Collections

Overview

As your library grows across different events, subjects, or campaigns, you may not want Onset Engine to pull clips from your entire database. Collections allow you to create named groups of source videos and restrict the engine to only use clips from those specific files.

Managing Collections

You can manage your collections via the Manage… button found under the Configuration section of the GUI.

Creating a Collection

1. Open the Source Collection Manager dialog.
2. In the “New Collection” section, type a name (e.g., “Summer Campaign” or “Nature Footage”).
3. Click + Create.

Ingesting Straight into a Collection

The quickest way to fill a collection is to choose it when you ingest.

1. Open Ingest and add your folders or files.
2. Under Add to collection, pick an existing collection, or choose + New collection… and type a name.
3. Click 📥 Add to library.

Every video in those folders goes into the collection, including videos in subfolders and ones that were already in your library. Videos that can’t be read are left out. A new collection is created when the ingest runs.

Adding Videos You Have Already Ingested

1. In the Collection Manager, locate your collection under “Existing Collections”.
2. Click + Add Sources. The picker lists your ingested videos, grouped by folder.
3. Tick a folder to add every video in it, or open the folder to tick single videos. Type in the search box to filter by file or folder name; your ticks are kept while you search.
4. Click Add. The button shows how many videos you’ve ticked.

(Note: Collections are non-destructive. A single source video can belong to multiple collections, and deleting a collection does not delete the underlying clips from your library.)

Rendering from a Collection

To force the engine to only use footage from a specific collection:

1. In the Editor’s settings panel (GENERAL tab), open More options.
2. Find the Source Collection dropdown.
3. Select your desired collection (e.g., “Summer Campaign”).

When you generate a timeline, Onset Engine will restrict its clip pool solely to the source videos assigned to that collection. If you leave the dropdown set to All (No Filter), it will pull from your entire ingested library.

Must-Use Clips

Sometimes a few videos have to be in the edit whatever else the engine picks: clips made for this song, a logo shot, a featured artist. Put them in a collection of their own, then:

1. Under More options, find the Must-use clips dropdown under Source Collection.
2. Select the collection.
3. To play them in filename order (clip2 before clip10), tick Keep in order.

When you generate a timeline, every video in that collection appears at least once, spread across the song and clear of the opening shot, with the liveliest ones where the music is loudest. The rest of the edit is filled from the Source Collection, or your whole library, the usual way, and the must-use videos don’t turn up a second time as ordinary picks. With Chronological Order, the rest of the edit stays in source order and the must-use clips go in between.

On the timeline, must-use clips have their own border and a 📌 mark. They are locked, so Re-Roll keeps them; unlock one if you want Re-Roll to place it again.

A must-use video shorter than its place in the edit gets a shorter place that still ends on a beat. It is never looped or frozen.

The console reports the result, for example 6 of 6 must-use clips placed. If a short song or a large collection doesn’t have room for all of them, it names the ones left out and the edit goes ahead. Videos missing from disk, or not ingested yet, are named too.

In a Vertical Teaser the must-use clips go in the part of the song the teaser covers, and in Highlights Only each one takes a place in the reel. New video and DJ Mode don’t use must-use clips.

If the Source Collection is the must-use collection itself, the rest of the edit is filled from your whole library.

Note

Must-use clips need a Core license or above. On Demo the dropdown is shown but can’t be changed.