Show HN: Transcript-based video editor that runs 100% locally on Mac

10 points by zhendlin 14 hours ago

Hi HN! I made ScriptEdit, a free Mac app that lets you edit videos by editing their transcripts. Everything runs locally on your machine. Think of Descript but free, local, and no long lags for video uploads or file / time limits.

How it works: * You import videos, then ScriptEdit generates a transcript using Whisper (you can choose model). * Then you edit the text and the video cuts automatically match your edits. * Delete words to remove sections, rearrange sentences to reorder clips. * You can 'delete all filler words' or 'delete all gaps' to get much more professional videos without a lot of painstaking edits / cuts. * You can also drag / drop / cut visually.

Features:

* Native Mac app, optimized to use metal for faster transcription + rendering. * Multiple Whisper model options (tiny to large-v3) * Multi-track timeline support and layers / opacity * Title overlays and caption templates * Handles large files -no upload limits

I built this because I wanted Descript-style editing without uploading my videos anywhere or paying based on video length or transcripts generated.

I was also frustrated that tools like DaVinci Resolve, Captions, OpusClip, and Descript are all pretty expensive for what should just be a better way to edit videos locally.

Useful if you have bandwidth limits, large files, or just prefer local tools and not paying through the nose every month.

Happy to answer questions about the implementation or anything else.

App store link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/scriptedit-video-editor/id6752...