Media file (video)
A Media File element plays a video from disk through SwitchX's FFmpeg engine. It's the workhorse element for highlight reels, replays, music videos, and any pre‑recorded footage.
Add it: drag a video file onto the window, use Media → Add Files…, or Add Element → Media File….
Supported formats: MP4, AVI, MOV, MKV, WebM, FLV, M4V, MPG/MPEG — anything FFmpeg can open.
What it can do
- Play, pause, scrub, and seek on either deck, with a position slider and time readout.
- Per‑deck speed set in percent (100% = normal).
- Loop — toggle Repeat on the card to loop the clip.
- Audio — if the file has an audio track, the card grows an audio strip and an audio port. See Audio in the node editor.
- Trim, crop, transform, and overlays through the Clip Editor.
The card
The card shows the thumbnail and these controls:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| A / B | Send the clip to Deck A or Deck B. |
| Repeat | Toggle looping for this clip. |
| Edit | Open the Clip Editor (below). |
| Transform ▸ | Expand inline X / Y / W / H position boxes to place the clip on its canvas. |
| Set output | When the clip is inside a group, make it the group's output. |
The Clip Editor
Click Edit on a media‑file card to open the Clip Editor — a tabbed dialog for shaping the clip. It edits a copy of the clip's settings and applies them when you accept.
Trim tab
Set the in and out points so the deck only plays the part you want.
- A playback preview with play/pause and a scrub slider.
- A timestamp field for frame‑accurate entry.
- Set Start and Set End buttons capture the current preview position as the in/out point.
Crop tab
Cut away edges of the source frame.
- A visual crop selector you drag and resize over the preview.
- Numeric X / Y / W / H boxes for exact values.
- Reset to clear the crop, and a preview toggle to see the result.
Transform & overlays
Position the cropped clip on its output canvas (the inline Transform controls on the card do the same), and composite text and image overlays on top — each with its own font size, colour, opacity, and visibility. Overlays are handy for lower thirds, logos, and labels baked into the clip itself.
Images use the same editor minus the Trim tab (a still has nothing to trim).