Importing video
Importing needs the Pro plan or higher. See Plans & credits.
Two ways to import
Section titled “Two ways to import”Drop onto a Video track. Drag a video file from your desktop onto a Video track on the Grid. Plinken imports it and places a video region at the drop position, with its audio as a linked audio region directly below.
Through the Video Assets panel. Open the browser panel on the Grid and choose Video Assets. Drop files on the panel (“Drop to import”) to add them to the space without placing them, then drag any entry onto a video track later. Files uploaded through Assets into the video folder show up here too, marked as needing import until you drag them.
If the project has no video track yet, add one first with the + button above the track headers and choose Video.
Supported formats
Section titled “Supported formats”| Source | Browser alone | With Plinken Run connected |
|---|---|---|
| MP4 / M4V (H.264) | yes | yes |
| MOV | no | yes |
| MKV, MXF, AVI, MTS, M2TS, WebM | no | yes |
| HEVC (H.265) in any container | no | yes |
| ProRes | no | yes, macOS |
Runner import is available on macOS today. A Windows runner handles rendering and original-quality cuts, but not import yet.
When the browser cannot read a file and Plinken Run is not connected, the import stops with “This browser can’t read .mov files. Plinken Runner on macOS imports them with hardware acceleration.” Install or start Plinken Run and drop the file again.
WebM and Matroska files dropped on a video track without the runner are refused with “The video importer needs MP4 (H.264).” If the file is a Motion bake, place it from the Motion browser instead of dragging it onto a video track.
What happens during import
Section titled “What happens during import”- The file is uploaded to your space and kept there as the untouched original.
- It is re-encoded into an editing copy: H.264 with every frame a seek point, at the resolution, bitrate and frame rate from Settings → Video. With Plinken Run connected this runs on your computer with the hardware codecs; otherwise the browser does it.
- The audio is pulled out as a 48 kHz audio region, linked to the video region.
- One thumbnail per fragment is rendered so the region shows a filmstrip on the timeline.
Progress appears in the import indicator at the top of the app. Everyone in the space sees it. Cancel video import stops the job and removes the partial result.
Long files take a while. You can keep editing audio, switch tabs or open the mixer; the import keeps running in the background.
After the import
Section titled “After the import”- The video region and its audio region move together. See Editing video for Unlink Audio.
- The clip is listed in Video Assets with a count of how many regions use it.
- The original is what Export original quality… cuts from, so keeping it costs storage but preserves quality.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting”“doesn’t look like an MP4 file” — the file has another container. Convert it to MP4, or import it with Plinken Run on macOS.
The browser decodes the file but playback stutters — check the encode defaults in Video settings. A lower bitrate or 1080p instead of 4K makes the editing copy lighter without touching the original.
The import indicator shows an error on a peer’s screen — the job runs on the computer of the person who dropped the file. Only that person can retry or cancel it.