How to refine your edit

Once you have your first cut, refining it to your preferences is what makes the video yours. This guide shows you how to do that in Cardboard when something feels off and you can't quite name it.

Quick tip

It's usually best to change one thing per message, so you can tell which fix worked.

The most common fixes

There are many things you can change to make a video feel more like something you'd make. Here are the most common fixes.

It feels slow

If you feel like the video is dragging, here is a prompt you can try to fix that.

Vary the pacing. Start with quick shots of about one second, slow down to two or three seconds for the strongest moments, and speed up again toward the end.

The look is off

If you shot your clips on different days or on different cameras, they might not match. A quick fix is to ask for one look across the whole video.

Here are a few looks you can ask for by name:

Use the color grade of reference 1. Match its contrast, saturation and color temperature across every clip, and keep skin tones natural.

The text is hard to see

When a frame is busy, text can get lost or disappear too fast. You can easily change where it sits, how big it is, or how long it stays.

Place all text in the calmest area of each frame. Where the background is busy, add a subtle shadow or a soft dark gradient behind the text so it stays readable.

It sounds off

In Cardboard, it's usually best to start with the music. If the mood is wrong, describe the tempo and instruments you want instead. If the mood is right, you can check how the sound effects and cuts line up with it.

Re-time the cuts to the beat of the music. Land the biggest visual moments on the drops and put quieter shots where the music softens.

It doesn't look like my reference

If your video feels very different from your reference, ask the agent to compare the two before you change anything. It can show you where they differ, and then you can choose what to fix.

Compare my video to reference 1. List the differences in pacing, shot length, color, text style and music, and rank them by how much they change the feel.

I want to replace a clip

Say which shot you want to replace, by its time in the video, and describe what you want instead.

Replace the shot at 0:12 with real footage of [what you want]. Match the lighting, camera angle and movement of the shots on either side.

Find three options for the shot at 0:12 and show them to me before you swap anything. Keep the length of the shot the same.

Make your first video Start from a recipe How to prompt in Cardboard