Descript Tutorial: How to Actually Use This Text-Based Video Editor

If you've heard that Descript lets you edit video like a Google Doc, you've heard right. But there's a difference between knowing what the tool does and actually getting productive with it. This tutorial walks you through the real workflow—from importing your first file to exporting a finished video or podcast.

I'll cover what makes Descript different from traditional editors, which features actually save time, and where the limitations will bite you.

What Is Descript and Why Should You Care?

Descript is an AI-powered video and podcast editor that automatically transcribes your audio, then lets you edit the media by editing the text. Delete a sentence from the transcript, and the corresponding audio/video disappears. It's genuinely different from tools like Premiere or Final Cut.

People use Descript to create and edit podcasts, videos, and social media clips. It also includes features like transcription, remote recording, and AI audio tools all in one place—so you can record, edit, and share without juggling multiple apps.

The platform supports screen recording, multi-track editing, Green Screen, Studio Sound, and automatic subtitles. For beginners, this means you don't need to learn multiple apps or complex workflows. For professionals, it means faster rough cuts and easier content repurposing.

For a deeper look at what this costs, check out our Descript pricing breakdown.

Getting Started: Your First Descript Project

When you first open Descript, you get the Drive view—this is where all your projects live. Each podcast episode or video you create is its own project that can contain multiple files, tracks, and compositions.

Step 1: Create a New Project

Click "New Project" in the top right of your drive. You'll see a dropdown with different options. Select "Video Project" or "Podcast Project" depending on what you're creating. You're now inside a blank project where you can name your creation.

Step 2: Import or Record Your Media

You have multiple ways to bring content into Descript:

Once you add your audio or video, Descript automatically generates a transcript. If your audio has more than one speaker, Descript will identify and label each person using Speaker Detective.

Step 3: Understanding the Workspace

The Project workspace is where you record (or upload), get audio transcribed, and edit content via the Timeline or Text Editor. The left-hand menu shows Compositions (different arrangements of your audio files) and your Media Library. The right-hand menu lets you add effects with the Track Inspector, mute or pan tracks, and adjust your view.

The Core Editing Workflow

Here's where Descript gets interesting. Editing in Descript feels like editing a document—you delete, move, and copy or paste content just as you would in a word processor. Descript automatically updates your media to match.

Text-Based Editing

The transcript shows up in the script panel, letting you edit by deleting text. Want to remove a tangent? Highlight those words in the transcript and delete. The corresponding audio and video vanish with it.

This is particularly powerful for dialogue-heavy projects like interviews and podcasts. Instead of scrubbing through a timeline looking for the spot where your guest rambled for two minutes, you can literally read the transcript and delete what doesn't work.

Timeline Editing

For more precise control beyond text editing, use the timeline. You can:

Adding Elements

Descript comes with built-in elements including shapes, text, and other design components. You can also layer in music, sound effects, or footage from Descript's stock media library. The Captions panel in the sidebar lets you choose a style and customize it to match your video.

AI Features That Actually Matter

Descript's AI tools are found under the Underlord button in the top right corner. Here are the ones worth using:

Studio Sound

Removes background noise and echo so your recordings have a studio-like feel. This is legitimately useful—it can salvage recordings made in less-than-ideal conditions. If you've ever recorded a podcast in a room with hard floors and bare walls, you'll appreciate this feature.

Filler Word Removal

Descript scans your transcript and automatically detects "um"s, "uh"s, and "you know"s. You can remove all instances with a single click—kind of like editing text in Grammarly. You can also search for other filler phrases and ignore or delete all instances.

Edit for Clarity

This AI feature suggests parts of your recording to remove—typically redundant phrases, false starts, or meandering sections. It's not perfect, but it gives you a starting point for tightening up verbose content.

Shorten Word Gaps

Removes silences to tighten pacing. Use this carefully—sometimes pauses are intentional. But for removing dead air and awkward hesitations, it works well.

Eye Contact

Makes it look like the subject's eyes are locked on the camera. Useful if you were reading from notes or a teleprompter during recording. The results vary depending on how far off-camera your eyes were looking.

Green Screen

Remove or swap out video backgrounds without needing an actual green screen. If there's a messy office lurking behind you, enable Green Screen and swap it with an image or stock clip. Quality depends heavily on your lighting and how distinct you are from your background.

Overdub: The AI Voice Feature

Overdub is Descript's voice cloning feature that lets you generate new audio by typing text. It uses AI to create synthetic versions of your voice that can replace audio mistakes without re-recording.

How Overdub Works

You record a voice sample (10-30 minutes of clear speech works best), and Descript creates a voice model. After that, you can type text and the system generates audio that sounds like you. The tool now lets you create an Overdub Voice using existing audio—without spending 10-30 minutes reading a specific script.

Descript says you can create a voice clone in as little as 60 seconds, though more training data typically produces better results.

Practical Uses

Limitations

You can only clone your own voice—you can't clone someone else's voice without their explicit consent. Lower-tier plans have vocabulary limits (the 1,000-word limit is more restrictive than it sounds when you're using technical terms or industry jargon). Pro accounts get unlimited Overdub vocabulary.

Exporting and Sharing

When you're ready to share, Descript offers several options:

The publish option uses Descript's servers to render your video, which is faster than local rendering. You can control access levels—make it public, anyone with link, or project access required.

On the free plan, video exports are capped at 720p with watermarks. Paid plans unlock 1080p and 4K exports without watermarks.

Collaboration Features

Collaboration works like Google Docs. Access control lets you decide who can leave comments, edit, or just view the project. Once you share your project, collaborators can leave comments throughout the transcript. You'll see comments in real-time and can reply directly.

Because projects sync automatically to the cloud, you can share with colleagues who don't even have a Descript account—they can view and comment through the web interface.

What Descript Is Actually Good For

Descript excels at:

Where Descript Falls Short

Be aware of these limitations:

If you're looking for alternatives, check out our guides on best video editing software and free video editing software.

Descript Pricing Quick Reference

Descript offers several tiers:

Annual billing saves you roughly 35%. Additional transcription hours can be purchased at $2/hour.

For the full breakdown, see our complete Descript pricing guide.

Bottom Line

Descript genuinely changes how you can approach video and podcast editing. The text-based workflow isn't just a gimmick—it's measurably faster for certain types of content, especially dialogue-heavy projects where you need to cut and rearrange spoken content.

Is it worth paying for? If you're editing podcasts or talking-head videos regularly, the Creator plan at $24/month is reasonable. The free plan is too limited to be useful for ongoing work—you'll burn through that 1 hour of transcription just learning the interface.

Start with a project that needs editing anyway. Import it, play with the text-based workflow, and see if it clicks for your process. Some people find it transformative; others prefer the precision of traditional timeline editing.

Try Descript free and see if text-based editing works for your workflow.