In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps for saving layouts you create as custom layout packs in Descript. Sharing these layouts with your team can create cohesive video projects and speed up your workflows.
There are two ways to save the layouts you create:
- Save a scene as a layout: This is the more straightforward way of saving layouts. As you create content, you'll likely arrange a scene layout that you want to use multiple times or in other projects. You can save the layout directly from your project to a Layout pack.
- Start with a new layout pack: This method is great if you have a set of layouts in mind that you want to create and organize together, or if you want to adjust layouts in an existing layout pack. For example, if you want to create layouts with branding features for your intro, ending, and a scene layout for two speakers, you can create a new layout pack and arrange your various scenes from there.
If you are on a free plan, unlock the power of custom layout packs by upgrading your subscription.
Save a Scene as a Layout
Save your current scene as a layout to easily reuse and apply this design to future projects.
- Once you've created your perfect scene layout, you can save it to a layout pack:
- Right-click on the scene thumbnail and choose Save scene as new layout...
- Open the Scene panel and select
...> Save scene as new layout...
- Choose Add to - Select layout pack to save the layout to an existing layout pack, or choose to save it to a new Layout pack in the pop-up window. For new layout packs, you'll need to name the layout pack and set the access settings.
- Choose the Scene type. Setting the scene type will help you keep all the layouts in your Layout packs organized. These can include things like: Camera, Zoom, Screen, Media, Multicam, Intro, Outro, Chapter, Speaker, Captions, Text, List, Paragraph, Quote, Big Fact, Audiogram, and Clip.
That's it! You can now apply your layout to any scene in your project.
Starting with a new layout pack
1. Create a New layout pack
Start by creating a new layout pack to save your scene layout, providing a foundation for your custom designs.
- From the Drive view, open the
layout packs tab and select + New layout pack in the top right corner.
- Name your layout pack in the app bar at the top of the editor screen. This will help when you need to find and use the layout pack later on.
2. Arrange Your Scenes
Creating a layout pack works just like working on a project in Descript. What you add to the individual layout pack scenes depends on how you want to leverage layout packs throughout projects. Here are a few common use cases where layout packs can help speed up your workflow:
- Designing customized audiograms or social media clips.
- Setting up video layouts for interviews with multiple speakers or related recordings.
- Crafting a unique style for captions.
- Arranging presentation layouts.
- Making a complete series of scenes for a particular project or production.
When setting up layouts with sequences for multiple speakers, follow these tips to ensure everything aligns correctly across projects:
-
Use Consistent Speaker Labels: Make sure the speaker labels in your project match exactly with those in the layout, including capitalization. Descript is case-sensitive, so even a small difference can cause layout issues.
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Follow Layer Matching Rules:
- Track Names First: Layouts will match layers by track name first.
- Order in Sequences: If there’s no name match, layers align based on their order (e.g., the first video track in your project matches the first video track in the layout).
- This applies to all layers, including any hidden or background layers, to ensure they stay aligned correctly.
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Hide or Remove Unwanted Layers: Hide or remove any layers for speakers who aren’t supposed to appear in the scene. This will prevent layout mismatches or issues.
By following these steps, you’ll save time and avoid having to adjust each project’s layout manually.
3. Publish Your layout pack
Once you're done creating your layout pack, you'll need to publish it in order to use your layout pack in projects and/or share with others. You can always come back and edit the layout pack project if you need to make updates to it.
- Select Publish layout pack in the top right corner.
- Name each layout and set each layout's Scene type to make sure they can easily be found and referenced from the layout picker.
- Select Publish layout pack in the bottom right corner of the publish layout pack panel.
Now, you can use your layout pack in your projects.