An independent film rarely has a separate person for every job. The director cuts, someone grades on a weekend, the mix happens in a borrowed room, the subtitles come from a website and the poster from a friend. Each handoff costs time, and each late change to the cut has to be repeated everywhere. cinemaOS is built for that situation: one project on your Mac where the edit, the finish and the release work all stay live.
The jobs you actually do
- Assemble and refine the cut, often from interviews or long takes.
- Grade the film so scenes match, sometimes to a reference frame from the director.
- Balance dialogue, music, effects and ambience and hit a loudness target.
- Subtitle the film, and often translate it for festivals.
- Make a poster, stills and social cuts, including a vertical trailer.
- Deliver files that pass a festival or distributor check.
- Keep the project safe through crashes, updates and late changes.
How cinemaOS handles each
The cut
The Sequencer edits multitrack picture and sound with razor, ripple, roll, slip and slide, transitions and adjustment layers. For documentary and interview work, transcribe a scene and cut it from the words: the Transcribe and edit by text tutorial shows it in a minute. The Momentum Dial keeps Split, Duplicate, Nudge and Ripple Delete on the clip you are working on. If the film was started elsewhere, bring the cut in as XML or EDL and read the conform report.
The grade
Press Command 2 and the same timeline opens in Finisher. The Color Engine handles the grade, Shot Match matches a shot to a reference still, and LUT Lab shows a LUT as a 3D cube so you can see what it does before you trust it. Start with A grade in one minute.
The mix
Sound mode opens the SOUND console with dialogue, music, effects and ambience buses and loudness meters. Spatial Theatrics places tracks as objects in a 3D theater and checks scene loudness on stereo and headphones. Our guide to loudness standards for delivery explains the numbers festivals and platforms ask for.
Subtitles and translation
Generate captions on your Mac, correct them and translate them with Wi-Fi off, then export SRT or burn them in. Nothing is uploaded and there are no credits to buy. Watch French subtitles with Wi-Fi off.
Poster, stills and social cuts
Atelier lays out a poster from your own frames, develops set stills and applies a brand kit to every poster size. Reframe turns a 16:9 scene into 9:16 with a tracked camera move you can refine. See Brand kit to every poster size and Make a film poster and key art from your frames.
Delivery and safety
Finisher handles delivery. Projects are local .mntm files with recovery and snapshots, so a crash or a bad update does not cost you the cut. Before you submit, run through our festival deliverables checklist.
Where to start
- Download cinemaOS and start the 60-day free trial. No card is needed and nothing is charged automatically.
- Take one finished scene from your current film, or import its cut as XML or EDL.
- Grade it in Finisher and match one shot to a reference frame with Shot Match.
- Balance it in the SOUND console and check the loudness.
- Add subtitles in a second language, then make a poster from a frame.
If those five steps fit how you work, move the next project over. If one of them does not, the limits below will usually say why.
Honest limits
- cinemaOS runs on Apple silicon Macs only today. Windows is planned for November 2027.
- It is young software (version 0.2, build 9). Test it on a real scene before you commit a feature to it.
- It does not open .prproj files directly; move cuts with XML or EDL.
- Dubbing has no lip sync, and cinemaOS is not a full After Effects replacement for visual effects.
- There is no real-time shared editing between several editors.
- Professional camera raw playback depends on a decoder your Mac can use.
FAQ
Can I finish a whole short film in cinemaOS?
That is what it is built for: edit, grade, mix, subtitles, poster and delivery in one project. Try it on a real short during the 60-day free trial before you decide.
Can I work with a colorist or sound mixer who uses other software?
Yes. Hand the cut over as XML or EDL, and bring their returned cut back in with Import a cut. The conform report lists anything that needs attention.
How much does it cost after the trial?
$9.99 USD a month excluding VAT, if you choose to subscribe. The trial lasts 60 days, needs no card and does not charge automatically. Teams cost $8.99 per seat a month for 2 to 50 seats.