Very well-executed version of this. I think this is the right interface for video editing going into the future.
I've spent a bit of time on something related, AI-generating motion graphics videos from code, also editable/renderable in-browser. Here's a few things I ran into:
- I see you mentioned being aware of Remotion in another comment, in my experience Remotion is not the right tool for adding motion graphics to what you're building. There's a few reasons for this, but basically declarative markup is not a great language for motion graphics beyond anything very basic. Also, in-browser rendering is only going to work with canvas-based components. I also wasn't a huge fan of their license.
- WebCodecs may not be as reliable as you think. I've verified several issues where I get a different output across browsers and operating systems, and even different permutations of flags, browser and OS. Is there a reason why your tool needs to be browser-based?
- On Remotion, yeah, not sure it's the right fit, but honestly the sheer capability of models at writing code these days has surprised me. Funnily enough, this is how I used to make small graphics for videos 2-3 years back when I knew nothing about After Effects.
We've been eager to experiment with this for a while, just have to prioritize other user requests for now. Will definitely try a few approaches and see what sticks. (Also noticed they have an experimental client-side rendering version built on mediabunny, haven't tried it yet: https://www.remotion.dev/docs/client-side-rendering/)
- On WebCodecs, there are a fair set of challenges, but we wanted to take the bet. The reason we're browser-based is the same reason I love Figma and Google Docs: no install, no waiting, just open and start. That said, for broader codec support (ProRes, RAW, etc.) we'll rely on server-side transcoding with proxies where needed.
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!
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".
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.
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.
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!
I'm currently building something in the generative AI space and am struggling with pricing. With your fixed price monthly plans, how do you deal with power users who might be blowing through more than $60/month worth of tokens? Do you eat the cost and hope the margins average out? Or have you optimized enough where that's not really a concern?
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! :)
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?
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42806616
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45980760
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46759180
- https://github.com/saurav-shakya/Video-AI-Agent
- going to be rather tough to differentiate
I've spent a bit of time on something related, AI-generating motion graphics videos from code, also editable/renderable in-browser. Here's a few things I ran into:
- I see you mentioned being aware of Remotion in another comment, in my experience Remotion is not the right tool for adding motion graphics to what you're building. There's a few reasons for this, but basically declarative markup is not a great language for motion graphics beyond anything very basic. Also, in-browser rendering is only going to work with canvas-based components. I also wasn't a huge fan of their license.
- WebCodecs may not be as reliable as you think. I've verified several issues where I get a different output across browsers and operating systems, and even different permutations of flags, browser and OS. Is there a reason why your tool needs to be browser-based?
We've been eager to experiment with this for a while, just have to prioritize other user requests for now. Will definitely try a few approaches and see what sticks. (Also noticed they have an experimental client-side rendering version built on mediabunny, haven't tried it yet: https://www.remotion.dev/docs/client-side-rendering/)
- On WebCodecs, there are a fair set of challenges, but we wanted to take the bet. The reason we're browser-based is the same reason I love Figma and Google Docs: no install, no waiting, just open and start. That said, for broader codec support (ProRes, RAW, etc.) we'll rely on server-side transcoding with proxies where needed.
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!
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!
lmk if i can help in any way :)
will definitely check the XML exports, ty :)
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!
https://www.remotion.dev/docs/ai/claude-code
Cool to see the space evolving from so many directions! :)
Great website and good luck!
also, appreciate the kind words on the site — give Cardboard a spin next time you need a product reel!
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.
and ig it's time to revisit that chrome tab :)
Great website btw. The onboarding was very pleasing
target customers usually fall under one of these - marketers / creators / founders
Cardboard looks really well polished, well done!
for now, an intermediate solution is to splice and upload.
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 :)
Regardless, having a tool that knows the content of your footage is a huge time saver. Good luck with the product.
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 :)
The value might not be co-editing the timeline, it's making the feedback / iteration loops faster.
Aight imma head out. Holy moly.
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?