StoryFolder Help

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Import from a video file ​

If you have the video as a file on your computer, you can import it directly. This is the fastest, most reliable way to bring a clip into StoryFolder — no internet round-trip, no link restrictions.

How do I import a video file? ​

  1. Open StoryFolder and go to the home screen.
  2. Click the + New button in the top-right corner.
  3. Pick Import from File….
  4. In the file picker, choose your video.
  5. Click Open.

The import starts immediately. You'll see the same progress screen as with URL imports.

What file formats are supported? ​

StoryFolder accepts:

  • .mp4
  • .mov
  • .mkv
  • .avi
  • .webm
  • .mts

See Supported formats for details on codecs and edge cases.

Where should I keep my source video? ​

You can keep it anywhere — your Desktop, an external drive, a network mount. StoryFolder records the path you imported from so you can use Show in Finder / Show in File Explorer later from the project's ⋯ menu.

Don't delete the file too soon

If you delete the source file from disk before exporting video clips, you may not be able to re-export at full quality. PDF and image exports use StoryFolder's internal cache and are unaffected.

How big can my video be? ​

There's no hard cap, but the practical considerations are:

  • Disk space. StoryFolder generates a thumbnail cache during import. Budget roughly 10–20% of the source file size for cache.
  • Processing time. Roughly 0.5–1× real-time for shot detection on a modern machine. A 90-minute feature takes 45–90 minutes the first time.
  • Memory. 8 GB of RAM is comfortable. Heavy 4K HDR sources benefit from 16 GB+.

Can I import multiple files at once? ​

Right now, one at a time. Drag-and-drop multi-import is on our roadmap.

Can I drag and drop a file onto the app? ​

Yes — drop a single video file anywhere on the StoryFolder window and the import will start automatically.

What happens to my video file? ​

Your original file is left untouched. StoryFolder:

  1. Reads it in place.
  2. Generates and caches working thumbnails in its app data folder.
  3. Saves only metadata (the shot list, your notes) to its local database.

Your video file never leaves your computer.

Next step ​

→ Supported formats