We’ve made some big changes to working with Scenes and adding Layouts. First, you’ll notice that the term “template” has been replaced with the term Layout pack. A Layout pack contains individual layouts which are organized by Scene-type (i.e. Title, Lower Third, 3-camera etc.)

As a refresher, Scenes are divisions in your timeline that represent changes to your visual layout.

We’ll preselect a default layout pack, but you can click Change layout pack to visit the Gallery, view your Private custom layout packs, or view packs available from your Drive. Each layout has a number of different styles that you can view by hovering over the Layout card and clicking See More.

There’s a handy search bar, and we pre-filter your layouts to only show layouts that match the amount of layers in your composition (i.e. If you only have 1 camera file, we won’t show multicam layouts unless you toggle off the filter.)

The 3-dot menu on this panel these options:

If you don’t see them right away, you will by the time version 109 is released.

We’ve added a new Scene toolbar under the Canvas anytime a scene is selected. You can use it to swap layouts on the fly, adjust transitions, or add backgrounds to your scene. This toolbar also shows the current layout-type for easy reference

If you’re having deja vu, this was announced and rolled back a few months ago.

There is also an option to Add scene from the Script toolbar. This will take you straight into the new Layout picker panel so you can quickly build your project from scratch before you’ve added any content or quickly apply layouts to you script by highlighting each scene-to-be.

We’ve refreshed our collection of premade Layout packs (FKA templates,) adding newly designed packs, redesigned packs, and removing some layout packs that simply won’t be missed.

Here are some of the new packs, which sound tasty and look great:

You can locate the gallery by clicking "Change layout pack" from the scene panel.

With all the updates to working with Scenes and Layouts, we’ve added a new type of Transition animation that was created to save you mountains of time. Smart transitions apply automatically to all visual layers in a scene, and select appropriate crossfades, zooms, wipes etc. to the Scene transition. This transition effect comes applied automatically to some of our default layout packs, or you can add it manually from the Scene panel on the sidebar.

You can now create translated dubbing and captions for Chinese (Mandarin,) Japanese, and Korean. These are in the same list along side our existing translation options. These languages also feature native sounding speakers for Business and Enterprise plans.

Eye contact - our tool that draws the speakers eyes to the camera at all times - is now out of Beta. This just means that we’ve observed the number of bugs and other errors to be low enough that the feature is considered stable. As an added benefit, this effect now processes instantly when using the Web or upgraded Desktop version of Descript.

Business an Enterprise users will be getting an improved training model when generating AI speakers. This updated and improved model creates more natural sounding custom AI speakers. Any existing voices will be retrained using the new speaker model so the benefits are back-ported.

We’ve made some major improvements to working with Text elements like captions and overlays.

Here are the details:

And finally, adding periods to abbreviations and numbers will no longer add a line break to captions. This would normally be in the bug fixes section, but it was such a long standing issue that we thought you’d like to know that it is finally fixed.

Descript now automatically detects and transcribes the correct language of your audio, making it easier to work with content in different languages. When uploading new files, "Auto" is now the default language option in the transcription settings.

Existing users who have already set their preferred transcription language won't be affected by this change. You can still manually select a specific language from the dropdown menu in the transcription settings, or set a specific default language in the general Settings menu.

Translation in multiple languages can now be done all at once with this handy dropdown.

Your translations will then be available from within the composition view using the dropdown menu in the upper left corner of the Composition. When using this for captions-only, the completion time is extremely fast.

If you go back for more translations, we’ll mark any languages you’ve already generated with a green dot.

If you submit a new translation for one of existing languages, it will overwrite it with a new version. This will also overwrite any corrections you’ve made. We’ll show this warning just in case.

We hope to add the option to export translations in batches in the future as well.

There are new high quality stock speakers available exclusively for dubbing in our 4 supported languages: French, Italian, German, and Spanish

These new stock voices, provided by 11Labs are designed for the target language, and will provide much better results than our standard sock voices when working with a non-English language translation. These voices will be rolling out slowly, but you should have access by the end of this week.

Note: These new voices are available on Business and Enterprise plans only.

We’ve added a new feature to Labs called Smart transitions. This is a new style of transition that can be added between scenes. This is a powerful tool for transitioning between different layouts, as smart transition will smoothly rearrange, zoom, and fade elements on the fly.

Add fades ON: Fades are added between non-contiguous layers (i.e. two separate clips.) Fades will NOT be added in contiguous clips that cross the scene barrier.

Add fades OFF: We will not fade any layers.

We’re excited to get some early feedback on this feature so please give it a try and let us know what you think using the Feedback button in the Settings → Labs menu.

Descript’s new Desktop experience is also available from the Labs menu. This new desktop app put the speed and performance improvements of our web version into a local package. If you’ve been using the Desktop preview, this is the soon-to-be-final version.

Be among the first to switch over and enjoy the benefits.

A few weeks ago we announced a new and improved web-based checkout system. We initially rolled it out to 50% of our users. We have now made it available to all users. When purchasing or editing a subscription, you will be taken to a web browser with an improved interface making it clearer what will change and the associated costs.

The Subscription panel has been split into two segments:

There is now an option to Replace media when using the Canvas toolbar. This is a quick way to swap out a layer, especially when you have a layer that was imported from a layout. You can select from Project files, Backgrounds, Stock Media, and more.

You can also access this option from the right-click menu next on any Layer.

We’ve made some changes to the loading state when AI Text to Speech is being generated.

You’ll no longer see indistinct pulsing text — instead there’s a new loading indicator that appears the moment you click “Done writing” and submit your text for generation. A checkmark will appear as soon as it completes loading and is ready for playback.

We’ve also added an option to Regenerate AI Speech to the right click menu if you’d like to get a different take on it.

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.

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:

The Ken Burns effect has 3 speed settings:

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 , and check off the speakers you’d like to have eligible for edit-for-clarity based word or phrase replacement.

Any parts of the script that will be replaced will be marked in blue.

Sequences,

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:

In addition, there are two new settings under the background option in the layers menu:

We’re continuing the trend of incremental improvements to Drive view and Drive view organizational tools. This update adds a new sidebar header for Starred folders, and the ability to select Starred folders when moving projects.

A new header has been added to the Move panel, with a section for Starred folders so you can find these folders quickly for bulk or individual project moves.

There is an additional dropdown to filter by Drive.

Note: Starring a folder is now done by clicking the Folder icon in Drive view.

The Translation Beta is growing, and you can now Translate the audio in your projects to another language in just a few clicks. When you open Underlord and select translate, there is a new toggle labeled Dub speech that will replace the audio track with your selected AI Speaker in your selected language. While Captions are available in all currently supported languages, Translation with dubbing is limited to English, French, German, Italian and Spanish for now.

Expand your audience and impress your friends by giving it a try.

Note: this feature is rolling out to users over the course of a few days, so if you do not see this option yet, check back later this week.

Since we updated our pricing model a few weeks back, we are starting to implement limit checks for some features. Starting in v94, if you try to upload a file that is larger than what your plan allows, you’ll hit this screen with a prompt to upgrade for larger file uploads.

The limits are laid out on our pricing page, but for easy reference, here are the maximum file sizes available at each tier:

Free: 1GB

Hobbyist: 10GB

Creator: 20GB

Business: 50GB

Note: these limits do not effect users on Legacy plans.

For full details on plans and pricing, visit our pricing page.

We’re taking a breath on major changes as we all settle into the major interface overhaul from our last update. We have some optimizations and improvements upcoming, but for v92 we have mostly focused on fixing bugs, and bringing some Quick Recorder upgrades to Windows.

We've rolled back the change to Automatic Speaker Detection being on by default, and now offer at toggle. If you prefer the old Speaker Detective work flow, including listening to clips and manually labeling, just make sure you keep "Always ask to detect speakers" toggle set to ON.

Back in February we launched a number of improvements to the Quick Recorder on MacOS. Today, we’ve finally brought those upgrades to Windows devices.

As a reminder, you’ll see improvements to:

There are two modes:

This also means that we no longer offer a Quick Editor on Windows or MacOS - instead, you can click the Edit button to open a normal Descript project with your Quick Recording.

: We added a Default publishing privacy option to the Settings menu. We recommend choosing a setting due to the new features.

Welcome to version 91, the beginning of Descript Season 6. The first thing you will notice is a reorganization of the Descript interface, which allows us to make room for exciting new features launching today, and those to come throughout the season. There is a lot to cover, so feel free to skip to the updates you find most interesting, or watch the walkthrough videos provided below.

With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s cover what is changing today.

The first thing to notice is that the Top Toolbar has been cleaned up, and many of the most useful features have migrated to the new and improved sidebar menu. The goal of all of these updates is to make it faster and easier to find the tool you need when you need it.

For more information on the new layout, click here.

Meet your new production sidekick. We’ve moved Descript’s most powerful AI features and tools into one convenient location on the sidebar. Underlord replaces the Actions bar as well as consolidating easy-to-access features to help you look good, sound good, repurpose, publish, and write content.

The Sound Good section has all the tools you need to clean up your audio, refine your script, and get organized with chapters.

- Quickly remove filler words and cut down on fluff content in your projects.

- Make your spoken word audio sound more professional. One of our oldest and most reliable tools.

- The classic tool removes your ums, uhs, and other stammer words.

- Have AI remove all of your repeated takes.

- Trim all the gaps between words to make your content snappy.

- Have AI automatically add helpful chapter titles and markers to your project.

The Look Good section contains tools to improve the visual styling of your project, correct eye contact, and replace backgrounds with automatic Green Screen

- Automatic eye contact to keep your peepers focused on the camera (even if you’re reading from a script.) This feature is in beta so some errors are expected.

- Keeps the camera centered on the current speaker. Great for vertical versions of horizontal videos. This feature is in beta so some errors are expected.

- Automatic background replacement even if you don’t have a physical green screen.

- Assign multicam settings by active speaker with a single click.

- Image generation powered by DALL-E.

The Repurpose section is designed to get you high-quality promotional content quickly, featuring Underlord actions to Create Clips, Highlight Reels, and Translate captions.

- Our new clip creation workflow, Underlord finds the best moments and automatically applies templates and layouts. Quickly create your social media clips with just a few clicks.

- Let Underlord compile the best moments that tell the story of your project and apply templates for quick creation of vertical videos.

- Find all the best bits that represent the through line of your content.

- Underlord translates your captions into any supported language for Export and Publishing. This feature is still in Beta so errors are expected in some cases.

The Publish section is there to deal with the most tedious steps at the end of any project, creating summaries, show notes, YouTube descriptions, and more.

- Generate a title based on your content.

- Quickly and concisely summarize your content.

- Generate podcast-style show notes in a single click.

- Create a YouTube description with chapter markers.

- Let Underlord act as your marketing intern and write catchy, engaging social media posts.

- Convert your project into a written post.

The Write section contains our most powerful content generation features, where you can ask Underlord to Write, Brainstorm with you, Outline a script, or Rewrite your script.

- Let Underlord help you get started by asking it questions, or prompting it to ask you.

- Task Underlord with generating a script on any topic, in any style, for any audience.

- Generate an outline on any topic and fill in the rest yourself.

- Ask Underlord to create a new draft of your script.

Ask Underlord to try anything. Just type in what you’d like Underlord to do in your project and hit enter. We can’t guarantee that every custom Underlord request will work perfectly, but we expect the quality of custom results to improve over time.

Most of what you’ll find on the new sidebar are features from the top toolbar, but there are a few notable changes worth explaining.

The project panel is where you manage compositions and files within your project. The stock media libraries have been separated into their own sections so we’ll cover those later. From the Project panel, you can:

The new Scene panel is where you can adjust properties and add templates to a Scene within your project. From this panel you can:

The Layer panel covers all of your properties for individual content layers including the Script, media files, audio tracks, sequences, shapes, and more. You’ll find:

Captions now have their own panel, with new styles, and animated previews so you can choose the best style for your project.

The media panel contains our all of our supplementary video libraries:

This panel contains our audio libraries with:

Making clips in Descript is easier and more customizable than ever with our new Create Clips workflow. Using our clip-selection AI tools, you can select the topic, number of clips, clip duration, and apply templates to selected clips. It will then create Compositions for each clip that you can navigate through from the sidebar. Each clip receives a rating, and details on why our AI selected that specific clip.

Clips can then be rejected or replaced allowing for a much smoother clip-selection workflow.

Let Underlord arrange your Multicam display automatically, applying custom layouts and focusing on active conversations when multiple speakers are present.

Automatically translate your captions into any supported language to quickly expand your target audience for any project.

We’ve updated the interface when you start a new project to make it easier to take your first few steps. The upload button is front and center, followed by a new Video link option that we will cover below. You can also click Start Writing to type directly into the Script, Record directly into the Script, or start with a Template. Copying and pasting from other projects or documents also works just as smoothly as ever.

You can now import video content directly from a YouTube or GIPHY link, this has been a long sought-after feature and makes pulling in reference material, b-roll, and anything else, a snap.

We’ve added the ability to Publish your files directly to Google Drive to make collaborating with non-Descript users or anyone else as smooth as collaborating in the app. As with all publishing options, this requires that you also Publish to a Descript share page, but luckily this happens automatically any time you use an outside publishing option. We’ll also be adding the ability to publish to a specific Google Drive folder soon.

The new and improved timeline features a clearer visual design, making it easier to tell your layers and media files apart. Improvements include:

We've made some improvements to the Canvas and canvas toolbars. This selection improvement allows you to choose in which scenes your layer property changes—like size, layout, position, and more will take effect. You can apply changes across all scenes the layer appears in, or limit the changes to just the current scene.

The canvas toolbar that appears when you select a layer has been reworked to make the most powerful tools easier to find and provide options to edit Effects, Animations, captions, and more.

The Descript for Web beta is complete, and we’re making it available for everyone. With the addition of a Recorder - Descript for Web is now feature complete, matching all of the power of the Desktop version in the convenience of your browser window. Please see this article for all current limitations.

As a friendly note, we are revamping our prices and subscription tiers on July 2nd, 2024. Now that our AI features are mostly out of Beta, some usage limitations will be added at different subscription levels.

We’re adding some new tools to Descript Labs. When you select clips from the Canvas, there will be a new drop-down allowing you to apply Layout changes to or For non-script layers, this same option is mirrored on the Project sidebar.

Starting in April, subscriptions and other fees may incur additional charges for sales tax in some US states. See here for specific states, information on adding your tax details to your account, and what to do if you are tax-exempt: Do Descript subscription and transcription fees include taxes?