We've played around with this and honestly have a lot of respect for what the Remotion team has built. Fun fact, I tinkered with it back in 2021 when they made those GitHub Wrapped videos, it was one of those projects that made me think differently about video on the web :)
Cardboard is a bit different though, aimed at non-developers who want to edit raw footage through natural language without writing any code. Motion graphics is on the roadmap and Remotion would hopefully be a natural fit when we get there.
Cool to see the space evolving from so many directions! :)
For your example videos that you made with Cardboard: can you also put up the raw material that went into those videos? Just looking at the output doesn't tell me anything. :thanks:!
Sure! Will share the raw material for all the videos.
For some of the examples we shared though, we've created sample projects right within the product itself. They contain the raw assets and the exact prompts used to create the videos. You can try them out directly at https://demo.usecardboard.com and see the whole process!
We made a deliberate decision to go client-first. Video editing happens entirely in your browser without us uploading your entire footage on our end. No bandwidth costs for you, no storing your raw video on our servers. The File System Access API is what makes that possible, and unfortunately Firefox just doesn't have it yet.
It's not a forever thing though. For cloud-based projects where files live on our end anyway, Firefox support is very much on the roadmap. But for the local-first editing flow, our hands are a bit tied until Mozilla ships it.
Hope that makes sense, and fingers crossed Firefox adds support soon!
Really impressive work guys! It seems like YC has funded a few companies attacking this but I think you all might have the best approach so far. Behind the scenes is the agent just editing using text/annotated timelines? I feel like the move is probably text for roughcut/narrative, then a vlm for digesting the initial roughcut, then adding broll and fixing timing issues. Feel free to steal my FCP xml generator. https://github.com/barefootford/buttercut
happy that you liked our approach! also, i think it's a better idea to just give agent these tools and let it figure out its course of actions than giving it a specific workflow to work on - it seems like the world keeps reminding us the bitter lesson [http://www.incompleteideas.net/IncIdeas/BitterLesson.html] more frequently these days
Theoretically I agree, but practically without guidance agents aren't really able to edit video ATM. Without hand holding Claude will just call ffmpeg and look at a few frames.
I recently started making videos for a loved one that lives far away, I started using CapCut and this is the kind of thing I was thinking "I wish it did that".
This seems like a great idea. Tools like video editors (and CAD) often impose a big learning curve - there is a big differential between "I want to do X" and actually knowing all the right buttons to press to do X. Good luck.
Love this idea! I built something similar last year https://www.usecrossfade.com and know how difficult this is to get right - I'm rooting for you guys!
Thanks! Yeah, it can just quickly spiral into this massive product when you take video editing which has a base level of features you sort of expect and add on a whole new paradigm like AI-assisted. But really like your approach!
Excited to see AI integrations into more non-text-related applications (coding, spreadsheets, proofreading etc). As someone who only occasionally needs to edit videos for product / feature reels, I'd happily ask an AI to "sync the narration to the video, cut away irrelevant footage, and add transitions". The convenience of being able to automate simple, repeatable tasks in creative software via ai is something that gets overshadowed a lot by the agentic coding discussions. I can only imagine the nightmare it would be for a tool like Premier to integrate effective ai features, so new ai-in-mind tools really feel like a necessity.
you understood well what we are building. non-text domains certainly have additionally challenges and we're working on making it reliable without learning curve.
also, appreciate the kind words on the site — give Cardboard a spin next time you need a product reel!
Wow! congrats on the launch guys. client-side rendering is incredible, really. I saw your product somewhere and have it as an open tab in my chrome for ~2 weeks :D
I also saw another YC company, Mosaic, doing something similar. But your approach of chat-based editing is a lot closer to what I'm building.
Shameless plug: I'm also working on a chat-based media processor. https://chatoctopus.com
But you guys are way ahead! will be looking at you for inspiration.
Who do you think your target customer is? Curious to know if you think the money is in short form, traditional YouTube videos, or even movie studios one day.
Great website btw. The onboarding was very pleasing
We use Cardboard at Vulnetic and it is an incredible product. The founders are easily accessible, and it has definitely made it easier to film feature update videos. I can't recommend them enough.
My co-founder and I met in high school, and we wanted the name to carry a sense of craft. Cardboard was always that material in school projects that was firm enough to hold structure but malleable enough to build almost anything out of. That balance of structure and flexibility felt like a good metaphor for what we're building.
Also we just thought it was a cool name and bought a bunch of domains... https://cardboard.mov is one of my favorites :)
Helpful for those who care less about the craft and more about a quick outcome. Werner Herzog said that he watches his footage a few times, takes extensive notes then edits based on his notes. That's how he crafts such extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime stories. But for those who are working on commercial or home movies, why not use AI to build a narrative? It can be like throwing dice and the outcome could be OK. Maybe even good.
Regardless, having a tool that knows the content of your footage is a huge time saver. Good luck with the product.
I totally resonate with you. Craft takes time, and that's completely valid. We're not focused on filmmakers right now, though we'd love to have them eventually.
That's also why we built a full editor alongside the agentic experience. Use AI where it helps, like finding the right shot or removing silences, and do the rest manually. And if you'd rather finish in your editor of choice, we support XML export for Premiere, DaVinci, etc.
And agreed, there's really no substitute for the kind of intentionality Herzog brings to his work :)
As a professional video editor (short-form and feature films) I've always thought realtime collaboration on a timeline makes no sense. Editors' decisions can be mutually destructive / conceptually incompatible.
Fair point. What we mean by collaboration is closer to how Figma works. From our user interviews, video creation almost always involves multiple people but in different ways: screenwriters, marketers, designers, directors reviewing the edit and sharing feedback.
The value might not be co-editing the timeline, it's making the feedback / iteration loops faster.
> We built a custom hardware-accelerated renderer on WebCodecs / WebGL2, there’s no server-side rendering, no plugins, everything runs in your browser (client-side).
Totally fair reaction! Here's our honest thinking behind it.
We deliberately avoided credits/usage-based pricing because as founders using this in our own creative workflow, we hate the cognitive load that comes with it.
If I don't like a voiceover/variation, I should have the freedom to regenerate it until I'm happy without thinking about whether it's "worth" a credit.
That said, we could be wrong! Genuinely curious what you think would feel fair?
Here's an agent skill that lets you do similar things: https://skills.sh/remotion-dev/skills/remotion-best-practice...
https://www.remotion.dev/docs/ai/claude-code
We've played around with this and honestly have a lot of respect for what the Remotion team has built. Fun fact, I tinkered with it back in 2021 when they made those GitHub Wrapped videos, it was one of those projects that made me think differently about video on the web :) Cardboard is a bit different though, aimed at non-developers who want to edit raw footage through natural language without writing any code. Motion graphics is on the roadmap and Remotion would hopefully be a natural fit when we get there.
Cool to see the space evolving from so many directions! :)
For your example videos that you made with Cardboard: can you also put up the raw material that went into those videos? Just looking at the output doesn't tell me anything. :thanks:!
Sure! Will share the raw material for all the videos.
For some of the examples we shared though, we've created sample projects right within the product itself. They contain the raw assets and the exact prompts used to create the videos. You can try them out directly at https://demo.usecardboard.com and see the whole process!
Impressive UI. I assume you must be doing some kind of RAG + audio/video transcription on all the media. What's RAG architecture did you go with?
we've found more success with similar directions to what claude code took. maybe its closer to hybrid+agentic RAG
Totally fair question. I've actually been a longtime Gecko/Firefox user myself, so this one stings a bit.
The short answer: Firefox doesn't support the File System Access API (https://caniuse.com/?search=File+System+Access+API).
We made a deliberate decision to go client-first. Video editing happens entirely in your browser without us uploading your entire footage on our end. No bandwidth costs for you, no storing your raw video on our servers. The File System Access API is what makes that possible, and unfortunately Firefox just doesn't have it yet.
It's not a forever thing though. For cloud-based projects where files live on our end anyway, Firefox support is very much on the roadmap. But for the local-first editing flow, our hands are a bit tied until Mozilla ships it.
Hope that makes sense, and fingers crossed Firefox adds support soon!
Really impressive work guys! It seems like YC has funded a few companies attacking this but I think you all might have the best approach so far. Behind the scenes is the agent just editing using text/annotated timelines? I feel like the move is probably text for roughcut/narrative, then a vlm for digesting the initial roughcut, then adding broll and fixing timing issues. Feel free to steal my FCP xml generator. https://github.com/barefootford/buttercut
happy that you liked our approach! also, i think it's a better idea to just give agent these tools and let it figure out its course of actions than giving it a specific workflow to work on - it seems like the world keeps reminding us the bitter lesson [http://www.incompleteideas.net/IncIdeas/BitterLesson.html] more frequently these days
will definitely check the XML exports, ty :)
Theoretically I agree, but practically without guidance agents aren't really able to edit video ATM. Without hand holding Claude will just call ffmpeg and look at a few frames.
This is amazing (I'll add you on LinkedIn).
I recently started making videos for a loved one that lives far away, I started using CapCut and this is the kind of thing I was thinking "I wish it did that".
I'll definitely try it out. Congrats!
that's really cool!
lmk if i can help in any way :)
This seems like a great idea. Tools like video editors (and CAD) often impose a big learning curve - there is a big differential between "I want to do X" and actually knowing all the right buttons to press to do X. Good luck.
appreciate your support!
Funnily, this was an issue for myself so I built an open source AI video editor - https://github.com/waylonkenning/aidirector
Cardboard looks really well polished, well done!
damn that's really cool, you ship fast!
Love this idea! I built something similar last year https://www.usecrossfade.com and know how difficult this is to get right - I'm rooting for you guys!
Thank you! You're right, there are so many subtle things to get right, appreciate the kind words. Crossfade's landing page looks slick btw!
Thanks! Yeah, it can just quickly spiral into this massive product when you take video editing which has a base level of features you sort of expect and add on a whole new paradigm like AI-assisted. But really like your approach!
Excited to see AI integrations into more non-text-related applications (coding, spreadsheets, proofreading etc). As someone who only occasionally needs to edit videos for product / feature reels, I'd happily ask an AI to "sync the narration to the video, cut away irrelevant footage, and add transitions". The convenience of being able to automate simple, repeatable tasks in creative software via ai is something that gets overshadowed a lot by the agentic coding discussions. I can only imagine the nightmare it would be for a tool like Premier to integrate effective ai features, so new ai-in-mind tools really feel like a necessity.
Great website and good luck!
you understood well what we are building. non-text domains certainly have additionally challenges and we're working on making it reliable without learning curve.
also, appreciate the kind words on the site — give Cardboard a spin next time you need a product reel!
Wow! congrats on the launch guys. client-side rendering is incredible, really. I saw your product somewhere and have it as an open tab in my chrome for ~2 weeks :D
I also saw another YC company, Mosaic, doing something similar. But your approach of chat-based editing is a lot closer to what I'm building. Shameless plug: I'm also working on a chat-based media processor. https://chatoctopus.com
But you guys are way ahead! will be looking at you for inspiration.
mosaic's approach is also v fresh. curious about the flow after a user q/a with an asset in chatoctopus?
and ig it's time to revisit that chrome tab :)
Who do you think your target customer is? Curious to know if you think the money is in short form, traditional YouTube videos, or even movie studios one day.
Great website btw. The onboarding was very pleasing
there's value in all the categories you mentioned — we're not focusing on feature filmmakers right now.
target customers usually fall under one of these - marketers / creators / founders
Very cool idea. If your product is about video, please fix your video players. I cannot even seek on my touch screen.
my bad, I didn't test it enough on touch devices. Just pushed a fix, appreciate you flagging it!
ah, ty for notifying about the mobile player. on it!
The 10gb file size is going to be limiting for anyone shooting prores or raw.
yeah, i agree. we're actively working on bumping that up. it was 5GB last week
for now, an intermediate solution is to splice and upload.
Nice demo experience!
ty!
We use Cardboard at Vulnetic and it is an incredible product. The founders are easily accessible, and it has definitely made it easier to film feature update videos. I can't recommend them enough.
glad i'm able to help, i really enjoy working with you!
What is the story behind the name?
haha, good question.
My co-founder and I met in high school, and we wanted the name to carry a sense of craft. Cardboard was always that material in school projects that was firm enough to hold structure but malleable enough to build almost anything out of. That balance of structure and flexibility felt like a good metaphor for what we're building.
Also we just thought it was a cool name and bought a bunch of domains... https://cardboard.mov is one of my favorites :)
Helpful for those who care less about the craft and more about a quick outcome. Werner Herzog said that he watches his footage a few times, takes extensive notes then edits based on his notes. That's how he crafts such extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime stories. But for those who are working on commercial or home movies, why not use AI to build a narrative? It can be like throwing dice and the outcome could be OK. Maybe even good.
Regardless, having a tool that knows the content of your footage is a huge time saver. Good luck with the product.
I totally resonate with you. Craft takes time, and that's completely valid. We're not focused on filmmakers right now, though we'd love to have them eventually.
That's also why we built a full editor alongside the agentic experience. Use AI where it helps, like finding the right shot or removing silences, and do the rest manually. And if you'd rather finish in your editor of choice, we support XML export for Premiere, DaVinci, etc.
And agreed, there's really no substitute for the kind of intentionality Herzog brings to his work :)
As a professional video editor (short-form and feature films) I've always thought realtime collaboration on a timeline makes no sense. Editors' decisions can be mutually destructive / conceptually incompatible.
Fair point. What we mean by collaboration is closer to how Figma works. From our user interviews, video creation almost always involves multiple people but in different ways: screenwriters, marketers, designers, directors reviewing the edit and sharing feedback.
The value might not be co-editing the timeline, it's making the feedback / iteration loops faster.
> We built a custom hardware-accelerated renderer on WebCodecs / WebGL2, there’s no server-side rendering, no plugins, everything runs in your browser (client-side).
Aight imma head out. Holy moly.
haha xD
LET'S GOOOOOOO excellent product friends
ty ty!
$60...eh
Totally fair reaction! Here's our honest thinking behind it.
We deliberately avoided credits/usage-based pricing because as founders using this in our own creative workflow, we hate the cognitive load that comes with it.
If I don't like a voiceover/variation, I should have the freedom to regenerate it until I'm happy without thinking about whether it's "worth" a credit.
That said, we could be wrong! Genuinely curious what you think would feel fair?