the blue puck onto the part of the frame that matters. Choose a Depth of Shallow, Moderate or Deep, and use the Speed slider to set how long the push takes. At the far left the zoom cuts straight to the close shot.

Zoom suits a reveal, a product detail or a reaction. Use it once or twice in a short video.

Next step

Open DepCut, pick a clip with one clear moment, and give that moment a single treatment. Play it back and remove anything that competes with it.