How to use Focus
Watch the real app workflow, then follow screenshot-led guides for three common editing jobs.
Free editor resources
Templates and research for finding footage and handing it off.
Use the free files and research on their own, or follow a guide inside Focus. Each resource explains what it covers and where its limits are.
Local browser toolPublic methodologyNo account required
Open resources
Useful before you choose a video-search tool.
These pages are built for editors, assistant editors, researchers, and publications that need a stable source to reference.
Explore the guides
Free video tools
Extract frames, calculate timecodes, convert subtitles, estimate storage and inspect video metadata. All on your device.
Video shot log tool
Open local footage, mark in and out points, keep source-backed notes, and export CSV, Markdown, or JSON.
Video selects log template
Blank CSV, filled example, Markdown table, field definitions, and NLE handoff notes.
Zoom workshop editing guide
Prepare one mixed talking-and-demonstration recording, search both halves, verify the source, and build a short Sequence.
Find people in a long video
Scan hours of tripod or fixed-camera footage for passages where someone is visible.
Detect cuts and keep selected shots
Find camera cuts, review each shot with four keys, and choose a lossless or frame-accurate export.
Local video-search benchmark
A disclosed single-run pilot, its limits, raw JSON, and a reusable benchmark protocol.
Editor problem register
Public discussions about finding, reviewing, and handing off footage, with current Focus support and browser votes.
NLE workflow guides
Practical handoff pages for Premiere XML, FCPXML, EDL, SRT, and CapCut-ready clips.
Open resources
Choose a resource by the job you need to finish.
These pages are built for editors, assistant editors, researchers, and publications that need a stable source to reference.
01FindSearch speech, people, scenes, B-roll, and long recordings.02VerifyOpen the source timestamp and keep human approval in the loop.03SelectLog useful ranges and preserve filenames, notes, and timecodes.04DeliverPrepare Premiere XML, FCPXML, EDL, SRT, CSV, and clip handoffs.05ArchiveIndex existing folders and mounted storage without turning Focus into a backup system.
Local library
Local-library operating notes
These boundaries matter before you point any media manager at a large archive.
01Start with one representative project. Confirm search quality, processing time, storage use, and export behavior before adding a full archive.
02Library organization does not move or rename originals. Copy and move actions are separate import choices and should remain explicit.
03Focus can index local folders, external drives, and mounted NAS volumes. A network location must be mounted through the operating system.
04Missing or disconnected source files can remain represented by catalog metadata and generated artifacts, but source playback and source-backed exports require accessible media.
05If paths change, use the product's source relink workflow. Do not reorganize an established archive until relink and NLE dependencies are understood.
06Focus is a search and review workspace, not a backup. Keep independent, tested backups of original media and important workspace data.
Publication standard
Plain claims, visible limits, reusable files.
Focus publishes dates, source constraints, methodology, and correction contact details next to the claims they qualify. A product page should not turn one pilot into a universal performance promise.
01Downloadable source data or templates
02Visible methodology and limitations
03Stable canonical URLs on use-focus.com
04Corrections accepted at contact@use-focus.com