Reference
Add, trim and export clips
Last updated November 10, 2026 · Read as Markdown
In Grain Photo, a clip is a range you mark in a recording: choose Add Clip on a suggested moment, or press I and O and then choose Add Clip. Trim it with Edit Clip, then choose Export Clips… to write each clip as an MP4 with an SRT caption file, timed to the clip. The original recording is never changed.
A range, not a copy
A clip is a range linked to the original recording: an in point, an out point and the words between them. Grain doesn't copy or render anything when you add one. Media is written only when you export.
In Grain
- A linked range of the original recording
- No media copied, so clips cost no disk space
- Trim or remove it without touching the recording
After Export Clips…
- An MP4 and an SRT for each clip
- In a local folder you choose
- The original recording untouched
So you can add clips freely, including second-best takes, from footage on any drive, and change your mind later.
Where clips live: Moments
Open a recording and Moments shows its transcript beside the player, in order. All shows the transcript and your clips together, so you see each clip in the context of what was said around it. Clips shows only the clips you've added from this recording.
Show All opens the full reader. Previous and next step through every moment in the recording.
Add a clip
Grain suggests moments in a recording, and a search highlights the passages that match. Keep one of those, or mark your own range for a reaction, a cutaway or a passage with no dialogue.
From a suggested moment
- Click the moment to play it from the line
- Choose Add Clip
- The clip covers the moment's range; trim it afterwards for more or less
With I and O
- Play or scrub to where the clip should start, and press I
- Move to where it should end, and press O
- Choose Add Clip
You can scrub the timeline to look beyond a suggested passage before you mark it.
Clips and transcription
You don't have to wait for transcription to add clips. A clip added before Grain has transcribed that recording picks up its words when transcription finishes. Transcription is automatic, on your Mac. See how automatic transcription works.
If a word in a clip is misheard, double-click the moment's words to correct it. Search, captions and exports use your correction.
Trim a clip
Choose Edit Clip, or double-click the clip in Moments, to open the clip editor. Set the range either way:
Drag the handles
- Move the in and out by eye
- The video follows, so you see the frame you're landing on
Type In and Out
- Enter exact timecodes
- For an agent's selects or an editor's notes
Then choose Update Clip to apply the change, or Cancel to keep the clip as it was.
Remove a clip
Choose Remove Clip. The clip is removed, and the original recording and its transcript stay as they are. If you removed the wrong one, Undo restores the clip.
Export clips
Choose Export Clips… and pick a local folder. Grain writes a new folder named Grain Clips-<file>-<date>-<time>-<id>, with the clips inside named 001-<first words>.mp4 and .srt.
MP4
- One per clip, of the clip's range
SRT
- One per clip, timed to the clip
- The first caption starts at the clip's start, not the recording's
Grain Clips.json
- A manifest of the source file and each clip's range and files
- Lets an editor, agent or script put the clips back in order or find the original
One export covers up to 100 clips and 30 minutes of selected media. For bigger selections, export in batches. Your clips stay in Grain after the export, so you can update one and export again.
What to do with exported clips
In your editor
- Bring the MP4s into Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve as selects
- Import the SRTs as captions where you need them
- The manifest says which recording each came from
With an agent
- Give it file access to the export folder: Claude Code, or a desktop agent with the folder connected
- With ffmpeg or similar tools it can string the clips into a rough cut, make vertical versions, burn in captions or write an edit decision list
- See what agentic video editing can do
For social
- The MP4 and SRT are a starting point for short-form video
- Reframe to vertical and style captions in your editor or with an agent
What an agent makes with the clips is its work with other tools, and you review it.
Clips with an agent
A connected agent can search dialogue across a source and read timed transcripts, then propose selects with recordings and timecodes. It doesn't add clips. You play each pick in Grain and choose Add Clip on the ones you agree with, then type the agent's In and Out timecodes into the clip editor if you want its exact range.
Shortcuts
| Keys | What they do |
|---|---|
| Space | Play and pause |
| , . | Step back or forward one frame |
| I O | Mark the start and end of a range |
| ⌘Return | Add the marked range as a clip |
| Esc | Cancel a range you're making or editing. Otherwise, leave the video |
Every shortcut in Grain is on one page: keyboard shortcuts.
Controls at a glance
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Add Clip on a suggested moment | Adds a clip covering that moment |
| I and O, then Add Clip | Adds a clip from your own in and out |
| Edit Clip, or double-click the clip | Opens the clip editor |
| Handles, or typed In and Out | Set the range in the clip editor |
| Update Clip / Cancel | Apply the change, or keep the clip as it was |
| Remove Clip | Removes the clip; the original and transcript stay |
| Undo | Restores a removed clip |
| All / Clips | Transcript with clips, or clips only |
| Export Clips… | Writes an MP4 and SRT per clip, plus Grain Clips.json, to a folder you choose |