ShortForm Studio

Workflow · Stage 3 of 5

Edit — timeline tools

Eight calculators for inside the timeline. They are the boring-but-effective fixes: target loudness, music sync, ducking, caption timing, contrast and where to place your branding.

Tool 11 · Frame Rate Comparator

24 vs 30 vs 60 fps — what changes for short-form?

A side-by-side motion-blur schematic plus a recommendation per genre. You cannot tell from a static screenshot, so we animate the difference.

24 fps (cinematic)

Visible motion blur. Feels filmic, premium.

30 fps (standard)

Crisp. The default for talking-head TikTok.

60 fps (smooth)

Sharp, can be slowed to 0.5× for slo-mo.

Pick a genre to see the recommendation.

Why this matters

Shooting 30 fps but slowing to 0.5× in post gives you 60 fps of source — clean slo-mo. Shooting 24 fps and slowing gives 48 fps of motion-blurred soup. The choice of capture frame rate is irreversible; the choice in delivery is mostly cosmetic.

Limitations

  • Phone cameras may default to 30 fps only; check Pro / Video modes.
  • 60 fps doubles file size at the same bitrate budget — export math changes.
  • 24 fps at low light can look noisy; use 30 fps minimum in dim rooms.
Tool 12 · Audio Loudness Targeter

What LUFS target do you actually need?

Each platform normalises differently. Pick the platform, get the integrated LUFS target, true-peak ceiling and what to do if your master comes in hotter.

Pick a platform and content type to see the integrated LUFS target and true-peak ceiling.

What is integrated LUFS?

Loudness Units Full Scale, integrated across the whole timeline. A platform normalises your audio to its target — if your master is louder, the platform turns you down; if quieter, it turns you up (and brings noise). Match the target to avoid the platform re-mixing you.

Limitations

  • Targets change. Check the platform's current creator docs before you master a campaign.
  • Perceived loudness ≠ measured loudness. A podcast at -16 LUFS will sound different than a song at the same number.
  • You cannot get louder than the platform target without distortion or rejection.
Tool 13 · Music BPM → Cut Matcher

How many cuts does your music want?

Enter the BPM of your track and your video length. Get a cut-every-X-frames schedule and how to land hard cuts on downbeats.

Set BPM and length to see your cut schedule.

How to use it

For a 120 BPM track, one beat = 60/120 = 0.5 s. One bar at 4/4 = 2 s. The tool returns those values and the cut count. Use the cut count as a ceiling — leave room for context shots between musical cuts so the edit doesn't feel seizure-inducing.

Limitations

  • Sync to beats, not to bars. Bars make cuts feel predictable; beats make them feel responsive.
  • Some tracks have variable BPM (intro vs drop). Use the section that matches your edit.
  • It does not detect micro-timing in samples or humanised drums; trust your ears.
Tool 14 · Audio Ducking Calculator

How loud should the music sit under your voice?

Returns the exact dB reduction to apply to music while voice is present, with attack and release times so the duck does not "pump".

Get your duck amount, attack and release.

How ducking works

A sidechain compressor listens to the voice track and dips the music volume while voice is present. The duck amount is how much the music drops (in dB). Attack is how fast it dips; release is how fast it returns. Too short a release and you hear the "pumping"; too long and the music never returns between sentences.

Limitations

  • Numbers assume a single voice track and a stereo music bed. Multi-voice or multi-music needs manual tweaking.
  • Sub-bass in the music bleeds through the voice regardless of dB. EQ the music below 200 Hz while voice is present.
  • Targets vary by genre; cinematic accepts deeper ducks than pop.
Tool 15 · Caption Reading Speed Checker

Are your captions readable on a phone?

Paste a caption block. The tool returns characters per second and flags lines that exceed the readability threshold.

Paste SRT-style captions and check character-per-second against the readability threshold.

The 17 cps rule

Most viewers can comfortably read 17 characters per second on a phone, in landscape at 720p. Above 21 cps you start losing the back half of every line. The tool flags anything over 19 cps in yellow and over 22 cps in red.

Limitations

  • Languages with wider glyphs (CJK) need a lower threshold (~12 cps).
  • Long words are slower than short ones even at the same cps — split long words.
  • Auto-generated captions drift by 0.5–2 s; always re-time before publishing.
Tool 16 · Subtitle Safe-Zone Mapper

Where can your captions actually go?

Each platform blocks different areas with UI. Returns the safe band for your caption background.

How to read the diagram

Black bars are the platform UI. Red boxes are blocked zones; keep your caption background outside them. Green is the safe band. The bottom 18% is consistently blocked on all three, but the exact percent varies.

Limitations

  • UI changes with app updates; double-check before a big release.
  • Captions with stroke / shadow can extend a few px above and below the line.
  • Some platforms let viewers toggle UI; designers usually plan for the visible state.
Tool 17 · Caption Contrast Checker

Will your caption text actually be readable?

Pick the caption text colour and the background colour behind it. Returns WCAG contrast ratio and AAA/AA pass status.

Pick two colours; get the contrast ratio and the WCAG pass level.

WCAG in plain English

For body text on a phone, aim for 4.5:1 (WCAG AA). For large display captions (24 px+), 3:1 is the minimum. AAA (7:1) is gold-standard but rarely achievable in colourful short-form branding.

Limitations

  • It assumes the colour is solid. Translucent overlays drop contrast unpredictably.
  • On-camera colour shifts the perceived contrast under different lighting.
  • Passes for sighted viewers; consider adding audio description for blind viewers if you have the budget.
Tool 18 · Watermark Safe-Zone Planner

Where to put your handle / watermark without hurting the frame.

Choose a position and a size. Returns the placement rectangle, the conflict risk with caption safe zones, and the recommended opacity.

Your placement plan appears here.

Why corners matter

The eye scans in an F-pattern. The bottom-right corner is the most-viewed area after the centre of the frame, but it is also the caption safe-zone on every platform. Bottom-left is the second-most-viewed and the safest across platforms.

Limitations

  • Watermarks at high opacity get covered by platform UI on Reels.
  • Some platforms deprioritise watermarked cross-posts in their algorithm. Decide based on which platform is primary.
  • Animated watermarks distract from captions. Static is usually safer.

Next stage: Export →

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