Edit video with Claude
Edit with Claude,
on a real timeline.
Connect Claude desktop or Claude Code to Selects over MCP, and Claude edits your footage in Selects. Every cut lands on a timeline you can open and change.
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Same footage, same prompt
Selects and Claude on the same footage
We gave Selects and Claude (Fable 5), working without Selects, the same footage and the same prompt. Here are both cuts, side by side, with what we noted in each.
Camera switching
podcast, 30-second source
This demo shows how each AI picks the most natural camera angle, the way a human editor would. Every tool except Selects failed on footage longer than an hour, so all five ran on the same 30-second clip.
Prompt
Switch cameras based on speaker and reaction
Selectsours
- Switches camera naturally
- Shows close-ups with the best reaction shots
- Covers jump cuts with camera switches
ClaudeFable 5
- Cuts to an unimportant camera
- Awkward cut: switches cameras too fast
- Overall camera switches are too fast
Non-speech footage
parkour, 17-minute source
How each editor performs on footage with no speech to work from. The original footage is 17 minutes long.
Prompt
Create a parkour highlight using every parkour attempt, omitting none. Show only the action itself: start right when each move begins and cut just before the result.
Selectsours
- Finds 6 valid parkour attempts
ClaudeFable 5
- Cost $12 in tokens and took 25 minutes to edit
- Finds 2 valid parkour attempts
- Keeps the conversation after an attempt instead of the attempt itself
Tech review
product footage, 1-minute source
This demo shows how each AI picks the most natural camera angle, the way a human editor would for a tech review video.
Prompt
Edit this video by changing cameras naturally
Selectsours
- Cuts to the MacBook when the speaker looks at it
- Switches between the speaker and the MacBook at the right moments
ClaudeFable 5
- Cost $9.42 in tokens and took 40 minutes to edit this 1-minute video
- Cuts to the MacBook when the speaker looks at it
Scripted edit
talking head, 7-minute source
The original footage is 7 minutes 13 seconds long and full of retakes. A human editor's final cut runs 1 minute 58 seconds.
Prompt
Edit this video with the below script.
- fast pacing (short-form video)
- follow the script
- remove retakes and keep the best one only
Script
Forget what's trending. YC's new batch is the new crystal ball for tech. If you didn't know this already, tonight's the deadline for YC for their winter batch, and right now, the fall batch is fully on, so let's see what the future looks like with the fall batches. The current YC batch has hundred and forty-six startups: ninety-six B2B, seventeen consumer, ten healthcare, ten industrial, eight fintech, four real estate, and even one government. And as expected, AI dominates. But you see, here are the three startups that really caught my eye. Number one, Chat AI. This is the world's first brainrot IDE, integrated development environment. It basically allows developers to have integrated environment between the things that you brainrot with, like your TikTok scrolls, your Instagram, anime, whatever it is, into your developer code. How does this work? Instead of having developers fight their urge to brainrot, Chat actually embraces it. So for example, as you're building, AI model is thinking, and you sort of have to wait, and it actually prompts them to go and brainrot. It will show you to your Instagram, your favorite TikToks, so you're actually resting, and then by the time your AI model has loaded, then you're actually back to developing. Number two, Pixley AI. This one's my personal favorite. They're reinventing early education for children. You know when we go into a restaurant, and we see all these iPad kids, and we're like, “Oh my God, they're brain rotting”? Well, this AI tool is about to change it all. This is literally my dream come true. Imagine you draw an image, and then it becomes animation, and then a parent can even put morals or stories that they wanna tell. This makes screen time both educational and also super safe. This is one of the best use cases of video generation that I've seen. Thirdly, Exonic. This is the very first open source drug discovery. I know. When I first read it too, I was like, “What does that even mean?” This company is using AI to design synthetic DNA to help fight cancer. There's a no-code AI solution, and then you submit DNA designs, open source, open to anybody, and the best one gets tested in real cancer cells.
Selectsours
- 2:00 length (human edited version was 1:58)
- No retakes kept
- Chooses the best takes
ClaudeFable 5
- 2:16 length (human edited version was 1:58)
- Cost $5 in tokens and took over 15 minutes to edit
- Awkward cuts: too many short, fast cuts
- Cuts in the middle of the word “batch”
- Awkward cuts: too many short, fast cuts
- Stumble kept: “This makes-”
- Stumble kept: “so this com- this company”; skips “I know. When I first read it too, I was like, what does that even mean?”
- Stumble kept: “And then-”
Where they differ
A model, and an editor
Claude is a general AI model. Claude Code's docs describe MCP as an open source standard for connecting AI to tools, so Claude can read and act on a system directly. Selects is the video editor at the other end: it analyzes the footage and holds the timeline.
Use them together
The Selects MCP works with Claude desktop and Claude Code, with the Selects desktop app running on the same computer. Through it, Claude can sync footage, search it in plain language, cut drafts from a prompt or a script, add captions and hand off to your editor.
Or bring your Claude plan into Selects
Connect a Claude Pro or Max subscription inside Selects and it powers Selects chat, with no Selects credits spent on chat. Footage analysis always uses Selects credits.
A timeline at the end
Whichever way you work, the result is a Selects draft on a multi-track timeline. Fix it by hand, keep giving notes, or hand it to Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Avid Media Composer.
FAQ
Can Claude edit video?
Yes. On this page, Claude (Fable 5) cuts the same footage as Selects, with what its runs cost in tokens where we recorded it.
Connected to Selects over MCP, Claude edits in Selects instead, working from Selects' analysis of your footage and building drafts on its timeline.
How do I connect Claude to Selects?
- Open the Selects desktop app.
- In your profile, choose Connect MCP and pick Claude desktop or Claude Code.
- Restart Claude, then ask it to edit a Selects project.
Selects has to stay open while Claude works.
Does editing with Claude use Selects credits?
Not for the editing. Claude's work through the MCP runs on your Claude plan. Analyzing footage always uses Selects credits.
Can I use my Claude subscription inside Selects?
Yes, with Claude Pro or Max. Connect it in Selects and chat runs on your plan instead of Selects credits. Free Claude accounts don't work.
Your sign-in is stored encrypted on your computer and is never sent to Selects servers.
Does it work with Claude in the browser?
No. The Selects MCP doesn't support claude.ai in the browser. Use the Claude desktop app or Claude Code, on the computer running Selects.
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