XiFilm

An edit takes shape when you decide what the viewer should notice next. XiFilm is the XiKey™ project for assembling that story, built on FilmCraft's timeline editing, color, audio and caption tools. The inspected source offers an integrated path from selecting footage to a rendered review copy. Upstream overview

XiFilm itself remains a planned integration at the Alpha stage. This page describes inspected upstream capability and XiKey development status, not a validated public XiFilm installer. The store policy makes Alpha free. XiKey status and XiKey pricing, checked 14 October 2026.

Start with the kind of film you want to make

XiFilm is being developed for independent editors, documentary storytellers, educators and teams making concise instructional or event films. An original short sequence is a useful early evaluation: it lets you inspect your media, cut quality, sound and export without moving an entire production at once.

An archaeological field documentary

Turn field footage, artifact photographs and recorded interviews into a short account of a dig. Organize sources in bins, place selected interview ranges with source marks, and use title graphics to identify people or locations. Manually prepared captions can carry the dialogue while the pictures show the work. Keep the edit's claims grounded in the research team's own material; the editor supplies the assembly tools, not archaeological interpretation. Editing tools, titles and captions

A volleyball match recap

Build a recap around a few decisive rallies rather than the whole recording. Refine the joins with ripple and roll trims, balance arena sound against the music, and add a simple graphic score or closing title. Review a short exported section to judge whether the energy survives the cut. Score graphics and shot choices are editorial work here, not automatic sports detection. Trim tools, audio tools, graphics

A restaurant's chef training film

Make a dish preparation sequence easier for new kitchen staff to follow. Put each demonstrated stage in order, hold a clear close-up when the supplied script needs it, and add readable step labels. Use measured audio levels and reviewed captions to keep the explanation understandable in a busy environment. This is a suggested creative brief, not a supplied course or a verified XiFilm example project. Graphics, audio DSP, caption implementation

The editing foundation, grouped around your decisions

Choose and place. Bins and Source/Program monitors organize media alongside a multi-track timeline. In and Out marks support insert and overwrite edits. Ripple, roll, slip, slide and rate-stretch tools adjust the material; the Trim Monitor and dynamic trimming let you judge an edit as it plays. Integer-tick time represents common frame and sample rates exactly, including fractional rates and drop-frame timecode. Editing, trim implementation, time model

Shape the picture. Exposure and white balance, curves, color wheels, HSL secondary correction and vignette controls create a grading workflow. Waveforms, parades, histograms and vectorscopes help inspect the graded image. Animate position, scale, rotation, opacity and effect parameters with keyframes and editable value or velocity graphs. Color, scope implementation, effects and animation

Finish what the viewer hears and reads. Clip and track mixers provide faders, pan, inserts, sends and submixes, with Read, Latch, Touch and Write automation. Audio processing includes EQ, dynamics, limiter, delay, reverb and noise tools, with integrated loudness and true-peak metering. Text and shape graphics provide titles; caption tracks import, edit, export or burn in SRT, WebVTT, SCC and other supported formats. Audio, DSP, titles, captions

Move through a complete small edit

Import a representative set of your real footage and organize it before polishing. Assemble the rough sequence with source marks, refine the cuts, then grade adjacent shots and build the mix. Add the titles and reviewed captions once the sequence is stable enough to read in context.

Save versions as you evaluate. The upstream implements atomic saves, an auto-save ring and a recovery journal; those mechanisms are useful safeguards, not a promise that an Alpha cannot lose work. Render a short review copy through a background export job, then check the image, caption timing and sound in the destination player. H.264 MP4, ProRes MOV, image sequences, GIF and WAV are among the supported upstream outputs. Project saving, recovery implementation, export output, upstream export workflow

For another editor or audio-post workflow, FCP7 XML, FCPXML, OpenTimelineIO, EDL, AAF and OMF have implemented import/export routes. Read the interchange report: unsupported effects and other data may not be carried across, and receiving applications still need a round-trip check. Interchange implementation

The XiKey work in progress

The Arabic interface and one-click EN ⇄ ع switch are in progress for XiFilm, together with the Arabic style-grouped font dialog and XiKey splash, About and message dialogs. Signed updates through XiLauncher are also in progress. The verified language-switch pilot is XiPhoto; XiFilm has not yet been verified with those additions.

Planned work covers Classic and Modern layouts, Retina scaling and sandboxed add-on management through XiLauncher. Kashida, tashkeel, Arabic digit and Hijri tools are scoped to image, layout and office apps; this film-editing page does not claim that integration. XiKey status, checked 14 October 2026.

What to evaluate before a production switch

The checked upstream cannot open or save Premiere .prproj files. Camera codec and hardware support have documented gaps, and effect fidelity has not been broadly measured against Premiere. Speech-to-text is an optional desktop build feature, disabled by default; automatic transcription is not a verified XiFilm feature. Third-party plug-in hosting is another documented upstream gap. Project-format limits, known gaps, desktop build features

Upstream targets Windows, macOS and Linux. Validated XiKey packages and minimum hardware requirements have not been established for XiFilm. Test a small copy of your actual material before relying on a codec or handoff. Upstream platforms and media

Evidence reviewed 2026-10-14: FilmCraft workspace version 0.7.2, main commit cee1feb185e675a108f78067f71ad86a640ace3d. The latest release notes reviewed were v0.7.2, published 12 October 2026 at 71438c627b5cbcfb550526c3971f4d0037733c5c. The inspected main commit is later and distinct. Source inspection does not establish XiKey runtime readiness.

XiFilm is based on FilmCraft by the ArtCraft team (MIT OR Apache-2.0).

XiKey is a trademark of Pioneer Local Development Co. Ltd.