Working in several windows in Video by Zaweba

Editors often need two projects at once. You want the intro from last month's episode, the graded shot from another job, or a look at how you solved a problem before. Video by Zaweba lets you open several projects side by side, each in its own window, and copy between them.

Opening another window

Choose File > New window, or press Ctrl+Shift+N. A second window opens, and you can load a different project in it. Each window works on its own project, with its own timeline, so you can look at one while editing the other.

With two screens, put one window on each. With one screen, arrange them side by side, or switch between them as you need.

Copying clips across

Clips copied in one window paste into another along with their files. That last part is what makes it dependable. You are not just copying a reference that points somewhere the other project knows nothing about; the media comes along, so the pasted clip plays straight away rather than showing as offline.

Copy a single clip or a run of clips with their timing, and paste them where you want them in the other project. Their effects and settings come with them, so a graded shot or a built title arrives looking the same.

When two projects beat one

Series work is a natural fit. Keep a project with your standard opening, end card and lower thirds, open it beside each new episode, and copy across what you need. Combined with consistent naming, every episode starts from the same pieces.

It also helps when rescuing work. If a section from an older cut was better than the current one, open both, copy the old section across and carry on.

And it is useful for reference. Leaving a finished project open in a second window lets you check how you handled a similar shot or sound mix without closing your current work.

Keeping track

With several projects open it is easy to edit the wrong one. Glance at the window title before you make a change, and close projects you are only using for reference once you have taken what you need.

Each open project uses memory, so on a modest computer keep the number of windows small. Two is usually plenty, and closing the reference project as soon as you have what you need keeps the machine responsive for the edit that matters.

Pasted clips bring their files, so the receiving project's media may now live in more places. At the end of the job, use the Project manager to collect everything into one folder, so the project does not depend on another project's media folder.

Fitting it with other tools

For handing part of a project to someone else, Export selection as a new project is often cleaner than copying by hand. For moving work to another editing program, use the timeline interchange formats. Several windows is for the quick, everyday case: two of your own projects, open at once, sharing material in Video by Zaweba with nothing more than copy and paste.