---
title: Customize a template you bought
description: invideo does not open After Effects, Premiere Pro or CapCut template files. Your agent rebuilds the look on a timeline you can change for every version.
---
invideo does not open a template you bought. A template from VideoHive, Envato Elements, Motion Array or the CapCut app is a file for another tool. An `.aep` file opens in After Effects. A `.mogrt` file opens in Premiere Pro. A CapCut template opens in CapCut. If you have that tool, change the text and photos there. It is the fastest way.
If you do not have that tool, or you want many versions, your agent can rebuild the look in invideo. It studies the template's preview video and remakes the text, motion and transitions on a timeline. Then it makes one version per name, product or date.
Use invideo for this when you want a template you can change by asking: once the look is on a timeline, each new version is one text change, and your agent makes them all.
Do not publish the seller's preview video. It is a guide for the rebuild, not footage for your video. Read the template's license for what you may copy.
## Quickest path
Set up your agent first with [invideo for AI agents](/agents). Then give it this prompt.
```text
I bought this intro template: ./template/preview.mp4. I do not have
After Effects. Rebuild the look in invideo with the fonts in
./template/fonts, my logo ./logo.png and the text "Maya Cooks". Match
the timing of the preview. Then make versions for "Maya Bakes" and
"Maya Travels". Show me frames next to the preview.
```
In a chat app, you drag the preview, the fonts and your files into the project's Media panel in invideo. In a terminal, you name the folder and the agent uploads it.
## What you need
Most template downloads come with a preview video and a fonts folder. Use those.
- **The preview video.** The MP4 that shows the template in motion, from the download or the seller's page.
- **The fonts.** TTF or OTF files from the download, or a link to where the seller says to get them.
- **Your content.** The text, logo, photos and clips that replace the placeholders.
- **The music.** The template's track if the license covers it, a track from stock music, or your own file.
- **The shape.** The shape of the template: 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1.
## Steps
Your agent edits on a branch and tells you what changed at each step.
The agent brings each file in with `add_media` on the timeline URL. A font makes no sequence. Its id in the result's `created` is the `font` that `add_text` takes. Expected result: the preview, your files and the fonts in the media bin.
The agent runs `media` with `video.sceneSplit` on the preview to find its scenes, `video.frames` to look at each one, and `audio.beats` for the timing of its music. It makes a timeline in the template's shape with `new_timeline` and a branch with `timeline_history`, then places the preview on its own track with `insert_media` and lowers it with `set_opacity`, as a guide. Expected result: a list of scenes with times, and the preview on the timeline, faint, to build over.
For each scene, the agent adds the text with `add_text` and the template's font, then matches the size, color and spacing with `set_text_style`. It adds bars and boxes with `add_shape`, and your logo and photos with `insert_media`. For a placeholder shot you do not have, it searches `stock_video` first. For a shot that stock does not have, it runs `find_models` with the shot in words and reads its pick with `get_model`. A good pick is `seedance_2_5.frames`. Your agent can search for others with `find_models`. It calls `generate` with `dry_run: true`, a `prompt` and the template's `aspect_ratio`, and tells you the price. For a price of 1 credit or more it waits for your yes. Then it calls `generate` with `max_credits` set to that price and an `idempotency_key`. Expected result: each scene looks like the preview, with your content, and each generated shot is a sequence URL the agent reads with `read`.
The agent fades text in and out with `set_keyframes` on `opacity`, and slides it with `add_keyframe_lane` on `position_x` or `position_y`, then `add_keyframes` for the points. It picks transitions from the catalog with `add_transition`, for example `slide`, `zoom` or `light_leak`, and effects with `add_effect`. Expected result: the motion follows the preview's timing.
The agent runs `capture` on the timeline and `video.frames` on the preview at the same times, and compares them by eye. It fixes what is off. Then it turns the guide off with `set_clip_enabled` set to false. Expected result: frames that match the preview's look, with the guide off.
The agent copies the finished timeline with `duplicate_timeline` for each version. It changes the words with `set_text` and swaps photos with `place_media` mode `replace`. Expected result: one timeline per version.
The agent runs `capture` on each version and `check_timeline`. It checks that no text runs off the frame with a longer name. Then it runs `export` with the `timeline_id` of each version. Expected result: one export card per version, each with status `completed`.
The same job from a terminal:
```bash
invideo project new --title "Maya intro"
invideo agent register --name
export INVIDEO_AS=
invideo edit new --name "Intro rebuild"
invideo asset upload ./template/preview.mp4 \
./template/fonts/*.otf ./logo.png
invideo media video.sceneSplit --dry-run
invideo media video.frames --at 0.5,1.5,3 --out ./ref
invideo edit catalog --transitions slide,zoom,light_leak
invideo gen models --query "short shot from a prompt"
invideo gen model --model seedance_2_5.frames
invideo gen run --model seedance_2_5.frames --dry-run \
-i prompt="hands kneading dough on a floury table" -i aspect_ratio=16:9
invideo gen run --model seedance_2_5.frames \
--max-credits --idempotency-key placeholder-3 \
-i prompt="hands kneading dough on a floury table" -i aspect_ratio=16:9
invideo status --wait
invideo edit show --json
invideo branch new --name rebuild --token
invideo edit show --json
invideo edit change --timeline T1 \
--token --operations @rebuild.json
invideo edit capture --at 0.5,1.5,3 --out ./mine
invideo edit check
invideo edit export --format video --quality 1080 \
--timeline --json
invideo status --wait
invideo notebook show --out ./out
```
Where each value comes from:
- `` is the name you choose in `invideo agent register`. `INVIDEO_AS` passes it to every later command.
- `` comes from `invideo project new`, and `` from `invideo edit new`.
- `` is the `url` that `invideo asset upload` returns for the preview, a `…/notebook/seq-N.M` URL.
- `` is a notebook page of the project, listed by `invideo notebook show `. `` is the dry run's `.estimated_credits`. `` is the `url` the paid run returns.
- `` comes from `invideo edit show ` for the branch command. `` is the `.branch_url` that `invideo branch new` returns. For `edit change`, `` is read again with `invideo edit show `.
- `@rebuild.json` reads a bare JSON list of ops, like the `operations` list of the call below.
- `` is a version's timeline id, like `T2`, that `invideo edit show ` lists after `duplicate_timeline`.
- `` is `.sequences[0]` of the export result. `invideo status` waits but saves nothing. `invideo notebook show` saves the video as `./out/export.mp4`, and the agent renames it per version.
The key MCP call, in full, turns the rebuilt title into a new version. `T1` is the finished rebuild. `` is the branch URL that `timeline_history` returns, and `` comes from `get_timeline` on it. `` is the guide clip's id from `get_timeline`.
```json
{
"url": "",
"timeline_id": "T1",
"expected_state_token": "",
"operations": [
{ "op": "set_clip_enabled", "clip": "",
"enabled": false },
{ "op": "duplicate_timeline", "timeline": "T1",
"name": "Maya Bakes" }
]
}
```
On the new timeline, the agent sends `set_text` with the title clip's id and the new words. It reads the ids with `get_timeline` first.
## Cost and time
Edits and exports are free. Generation and transcripts cost credits. Paid stock costs a small credit charge, or one of your workspace's iStock licenses. Your agent runs a dry run first and tells you the price before it spends anything.
- **Costs credits:** paid stock music or footage, and any shot the agent generates with `seedance_2_5.frames`.
- **Tool ops:** `video.sceneSplit`, `video.frames`, `audio.beats`. The dry run shows its price before anything starts.
- **Free:** uploads, fonts, the rebuild, the versions and every export.
A short intro takes the agent a few minutes to rebuild. A template with many scenes and 3D motion takes longer, and some moves do not carry over. See [Credits and what they cost](/account/credits) for prices.
## If something goes wrong
Most problems come from fonts that are missing, or motion the timeline cannot copy.
| Symptom | Fix |
| --- | --- |
| `get_model` or `generate` refuses the model as not found | Models retire. Run `find_models` with the job in words, use the best match, and tell the person which model you used. |
| Exit code 6, or `status` is `held` | A safety review, not a refusal. Wait, then run `invideo status --wait` again. Do not resend. If it ends `failed`, change the input the review flagged. |
| `invideo status --wait` ends and the folder is empty | `status` does not download. Run `invideo notebook show --out `. |
| The text uses the wrong font | Bring in the font file with `add_media` on the timeline URL, then set its id as `font` with `set_text_style`. |
| A move in the template looks 3D | Use the nearest transition from the catalog, like `cube_3d_rotation` or `roll_3d`, or write one with `add_custom_transition`. |
| A long name runs off the frame | Lower `font_size` for that version, then `capture` again. |
| The guide shows in the export | Turn it off with `set_clip_enabled` set to false before you export. |
| `edit_timeline` refused with an old token | Read with `get_timeline` and send the ops again. |
| CLI exit 3 | The timeline changed since your read. Run `invideo edit show` and rebuild. |
| Avoid: telling the person the `.aep` file opened | Instead: say invideo does not open it, name the tool, and offer the rebuild. |
| Avoid: placing the seller's preview in the final export | Instead: use it as a guide, turned off before the export. |
## Prompts to try
Each prompt is a real variation of the job.
```text
I bought a CapCut template but I want it in 16:9. Here is a screen
recording of it, ./capcut.mp4. Rebuild the look in 16:9 with my clips.
```
```text
Rebuild this wedding invitation template from its preview with our
names and date, then make a 9:16 version for WhatsApp.
```
```text
Rebuild this sale promo template from its preview with our products,
and make one version for each product in ./products.csv.
```
## When to use something else
If you own the tool the template is for, use it. After Effects opens `.aep` files, Premiere Pro opens `.mogrt` files, and the CapCut app opens CapCut templates. The template's own controls are faster than a rebuild.
invideo cannot copy particle effects, 3D camera moves or plug-in effects from a template exactly. For those, ask the seller for a version for your tool, or hire an editor who owns that tool.
## Related
- [Make an intro, welcome video, outro or logo animation for your channel or business](/how-to/creators/intro-outro-logo-animation)
- [Make a video invitation for a birthday, wedding, baby shower or gender reveal](/how-to/personal/video-invitation)
- [Use CapCut with invideo](/integrations/capcut)
- [Turn a CSV into many videos with a script](/how-to/developers/csv-to-videos)
- [Timeline edit operations](/reference/edit-operations)