Kevin from Descript: Hi Kevin, thanks for getting back to me. My focus in on training the terrified to do their first video/audio, get it edited and then published easily. That's why I love Descript and train people to do their first steps just using the script view. If they wanted to learn how to edit on a timeline they have many choices including Canva so for me it's essential you retain the ability for novices to do the basics all on the script view only.

My two suggestions are around things that don't fit the 'simple as editing a word document' approach.

1) So simply having the option to replace dB with 'volume' and a slider that does just that in the script view saves beginners having to know and understand dB.

2) My other suggestion was on a current gap. If you think about common use cases such as a Podcast, You Tube video or Course lesson video it's common practice for these to have a title slide and very often a short piece of intro music that fades before the speaker starts.

Currently in the Script view you can remove or shorten gaps easily. You can also add slides over speech and have transitions.

But in the Script view editor you can't add gaps, can't add a title slide and can't add intro or outro music unless it overlays recorded speech given the text based approach.

The only way to do this is to use the timeline editor or an awkward workaround of adding a scene then adding a music clip and a title slide and then recording some random text for the scene but muting it so only the music plays.

This ruins 'the script view can do all the basics' and the 'simple as editing a word doc' that underlies your advertising and is a key USP vs Camtasia etc.

A) So adding the opposite of the word gap remover tool in the script view editor and having a gap creator would help as would B) the ability to be able to add a title slide and intro music at the start of a production that appears and plays and fades before the recorded speech begins.

You are creating so many amazing editing tools it's such a huge gap that such a basic thing as an intro title screen can't be done in the script view editor. Happy to explain this more if it helps. I just want more beginners to get started and not held up by having to use a timeline editor to get anywhere.

Colin Stevens: Thanks, Colin! All helpful stuff. I'll pass it along.

Regarding the inability to add transitions + overlays in the script – you can absolutely do that by using scenes + the canvas. Here's a good starting point to learn about scenes: https://help.descript.com/hc/en-us/articles/10248939749517-Scenes-overview

Basically, when you want a section of your video to have different videos or a transition, you create a new scene and you can rearrange + edit the visuals of that section separately from the rest of the video.

Hope that helps!

Kevin from Descript: Yes - within a text transcript of a video, scenes allow all manner of things like images, transitions etc to be added in just the script view as I say in my reply - 'Currently in the Script view you can remove or shorten gaps easily. You can also add slides over speech and have transitions.'

The key point is you can't add anything BEFORE the video text transcript in the script view as even if you add a scene for it the dialogue starts immediately - unless I'm missing something completely which is always very possible.

Hence why I said - 'But in the Script view editor you can't add gaps, can't add a title slide and can't add intro or outro music unless it overlays recorded speech given the text based approach.'

Hope this explains the issue better.

Colin Stevens: Got it, thanks! Adding a title slide is simple in the script - just type a second / at the beginning and it'll give you a blank scene to use as a title slide.

Kevin from Descript: great - thought I'd done very tutorial there was! How long does it show for? I guess you can't add music to the 'empty' scene as well?

Colin Stevens: That's right! And control the length in the properties panel.

Kevin from Descript: Thanks 10 million. I'd tried that yesterday and it didn't work. Adding the image first and changing the scene duration first before adding the music made all the difference. Yesterday the music just overlay the audio hence my long missive.