| name | auto-editor-effects |
| description | Apply actions and animations to sections of a video/audio with auto-editor — change speed, duck or fade volume, de-ess, zoom/Ken Burns, rotate/spin, draw boxes, overlay logos or picture-in-picture, and animate any of these with ramps and easing. Use when someone wants creative effects or per-section behavior rather than plain silence-cutting. |
Actions & animations
Instead of just cutting, give each section an action with --when-active
(-w:1, loud) and --when-inactive (-w:0, silent). Defaults: -w:1 nil
(keep), -w:0 cut. Chain actions with commas; they apply in order.
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:0 speed:8
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:0 speed:3,volume:0.5
-w:0/-w:1 are the silent (label 0) and active (label 1) classes. You can
define more classes with --edit:N/-e:N and act on them with --when:N/-w:N
(N = 2–255) — see the auto-editor skill's "Labels" section. Every action
below works as the value of any -w:N.
Actions
| Action | What it does | Form / range |
|---|
nil | keep unchanged | — |
cut | remove section | — |
speed | time-stretch, pitch preserved | speed:8, speed:0.5 |
varispeed | speed via pitch shift (tape/vinyl) | varispeed:2 (0.2–100) |
volume | scale volume (1=normal, 0.5=−6dB) | volume:0.2 |
deesser | reduce sibilance | deesser:intensity[:max[:freq]] (each 0–1) |
invert | invert pixels | — |
zoom | zoom factor (1=none) | zoom:2, zoom:0.5 (>0–100) |
rotate | fixed clockwise rotation, expands so nothing clips | rotate:90 (pair with --resolution) |
spin | continuous spin deg/rate (deg per sec) | spin:0/120, spin:90/-45 |
drawbox | filled rectangle | drawbox:x:y:w:h:color |
pos | place an overlay clip x:y[:scale] | mainly used inside add / v3 |
add | overlay an image/video layer | add:path[:x:y:scale] |
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 deesser:0.8:0.7:0.4
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 rotate:90 --resolution 1080,1920
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 drawbox:0:0:1920:200:#000000
Overlays — add
add is virtual: it adds an overlay layer rather than a per-frame effect.
Still images hold for the whole section; PNG alpha is preserved. Omit placement
to scale-to-fit and center. Actions chained after an add apply to that new
overlay, not the base.
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 add:./logo.png
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 add:./pip.mp4:900:60:0.25
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 add:./logo.png,spin:0/-30
auto-editor song.mp3 -bg white -w:1 add:./cover.png
Overlays appear only where their section is kept, so for silent sections use
-w:0 nil,add:... (keep + overlay). With --set-action the range is kept
automatically.
Animations — ramps from..to
zoom, opacity, blur, brightness, volume, and each pos field accept a
ramp. The value interpolates across the section, reaching to on its last frame.
More than two points = keyframes, spread evenly.
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 zoom:1..1.5
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 opacity:0..1
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 volume:0..1
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 zoom:1..1.5..1
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 add:./logo.png,pos:0..1200:40:1..0.5
Easing — :ease=curve[:duration], curve ∈ linear|in|out|inout. A standalone
ease: token sets the curve for every animated action after it. rotate/spin
are not affected by easing.
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 zoom:1..1.5:ease=inout
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 opacity:0..1:ease=in:2sec
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 ease:out,zoom:1..1.3,brightness:0..0.3
Target a time range — --set-action
--set-action ACTION,START,END overrides defaults for a range (range syntax;
sec, start/end, negatives all work). The range is force-kept.
auto-editor video.mp4 --set-action nil,0,5sec
auto-editor video.mp4 --set-action speed:1.5,varispeed:1.5,30sec,end
auto-editor video.mp4 --set-action add:./logo.png:600:300:1.0,1sec,2sec
Recipes
auto-editor podcast.mp3 -w:0 cut -w:1 speed:1.15
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:0 volume:0.3
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:1 varispeed:1.25
auto-editor video.mp4 -w:0 speed:6,volume:0.4
Full reference: https://auto-editor.com/ref/actions.md. For plain cutting / pace /
edit methods, see the auto-editor skill.
