Getting good results

Claude does its best work when it knows where to look and what to protect. These habits help.

Let Claude look first

Claude reads your sequence, comp or timeline before it changes anything, and reads it again after. If it seems confused about what’s there, ask it to “read the sequence again”. Clip numbers shift after edits, so a fresh read keeps it accurate.

Make a copy before big changes

For anything that touches a lot of clips, start with “make a copy of this sequence first” (or timeline in Resolve). Claude works on the copy and your original stays as it was.

Point at what you mean

• Track and clip number: “clip 3 on V1”. Clips count from the left.
• A time: “the clip at 0:42”, “between 1:12 and 1:20”.
• Your selection: select clips in the timeline and say “the selected clips”.
• A name: bins, sequences, comps and layers by their names.

Ask Claude to check its work

Add “show me a frame when you’re done” to anything visual. Claude renders the frame, looks at it, and corrects what’s off before it reports back.

Effects and keyframes

• Name effects the way they appear in your Effects panel or Effect Controls.
• Effect settings have different names in every effect and plugin. Claude reads a clip’s effects first so it uses the right ones.
• Animation you already have is safe: Claude adds keyframes to it and won’t flatten an animated setting unless you tell it to replace the keyframes.

Use reference images

Drop a screenshot into the chat to show the look you want: a lower third, a title card, a layout. Claude builds to match it and checks a frame against it. To have it traced as a dimmed guide layer in After Effects, save the image on your computer and give Claude its full path.

Undo works as usual

In Premiere Pro and After Effects every action Claude takes is a normal undo step. Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac) undoes the last step, not the whole request, so ask Claude to list what it changed if you want to roll back further. In Resolve, cutting a section out builds a new timeline and leaves the original alone.

Choose what Claude may do without asking

In Claude’s settings for the Filmit connector, set read-only actions to Always allow and the rest to Ask. Claude then checks with you before each edit. Once you trust a workflow, you can allow more.

Keep the app awake

Claude works through your editing app, so the app needs to stay open, and the computer awake. If Claude says an app is “not answering”, wake the computer or bring the app back, then ask it to carry on.

Work in steps on big jobs

For a long edit, ask for one part at a time and review as you go: “first just add markers where you’d cut”, then “now make those cuts”. It’s easier to check, and easier to change direction.