Changelog

Follow up on the latest improvements and updates.

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Release Version 115

AI video maker updates
We’ve made a few improvements to the AI video maker, which you can find on the Home screen. Here’s what’s new:
  • You can now upload an audio file to start you AI video maker project.
  • For files that you upload yourself, we will use Edit for clarity, remove filler words, and shorten word gaps by default.
You can try it right now by clicking here.
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Improved image generation
We’re using a new and improved image generator when you select “Generate an image” from the Underlord panel on the sidebar. You’ll see an overall improvement in the quality of images. This has not yet been ported over to the AI video maker, so keep in mind you’ll be seeing images generating from the older image generation model when using that tool—for the time being.
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Drive invite links
We no longer support invite links to Drive, instead we’ve improved the experience for email invites. This helps keep Drive invites more organized and easier to track whether or not they have been accepted.
Avatar update
  • We've added new, more realistic Avatars to the gallery to give you more variety in your avatar videos.
Lifelike avatars
  • You can now select a Custom speaker from the main Assign speaker menu when creating an Avatar for your project.
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New in Labs—a new Timeline experience
We’re rolling out a fully redesigned, and reconsidered Timeline view in Labs this week. Labs is our testing ground for new and exciting features that are still in development. You can toggle on this new Timeline experience by opening the Settings menu → General → and scrolling down to the Labs section.
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The new timeline comes with many changes, which is why we’re putting it in Labs for users to get acquainted, and to allow more time for testing and polish.
Here’s what you need to know:
  • The scene rail has been removed, and replaced with a visual timeline made up of thumbnails broken up by scene.
  • Slashes to mark Scenes in the script have been replaced with thumbnails. These thumbnails also are smartly selected to better represent the visual content of that scene.
  • There’s a new Split button (keyboard shortcut ‘S’) that works on both Scenes and Clips, so you can add splits with a single click.
  • The timeline toolbar is now under Advanced Timeline Tools - you can toggle this on in the settings menu to the right of the playback controls.
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You can read more about all the changes in our help center, including a video walkthrough from Andrew.
Bug Fixes
  • Fixed a bug causing images to be cutoff after cropping when an animation is present
  • Fixed a bug preventing Layouts from being applied when using Automatic multicam
  • Fixed an issue resulting in missing backup files when using Rooms
  • Fixed a bug causing a crash when using Copy to clipboard
  • Fixed a bug preventing correct text from removing spaces
  • Fixed a bug preventing Find and replace from effecting punctuation
  • Fixed a bug causing a “You must be a member of this drive” error when transcribing a Screen recording
  • Fixed an issue causing text corrections to disappear after aligning a Sequence file
  • Fixed a bug causing bulk Subtitle export to only deliver one file on Desktop
  • Fixed a bug causing UI issues when an ignored word is surrounded by cuts
  • Fixed a bug preventing publishing with a “corrupt text/audio alignment” error
  • Fixes an issue where users with read-only access were intermittently unable to view projects.
  • This patch addresses more issues related to project collaboration and viewing projects.
  • Fixed a bug preventing users with read-only access from viewing projects.
  • In order to resolve an issue related to content protection, the Screen recorder on Windows will now show the screen recorder dock. This means that the option to Hide Recorder Dock will not function for the moment. This is a compromise solution as the bug was causing the final video to be blacked out in some cases. We are working on a fix for this in the next version, and apologize for any inconvenience this causes in the meantime.
  • Fixed a bug that closed the Custom animation window when changing the size or rotation of the element in the Scene editor.

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Release Version 114

New in Home—AI video maker
We’ve re-built and relabeled our AI video maker adding a host of new features including Avatars, automatic layouts, captions, titles, scenes and even b-roll.
Select AI video maker from the Home screen to get started. From here you can start generating your video by:
  • Uploading a file
  • Generating from a prompt
  • Pasting in a pre-written Script
If you select either
Generate from prompt
, or
Paste in a script
you’ll first select an Avatar to be your presenter, along with an AI speaker to voice it. If you select “Upload a file” - we’ll take you straight to generating b-roll, or auto-selecting stock media for your b-roll.
Once you’ve made your selections, the video will start generating, and you can either Export immediately, or dive in and edit it. If you’re using a pre-recorded video, but prefer an Avatar, you can always swap it out inside the project.
This tool is a great way to bring a quick idea to life, or just try out Descript’s editing features with no barrier to entry in terms of having an idea or pre-recorded material.
Screen recorder updates
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Development of our new Screen recorder is moving forward. This week, we’re removing the Beta label.
Even more updates are coming to the screen recorder, so stay tuned.
Custom speaker quality improvements
Back in February, we rolled out major improvements to speaker quality to our Business and Enterprise users. We have improved the quality even more and are deploying both sets of improvements to all users in the coming weeks. You should notice a higher overall audio quality with better, more natural delivery. This also means that we will soon be fully deprecating custom speakers made with our very old models. These are labeled as "Removing soon" in the AI Speakers menu in Drive view. If you’re still using one, you’ll want to create a new custom speaker with the upgraded models by 6/30/2025. You can do this by clicking the "New speaker" button in the top right of the AI speakers menu in Drive view.
Editor updates
  • Adding a new stock speaker to projects that already have avatars in them will now ask if you want to add an avatar to the newly added speaker.
  • Blank compositions will hide the Scene editor until content is added for a cleaner blank page experience.
  • We’ve removed the Labs option to toggle off Regenerate in the toolbar.
General bug fixes
  • Fixed a bug where correcting the transcript would make avatars go out of sync.
  • Fixed a bug in the “Assign avatar” modal that let you click on "Assign avatar" without having one selected.
  • Fixed a bug resulting in "Error when changing the text" when trying to Create Clips in a composition with hidden placeholder layers.
  • Fixed a bug causing transcription glossary to not auto-correct words when transcribing.
  • Fixed a bug causing video layers to disappear in some translated compositions.
  • Fixed a bug causing “error changing text” when pasting between some compositions.
  • Fixed a crash resulting in "Singular matrix detected, cannot reliably invert” error message.
Rooms bug fixes
  • Fixed a broken link in the stalled upload modal that was supposed to go to the help center.
  • Fixed a bug causing upload dialog boxes to overlap.
  • Fixed a bug resulting in backups not being transferred to the media library.
  • Fixed a bug showing a cancel option next to completed uploads.
  • Fixed a performance issue in the people tab.
  • Made the upload percentage in people tab more accurate for non-host participants.
  • Fixed a bug preventing late joining users from selecting a backup file.
  • Fixed alignment issues on the partial upload dialog box. Full guest names can be seen by hovering the mouse over the name.
Join the Descript Changelog for a look at our releases from April.
  • Fixes an issue where private embedded share pages requested users to Sign In more frequently than intended.
  • Fixes an issue with avatar generation.
Announcing Descript Season 9, which is all about Avatars. Introducing instant text-to-video generation—no camera required. Join us live on May 6th for Descript Season 9 to see our all-new avatars in action.
There are many situations where recording on camera isn't practical or preferred. With avatars, you can create professional videos without the need for filming - now available to all Descript users.
The process is simple: write your script, select an avatar from our gallery (or create your own from an image), and generate your video. Or record your own audio. Either way, the avatar will present your content naturally with perfectly matched lip-sync.
Join CEO Andrew and the team for a live demonstration of Avatars.
We invite you to submit questions about avatars before the event, with an opportunity to ask them live on stage. If you'd like to participate, please sign up here.

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Release Version 113

Avatars
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We've begun our rollout of avatars. Over the next week, you'll start to see avatars mentioned on our Home screen and in the speaker label. With avatars, there's no need to stress about recording yourself for every single video you have to make. Avatars let you make video that’s just as informative and engaging—in a fraction of the time, with no recording at all.
Just write your script, select a voice from our new stock voices and then choose your avatar—from the variety of options in our gallery, or from an image you upload.
You can also start an Avatar based project from the Home screen, either by selecting Text-to-AI Video and ticking the Avatar box, or by selecting Create AI Avatar. Or just click here.
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Custom avatars work best with human subject in center frame so we suggest avoiding images of animals or inanimate objects.
For more details on best practices when creating custom Avatars, our Help center has you covered.
13 New stock speakers
To make Avatars even more robust, we added 13 new stock speakers that will help give your avatar just the right delivery. We've welcomed five new conversational voices, four creator-style voices, another British voice and a few others.
Say hello to the gang.
  • Edward
    -
    American - Announcer - Informative - Adult - Masculine
  • Elizabeth
    -
    American - Conversational - Soothing - Adult - Feminine
  • Grace
    -
    American - Creator - Younger - Feminine
  • Joshua
    -
    American - Creator - Adult - Masculine
  • Kyle
    -
    American - Creator - Chipper - Younger - Masculine
  • Libby
    -
    American - Conversational - Informative - Adult - Feminine
  • Michael
    -
    American - Conversational - Adult - Masculine
  • Owen
    -
    American - Creator - Younger - Masculine
  • Ryan
    -
    American - Corporate - Younger - Masculine
  • Sarah
    -
    American - Conversational - Younger - Feminine
  • Simon
    -
    British - Posh - Adult - Masculine
  • Ursula
    -
    Character - Wise - Older - Feminine
  • Vernon
    -
    American - Conversational - Chipper - Older - Masculine
Import from YouTube is back
We’ve brought back the ability to import video directly from YouTube links. This is a very popular feature that we want to support long term.
Transcription provider selection
For users with specific transcription needs, or who run recurring issues with some transcriptions, we’ve added a new Transcription provider selection in the Settings menu under the Advanced section. We do not recommend that most users switch this away from the Automatic setting, but in some cases it may be worthwhile to try a different option.
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The options at present are:
  • Scholar: classic transcription that generates at a steady pace and prioritizes accuracy
  • Daredevil: transcribes faster, better at proper nouns and punctuation, but is more prone to hallucination
We may add further options in the future.
Rooms updates
Here's what's new in Rooms:
  • For increased flexibility when the unexpected happens, we have added a dialog that appears when an upload has stalled. This option allows you to proceed using a partially uploaded but high quality file, or to use the lower quality Cloud backups. You can still swap in the original high quality files if they are recovered.
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  • We changed the People tab notification icon to a light-red dot.
The new Screen recorder—in Beta this week
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For users who have been upgraded to the new Desktop experience, we finally have a replacement for the
Quick Recorder
. The new
Screen Recorder
will launch to all users on the upgraded Desktop within the next week, bringing enhanced functionality and performance to make your recording experience smoother and more versatile. This update is just the beginning, and we’re launching it in a Beta state while we make improvements and round out the feature set.
Like our web recorders, it uploads your video in the background while you record for instant playback when you hit stop.
At the moment, it does not include screen area selection, or multitrack file recordings.
Both of these features are in the works and will be added when the Screen recorder leaves Beta.
If you’re on the old Desktop, you can upgrade manually using the
Settings menu → General → Labs → Upgrade option
. By May 15th, 2025, all users will be on the new version so you might as well jump in now.
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Agent Underlord
We're building a new way to use AI to edit your videos in Descript. If you want to help us break it and build it better, apply to get exclusive early access. Learn more and apply here.
Bug Fixes
  • Fixed a bug resulting in “Error authorizing app” message when logging in.
  • Fixed a bug causing un-dismissable pop-ups in Rooms.
  • Fixed a bug related to AV sync mismatch between Sequence and Script files.
  • Fixed a bug causing layers to be moved to the beginning of a project when editing during transcription.
  • Fixed a bug causing transcript exports to have incorrectly timed speaker labels.
  • Fixed a bug in Rooms preventing recording from stopping when the host leaves.
You'll see some UI differences when you login.
First, you'll notice that the login URL is different: https://web.descript.com/authenticate
The new login screen looks like this:
New login
Once you're logged in, you can select which Drive you'd like to open first using this new prompt:
New Drive selector
This also resolves a known issue of being unable to open menus in Drive view until a Drive is selected.
The update comes with a refresh of our invite emails, which are more branded and... inviting. Export button (1)
If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback please reach out.
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