For Premiere editors

Let the person who was in the room make the first cut.

The textbased.video extension sits in Premiere Pro. It exports a sequence as one .tbv bundle, and you send that to a journalist however you like. They cut it by text in the free app and send it back. It opens as a sequence, relinked to your original media*, ready for you to finish.

It's a paid extension. While it's in alpha, early-access testers use it free. Pricing comes with the launch.

Apply for early access

A note from the creator

Skip to how it works ↓

I've been a video editor and motion graphics designer for two decades. For a substantial part of that time I've worked with journalists, producers and other subject-matter experts who need considerable control over paper cuts and assembly cuts.

I've used numerous tools over the years to streamline this process, and I've repeatedly hit roadblocks:

The best system I've used wasn't built around licence renewals for business teams that only want to streamline paper edits; it aims to be an all-in-one platform, heavily assisted by AI. That leaves a business paying for the whole suite instead of the pieces it needs, and then absorbing big subscription increases as the platform grows into an all-in-one rather than what some users need it to be.
One reason fees increase is the cloud storage SaaS apps need to provide to their users. Most places I've worked already have large cloud storage — many other production houses do — why not use our own and share text-based video editing projects that way? After all, the SaaS text-based providers cache to users' disks anyway, so what's the difference if it's our .tbv bundle or their cache? A little bit of explaining, and no cloud-synced saves, sure, but you'll see below that's more to do with security.
I've built tools for sending projects out to other text-based tools and bringing them back in; they all work, but the most prominent platform doesn't really support that kind of workflow.

Those were my reasons for building it. Why it's built the way it is — with a bit of clunk in the sending and receiving — comes down to security, and a genuine wish to give journalists something they have control over. Earlier builds did have automated send and receive through Google Drive, but there was no way to promise true security.

This is a niche tool on the Premiere end, but there are real use cases for it.

Sending to a journalist

Pick the sequence. The extension reads it, nested sequences and extra cameras included, and gathers Premiere's own transcripts. Those are made by Adobe's Speech to Text, under Adobe's terms; the extension never sends anything to Adobe or anyone else. Clips without a transcript get transcribed by the app when the journalist opens the file.
Choose a proxy size. Small (about 320 MB per hour) is plenty for cutting by text. Standard and Full HD are there for when picture detail matters. Adobe Media Encoder makes the proxies, and sound stays in sync to the sample.
Lock it if it's sensitive. Add a password of at least 20 characters or five words. The file can't be opened without it, and we never see it.
Pass the file on yourself. You get one .tbv file, saved on your computer. Nothing is sent for you: move it through Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, SharePoint — or however you store and share your files — and send any password separately, by text or phone. The journalist's reply comes back to you the same way.

Opening what comes back

Open a .tbv from the panel. It works out what kind of file it is and files it under the right project for you.

What arrives	What happens in Premiere
A reply to your send	A new sequence, relinked to your original full-resolution media*.
A new edit made in the app	The journalist's own footage, voiceover and pictures come in as real media in their own bins, with the edit as a sequence. You choose where the files are kept.
A locked file	The panel asks for the password, then opens it as above.

* Relinking needs your original media to be where it was when you sent the project. If you've moved it, show the extension the new folder once and the sequence links straight to it. Until then it plays from the light proxies in the bundle.

The edit arrives as a starting point. You take it on as normal: grade, mix, music, titles and the final cut stay with you.

Projects and replies

Every send and every reply is kept in the panel's projects list, so you can see what's out with whom and what's come back. Journalists never have to manage codes or names. The file carries that quietly and the extension suggests where it belongs.

What the journalist gets

The free app shows the interview as text. They copy the words they want into an edit and the picture follows. They can record a voiceover, lay b-roll or a screenshot over words, and fine-tune a cut one join at a time. They don't need an account, a timeline or any editing experience.

There's deliberately no music, titles, graphics or timeline in the app. Those stay in Premiere, where they belong.

Requirements

Premiere Pro 2026 (version 26) on a Mac, with Adobe Media Encoder.
For journalists: the app on a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 13 or later, Windows 11 (64-bit), Linux, or an Android phone (Android 9 or later). iPhone is on the way.

Licence

The extension is free for alpha testers and paid at launch.
Alpha licences cover two computers and keep working offline for up to 14 days between checks. Terms for paid licences come with the launch.
The editing apps are free for anyone, with no sign-up.

Coming later

DaVinci Resolve support for editors is on the way.

Apply for early access

The Premiere extension is the only part of textbased.video that needs an application. It will be a paid extension at launch; early-access testers use it free. The editing apps are free for anyone, with no sign-up.