Add effects to a video clip

Last updated: November 3, 2026

Add looks like glow, vignette, grain or a chroma key to a video or image clip on the video timeline, and set the order they apply in.

Before you start

  • Effects work on video and image clips. Text, audio and solid-color clips have no Effects section.

  • Adding and changing effects is free. Rendering the timeline costs Creative Units, shown on the Forge button before you run it.

Steps

  1. Open the clip from your board and select Open in video timeline. The clip opens on a new timeline.

  2. Select the clip on the timeline. Its settings open in the panel beside the preview, with Effects at the bottom.

  3. Select Add effect and pick an effect. The menu groups them under Adjust, Light, Stylize, Distort and Key, each with a thumbnail of what it does. Type a name to jump to it.

  4. Set the effect's controls. Drag a slider or type a value in the field beside it; the preview updates as you go. For Glow, raise Threshold so only the brightest areas bloom, then set Intensity.

  5. Add more effects the same way. Each new effect goes to the bottom of the list.

  6. Change the order with the up and down arrows on an effect's card. Effects apply from the top down, each to the result of the one above. The X on a card removes that effect.

  7. Play the timeline to check the result.

Result

The effects are saved with the timeline as you work. When you select Forge, the render bakes them into the video that lands on your board. To keep editing, open the rendered video and select Edit timeline.

Production tips

  • Order is part of the look. A vignette above a glow darkens the frame first and the glow blooms over it; the other way round, the vignette darkens the bloom too. A chroma key above a wave keys the clean picture; below it, it keys the distorted one.

  • Key a green-screen clip over a background. Add Chroma key from the Key group, set Key color to the screen, raise Similarity until the screen is gone, add Smoothness for soft edges and Spill to pull green off hair and edges. Put the background on a track below the keyed clip; the top track is in front.

  • Shadows and outlines need a shape. Drop shadow and Outline follow the clip's transparent edges, so use them on a cut-out: a character after background removal, a logo, a keyed clip.

  • Brightness, saturation and blur are not effects. They are in the clip's own Color and Playback (or Appearance) sections above Effects. Use them for basic correction and keep effects for the look.

  • Contrast, Exposure and Vibrance start visible. They are added a step past neutral so you can see them work; the mark on the slider is neutral.

  • Settings hold for the whole clip. An effect does not animate over time. For a look that changes partway, right-click the clip at that point, select Split clip and give each part its own effects.

  • Hold a look across a series. Use the same effects and order on every clip in a campaign, and note the values, so later ads match the first.

If something goes wrong

  • The clip plays without its effects. Its video is in a format the browser cannot decode for effects (HEVC, some ProRes), so the clip renders plain rather than failing. Export it as H.264 MP4 or WebM, upload it, drag the new file onto the timeline in place of the old clip, and add the effects to it.

  • There is no Effects section. The selected clip is text, audio or a solid color. Select a video or image clip.

  • Drop shadow or Outline shows nothing. The picture fills its clip edge to edge, so there is no transparent area for the shadow or stroke to land in, and anything cast past the edge is cut off. Use a cut-out with a transparent background, or add Chroma key above the shadow to cut the background out first.

  • A green fringe stays after a chroma key. Raise Spill, then Smoothness. If the subject starts to disappear, lower Similarity.

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