How do I get my video to open into tracks

Hi,

You are running into a common misunderstanding about how video editing works.

Here is why dragging your finished music video file into CapCut didn't separate it into editable tracks and how to achieve what you want:

1. Finished Video vs. Project File:

   • The music video file you saved on your computer (likely an .MP4, .MOV, .AVI, etc.) is a finished, rendered, or "flattened" video. Think of it like a baked cake – all the ingredients (video clips, audio tracks, text, images) have been combined into one final product. You can slice the cake (cut the video), but you can't easily separate the flour, eggs, and sugar back out.
   • CapCut sees this finished file as one single video track and one single audio track (which contains all the sounds mixed together). It cannot automatically "un-bake" the cake or decompose the video back into its original, separate components (the individual music files, text layers, image layers, etc.).
   • When you drag and drop a finished music video (like an exported MP4 file) into CapCut, it treats it as one single video file — not separate tracks. That’s because once a project is exported as a video, all the elements (text, music, images, transitions) are “baked in” — merged into one layer, like flattening a Photoshop file into a single image.

2. What You Need for Editing Individual Elements:

   • To edit the text, individual music tracks, and images separately, you need to work with the original source files within a video editing project.
   • This means you need the separate files you originally used:
     • The individual video clips.
     • The separate audio files (music tracks, sound effects, voiceovers).
     • The original image files (JPEGs, PNGs, etc.).
     • The text content (you'll recreate this using CapCut's text tool).

3. How to Edit in CapCut (The Correct Way):

   • Reopen the Original CapCut Project
     • If you still have the original CapCut project file (.cceproj or .json) you created the music video with:
       • Open CapCut.
       • Go to the “Projects” tab.
       • Find and open your saved project.
       • Now you’ll see all your tracks separately — text, music, images, and videos can be edited individually.
       • Important: If you deleted or moved files that were part of the project, CapCut might show them as missing. Let me know if that happens — I can help you fix it.
   • Reverse Engineering (Limited):
     • If you only have the final video, unfortunately, you can’t unmerge it into editable tracks. However, you can:
       • Add new text or overlays on top of it.
       • Mute the original audio and add a new music track.
       • Cut or trim parts of the video.
       • Add filters and effects.
       • But you won’t be able to change existing elements (like text or music) from the original video.
   • Start a New Project: Open CapCut and create a new project.
   • Import Your Original Assets: Instead of dragging the finished video file, import the individual files you used to create it:
     • Import your video clips.
     • Import your music track(s).
     • Import any image files you used.
   • Assemble on the Timeline:
     • Drag your video clips onto the main video track in the order you want them.
     • Drag your music track(s) onto the audio tracks below the video track. You can add multiple audio tracks for different sounds.
     • Drag your image files onto video tracks above the main video track if you want them to appear as overlays, or insert them between video clips on the main track.
     • Use CapCut's "Text" tool to add and customize your text overlays. Place these on tracks above your video.
   • Edit Each Track: Now you will see separate tracks for your video clips, your audio, your images, and your text elements. You can click on each individual element on the timeline to:
     • Edit Text: Change the words, font, color, size, animation, and timing.
     • Edit Music: Adjust volume, fade in/out, cut or trim the audio independently of the video. Add other music tracks or sound effects.
     • Edit Images: Change the size, position, duration, and add animations or effects to individual images.
     • Edit Video Clips: Cut, trim, split, change speed, add effects or filters to individual video segments.

In summary: You cannot edit the internal components of a finished video file. You need to rebuild the video project inside CapCut using the original, separate media files (video clips, audio files, images) and CapCut's own text tools.

When working on big edits like music videos, always keep a backup of your project files and media so you can go back and tweak things later.

Let us know if:

• You are unsure where your original project file is.

• You want help extracting the audio or visuals from the final video.

• You want to recreate the project and need a faster workflow.