Changelog

Follow up on the latest improvements and updates.

RSS

new

improved

fixed

Release Version 98

Ken Burns animation
That smooth, documentary-style presentation for b-roll and still images is finally here. Put on your PBS hat and add the Ken Burns animation to any visual media for a smooth zoom and pan.
It comes with 8-directional settings and a center zoom option.
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A random zoom and pan setting will be selected when you initially apply the effect so you don’t necessarily have to choose them yourself if you just want to quickly spice up your background content.
The zoom/pan can be set to:
  • In
    - Zooms into the image
  • Out
    - Zooms out on an image
  • None
    - Image will only pan, with no zoom effect (this cannot be combined with the center-only zoom setting.)
The Ken Burns effect has 3 speed settings:
  • Slow
  • Moderate
  • Fast
Please note: this effect currently cannot be applied to a Script track, as it's designed specifically for images and b-roll.
Edit for clarity w/ AI speech
You can now use your AI voices directly in conjunction with the Edit for clarity tool. This is great for times where you’re unable to re-record anything based on the suggestions you receive using Edit for Clarity. Just toggle the option labeled
Use AI speech
, and check off the speakers you’d like to have eligible for edit-for-clarity based word or phrase replacement.
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Any parts of the script that will be replaced will be marked in blue.
Note: This currently does not work with
Sequences,
but they should be supported in an upcoming release.
Corner rounding and wrapping on text backgrounds
You can now add rounding to the corners on the background of your text elements.
Corner rounding helps make your visual layout more distinct, clear and professional. Backgrounds can also help make your text easier to read and rounding provides a cleaner look especially when overlaid against contrasting colors in your background.
You can add rounding using this icon:
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In addition, there are two new settings under the background option in the layers menu:
  • Hug lines - Background will tightly wrap around your text when it spans multiple lines.
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  • Box - The background boundary will always be as wide as the longest line.
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Editor updates
  • Deleting a scene boundary will now also delete layers that are anchored to that scene boundary. This makes removing full scenes easier in most use cases. Layers that are not anchored to a scene boundary will remain in place.
  • We’ve brought the Supertoast over from the web version of Descript into the Desktop app. This puts all the notifications and progress meters for your file processing, exports, transcription etc. into a handy pop-out so you can keep them hidden until you need to check. Note: This is rolling out slowly, so if you don’t see it just yet, you should see it by the end of the week.
  • This is one for the advanced users: In the past users importing video with non-square pixel aspect ratios would encounter unexpected results during editing. These file types are now supported, and you can import than without having to do any sort of file re-encoding.
Bug Fixes
  • Fixed a bug preventing recordings from appearing the Import from Zoom menu
  • Fixed a bug causing layers to paste with incorrect placements when copying to a separate composition
  • Fixed a bug causing layer clips to shift unexpectedly after applying a layout
  • Fixed an issue blocking Green Screen adjustment from the Layer menu
There are a few new features releasing today, and they don't even require you to download an app update. We just turned them on.
New text animations
We’ve added new text animations and animation settings for Title and other text elements.
There are two new presets:
  • Appear
    - Text pops in by word, line, or paragraph.
  • Reveal
    - Text slides in from an invisible frame, by word, line, or paragraph. This includes a directional setting so you can determine if the text is revealed from the left, right, top or bottom.
You can also target most animations by word, by line, or by paragraph.
Easing is applied per word, sentence or paragraph. The overall animation is always on a linear easing curve.
Borders and shadows on media layers
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You can now apply borders and shadows to all visual layer types including video.
Borders have their own section in the Layer panel, and Shadows will appear under the Effects header. We are also adding Shadows, toggled off, to all visual layers by default for easy access.
  • This update fixes an issue in our internal error reporting mechanism and contains no user facing changes.
  • Fixes a bug where typing
    m
    would add a marker while in Write Mode on the Desktop app
  • Fixes an issue causing playhead position inaccuracy while editing during playback

new

improved

fixed

Release Version 97

Zoom and pan animation preset returns
By popular request, we have brought back the zoom and pan preset. Zoom and pan animations could always be performed using a Custom animation, but we’re restored the preset version that already has some level of animation set on the ending keyframe.
AI Usage dashboard admin view
Drive admins can now view the AI suite usage data for Drive members.
The Drive admin will always be the first on the list, followed by all Editor members so you can keep track of users who are close to hitting their limit for AI suite usage.
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We’ll show warnings as your approach your limit, and show any features that require an upgrade to unlock. If you are on a plan without limits for a feature, it will permanently show Unlimited in this panel. We’ll add a counter for Unlimited users for tracking purposes in an upcoming update.
New stock speakers
6 new stock voices will be rolling out in the coming days. These voices come with some upgrades which we’ll discuss in more detail in upcoming updates. You can find them in the Stock Speakers menu under these names:
  • Cedric
  • Dolores
  • Imogen
  • Judith
  • Paula
  • Tyler
More voices are also releasing in the coming weeks.
General Editor updates
  • The keyboard shortcuts for add Speaker and add Marker were not working in Write mode. This has been fixed so that Shift + # will add a marker, and Shift + @ will add a speaker.
  • We’ve removed the option to drop files into the Canvas when viewing a blank project. This is because many users were accidentally loading their intended Script track as a layer instead. Once a script track is in place, drag and drop using the Canvas to add a layer is re-enabled. You can also add layers from the Project panel on the sidebar, or by dragging them into the layers section of the timeline.
  • Create speaker will now show in the speaker label menu before any letters are typed. Previously, we would not show this option until text was present in the field.
Bug Fixes
  • Improved aliasing issues when downscaling images and video
  • Fixed an issue with right-click menu appearing in the Import from URL field in the Desktop app
  • Fixed a bug causing an “error changing text” when trying to add a video sequence to a composition
  • Fixed a bug causing an “invariant Violation: expected start <== end” error when attempting to export or publish a translated composition
  • Fixed a bug resulting in a “CollectionID” error when using translation w/ dubbing
  • Fixed a bug causing adding a name to fail to apply when identifying speakers
  • Fixed a bug preventing YouTube videos with longer names to import successfully with a “something went wrong” error
  • Fixed a bug preventing click and drag to change EQ parameters
  • Fixes a bug in which the Home button was unresponsive for some users
  • Fixes an "error changing text" issue when adding a sequence to an empty composition
  • Fixes an issue where playback may freeze, especially during periods of high CPU usage
Welcome to Descript Season 7 — our love note to video and audio podcasters. We’re launching some new features to help round out your workflows, and highlighting the ways these features integrate seamlessly with our most powerful features for podcasters of all stripes. There’s also some quality of life improvements and of course bug fixes.
Everyone is invited to join us for the Season 7 virtual event, two weeks from today. Save your spot here.
With that out of the way, let's talk about what's new this week.
Import from Zoom
Descript now has an integrated connection with your Zoom account, allowing you to import Cloud recordings directly into the Editor. We highly recommend reviewing the help center for full details on setup, optimal settings, and troubleshooting options.
Accounts can be connected through the Settings menu → Connected accounts page, or by clicking the Import from Zoom button in a project. You’ll be prompted to verify your Zoom credentials, and once you’ve got the accounts connected you’re all set to start importing.
Clicking the Import from Zoom button will show you a chronological list of all of your Zoom cloud recordings. After import, Descript smartly builds the project into a Sequence file. Any video files that have an embedded audio in addition to an associated audio file will be muted to prevent duplicate audio. A major timesaver for podcasters and educators who record in Zoom.
Note: You can only access recordings made within the last 12 months through the import tool. Any recordings older than 12 months will need to be downloaded and imported manually.
AI Usage monitoring in Settings
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We’ve added new AI usage trackers to the Settings menu, so you can better monitor your remaining AI suite balances. We’ll show your remaining uses, and when you’re getting close to your limit we’ll highlight the category with an hourglass icon. Advanced AI Suite options are available for Creator plans and above. You can upgrade from this menu with a few clicks if you want to give them a try.
Edit for clarity now more (or less) intense
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There’s a new intensity slider when using Edit for clarity which increases or decreases the aggressiveness of edits. Use the Heavy setting to remove more filler words and cut more digressions, or use the Low setting for a lighter editing pass.
Announcing Descript Rooms (beta)
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Rooms is a fully integrated collaborative recorder developed by SquadCast and Descript engineers.
It’s launching as a closed beta during Season 7 which you can sign up for at this link. We’ll also be onboarding users in waves as the beta progresses.
The Rooms recorder brings the best features of SquadCast into Descript, while adding and improving upon the formula. It’s built on a new engine that makes throttling streaming quality in favor of high quality source recordings more flexible and more reliable. Rooms will also include virtual backgrounds, instant imports into Descript, support for joining via mobile, and better file recovery and file integrity protections.
We’ll post updates as the soon as the beta starts rolling out.
Flatten Tracks on Web and Desktop preview
You can now use the flatten tracks function on the Web, and in the Desktop preview version of Descript. It runs a bit faster than it does on regular Desktop, and has a progress meter.
The flattened track is built locally, and uploaded once it has completed. We’ll keep the file handy in case you run into connection issues during the uploading phase.
Regenerate with Sequences
Regenerate can now work over Sequences, neatly re-timing the video content to match the new length of the regenerated speech, just the same way it works when you use it on single file.
Editor updates and quality of life improvements
  • The Title field has been added back to Compositions so you can update the title without clicking through the menu on the top bar
  • Clicking to drag a layer now works even if you currently have a lower-level layer actively selected.
  • We improved some issues related to layers moving when selected, so it will be less sensitive when you're
    not
    intending to move a layer
  • We made improvements to layer resizing so that the transitions are smoother with less jumps in size
  • We’ve added VP9 to the list of unsupported video codecs
Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue updated project thumbnails were delayed in Drive view when selecting a custom option
  • Fixed a bug where deleting the first character in a marker deleted the entire marker
  • Fixed an export bug resulting in "Cannot export: Encoding error (failed to initialize video encode accelerator.)” error
  • Fixed an export bug resulting in “Cannot export: got negative audio decode offset” error
  • Fixed an issue preventing opacity adjustments using the canvas text-box tool
  • Fixed a bug resulting in “Error changing text” message when shortening all word gaps
  • Fixed a bug where the Update button would not changed to Published after updating a published page
  • Fixed a bug resulting in bulk Composition exports with incorrect aspect ratios
  • Fixed a bug where layers would duplicate instead of drag
  • Fixed a bug when resizing layers while maintaining current aspect ratio causing the resize to fail when letting go of the mouse
  • Fixed a bug preventing crop and maintain aspect ratio to fail

new

improved

fixed

Release Version 95

Version 95 is a relatively small update that is largely focused on bug fixes, an update on plan limits, and some improvements to Automatic multicam.
Automatic multicam now with automated reaction cutaways
The improved Automatic multicam comes with two settings:
  • Automatic -
    which allows Underlord to show multiple speakers at the same time during back-and-forth conversations, and will include reaction cutaways to your other speakers during longer sections of unbroken monologue. This setting also includes a Frequency selector to fine tune these cutaways.
  • Show active speaker only
    - which is the classic automatic multicam setting. It will only focus on the current speaker for each cut. This setting also allows you to add Templates.
The
Automatic
setting allows you to adjust the amount of Cutaways with three options:
  • Occasional
    - Scenes will have a maximum duration of 30 seconds, with a 3 second cutaway for monologues that exceed 30 seconds.
  • Frequent
    - Scenes will have a maximum duration of 10 seconds, with a 3 second cutaway for monologues that exceed 10 seconds.
  • None
    - No reaction cutaways, but will still cut to multi-speaker view when back-and-forth conversation occurs.
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We’ve also added a Camera setup tool so you can make sure your Speaker labels are assigned to the correct camera tracks.
Coming soon: the ability to add templates when using the
Automatic
setting.
File upload speed boost on Web
Our engineers introduced some backend changes that will increase the speed of file uploads when using Descript for Web, or the Desktop Preview version of Descript.
Underlord usage limits
Users on Free, Hobbyist, and EDU plans will encounter some new metering and enforced limits on Underlord actions in accordance with our recent pricing updates.
When you use an AI suite feature (i.e. Underlord) you’ll see a counter at the top of the menu showing the number of uses you have remaining. We’ll also flash a warning when you get close to using up your allotment.
Remove Filler Words and Shorten Word Gaps work on a per-composition basis. So once you’re unlocked it with a use, you’ll still be able to access and action the search results in that composition indefinitely.
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Note: These limits do not effect users on Legacy plans, or users on Creator plans and above.
  • Fixes an issue limiting export resolution to 720p on legacy plans
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