Layer and Clip Overview

Everything you see or hear in a project lives on a layer, stacked and timed independently of the script track. Layers are how you arrange the visuals and audio around your transcript.

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Layers and clips explained

Layers are containers for all visual and audio elements in your project. You can stack them, reposition them, and control how they appear across scenes. Clips only exist within audio and video layers. Splitting a media layer creates clips—segments you can edit independently. Non-media layers (text, images, shapes) don’t contain clips. Splitting these creates duplicate layers instead.

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How to work with clips and layers

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Trim a clip or layer

Adjust where a clip or layer starts and/or ends without deleting the underlying media by manually adjusting it via the timeline.

1. First, select the layer in your scene editor.
2. Hover your mouse over the edge of any clip or layer in the timeline.
3. When the cursor changes to a small handle, click and drag to trim.

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Split a clip or layer

Splitting divides a clip into separate segments at the playhead position, letting you isolate and adjust different parts of your media.

1. Position the playhead where you want to split.
2. Press Cmd+Shift+S (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+S (Windows).

For non-media layers (like text or shapes), splitting creates two independent layers that you can reposition or edit separately.

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Copy and paste behavior

When you paste a layer, Descript tries to maintain the original offset from the start of the scene you copied it from. This preserves layer timing when moving content between scenes. If the playhead is in a scene long enough to fit that offset, the layer pastes at the same relative position within the scene. If the destination scene isn’t long enough, the layer may not paste or may paste at a different position than expected.

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Types of layers in Descript

You can add any of these layer types to your composition:

• Video, audio, and images
• Shapes
• Waveforms
• Progress bars
• Text, emojis, and captions
• Avatars

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What’s next

Once you understand how layers work, you’re ready to start adding them to your composition. You can add video, images, text, and more using the Add Layer button or by dragging media from the Project panel. Learn how to add layers in Descript