Exporting & importing

By default auto-editor renders a media file. --export (-ex) changes the target. The output extension is chosen automatically per mode.

auto-editor video.mp4 --export premiere    # → video_ALTERED.xml for Premiere Pro

Export targets

auto-editor video.mp4 --export resolve
auto-editor video.mp4 --export final-cut-pro
auto-editor video.mp4 --export clip-sequence
auto-editor video.mp4 --export v3 -o timeline.v3

Export a microphone recording

Use :mic as the input and press Ctrl-C to finish capture. Editor and timeline exports keep a sibling *_RECORDING.mka source so the project remains usable:

auto-editor :mic --export resolve -o interview.fcpxml
# writes interview.fcpxml and interview_RECORDING.mka

With -c:a auto (the default), persistent recordings use lossless FLAC. Choose another Matroska-supported encoder explicitly; unsupported encoders fail before capture. Encoder sample rates and channel layouts are negotiated during the recording transcode.

auto-editor :mic --export resolve -c:a opus -o interview.fcpxml
auto-editor :mic --sample-rate 44.1kHz --export v3 -o interview.v3

Ordinary rendered outputs and clip-sequence use a temporary capture instead; their final audio codec still follows the output container and -c:a.

Naming the timeline

premiere, resolve, and final-cut-pro accept a name attr (default "Auto-Editor Media Group"). Pass extra attrs after a colon:

# POSIX shells
auto-editor example.mp4 --export 'premiere:name="Your name here"'
# PowerShell (double the inner quotes)
auto-editor example.mp4 --export 'premiere:name=""Your name here""'

final-cut-pro and resolve also accept version, the FCPXML version to write: 11 (default) for FCPXML 1.11, or 10 for FCPXML 1.10, for an older editor that can't read 1.11.

auto-editor example.mp4 --export final-cut-pro:version=10

Split into clips without further editing

To split at the cut points but make no other edits, set both actions to nil:

auto-editor example.mp4 -w:0 nil -w:1 nil --export premiere

Importing timelines

auto-editor reads timeline/XML files as inputs and renders them like any media:

auto-editor myFcp7File.xml -o render.mp4    # render a Premiere/Resolve fcp7 xml
auto-editor project.fcpxmld -o render.mp4   # render a Final Cut Pro export
auto-editor timeline.v3 -o render.mp4       # render an auto-editor timeline file

Importers: auto-editor timeline files (.v1, .v2, .v3), FCP7 XML (Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve), and FCPXML (.fcpxml files and the .fcpxmld bundles Final Cut Pro exports). The input format is detected by extension.

FCPXML import reads the primary storyline, connected clips (lanes above become video layers; lanes below contribute audio only), transitions, speed (including ramps), and volume. Compound, synchronized, and multicam clips are left out with a warning.

Which transitions each export and import carries is covered by the auto-editor-transitions skill.

Timeline format notes

.v1/.v2/.v3 are auto-editor's own timeline formats; .v3 is the current layered format (supports stacked tracks / overlay compositing). See https://auto-editor.com/docs/v3 (and /docs/v1, /docs/v2). Export a timeline to inspect or hand-tweak the edit, then re-import it to render.

For plain rendering, edit methods, and pace, see the auto-editor skill.