A project without AI: Edit it myself
How to create a project without the AI director: files go straight to the timeline, you edit by hand, export free with no watermark, AI at cost.
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Edit it myself is the second way to create a project. The AI director takes no part in it: your files go straight to the timeline in order, and you edit the reel yourself — as in a regular video editor. Such a project is free: editing by hand, export and publishing to social media cost no tokens, and the reel has no watermark.
AI is still at hand: you can transcribe speech, give the assistant a command or remove the background at any time. Each such operation costs exactly what the AI service charges, and you see the price before it starts.
The demo will appear here
Step 1 of 6
- On the Projects screen tap “New project” — the “How shall we edit it?” screen with two cards
- Tap “Edit it myself” — the media zone, “Frame format” and “Title”
- Upload two videos, a photo and music — the files show their kind and length
- Tap “Open the editor” (it says “Free” underneath) — the project opens with the “Preparing the files” card
- A few seconds later — the editor: videos and the photo on the track in order, music on its own track
- Open “Settings” — the “Edit with the AI director” block with the montage price
How to create one
Choose the way
On the Projects screen tap New project. The How shall we edit it? screen opens with two cards:
- With the AI director — AI edits the reel and checks the finished cut itself. A montage costs 24 tokens, the first reel on an account is free (tutorial).
- Edit it myself with the Free label — A regular editor: timeline, text, effects and transitions. AI only if you want.
Tap Edit it myself. Changed your mind — the ‹ arrow (Back to the choice) takes you back.
Upload your files
The Media zone is the same as in the AI project wizard: video, photos and audio, the same formats and limits (the Requirements link). You need at least one video or photo. The order of the files is the order on the timeline; change it with the ↑ ↓ arrows next to a file.
Click the zone and pick files, or drag them into the zone with the mouse.
Tap the zone and pick videos or photos from the gallery, or files from Files.
More about uploading — Step 4. Media.
Choose the format and title
Frame format — 9:16, 4:5, 1:1 or 16:9. You can change it later in the editor (Aspect ratio and cover). Title is Optional: without it the project gets a name with today's date; rename it in Settings.
Open the editor
While the files upload, the button says Wait for the upload…. When all of them are ready, tap Open the editor.
What happens after the upload
The project opens right in the Editor section. For a few seconds Slicer prepares the files — frames for the strip, the audio waveform, pauses. You see it as the Preparing the files card with stages; no tokens are charged and no AI is involved.
Then the timeline has:
- videos — whole, in upload order;
- photos — 3 seconds each;
- music — on the music track, in the background and quieter under the video sound (if there are several tracks, the first one goes on the track);
- voice-over — on the voice track from the start of the reel.
If a source's proportions don't match the frame format, it is fitted whole and the empty space is covered by a blurred copy of the frame (Frame, mask and background). Other sources are centred. There are no captions yet: speech in a manual project isn't transcribed by itself — that's what Captions from speech is for.
Until the reel has been exported at least once, the project is a Draft: that's how it is labelled in the project list, and the status filter has a Drafts item. A draft has no finished video yet, so Download, Share and AI effect are unavailable in the “⋯” menu. The first export makes the project Ready.
What is free
- All edits by hand: clips, speed and volume, transitions, effects, animations, color, frame, titles, elements, music, format, cover.
- Cut pauses — removes silence without AI (more).
- Export and publishing to social media — with no watermark, so you can publish straight to TikTok as well.
- A manual project doesn't use up your free first reel with the AI director.
The free mode has limits:
- up to 30 exports of manual projects per day per account; beyond that Slicer tells you in how many hours you can continue;
- a reel is up to 180 seconds, like any project. If the timeline is longer, the editor shows The reel is longer than 180 s — remove some fragments or export will not start;
- up to 50 drafts at a time: export or delete the extra ones;
- a free export waits in the queue behind paid montages, so at busy times it may start a little later.
AI in a manual project
All the editor's AI features are available in a manual project:
- Captions from speech — transcribe speech in the sources you pick;
- AI assistant — edits in plain words;
- Caption translation — once speech is transcribed;
- Remove background and voice isolation (Audio);
- AI avatar;
- AI effect — after the first export: the effect needs a finished reel.
Each operation is charged at cost — exactly what the AI service charges, with no markup. The price is on the button or in the sheet before it starts, and the actual cost is charged, never more than shown. While the operation runs, the price is reserved on your balance, so you need at least one free token to start. How it is calculated — Tokens, packs and the free reel.
Edit with the AI director
If you want the director to put the reel together, open Settings. In a manual project the montage settings section is called Edit with the AI director: The AI edits a reel from these files with the settings below, then checks and fixes the finished cut itself.
- Set the options: emoji, plaques, camera motion, hook, duration, Smart cut and Notes for the director.
- Tap Edit with the AI director and confirm in the sheet. The price is 24 tokens, as for a regular montage; the free first reel does not apply here.
The director edits a new reel from the same files and checks the finished cut itself, and the project becomes a regular AI project (How the director works).
Adding files later
Tap “+” on the right of the strip (Add media) → Source clip → the New file tile and pick up to 10 files. A video goes in whole, a photo for 3 seconds, right after the clip under the playhead; music goes on an empty music track, voice-over on the voice track from the playhead. When it's done you'll see Files added: 3.
Good to know
- The caption style (font, accent, look) is in Settings → Reel style, as in any project.
- Source files are kept for 7 days after the files were prepared or after the last export (Data storage). Once they are deleted, the draft can't be edited — export the reel in time.