The concept of scenes

Before we get into how scenes work, it’s important to note that, to get the most out of Descript, you need to rewire your brain — especially if you’ve worked with other video editors.

In tools like iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Premiere, or Camtasia, you do most of your editing in a timeline. But in Descript, you’re hardly going to touch the timeline. Instead, you’ll use the script and scenes to edit your video. The script works like a Word doc. Scenes work like slides in a presentation tool, like PowerPoint or Keynote.

Understanding these concepts is key to learning the new Descript. Holding them in mind will help you understand everything that follows on this page.  

What are scenes?

Scenes work like slides in a presentation. They allow you to divide your composition into discrete segments and add visual elements like titles or overlays. You’ll add a scene anytime you want to change the visuals in your composition.

Scenes are not included in the audio-only composition

You can set the composition to be audio-only for content that doesn't need video. These compositions will not contain any scenes. You can learn more about audio-only compositions.