Setting Up CapCut and Your First Project

Before AI can do anything, you need a project open with your footage on the timeline. This lesson gets you from a fresh install to a working editing setup in about ten minutes. If you have never opened a video editor, that is fine. CapCut is built for people exactly at your level.

What You'll Learn

• How to install CapCut and choose desktop or mobile
• The four parts of the CapCut screen you actually use
• How to import footage and set up a project the right way
• How to save, export a test clip, and avoid the most common beginner mistakes

Desktop or Mobile: Pick One

CapCut runs on Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android. For this course, either works, but they suit different people.

Desktop gives you a bigger timeline, precise cuts with your mouse, and faster exports. If you are editing on a laptop and plan to make videos longer than a minute, use desktop.

Mobile is faster for quick social clips and is genuinely capable. If your footage is already on your phone and your videos are short, mobile is fine.

Whichever you pick, the AI features in this course, auto-captions, silence removal, and stock B-roll, exist in both. The screenshots in your head might differ slightly, but the buttons are named the same. Download CapCut from the official site (capcut.com) or your app store. Create a free account when prompted.

The CapCut Screen, Explained Simply

When you open a new project, the screen splits into four areas. You only need to understand these four.

1. The Media / Import panel (top left). This is where your imported clips, plus CapCut's stock library and AI tools, live. You drag things from here onto the timeline.

2. The Player (top center or right). This is the preview window. It shows what your video looks like at the current moment. Press the spacebar to play and pause.

3. The Timeline (bottom). This is the heart of editing. It is a horizontal strip showing your clips left to right in time. You cut, move, and layer clips here. The tall vertical line is the "playhead," and it marks where you are in the video.

4. The Toolbar (top of the timeline). Small icons for split, delete, undo, and so on. The two you will use constantly are Split (the scissors) and Undo (the curved arrow).

That is the whole interface. Everything else is a menu you open when you need it.

Import Your Footage the Right Way

1. Start a New Project.
2. Click Import in the media panel and select your video file, the 2 to 5 minute clip you chose in Lesson 1.
3. Drag the clip from the media panel down onto the timeline. It becomes a colored bar.
4. Check the aspect ratio. Click the Ratio button and pick your target: 16:9 for YouTube and landscape, 9:16 for TikTok, Reels, and Shorts, 1:1 for square feed posts. Set this now, because changing it later reframes everything.

One habit that saves you pain: before editing, immediately export nothing but duplicate your project or note where the original file lives. AI edits are non-destructive in CapCut (they do not overwrite your source file), but knowing your original is safe lets you experiment freely.

Set Yourself Up to Work Fast

Two small setup choices make the whole course smoother.

Rename your project. Call it something like "Course Edit 1" instead of "Untitled." When you have three projects, you will thank yourself.

Learn three shortcuts. These do 80% of the work:

• Spacebar = play / pause
• Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac) = undo
• Split (the scissors icon, or press the shortcut CapCut shows on hover) = cut the clip at the playhead

You cut by moving the playhead to a spot and pressing Split. Then you can delete the piece you do not want. That single move, split then delete, is most of editing.

Export a 10-Second Test

Do not wait until the end to learn exporting. Do a throwaway export now so there are no surprises later.

1. Click Export (top right).
2. Set resolution to 1080p and frame rate to 30fps for most uses.
3. Export. Watch the file appear, then open it to confirm it plays.

If that works, your setup is sound.

Use AI to Plan the Session

Before diving in, get a checklist. Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini:

I just imported a [length] minute talking-head video into CapCut, aspect ratio [16:9 / 9:16]. Give me a step-by-step editing checklist in the order I should do things: captions, cutting silences, trimming, B-roll, audio, export. Keep it to one line per step.

Pin that answer somewhere visible. It becomes your map for the rest of the course.

Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

• Editing before setting the aspect ratio. Reframing late ruins your positioning. Set it first.
• Not saving. CapCut autosaves, but hit save (or just let it) and note your project name.
• Exporting at the wrong resolution. 1080p is the safe default. 4K makes huge files you rarely need for social.
• Deleting the original source file. Keep it until the final video is published.

Try It Now

1. Install CapCut and open a new project.
2. Import your clip, drop it on the timeline, and set the aspect ratio.
3. Practice: move the playhead, press Split, delete a small piece, then undo it.
4. Export a 10-second test and confirm it plays.

Key Takeaways

• Desktop suits longer, precise edits; mobile suits quick short-form. Both have the AI tools.
• The four areas that matter are Media, Player, Timeline, and Toolbar.
• Set your aspect ratio before you edit anything else.
• Split-then-delete is the core editing move you will repeat constantly.
• Do a test export early so exporting never surprises you at the finish line.