The 5 AI Processing States: Analyzing to Complete

When Bitcut processes clips with AI (via Smart Add with AI or Clips Enhancement), each clip on the timeline shows an icon indicating its current processing state. Here's what each one means.

The Five States

Analyzing

On-device speech detection is running. The app is determining whether this clip contains speech. This is fast (1-2 seconds) and happens entirely on your device.

Transcribing

Audio has been sent to the server for AI transcription. The server is converting speech to text with word-level timestamps. This typically takes 10-30 seconds depending on clip length.

Trimming

Transcription is complete. The AI is now finding the optimal clip boundaries and applying text correction. The clip will be auto-trimmed to the best segment.

Complete

Processing finished successfully. The clip has been trimmed to the best segment and subtitles have been added. You can now edit the clip normally.

Failed

Something went wrong during processing. The clip remains on the timeline at its original length without subtitles. See below for troubleshooting.

Progress Flow

A typical clip goes through states in this order:

Analyzing (on-device, fast) → Transcribing (server, 10-30s) → Trimming (server, a few seconds) → Complete

Clips without speech skip the transcription and trimming stages entirely — they go from Analyzing straight to Complete with visual-based trimming applied instead.

Parallel processing: Bitcut processes up to 3 clips concurrently. If you add 10 clips, the first 3 start immediately and others queue automatically.

When Processing Fails

If a clip shows the failed state, try these steps:

  • Check your connection — transcription requires an internet connection to reach the server
  • Check your quota — if your AI minutes are exhausted, processing will fail
  • Try again — remove the clip from the timeline and re-add it with AI processing
  • Check clip length — clips under 1 second or over 3 minutes may not process correctly via Smart Add
Tip: A failed clip is still usable. It stays on the timeline at its original length — you just won't get auto-trimming or subtitles. You can manually trim it and add subtitles later.