The Polimake Desktop video editor
Create and open videos in Polimake Desktop: the Simple and Advanced modes, the side panel tabs, the viewer and how your edit is saved.
On this page
Polimake Desktop comes with a full video editor that works with the files on your computer. Your videos live inside a project and are saved on your machine. This guide shows you how to create one, find your way around the editor and pick the mode that suits you.
Create a new video
- In the sidebar, open Projects and go into the project you want to work in.
- At the top you'll see What should we create in…? with the project's name. Choose Video.
- Leave the text box empty and click Create.
The editor opens with a blank video. If you describe the video in the box instead (Describe the video), you're asking the AI: it looks for the footage and opens the editor when it has something to cut.
Open an existing video
- Go into the project and look at the Videos and images tab.
- Click the video, or right-click it and choose Open the video.
To leave the editor, click the arrow at the top left (Back to the project).
Simple or Advanced
The editor has two modes. Both open and export the same video in the same way; only what's on screen changes.
- Simple (the default): the essentials, CapCut style. No blade, no markers and no adding tracks by hand: tracks appear on their own when you drop something above the others.
- Advanced: every tool, Premiere style. Trim, slip, slide and rate-stretch tools, markers, masks, blend modes, sequences, and the File, Edit and Settings menus.
To switch mode:
- Click Settings (the gear in the top bar; in Advanced, the Settings menu › General).
- In Editor settings, General section, choose Simple or Advanced under Editor mode.
Whatever you do in Advanced stays if you go back to Simple: a mask still masks and exports the same; only its button is hidden.
The editor screen
- Top bar. On the left, back, Undo and Redo. In the middle, the video's name and its save status. On the right, Settings and Export.
- Left side panel, with its tabs:
- Media: what you've brought into the video. Drag it to the timeline, or click the + on a thumbnail to add it to the end of the main track.
- Library: your indexed folders, to bring in footage without leaving the editor.
- Text: styled titles and captions. See Text and subtitles.
- Shapes: Advanced only.
- Filters (in Advanced, Effects): click to apply to the selected clips, or drag onto a clip.
- Transitions: drag them between two clips.
- Transcript: what's said in your clips, to search it and edit by text.
- Viewer, in the middle: the preview. Click the picture to select its clip, then move, scale or rotate it with its handles.
- Inspector, on the right: the settings of the selected clip. With nothing selected it shows Canvas: size, Swap (turn vertical into horizontal), Background and Frame rate.
- Timeline, at the bottom. See Edit on the timeline.
You can also drop files straight from Windows File Explorer.
How it saves
- In Simple it saves on its own. There's no save button: every change is written, and the top bar shows the status.
- In Advanced, click Save (or Ctrl+S). If you leave with unsaved changes, the editor asks you first.
In both modes, Undo (Ctrl+Z) and Redo (Ctrl+Y or Ctrl+Shift+Z) step through your changes.
Frequently asked questions
Does it add a watermark to my videos?
No. The editor is free and what you export has no watermark.
Where are my videos saved?
On your computer, inside the project. You don't need to upload anything to edit.
Do I lose anything if I switch from Advanced to Simple?
No. Simple only hides buttons: everything you did in Advanced stays in the video and is exported.
Can I bring footage from my folders without leaving the editor?
Yes, from the Library tab, or by dropping files from Windows File Explorer.