Descript vs Clipwing: Video Editing on Easy Mode
If you’re a vlogger or video podcast host without years of video editing experience, you’re in luck. There have never been more tools to make video production easier & faster than this moment.
In the podcast world, Descript has managed to both delight & enrage editors with their transcript-based editing app. I myself have gone from loving it to hating it and ended up somewhere in the middle.
And where does Clipwing fit in? It’s a simpler transcript-based editor that cuts clips fast. Sometimes tools don’t have to do it all!
In this post we’ll get into:
Why transcript-based editing is fun & fast
What Descript does well & not so well
Where to put Clipwing in your workflow
Why transcript-based video editing is fun and fast
If you’ve ever spent hours zooming in and out of a video timeline, cutting umms and ahhs, mistakes and long pauses, you know how it can just eat up hours. Unless you get really into video editing, it’s just not fun after a while.
Burning out from this means your publishing frequency drops, YouTube growth slows down and you might just throw your show in the bin too soon.
Enter transcript-based editing: this turns that messy timeline into a one big long text document.
Here’s a quick list of features that let you edit faster:
Select and cut words or whole sentences in a flash
Cut filler words and long pauses in bulk (but this is risky!)
Skim the transcript to move through manual edits faster
Select and rearrange sections of your recording
Those were the core features of Descript when it launched, and they are what so many video producers loved about the platform. Over time, they’ve added a whole lot more including audio adjustments and a bunch of AI features.
And that expansion has unfortunately slowwweeedddd evveerryyythiinnng dooowwwnnnn 🤬
But let’s look at Clipwing, our transcript-based tool that makes editing clips fast and easy. Just upload your file & then select everything from the transcript you want to keep in the new edit. That’s it!
So if you want to make a 10 minute vlog from 20 minutes of your lovely talking head speaking to the camera, just select your best lines for the intro then line up your main points and boom — export!
But you’re not done with that 20 minutes of content after one vlog, right!?! Select your best 10-20-30 second clips for shorts, reels, or TikToks, resize the video for vertical format and add fun subtitles and now boom — export again!
What Descript does well, and not so well
Transcript-based editing lets you focus on the content first, but cutting pauses too short and removing all the filler words can make your vlog or show sound unnatural. We are humans, we do breathe between phrases and (sometimes) think before speaking.
“I personally hate listening to podasts that sound like someone did it in a single breath. Pauses and gaps make a podcast sound like I'm listening to and being part of a conversation. A single breath podcast stream sounds like someone is trying to ram information down my throat. that's just IMHO though. Other people might like it. Just not my cup of tea.” – Descript Review from Reddit
Here are a few features I appreciate in Descript:
Easy Audio Adjustments: Missing from earlier versions of the app, Descript’s audio tools are pretty good if you’re not a picky audio engineer type. Paired with a decent mic, your vlog or show will sound better than most!
Export Options: Once you're done editing, you can export directly to YouTube or Google Drive. This saves you time downloading large video files to your computer and uploading them for publication.
Descript’s downsides
As I hinted at earlier, what started as a fairly simple tool has grown over time as Descript tries to become the all-in-one video recording and editing platform.
Many podcast hosts are frustrated with the frequent (and drastic) UI changes. Efficient video editing means getting comfortable with a tool and Descript’s constant updates just slow down the workflow. Yes, software changes are inevitable but don’t start from scratch on each new version!
Finally, I just find the software too slow when handling large video files. On an M3 MacBook with decent internet speeds, this shouldn’t happen. If you have an interview show with 3+ people and have merged their HD videos into one, it becomes almost unusable.
Especially if you find just a few small changes that need to be made quickly to the final version, the upload time and processing of any AI features like Studio Sound is just too slow.
Clipwing’s place in your video stack 🦋
Clipwing can fit in your workflow in a few different places depending on the type of video content you’re producing for both your long-form videos and shorts or reels. Here’s how I would use it depending on the type of content you’re making.
Clipwing for video podcasters
There are two options here. First, you can produce the full episode of your podcast in Riverside, Descript, Premier Pro or Capcut and then upload the final version to Clipwing and make promo clips from that.
This is what I usually do because it’s fast and you can use Clipwing’s other features to prep marketing material for your show, including:
Generate timecodes for chapters in YouTube
Make a list of mentions to include in your show notes
Brainstorm title and description ideas with Clipwing’s AI
Option two is to take the raw recording from your show (probably your guest’s file if you have one) and use that to make shorts and promo clips or even to select the best clips for your show intro.
This may work better for re-sizing your guest’s video into vertical format. It really just depends on how you frame your final version of your show.
No matter which option you choose, all the clips you make can be exported in any of Clipwing’s 3 size formats. This lets you re-purpose your show to any social platform you like!
Ready to publish more high-quality content but don’t have the time to edit? Check out our custom video production packages 🤝
Clipwing for vloggers
This one’s pretty straightforward. Just record your talking head content of your vlog episode and then upload the file straight to Clipwing.
Now you can:
Select your best takes and line them up for the full video of the vlog.
Export it in sections or one big file and
Then use your preferred video editor to add in b-roll and supplemental footage or memes.
For clips, you can select your best hooks and quick stories and export them cropped to square so that you can add b-roll above or below you. Or just crop to vertical format and add subtitles + music for quick and easy publication.
No matter what types of content you produce, Clipwing’s workspaces will help you keep it organized so you can cut fresh clips from your archive any time. Here’s how it works 👇
That’s a wrap 🎬
After working with both Clipwing and Descript to produce multiple styles of videos over the last year, I no longer see them as direct competitors. Yes, they both bring transcript-based video editing joy to those of us who are not professional editors. And there is some feature overlap.
But despite Descript’s smooth filler word and gap removal, I find myself back in Capcut for video podcast editing and then in Clipwing to cut promo clips. Descript has just slowed down too much and I don’t have time for it!
What about you? What video editing tools are in your stack to make YouTube episodes and promo cuts? Share your stack and tag us on X if you’ve tried Clipwing 🦋
Descript vs Clipwing: Video Editing on Easy Mode
