Search
Find any clip by the moment, not the filename
Months later you do not remember the filename. You remember the moment. Type what happened and Basecut searches every clip from every shoot you have analyzed.
Describe it, don't dig for it
Because every clip was analyzed at ingest, your footage is searchable by what is in it. Type 'first kiss' or 'drone reveal' and the right clips come up, even when your words are not the ones Basecut wrote down. The match by meaning runs on your own computer.
Your whole library, forever
Search is not limited to one project. Every shoot you have run through Basecut stays searchable, so last year's aerial or that slow-mo coffee pour is one query away.
Files you own, not someone's cloud
Your library is plain files on your own disk, and search reads those files on your computer. Nothing about your library lives in someone else's database.
How search works, step by step
1. Analysis writes down what is in each clip
During a run, Basecut saves a title, a short subject line, tags, a transcript of what is said, text visible on screen, brands and landmarks, objects, and a location. The location includes the place from the GPS data in the file, when the camera recorded it.
2. You type what you remember
In the Library, type words or a short description. A job name works too, because Basecut also matches the names of the folders the footage came from.
3. Basecut scores every clip
It matches your words against those notes and the file and folder names, then adds a second score for matching meaning, using a small model that runs on your computer. If that model is not available, search falls back to matching words only.
4. Results point at the moment
The best matches come first. Where a specific moment in a clip matched, the result carries its time in the clip, and a spoken match shows an excerpt of the transcript around the words.
What you see when you search
Search lives at the top of the Library, above your shoots.
- The search box
- The prompt reads "drone over a lake" or "first dance", and the line under it says it searches what is in the shot, what is said and the tags, and that it runs on this computer.
- Results with moments
- Each result is a clip. Where a specific moment matched, a chip shows its time and a short label. Click the chip and the preview opens at that moment instead of the start of the clip.
- Narrowing one shoot
- Inside a single shoot, the Filters panel has a "Filter clips" box that matches the clips of that shoot only, plus verdict and shot-type chips and sorting by Best first, Shot order, Longest first or File name.
- From result to editor
- Search finds the clip. To cut with it, open its shoot and send the run to your editor, as described below.
From search to your editor
- DaVinci Resolve
- Search happens in Basecut, and the cut happens in your editor. When you send a run, Resolve Studio (or free Resolve before 21.1) gets bins, clip colors, ratings, markers and a baseline grade. Free Resolve 21.1 and later gets a timeline file plus .cube files.
- Premiere Pro
- Label colors, markers and a sequence for each verdict, with no color applied. A .cube per clip is in the handoff/luts folder.
- Final Cut Pro
- Keyword collections with Favorite and Reject ratings in FCPXML 1.11, with no color applied. A .cube per clip ships with it.
Limits worth knowing
- Search covers footage you have analyzed with Basecut. A clip that has not been through a run is not in the library.
- It searches what the analysis wrote down. A detail Basecut never noted, such as a ring on a background table, will not match.
- The match by meaning uses a small model that Basecut downloads the first time it is needed. Until it is there, search matches words only.
- Editors have their own search for footage you have already imported. Basecut's search works earlier, on the raw card dump.
Questions people ask
What can I search for?
Anything the analysis noted: what happens in the clip, tags, spoken words, text on screen, brands and landmarks, objects, the location, the clip title and the file and folder names. A job name works because folder names are searched too.
Can I search for something someone said?
Yes, when the clip has speech. The transcript is part of what search reads, and a match shows an excerpt around the words.
Does search send my footage anywhere?
No. Search runs on your computer over the notes saved with each run. If you analyzed with Basecut Cloud or your own Gemini key, short reduced-size sections went to Google at that time. Your original files are never uploaded.
Does search work offline?
Search reads files on your disk. The small meaning-matching model downloads once, the first time it is needed, and until then search matches words only.
Is search limited to one shoot?
No. It looks across every run in your library, so one query covers every shoot you have analyzed.