Beat-Clip Placement / Alignment

Introduction

Are you still relying on timeline markers to align clips manually?

• First, it takes too long to drag and drop items from the project panel to the sequence.
• Second, after finishing, you have to watch the entire sequence to ensure it makes sense.
• And if it doesn’t, you need to replace clips, align them, and stretch them.

Isn’t there a better way?

Jonathan from SoundXtract here, and I promise you’ll never have to go through that hassle again.

The Problem with Traditional Workflows

The workflow I’m describing is common, especially when producing montages. These include sequences of clips edited to music, often with little or no dialogue.

Examples of Montage Use Cases:

• Wedding videos
• Festivals or parties
• Travel reels with scenic views
• Action or sports highlights

If you’re familiar with these categories, you know the tricky part is syncing clips to music and making changes.

Client Challenges

If you’re editing for a client, you know how painful it is when they ask for a song change after delivery.

The Solution: SoundXtract

No worries—with SoundXtract, these problems are a thing of the past.

Let’s dive in and create a simplified wedding video in the most efficient way possible.

Structured Wedding Video Editing Workflow

Step 1: Organize Footage

Editing wedding videos follows a structured narrative to capture emotions and events while telling a compelling story.

• Organize the footage into bins in the project panel.
  • For example:
    • Bin for the introduction
    • Bin for the reception or party

Step 2: Analyze the Music

1. Open SoundXtract and click Start to analyze the music.
2. Notice how the music starts slow and emotional, then gains energy.

Step 3: Edit the Introductory Section

1. Focus on the intro part of the music.
2. Limit SoundXtract’s timeline target to this section.
3. Select Clip Alignment and add the clips from the intro bin.

That’s it! The clips are automatically timed by SoundXtract.

Step 4: Adjust and Refine

• Change timing, clip order, or reshuffle clips randomly.
• The results appear immediately—no drag & drop, no stretching.

Step 5: Edit the Party Section

1. Repeat the process for the section after the music’s energy shift.
2. Adjust the timeline target and align the clips to the faster rhythm.

The Results

With SoundXtract, we saved hours of editing and didn’t use a single marker.

Bonus: Add Creative Effects

Now that you’ve saved time, focus on creativity by adding video effects.

Closing

I’d love to hear your feedback and ideas. Join our Discord channel or find me on Reddit, where I post updates regularly.

Thanks!