Find the useful moments in a long workshop recording.

A two-hour Zoom workshop can hide one clear explanation, a demonstration, and a useful takeaway. Search the speech and the picture separately in Focus, check each match, then turn the best ranges into a short edit.

Try it with your videoRead the steps

Library

Open the recording.

Start with one source video.

Real Focus product capture with sample media. The recording shown is not the workshop described in this guide.

01One source recording
02Speech and visual search
03Editor-ready handoff

How to Edit a Long Zoom Workshop Recording

Updated · Focus

Import the workshop recording into Focus. Search Dialogue for spoken ideas and Visuals for demonstrations, check each match in the source, save the useful ranges as Selects, and arrange them in a Sequence. Export an editable timeline for the editor when the original media is available.

From two hours of talk and demonstration to a reviewed edit.

Use one representative recording first. The screenshots show Focus with sample media; they are product captures, not frames from the workshop in this example.

  1. 01

    Import one recording.

    In Library, choose Import and select the workshop video. Include its matching VTT if Zoom supplied one. Wait until speech and visual search are ready; if results are thin, check Search Readiness before changing the query.

    Library / Import / Search Readiness
    Captured in the Focus app
  2. 02

    Search what you remember.

    In Search, use Text with the Dialogue preset for a phrase or spoken idea. Use the Visuals preset for a shot you remember seeing, such as a close-up demonstration. Keep Search in limited to this recording while you test both queries.

    Search / Text / Dialogue or Visuals
    Captured in the Focus app
  3. 03

    Play each candidate in its source context.

    Open a result, then play several seconds before and after its timecode. A transcript match can be incomplete, and a visually similar shot may show the wrong action. Set an in and out range only when the moment works on its own.

    Open result / Play / Set range
    Captured in the Focus app
  4. 04

    Save a small set of Selects.

    Save the strongest explanation, clearest demonstration, and shortest useful takeaway as Selects. Open Selects to compare the ranges and remove near-duplicates before building the edit.

    Save as Select / Selects
    Captured in the Focus app
  5. 05

    Arrange and watch the first pass.

    Put the reviewed ranges in a Sequence: explanation, demonstration, then takeaway. Play the whole Sequence once. Adjust the ranges or order if the idea stops making sense between cuts.

    Selects / Sequence / Timeline
    Captured in the Focus app
  6. 06

    Export for the editor.

    In Deliver, start with Edited sequence. Choose Premiere XML, FCPXML, or Resolve EDL for the editor's NLE, then open the export there and confirm that it links to the original workshop video.

    Deliver / Edited sequence / NLE format
    Captured in the Focus app

Before you begin

Do I need an exact quote?

No. Search a spoken idea with Dialogue, or describe a visible action with Visuals. A concrete phrase, subject, action, or framing works better than a request for the 'best' moment.

What if Zoom did not create a VTT?

You can import the video alone. Check Search Readiness to see which analysis is available, then let Focus prepare the missing search data before judging the results.

Can I hand off an ordered edit?

Yes. Build a Sequence from your reviewed ranges, then choose Edited sequence in Deliver and export a format supported by the destination editor. Test the file and source relink in that editor.

Start with one recording and one finished edit.

Use a workshop you already know, find three moments, and test the handoff before adding a larger archive.

Try it with your video
Another field guideNeed to check hours of unattended footage?

Find passages with visible people in one long recording.

See the people-finding guide