# Sample editing guide — a starting point
This is a filled-in example for a talking-head Reel, not Zoe's complete private style system. Replace the choices with your own.

## Audience and style
Audience: busy creators learning a useful workflow.
Feeling: clear, warm and direct. The footage is the main event.
Reference: add one finished reference edit; identify its title, captions and supporting-clip behavior.
Avoid: unrelated decoration, excessive movement and graphics that cover expressions.

## Type
Title: my chosen display font; add exact filename before rendering.
Captions: the matching readable face, lowercase, one word at a time.
Accent font: optional; use only the actual licensed font file I provide.
If a font is missing, stop and tell me; do not reconstruct it from a screenshot.
Check a sample phrase for unexpected alternate letters or ligatures.

## Layout
Title visible from the opening frame and held still.
Caption centered below my face, comfortably clear of the bottom interface area. Test on my footage rather than assuming one position always works.
White text when readable; try a small shadow if needed. No caption cards in this example.
Keep eyes and mouth unobstructed throughout the motion.
Full-background photographs fill the frame without padding; crop without stretching.
Supporting images have straight edges, no added border or shadow.

## Pacing and visuals
Use supplied moving clips that explain the spoken point. Keep them short enough to support the narration and long enough to understand.
Do not reuse the same source moment with a different crop.
Use the finished content from screen recordings, not searching or navigation.
Preserve earlier list items when building a numbered explanation.
Do not generate, retouch or replace my face.

## Sound
Keep my real narration clear. Mute supporting-clip audio unless I request it.
Use the sound files in asset-index.md: a pop for an image landing, a click for an interface action, a whoosh for a meaningful transition. Typing sound ends with the typing.
Use occasional quiet gaps; check volume on a phone after final export.
Only use music and sound assets I supply with appropriate permission.

## Drafts and export
Create a 15-second draft before the full edit. Use draft-01.mp4, draft-02.mp4 and so on. Never replace originals.
Starting export for this example: 1080 × 1920, 30 fps, H.264 MP4 with AAC audio. Change the canvas for a carousel when requested.
Review the entire final file for caption errors, covered faces, sound balance, awkward cuts and the final frame.

## Learnings
After approval, save repeatable style decisions in this guide and concise dated lessons in editing-rules.md. Keep one-off timings with the video.