Importing media

Every edit begins the same way: getting your material into the studio. That step is called importing — making a file on your computer visible to the editor. In Ondo Studio it takes about a second, because the file isn't uploaded anywhere.

The studio takes four kinds of material: video, images, animated GIFs and audio. All of them come in the same way.

Two ways to bring a file in

1. 1

   Drag and drop (the fastest way)

   Grab the file in a folder on your computer and drop it straight into the browser window. You can select several files and drop them together. Drop one directly onto a spot on the timeline and it lands right there.

2. 2

   Pick it from the media panel

   In the “Files” tab of the media panel on the left, press the import button and pick your files in the normal file-chooser dialog. Hold Ctrl or Shift to select several at once.

3. 3

   Drag it onto the timeline

   An imported file just sits in the media panel — that doesn't yet mean it's in your video. Only when you drag it from the panel down onto the timeline does it become a part of the video (a clip).

What happens during import

The moment a file lands, the studio reads it (this is called probing) and collects what it needs to know. You do nothing — it's automatic.

• A thumbnail — one frame is taken from the video and shown in the panel, so among dozens of files you can find the right one by sight rather than by name.
• The duration — how many seconds the file runs. That's what sets the clip's length when you drop it on the timeline.
• The dimensions — the width and height of the frame (1920×1080, say). If they don't match your project's shape, the image is fitted inside automatically.
• GIFs — an animated GIF is recognised as such and stays alive like video: it still moves in the export instead of freezing on one frame.

The music library

Music transforms a video — but you can't just use any track you find online: copyright can get your video blocked. That's why the studio ships with a royalty-free music library: tracks you're free to use without paying for them.

1. 1

   Open the “Music” tab

   Click the “Music” tab at the top of the media panel — a list of ready-to-use tracks appears.

2. 2

   Listen to it

   Press the play button next to a track and hear whether it suits your video. If it doesn't, move on to the next.

3. 3

   Drop it on the timeline

   Drag the one you like down onto an audio track (or press the + beside it). It then also appears in the “Files” tab — meaning it's now part of your project.

Recording from a microphone

If your video needs your own voice — a comment, an intro, a short explanation — you don't have to record it in another app and import it. You can record straight from your microphone inside the studio.

1. 1

   Put the playhead where you want it

   The recording is added starting exactly at the playhead — the vertical line that runs along the timeline — so move it to the right spot first.

2. 2

   Press “Record”

   The browser asks for microphone permission — click Allow. The permission is for this site only.

3. 3

   Speak, then stop

   When you've said your piece, press “Stop”. The recording drops onto the timeline as an audio clip and also appears in the “Files” tab — from there you can cut it, move it and tune it like any other sound file.

Where your files are kept

This matters, because many people assume that “in the browser” means “on the internet, on somebody's server”. Here it doesn't.

An imported file is copied into the browser's own storage (technically OPFS — a private file store the browser keeps for the site). It stays inside your computer. Nothing goes over the network — you could switch the internet off entirely and carry on editing.

• No upload, no waiting. Even a big video imports instantly, because it isn't going anywhere.
• Closing the browser doesn't lose it. Come back later and the project opens with its files intact.
• But it's this browser, on this device. Your project won't be on another computer, because nothing was ever put in a cloud.