Dalet Flex Cut

Introduction

Dalet Flex Cut aka Dalet Cut, or just Cut, is the media editor for Dalet Flex. It is used to produce video, manage the audio output of the video, record voice-overs, and add or export images (png and jpg). From Dalet Flex 2024.11.4 and Dalet Flex 2025.2.0 and above close captioning is supported. CGs are not supported.

Opening Flex Cut

In Dalet Flex, click the app chooser icon and then, the Dalet Cut icon .

The app will open in a new browser tab and in your ClipBin section of its media browser.

Although Dalet Flex can have auto-refresh enabled, Dalet Cut's browser needs to be manually refreshed to see new assets.

The Interface Components

Browser View

The initial view of Cut consists of a media browser, a preview, the timeline and a sidebar hosting panels for transitions, effects, audio, CC, and the main VU meter. Each audio track has its own VU meter as well.

Trimmer View

If you double-click a media asset in the media browser, the asset will open in the Trimmer. You can set there in/out points and send both video and audio or either of the two to the timeline.

To close the Trimmer, returning to the media browser, click the "x" icon on the top right of the Trimmer.

Timeline Elements

On the timeline, you move the playhead by clicking at the desired position or dragging the slider point along.

The timeline indicates segments, active segments, selections, applied effects, and other relevant information, such as play speed and timecode.

Contextual Menus

Contextual menus, aka "right-click" are available for select elements of the UI.

Timeline

Timeline Element	Contextual menu	Remarks
Tracks		You can remove tracks in the left side track area. On the desired track, select delete from the contextual menu.
Video Segment		In the thumbnail area (1), select the desired command from the contextual menu (2). Copy, Cut, Paste, Delete can be applied to segments or an active selection. Group features are per marked segments only. Freeze Frame and Effects Presets are at position of playhead.
Video Transition New		Right at the limiter between two segments (1), in the thumbnail area, select the desired command from the contextual menu (2).
Video Transition  Exists		Right at the limiter between two segments (1), and a transition exits already, in the thumbnail area, select the desired command from the contextual menu (2).
Audio Segment		In the audio waveform area (1), select the desired command from the contextual menu (2). Copy, Cut, Paste, Delete can be applied to segments or an active selection. Group features are per marked segments only. Trim silence will remove silence at the beginning and end of a selected segment, according to the threshold set in the preferences.
Audio Transition New		Right at the limiter between two segments (1), in the waveform area, select the desired command from the contextual menu (2).
Audio Transition Exists		Right at the limiter between two segments, in the waveform area (1), select the desired command from the contextual menu (2).
Audio Gain line		Right on the gain line (1), select  the desired command from the contextual menu (2).
Side Pane>Presets		On the effects presets pane (1), at the entry Preset Video (2), select  the desired command from the contextual menu (3).

Adding Assets to Timeline

Media has to be present in the Flex media browser. You cannot directly upload media within Flex Cut, but you can add media from the browser or from a selection of an asset made in Trimmer. Consult FlexMOVE Uploading Files for information on uploading media.

From Media browser

Drag and drop an asset from the browser into the timeline, or click its "+" icon. You can add one asset at a time, not several assets.

From Trimmer

Double clicking an asset in the Media browser. Clicking its film icon will open it in Trimmer as well.

The trimmer will open the original asset.

Trimmer UI and Commands

Trimmer shows either the video or the audio tracks. You can switch visibility between video or audio by clicking the camera/waveform icons.

Icon	Function
	go to beginning, back one frame, play, forward one frame, go to end
	play segment from In to Out in loop
	set In marker
	set Out marker
	Export frame as a Flex asset or as JPG/PNG to computer
	switch between video/audio or audio only Trimmer
	clear selection
	In/Out counter: type in time values instead of/in addition to other means described.
	Duration counter: type in time values instead of/in addition to other means described.
	TC (time code)/RT (real time) counter. Values can be typed in.

Making an In/Out Selection

In order to make a selection:

• click at the desired position on the timeline or
• drag the slider and click the "[", "]" icons to set a new In and Out point of a segment
  • or use the keyboard shortcuts I and O)
• the selected part is indicated by a blue color on the progress bar

Sending Selection to Timeline

Once a selection is made, send its video, audio or both, to the timeline using the dedicated icons or shortcuts:

• AV=Audio and Video;
• V=Video only;
• A=Audio only;
• AV=Send Audio/Video into the active selection in the timeline. To create a selection first, read Making and Using a selection in the timeline.
• Rotation icon= Replace Media (r), this will replace the currently active segment in the timeline with the In/Out selection of Trimmer.

Trimmer's Track Indicators in Timeline

You may have noticed that when an asset is opened in Trimmer, the Timeline will highlight the media tracks as they are present in Trimmer, for example when you open an asset in Trimmer with one video track and one mono audio track, the timeline will highlight V1 and A1.

Same Media Asset open in Trimmer, once with video and once with audio tracks visible

Excluding Tracks from being sent

To exclude tracks from actions (e.g. sending audio into timeline), click the tracks so that the blue inversion disappears (1), before sending from Trimmer (2):

Moving target track before sending.

By default trimmer track A1 will be inserted into timeline track A1 etc.

If you want to send Trimmer A1 into timeline A4, drag the "A1" inverted entry down (1), with the mouse, to the desired position. Then click the send into icons (2), either Video/audio or audio only.

Beginning a New Project

Flex Cut opens an empty timeline and you can dive right into your default project.

To make sure that you have the correct audio tracks layout, or to discard what you have done so far, click the new project icon above the timeline:

If your timeline contains media, you are prompted to save or lose it.

A window will prompt you for the qualities of your new project, and you set the project  audio channels and the VO recording tracks to either mono or stereo layout.

Click OK when done.

Timeline Editing

Editor Modes: Storyboard or Advanced

The Timeline editor offers two modes: Storyboard and Advanced.

The storyboard mode is used for quick, simple edits. It has on track for both video and audio, and will always snap segments together.

The advanced mode is for complicated projects, allowing track management for multiple video tracks, gaps between segments and other advanced functions.

To switch to the advanced timeline, click the editor icon. 

Navigating the Timeline and Preview Controls

Navigation

The playhead determines the position of the video in the preview window. The frame in the preview window is the only reliable point of reference, not the thumbnails in the timeline.

• click at the desired position on the timeline or
• click at the desired position on the preview's timeline
• You can use the space bar to start/stop playing; k to stop; l to play *1,*2,*4 times faster; j to play backwards *-1,*-2,*4 times faster.

Preview Controls

Icon	Function
	back one frame, go to beginning, play, go to end, forward one frame
	play segment from In to Out in loop
	set In marker
	set Out marker
	export frame as asset or download locally as jpg or png
	set the visual ratio. It has no effect on the media rendering process, but it will offset the outside area slightly (e.g. a 16:9 video on a 9:16 ratio). This setting will not be saved as part of an EDL.
	Click RT/TC to switch between real time and time code. Type in a single value and press enter, the playhead will jump to that position. If you type in only or eventually the frame value the playhead will jump automatically.

Track Height

The height of of a track can be changed by pulling the lower separator line up or down, actually slightly above it, when the icon changes into the up/down arrow.

Zoom

Use the dedicated zoom controls to zoom the timeline in and out. Alternatively, use the mouse wheel or Keyboard shortcuts - / +.

Tip: on Macs, refrain from using magic mouse.

Making and Using a Selection in the Timeline

Hold the the right mouse button while you drag the mouse where you want a selection to be. The selection area will be light-blue.

Via the contextual menu, selections can be cut, copy/pasted (when positioning the playhead at a different location), delete or split (which will create a new segment with In and Out points).

Context Menu Options 

Note: clear a selection with the shortcut Backspace.

Sending Selection from Trimmer into Selection

As mentioned before, you can make a selection and then fill in the segment of the trimmer into that selection.

First set the in and out points in the Trimmer and do the same in Timeline.

Then, in Trimmer click the AV icon to send Audio/Video into the active selection in the timeline. 

There is another way to do something similar, called 4 point editing, via a keyboard shortcut. Jump to 4 Point Editing: Making a Selection first in the Timeline for details.

Replacing a Timeline Segment with Trimmer Selection

Mark the desired timeline segment. You can group several segments. Note that if sent together, a video and audio track are automatically grouped in a segment.

Make the desired selection in Trimmer and click there the refresh icon (or keyboard shortcut 'R").

The segment or segments will remain at their current positions but the content will now be that of the Trimmed selection.

3 Point Editing: Send In/Out Trimmer selection to Playhead in Timeline

You have to be in advanced editing mode for this to work. This mode is accessible only via the keyboard shortcut "P" (or whatever you defined in the settings).

There are two ways of using 3 point editing.

Positioning the Playhead and sending Trimmer selection

Position the playhead at a desired position (1).

Open an asset in Trimmer and make an in (2)/out (3) selection or use the entire clip.

Press the "P" key on the keyboard (4).

A window will appear, asking to insert the in point at the position of the playhead or the out point (5). Decide and click OK.

Accordingly the content will appear up to  the playhead (out point) or start from the playhead (in point)

4 Point Editing: Making a Selection first in the Timeline

Make a selection in the timeline (1)(2).

Open an asset in Trimmer and make an in (3)/out (4) selection or use the entire clip.

Press the "P" key on the keyboard (5).

Select one of the four options (6), click OK and take notice of the fine detail in the screenshots.

Send to selection - ignore target selection out
Send to selection - ignore target selection in
Send to selection - ignore source selection in
Send to selection - ignore source selection out

Splitting a Timeline Selection into a Timeline Segment

Effects are applied to segments, and not to selections. You can turn an active selection into a segment, by selecting Split range from the contextual menu, given that you made the selection on an active segment.

Match frame support in Trimmer and Timeline

With media in the Trimmer, users can press keyboard shortcut m to automatically send the Timeline playhead to that frame of the main timeline media. Users can then see the same frame both for the Trimmer media and the respective Timeline media.

This works both ways: press m on Timeline media, and the Trimmer will automatically open and the Trimmer playhead will jump to the matching frame.

Any selection done on the Trimmer or on the Timeline will automatically appear or update on the other app when activating the Match Frame function.

Making and Using Segments

Segments have their own In and Out point handlers, and carry a blue frame if active. A media asset containing video and audio when added to the timeline, will turn into one segment.

Content sent from Trimmer or from the Media browser will be segments in the timeline. Splitting an active segment via a selection in two segments is also possible.

Grouping/Ungrouping

You can press the control key, while you click several segments, to group/ungroup them, via the contextual menu. 

By default, the audio and video of a media setting are grouped together, so any action taken on one track (e.g., video) will affect all grouped segments on any other track (e.g., audio). 

Note that in the below image, the top video track and the bottom audio track are grouped. A Cut on that segment will apply to both grouped tracks.  

All grouped segments will be cropped together. To crop only one segment on one track in a group (for J \ L cuts, for example), hold Alt + drag and drop the required part on the clip. 

Freeze frames

You can freeze the frame in a segment for a defined duration, at the position of the playhead while pushing the following frames onwards or overwriting them for the duration of the freeze frame.

Position the playhead, and select Freeze Frame from the contextual menu.

Define a duration or leave the default and tick the box to push the following frames onwards. Not ticking it will overwrite the frames for the duration of the freeze.

Extracting a Frame as local PNG/JPG or Flex Asset

Frames can be extracted as JPG or PNG onto a drive or added as a Flex asset, both in Trimmer and the Preview window.

Trimmer: click the export icon (1).

Preview window: Position the playhead in the timeline on the desired frame (2) so that you see it in the preview window. Click the extract frame icon (3).

In either case, the export window option opens. Select the desired output.

If saved as asset, without further interaction, the asset will be saved in Dalet Flex, at the location of the original source, naming it "frame-extract_ID.jpg" with a creation date matching that of the export action.

Transitions

Use the right hand side transition button to open the transition menu, then drag and drop a transition on a cut between two segments.

Drag the edges of the transition to edit its duration, or right-click on it and modify transition to set an exact numerical value.

Effects

Use the fx  button on the right of the GUI to open the effects panel. Select a segment on the timeline, enable that effect on the segment using the  Enable  slider and use the effects handles to adjust the effect parameters for that clip.

Effects can be applied to one video segment only (and not to grouped video segments).

Some effects can be controlled directly from the  Preview panel. Mark the effect type, double-click the preview window. Applicable handlers will appear, use those to make modifications. The sliders/values in the effect pane will update accordingly.

To disable an effect, switch its slider to "off". If you switch it later back on, the effect settings will be enabled as you originally set them.

To change the effect values on a segment, click its fx-icon. The effect panel with the relevant settings will activate, ready to be changed.

Video Effect List

The following effects are available and can be freely combined with a feathering action:

Transform (positioning, scaling, rotation, feathering)/crop (positioning, feather)/Opacity/Blur (Gaussian,Pixelate)/Speed Control/Color Adjustment (Brightness/Saturation)

fx Motion Automation and Keyframes

Effects offering motion automation capability feature a clock icon . 

• Mark the clip.
• Activate the desired effect by switching the slider
• Set the playhead to the position where you want the motion to begin.
• Activate the motion icon .
• Set the motion slider to the desired begin value.
• Click the keyframe icon . The cursor icons next to the keyframe are used to jump to the beginning (left) or ending (right) of the motion.
• Set the playhead to the desired end of motion
• Move the slider values to the desired motion endpoint.

If you play the segment, you will see the motion.

Clicking on the brightened motion icon  again or clicking the reset icon will reset the effect, that is, you will have to redo all actions above.

Instead of the sliders, you can directly move the active segment in the preview window (thus updating the sliders), by double-clicking into the preview screen and moving the handles/pulling the content freely.

Keyframes also have a timeline view, shown/hidden by clicking the icon.

In the below example, the vertical parameter is animated. You can animate all the parameters, with dedicated keyframes per parameter (Positions, scale and rotation).

Timeline Editing Icons

Icon	Function
	new project
	add video or audio track
	snap mode. When active (always in simple timeline)  a segment will snap to its neighbour when released or when added to the timeline, in a certain distance.
	undo/redo
	cut segment
	delete active segment(s)
	non-ripple/ripple mode: when this icon is active, all inserted media will push and not overwrite (non-ripple) the underlying existing content.
	Simple/advanced timeline switch

Timeline Tracks and Icons

In the advanced timeline you can have up to four video tracks and up to eight audio tracks plus one voice-over track.

Icon	Function
	video and audio track in simple timeline
	video track in advanced timeline
	audio track in advanced timeline
	Voice-over track
	active voice recording
	show/hide video
	audio stereo/left/right
	mute/unmute

Audio

Audio in Flex Cut appears on the timeline tracks as mono or stereo waveforms, depending on the project layout.

Waveforms on the timeline: 

Mono Waveform	Stereo Waveform

Accordingly, the VU meter of each audio track is shown as mono or stereo.

You can edit the volume envelope to create gradual changed in the audio level of a clip.

This is how you create Fade Ins and Fade Outs or restore default settings. Right-click on a spot on the envelope line to open the context menu.

You can add point by holding the command key (Mac) or the ALT key (Windows) while clicking at the desired point on the line. Then you can move the point up and down.

By only clicking/holding the line you can move it up/down in its entirety.

Audio levels can also be controlled in the same manner as effects.

Select a segment on the Storyboard timeline, or an audio segment on the Advanced timeline. Note that both audio tracks and VO track contain audio.

Click on the Audio button on the left-hand side. This will open the Audio effects menu.

Audio Scrubbing

You can scrub audio at the position of the playhead by holding the shift key and pressing the left (backwards) or right (forward) cursor keys repeatedly. It will scrub 1 frame per pressed input.

Voice-over Recording (VO)

To record a voice-over in either the storyboard or advanced editing modes, use the dedicated VO track at the bottom of the timeline.

Position the playhead where you would like to begin a recording (or move the recorded segment later). Click the microphone icon of the voice-over track.

On first use, or after the web browser's cache has been emptied, you have to allow the use of the microphone. Once this is done and in the future, the recording will start immediately.

While recording, the icon is red and you can see the voice-over waveform as it is created on the timeline during the recording.

Recording a mono or stereo voice-over is determined by the project setting. For a stereo channel you can set the left or right channel, clicking the sound channel icon repeatedly:

Clicking the red microphone icon again, or the stop button of the preview window, will end the recording.

Applying Auto Ducking

Open the audio pane (1), enable Auto Ducking (2), set the ducked tracks (3). The voice-over segment now shows a dotted volume line with fade in/out handles (4). Modify them with the mouse as needed.

According to your settings, the audio in the ducked tracks will be reduced accordingly.

Note: Auto ducking is only available for audio in the VO track.

The CC Editor

Edit and time subtitles and closed captions.

Close captions are displayed in the CC track and can be managed from the CC sidebar.

To modify the text, double-click the entry in the side bar and type.

To change the time code, either type it in manually in the counter or position the playhead and then use the In/Out icons to set the location.

Save

Use the Save or Save as buttons to save a project as an EDL. You do not render directly in Flex Cut. This is eventually done in Dalet Flex itself, by submitting the EDL asset to a designated Wizard.

Save will save an EDL, this is useful when working on an ongoing project.

This is one example on how to access a wizard in Dalet Flex UI. There are other ways, wherever the magic want icon is available.

 

Cut Preferences

On the right side panel, click the settings icon .

The setting window will open, with three sections: General; Captions; Keyboard Shortcuts.

General

Set a default transition duration for transition effects, if applied.

Set an auto-save interval, or leave the preset, in seconds.

General>Audio>Ducking

Set a default ducking level in db. The preset is -15db.

Set a default fade in and fade out length. Preset is 20 frames.

General>Audio>Auto-trim

Set the auto-trim silence threshold in db. The preset is -40 db. At that point, if applied silences at the edges of the audio tracks is removed.

Captions

Set the font family and font size for text.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Flex Cut has a variety of keyboard shortcuts, for a quick and efficient editing experience. You can use the presets or assign your own. Some commands, such as "extract frame" do not have any keyboard shortcut.

Scroll to the desired command entry or use the search field (1). To reassign a command to a new keyboard combination, double-click the entry so that a blue frame appears, then press the desired key combination. The system will undo your combination, if it is already being used by another command. 

General / Preview / Selection

Trimmer

Timeline (Storyboard / Advanced)