Aether Forge Docs - Aethera.TV

At a glance

Forge is a local-first editor. Your project stores the edit decision list and references to media on your computer; it does not silently upload your source footage or copy your entire media library into the project. Generated thumbnails, waveforms, proxies, and preview renders are cache data and can be rebuilt.

Platform: signed Windows x64 desktop application.
Project format: current projects use .aforge; legacy .avmp projects can be opened for migration.
Typical flow: choose a template, import local media, edit a sequence, finish the mix and picture, export, then optionally publish.
Account: sign-in is required for the Aethera service and publishing workflow. Editing remains based on local project and media files.
Release status: Beta. The bounded editing and delivery workflows documented here are the supported product surface; advanced compositor and collaboration features are not included.

The fastest path for a first test is a short MP4, the Session edit template, the Match Sequence H.264 or Aethera Upload 1080p preset, and a local export before attempting a publish.

Before you begin

Prepare the files

Keep source media on a stable local drive. Forge references the original paths, so moving or renaming files creates offline media that must be relinked.
For a first run, use a short video and one audio file. Add long recordings, multi-audio captures, stills, or image sequences after the basic export works.
Have enough free space for generated proxies, preview caches, and final exports. Cache files can be deleted and rebuilt, but an export still needs room for its complete output.
For publishing, use the Aethera account that owns the destination library. Publishing sends only the selected completed export, not the project or source media.

Choose the right starting point

Session edit: a 1080p/30fps starting layout for gameplay, camera or overlay, game audio, voice, music, and captions.
Trailer: a 1080p/24fps, short-form layout with main picture, titles, dialogue, music, sound effects, and captions.
Animated map: a 4K/60fps, loop-oriented layout for map art, overlays, ambience, effects, and captions. Use the VTT map preset when delivering this type of video.
Blank project: a minimal 1080p/30fps sequence when you want to define the tracks and delivery settings yourself.

Templates are starting layouts, not permanent constraints. Canvas, frame rate, duration, tracks, and delivery preset can be changed later from sequence settings and the relevant workspace.

Install and sign in

Download the installer. Use the Download button on this page. The public release is signed for Windows x64.
Run the installer. Choose an install location if needed. Forge can add Start Menu and desktop shortcuts.
Open Forge. The dashboard is the home screen for new projects, recent projects, and recovery copies.
Sign in to Aethera. Use email and password or Continue with Google. Email/password sign-in hands the secure authentication step to the Aethera website in your browser; complete two-step verification there when your account requires it, then return to Forge.
Allow the handoff to finish. If the browser sign-in fails, the app keeps the error recoverable so you can retry the browser flow instead of repeatedly entering credentials in the desktop window.

Keep the service setting on Production. If it changed, switch back before troubleshooting sign-in or publishing.

Projects and sequences

A project is the saved container for media references, bins, sequences, timeline edits, markers, captions, effects, export history, and recovery information. A project can contain more than one sequence.

Create, open, and save

From the dashboard, choose a workflow template or New Project for a blank sequence.
Use Open Project to reopen an .aforge file. Legacy .avmp files remain openable for migration; after checking the migrated timeline, use Save As to create a current-format copy.
Use Save for the current file and Save As when you want a new project copy or a new location.
Recent projects are a per-device list. Removing a project from Recent does not delete the project file or its media.
Autosave recovery copies are also per device. Opening a recovery copy does not replace the original until you explicitly save.

Manage sequences

Use the sequence menu in the top bar to create, rename, duplicate, switch, or delete sequences. The last remaining sequence cannot be deleted.
Each sequence has its own canvas, frame rate, duration, tracks, in/out range, markers, and delivery choices.
Sequence duration must be at least as long as existing clips, captions, and markers. Changing a shorter duration is rejected instead of silently cutting content.
For source matching, use Match available settings when media metadata contains a usable canvas, frame rate, or duration. Unavailable metadata is left unchanged.

Sequence settings

Canvas presets: HD Landscape 1920×1080, 4K Landscape 3840×2160, HD Vertical 1080×1920, Square 1080×1080, and QHD Landscape 2560×1440.
Custom canvas: even dimensions from 16 to 8192 pixels; common frame rates range from 23.976 through 60fps, with custom values from 1 to 120fps.
Duration: from 1 second to 24 hours, subject to the existing timeline content.

Import and manage media

Import methods

In the Edit workspace, choose Import or press Ctrl + I for individual files.
Choose Import Folder to scan a folder recursively, or drag files and folders into the Media panel.
Forge probes metadata and can build thumbnails, waveforms, and content hashes through local queues. Import does not move the source files.
Media can be organized into bins. Create, rename, move, and delete non-root bins; search, filter by kind, and sort the media list as it grows.

What can be imported

Video containers: MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV, WebM, AVI, ASF, DV, FLV/F4V, WMV, MPG/MPEG, M2V, MTS/M2TS/M2T/TS, 3GP/3G2, MXF, OGV/OGM, VOB, MOD/TOD, and other listed camera or legacy containers.
Audio: MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC/ADTS, M4A, OGG/OGA/Opus, AIFF, WMA, AC-3/E-AC-3, CAF, AMR, APE, and other listed audio containers.
Images and stills: PNG, JPEG, WebP, AVIF, GIF, HEIC/HEIF, TIFF, DPX, EXR, TGA, BMP, and supported camera RAW extensions.
Image sequences: numbered PNG, JPEG, WebP, BMP, TIFF, DPX, EXR, TGA, PPM-family, QOI, and supported RAW stills can be imported as sequences when their numbering and metadata are usable.

An extension in the import list means Forge will accept the file for inspection; it does not guarantee native Chromium preview, every codec, or identical export behavior. Unusual codecs, HDR/10-bit, AV1, HEVC, RAW, HEIC/HEIF, AVIF, and uncommon subtitle or professional-audio formats are best-effort. Generate a proxy or transcode a problem source when the native preview is unavailable.

Media health, relinking, and duplicates

Use Check media to scan for missing, changed, unsafe, or unapproved sources. An offline reference stays in the project, but it cannot be previewed or rendered until it is repaired.
Use Relink on one item or Batch relink offline media for a reviewable set of candidates. Compare path, name, size, duration, and other metadata before accepting a match.
Content hashing is optional and local. Forge asks for a privacy acknowledgement, then stores bounded queue records to identify duplicate content; it does not need to upload the media to do this.
When duplicate groups are found, review them before removing anything. Keep the preferred reference, remove unused imports, or consolidate the group without deleting the original source file by accident.

Proxies and preview cache

Proxies are enabled by default. The default proxy target is 1280px wide with CRF 28 and 128kbps audio; these values can be changed in Settings.
Generate a proxy per clip or queue missing proxies for a batch. The Proxy Queue can run next, run all, pause, resume, cancel, retry, and clear completed or failed jobs.
In Monitor settings, Auto uses a proxy when available and falls back to native source preview when the source is suitable. Source forces original media; Proxy forces proxy playback.
Thumbnails and waveforms use the Preview Cache queue. If the Program monitor reports that a preview render is needed, queue Render Program preview for the unsupported composite rather than assuming the export is broken.

Understand the editor

The editor is arranged around two monitors, a media panel, a workspace panel, and a multi-track timeline. Panel widths, heights, collapsed state, density, and theme can be adjusted in Settings.

Source monitor: inspect a source, scrub, step frames, set source in/out marks, choose an audio stream, and insert or replace a selected range.
Program monitor: review the current sequence, scrub the timeline, position titles, and render a preview cache when native playback cannot composite the current graph.
Timeline: separate video, audio, and caption tracks with track targeting, lock, mute, solo, rename, remove, and height controls.
Inspector: edit selected-clip properties, slip or slide a clip, make small roll or centered-trim adjustments, retime, and manage effects and transitions.
Workspaces: Edit, Effects, Transitions, Titles, Color, Audio, Captions, Export, and Settings. The top bar also contains project actions, sequence actions, import, save, account, and logout.

Source monitor operations

Select a media item and open it in the Source monitor.
Use the media selector when a file has more than one audio stream. Choose the stream you want to place on the timeline.
Set In and Out marks, then choose Insert, Ripple insert, Overwrite, Replace, Fit replace, or Ripple replace.
Use the video and audio source-patch controls in the timeline toolbar to decide which target tracks receive the edit.

Preview controls

Play at 0.25x, 0.5x, 1x, 1.5x, or 2x. Reverse playback is available when the selected source or preview path has no audio constraint that would make reverse playback misleading.
Reduce monitor scale to 50% or 25% when a large canvas is difficult to play smoothly.
Use frame stepping for precise cuts. Audio pitch preservation is a separate retiming option and does not make every source codec natively previewable.

Edit on the timeline

Forge is designed around a bounded, predictable edit graph. That makes preview and H.264/AAC delivery more reliable, but it also means the editor intentionally does not behave like an unlimited compositor.

Core edits

Move, trim, split, replace, insert, overwrite, and ripple-delete clips. Use Lift to remove a marked range while preserving its gap or Extract to remove the range and close the gap.
Use slip to change the source content inside a clip without moving its edit, slide to move a clip while preserving its duration, roll to move a cut between adjacent clips, and centered trim to expand or contract around the edit.
Set a clip speed from 5% to 1600%, choose whether the edit ripples, preserve audio pitch when supported, or use linear/hold retime keys at the playhead. Reverse retime and clearing retime keys are available in the Inspector.
Link and unlink selected video and audio clips. Track targeting controls where source edits land; the overlap policy in Settings controls whether direct overlaps are prevented, allowed, or overwritten.
Add markers, jump to previous or next markers, set timeline in/out points, zoom the timeline, and split one track or all tracks at the playhead.

Track controls

Rename tracks to match the job, such as Gameplay, Voice, Music, or Captions.
Lock a track before making a targeted edit, mute or solo audio tracks while mixing, resize track height, and remove tracks that are no longer needed.
Keep captions on caption tracks and audio on audio tracks. This makes range edits, preview, sidecar export, and later repair easier to reason about.

Unsupported overlaps, missing media, unavailable codecs, or unsupported effect combinations should be caught by preflight before a long export. Read the creator-facing error and repair the named media or graph issue rather than repeatedly retrying the same job.

Finish picture, sound, and captions

Effects and transform

Transform: position, scale, rotation, and opacity.
Crop, blur, sharpen, and vignette: shape or soften the frame within the supported effect graph.
Basic Correction: brightness, contrast, saturation, exposure, gamma, temperature, and tint.
Color Tint and Tonal Range: apply a tint or adjust shadows, midtones, and highlights.
Color LUT: apply an approved .cube lookup during export. The monitor preview is an approximation; judge the final exported file for critical color decisions.
Parameters that support keyframes can be keyed at the playhead. Edit a current keyframe or remove the keyframe at the current time from the effect editor.

Titles

In Titles, choose Add title at playhead, then edit text, font family, size, weight, color, alignment, opacity, horizontal and vertical position, outline, backdrop, and shadow.
Drag the title in the Program monitor for direct positioning. Title appearance can be adjusted without turning it into an arbitrary compositor layer.

Transitions

Video: Cross Dissolve, Soft Dissolve, Fade To Black, Dip To White, and Wipe Left.
Audio: Audio Crossfade.
Transition duration can be 0.05 to 30 seconds. Video transitions require adjacent source video clips on the same track; title clips do not accept video transitions.

Audio

Use track gain and pan for broad balance, then use clip gain for individual sources.
Add gain and fades to a selected clip. Fade in/out curves support Linear, Smooth, and Equal-power behavior where available.
Add an audio crossfade to the next adjacent audio clip. Forge exports it as matched fade envelopes and shows the resulting duration in the Audio workspace.
Watch the track meters while checking dialogue, game audio, music, and effects independently. Mute or solo tracks while diagnosing a mix.

Captions

Import SRT or WebVTT, add entries manually, edit start/end time and text, and place captions on caption tracks.
Style the caption font, size, weight, alignment, text color, backdrop, outline, opacity, position, and shadow.
Export a sidecar as SRT or WebVTT, or enable Burn captions into sequence exports when the words must be part of the pixels.
Aethera publishing currently sends the completed MP4 only. Caption sidecars remain local files.

Export and delivery queues

Open the Export workspace to choose a source, sequence, or batch. Forge keeps export jobs and bounded history so you can queue work, pause it, retry failures, and inspect the render log without losing the project.

Built-in presets

Aethera Upload 1080p: H.264/AAC MP4, 1920×1080 at 30fps, 12,000kbps video and 192kbps audio; upload-ready.
Match Sequence H.264: H.264/AAC MP4 that follows the current sequence canvas and frame rate; upload-ready when the resulting file passes publish compatibility.
Aethera Upload 4K: H.264/AAC MP4, 3840×2160 at 30fps, 45,000kbps video and 320kbps audio; upload-ready.
Creator Trailer 1080p24: H.264/AAC MP4, 1920×1080 at 24fps, 16,000kbps video and 192kbps audio; upload-ready.
Aethera VTT Map 4K60: H.264/AAC MP4, 3840×2160 at 60fps, 55,000kbps video and 256kbps audio; intended for animated map video delivery.
MP4 H.265 1080p: H.265/AAC MP4 for compatible local players; not an Aethera publish-ready preset.
WebM VP9 1080p: VP9/Opus WebM for compatible local or web workflows; not an Aethera publish-ready preset.
Aethera HLS Ladder: an HLS output when the installed encoder capabilities are available; use it for a local streaming package rather than the single MP4 publish flow.
AAC Audio and JPG Thumbnail: audio-only and single-frame local outputs.

Forge checks installed encoder capabilities before queueing. A preset can be visible but unavailable with a reason; install or enable the required capability, or choose a ready preset. A preset name is not a promise that every source codec or unsupported effect graph can be rendered without repair.

Queue a render

Choose a preset and confirm that its encoder is ready.
Choose the source, output path, and whether an existing output may be replaced.
For a sequence export, choose the sequence range or use the marked range when available. For a source export, the Source monitor in/out marks define the range.
Choose whether captions are burned in and whether to write an SRT or WebVTT sidecar.
Select Queue Selected, Queue Sequence, or Queue All Media. For repeated work, add batch sources and then queue the batch.
Use Run Next or Run Queue. Pause/resume, cancel, retry, clear completed jobs, and clear failed/cancelled jobs from the queue controls.

What to check after export

Open the output from the path shown in the job row and check the first frame, last frame, audio sync, captions, and any LUT or effect that was previewed approximately.
Partial outputs are cleaned up when a job is cancelled or fails where cleanup is possible. If a file remains after an interrupted process, treat it as incomplete until a successful job produces the final output.
Use the render log for a codec, missing-media, or preflight error. Fix the named issue, then choose Retry rather than creating an identical duplicate job.

Publish a completed export to Aethera

Publishing is an optional final step after a successful local export. It does not upload the project library, source files, proxies, cache, diagnostics, or unfinished render output.

Open the Publish area in the Export workspace and choose a completed compatible export. Forge explains why an export is ineligible.
Enter a title up to 180 characters and a description up to 4,000 characters.
Choose a visibility offered by the server. The current public service offers private and public; always follow the values actually advertised by the signed-in service.
Select Queue Publish Job, then Run Next or Run Publish Queue. You can pause, resume, cancel the active upload, retry a failed job, or clear completed history.
After the server confirms the library item, use Sync Library to refresh the list and open the watch or edit link when needed.

The current publish contract accepts one completed H.264/AAC MP4 per job. Thumbnail and caption attachments are not currently advertised, so keep your JPG and SRT/WebVTT files as local companion deliverables.

Link a published video as a VTT map video

Publish the compatible MP4 first.
In the VTT Map Video section, refresh the eligible campaign list and choose a campaign.
Choose Link as VTT Map on the completed publish or library item.
If the link fails, retry the link separately. A link failure does not require re-uploading the video.

This connects the library video to an eligible VTT campaign; it does not create a full VTT scene, capture a live session, or browse and import a hosted media library into the editor.

Use Aethera Replay data

Replay import is a planning and marker workflow. It helps turn session chapters and moments into an edit without pretending that the Replay package contains the recording itself.

In the top bar, choose Import Replay package and select a supported Aethera Replay export package.
Review the session, chapters, markers, timestamps, descriptions, and tags in the import plan.
Select the chapters or markers you want. Chapter candidates are selected by default; marker candidates are selected when they are marked as clip or chapter candidates.
Import the selected entries. Forge adds provenance to timeline markers and skips the same Replay item if you import it again.
Choose or relink the matching local recording yourself. Replay exports contain metadata and media references, not local recordings.
Use the imported markers to mark ranges, select local clips, and build the recap manually.

A Replay package must be a supported aethera.replay.export.v1 export. If Forge rejects it, export the package again from Replay rather than renaming an unrelated JSON file.

Settings and shortcuts

Appearance and layout

Choose Dark, Light, or High contrast mode, an accent color, and Compact or Comfortable density.
Set panel widths, timeline height, per-workspace collapsed panels, and reset the layout if a panel becomes difficult to find.
Choose Non-drop or Drop-frame timecode when the sequence supports it.

Paths, cache, and autosave

Set default project and export folders and the generated-cache folder. These paths do not relocate existing source media.
The generated cache is capped at 20GB by default. Cleanup can target the current project, all generated cache, or cache above the configured limit.
Cache cleanup removes generated thumbnails, waveforms, proxies, and preview data; it does not remove source media or completed exports.
Autosave is enabled by default at 90 seconds. The interval can be changed from 15 seconds to 1 hour.

Playback and proxies

Set Monitor media mode to Auto, Source, or Proxy. Auto is the safest default for mixed media.
Enable or disable proxies, choose whether stale proxies regenerate automatically, and tune proxy width, quality, and audio bitrate.

Diagnostics and updates

Public builds keep diagnostics optional. If you enable collection and create a report, Forge sanitizes it locally; submission remains opt-in.
Set report retention and the maximum number of local reports, open the reports folder, or send an explicitly selected report from Settings.
Use Check for Updates and Restart and Install when an update is offered.

Common shortcuts

Space: play/pause. Left/Right: step one frame. I/O: mark the active monitor in/out.
Ctrl + O: open project. Ctrl + S: save. Ctrl + Shift + S: Save As.
Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Shift + Z: undo and redo.
Ctrl + B: split at playhead. Ctrl + Shift + B: split all. Ctrl + Alt + B: split the target track.
Delete and Shift + Delete: delete and ripple-delete.
M: add marker. Ctrl + Left/Right: previous/next marker.
Ctrl + I: import. Ctrl + E: export. Ctrl + Shift + P: render Program preview.
Ctrl + 1 through Ctrl + 9: switch between the nine workspaces.

All shortcuts can be remapped in Settings. Forge rejects duplicate shortcut assignments.

Recovery and troubleshooting

The project will not open

Open the dashboard’s recovery list and compare the autosave time with the original project.
Open a valid recovery copy in a new working copy first. Save it separately so the original remains available for comparison.
If a recovery entry is damaged, dismiss that entry and try another copy. Recovery files are local to the device that created them.

Media is offline or will not preview

Confirm the source drive is connected and the file still exists at the original path.
Run Check media, then use Relink or Batch relink review. Do not accept a candidate solely because its filename matches.
Generate a proxy and set Monitor media mode to Auto or Proxy for a heavy, unusual, or non-native source.

The Program monitor is blank or stutters

Lower the monitor scale to 50% or 25%, use a proxy, and allow the Preview Cache queue to finish thumbnails and waveforms.
For an unsupported native composite, choose Render Program preview. A preview requirement is not automatically an export failure.
Check for missing media, locked tracks, unsupported source codecs, or an effect combination outside the supported graph.

Export or publish is unavailable

Read the preflight message. Repair offline media, unsupported overlaps/effects, or the unavailable encoder it names.
For publishing, use a completed H.264/AAC MP4 and confirm that you are signed in. H.265, WebM, HLS, audio-only, thumbnail-only, and incomplete jobs are not eligible for the current single-MP4 publish flow.
If the server does not advertise a visibility or capability, do not force it. Refresh the publish capability or library view and retry the bounded job.

Get help

Reproduce the problem with a short project when possible, record the preset, source type, and exact creator-facing error, and keep the render log.
Create and submit a sanitized diagnostic report only after opting in. Never include source media, credentials, or private environment files in a support request.

Current boundaries

Forge is intentionally focused on a reliable local edit-to-delivery path. The following are not promises of the current Beta release:

Cloud source-media sync, collaborative editing, hosted-library media import, or automatic project backup.
Direct browsing or implicit downloading of Aethera Voice recordings, Atlas lore, or other hosted media.
Creating VTT scenes or capturing a live VTT session inside Forge. The supported VTT handoff links an eligible published video as map video.
Plugins, a marketplace, generative effects, social publishing matrices, arbitrary compositor graphs, multicam editing, motion tracking, full HDR workflows, RAW parity, or dedicated noise-reduction tooling.
Native preview parity for every accepted extension. Source formats in the best-effort tier may require a proxy or an external transcode before editing.

These boundaries are useful when planning a workflow: if a task depends on one of them, prepare the source or final deliverable outside Forge and bring in the bounded asset Forge can edit reliably.

Aether Forge