Choosing an Editor Mode

An editor mode decides which tools appear on the editor’s left rail, so you see the panels that matter for the video you’re making. Every mode edits the same kind of design: scenes, a timeline and a canvas. You can switch modes at any time without losing anything.

You choose a mode when you click New Design, and you can change it later from the editor header.

The five modes at a glance

Mode	Description in the app	Best for	Panel that opens first	Timeline when the design opens
Animation	Characters, actions & keyframes	Character explainers, stories, intros	Template	Scene
Whiteboard	Hand-drawn explainer style	Lessons, pitches, how-tos drawn on screen	Elements	Scene
Video Editor	Edit footage, subtitles & audio	Cutting and captioning your own footage, Shorts, Reels, ads	Upload	Scenes (every scene in a row)
AI Builder	Generate content with AI	AI images, video clips, avatars and talking characters	AI Studio	Scene
Full Editor	Every tool in one place	Mixed projects, or when you’re not sure yet	Template	Scene

The Scene timeline shows the items in the current scene. The Scenes timeline shows all your scenes one after another. You can switch timeline views at any time. See The Timeline.

The rail in each mode

The rail shows icons only. Hover over an icon to see its name and, where it has one, its keyboard shortcut. If the rail is taller than your window, small arrows at the top or bottom (“More tools above”, “More tools below”) scroll it.

The Full Editor rail without the three footage-editing panels (Video, Edit by Text and AI Video), in this order:

Template: scene templates and layouts in your canvas size
AI Studio: every AI generator in one place
Character: ready-made characters and the ones you build or rig
Avatars: AI avatars that present on camera
Brand: your Brand Kit (Advance plan)
Upload: your own images, video and audio
Record: record your screen, webcam or voice
Image / vector: stock photos and vector graphics
Elements: shapes, icons and illustrations
Data & Layout: grids, frames, charts and maps
Overlays: full-scene effects such as rain and snow
Visual FX: fire, smoke, sparks and magic effects
Background: background images for the scene
GIF: animated GIFs
Text: text boxes and animated text designs
Audio: music and sound effects
Subtitle: automatic subtitles and captions
Emojis
Layers: the stacking order of everything in the scene

Panels that act on something you’ve selected, such as Effects, Animations, character Actions or Lip Sync, aren’t rail items in any mode. They open from the item’s toolbar, so they’re available in every mode. See A Tour of the Editor.

Choose a mode for a new design

The What do you want to create? step listing Animation, Whiteboard, Video Editor, AI Builder and Full Editor — Pick a mode when you create a design.

On the dashboard, click New Design
Under “What do you want to create?”, click a mode
Choose a canvas size: Landscape, Square or Portrait
The editor opens in that mode, with that mode’s first panel open

Designs created with AI Animation Director open in AI Builder mode.

Switch modes in the editor

The mode switcher open in the editor header, listing the five editor modes — Switch modes at any time from the editor header.

In the middle of the editor header, next to the design’s name, click the mode button. It shows the current mode’s icon (and its name on wider screens)
Under “What do you want to create?”, click the mode you want. A check mark shows the current one

You can also press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on a Mac) to open the command palette and run Switch to Animation Editor, Switch to Whiteboard Editor, Switch to Video Editor, Switch to AI Builder or Switch to Full Editor.

The mode is saved with the design, so it opens in the same mode next time. On the dashboard, project cards show their mode as a badge (Full Editor designs have none).

What happens to your content when you switch

Nothing is deleted or changed. Your scenes, items, audio and timing stay exactly as they were. Switching only changes:

The rail: you see the new mode’s panels
The open panel: if the panel you had open isn’t on the new mode’s rail, the new mode’s first panel opens instead. Panels opened from an item’s toolbar, such as Effects, stay open
The hand-drawn look: switching into Whiteboard mode redraws vector artwork and characters in the hand-drawn style, and switching out puts them back. Items you’ve set a hand-drawn style on yourself (or turned it off for) keep that choice in every mode

The timeline view isn’t changed by switching. Video Editor designs open on the Scenes timeline each time you open them.

Which mode should I pick?

Making a character video? Start in Animation
Want the hand-drawn, sketched-on look? Start in Whiteboard, then use the Draw entrance effect on each item to draw it on screen
Editing your own recordings or clips? Start in Video Editor
Want AI to generate most of the visuals? Start in AI Builder, or use AI Animation Director from the dashboard
Not sure, or mixing everything? Use Full Editor. You can narrow it down later