First Launch
The first time you open Clipthesis you'll see a short welcome, then a Getting Started checklist that follows your first steps. Both are for brand-new libraries only — if you've been using Clipthesis already, you'll never see them.
Welcome Screen
On first launch, Clipthesis greets you with two ways to bring in footage:
- Index your first drive — point Clipthesis at a drive or folder where your clips already live. Nothing is copied or moved; Clipthesis just catalogs what it finds. This is the fastest way to get going.
- Import from camera or SD — copy footage from a memory card or camera into a destination folder and index it in one step.
Choose either to jump straight into that flow, or click Skip for now to explore the app first — the welcome won't reappear.
Getting Started Checklist
After the welcome, a Getting started progress chip sits in the bottom bar. Click it to open the checklist:
| Step | What it means |
|---|---|
| Add your footage | Index a drive or import from a card |
| Tag a clip | Select a clip in the Library and add a tag |
| Create a collection | Group clips into a reusable set |
| Try search | Run a search across filenames, tags, and transcripts |
| Sign in for free cloud sync (optional) | Sync tags and collections across devices — not required to finish |
Steps check themselves off as you use the app — there's nothing to mark manually. Each row is clickable and takes you to the place where that step happens.
While your library is empty, the same checklist also appears on the Library page beneath the Index a drive and Import from camera or SD buttons.
Dismissing and Bringing It Back
Click Dismiss (or Done, once every step is complete) to hide the checklist. To bring it back later, go to Settings → Help → Getting Started and click Show checklist.
Next Steps
Ready for the details? Head to First Import for a full walkthrough of indexing and importing footage.