Run an AI Tool
Most AI tools in Solar Sailer start, run, and report back the same way. This page covers that shared workflow, from the Process menu to what to do when a run fails.
Find a tool in the Process menu
The Process menu at the top of the window holds the AI tools: Batch Process…, Sync…, Transcribe…, Face Tracking…, Find Characters…, Detect Motion…, Retakes…, Rough Cut…, Apply Rough Cut…, Umm Removal…, and Camera Selection….
To transcribe, start with Transcribe Your Footage.
Not every entry runs in the background. Camera Selection… and Apply Rough Cut… open a dialog and do their work right there, so don't look for them in the progress display below.
When a tool can't run on what you currently have, its menu entry is greyed out. Hover it to see why, for example Requires audio or Requires transcripts. Run Transcribe first.
Pick the files to process
- To process specific files, select them in the media bin first. You can also skip this step.
- Open the Process menu and click the tool.
- In the dialog, check or uncheck files in the list.
- Click the run button. It usually reads Run followed by the tool's name, for example Run Transcribe.
Most tools open the same run dialog. At the top, two buttons choose where the file list comes from: Selected in Bin and On Timeline. If you had media selected in the bin, the dialog starts on Selected in Bin with those files checked. If you had nothing selected, it starts on On Timeline instead, listing the media used on your timeline. There, files the tool can work with start checked, and the rest are listed unchecked so you can add them yourself.
If the checked files don't give the tool what it needs, the run button is disabled. Hover it to see what's missing, for example Select at least one file or Requires audio.
Watch the progress
The dialog closes as soon as the run starts, and the tool works in the background. Progress shows in the status bar at the bottom-left of the window: a spinner, what the tool is doing, and the file name, or a count like 6 items on a multi-file run. Multi-file runs also show a percentage.
Click the status-bar text to open the Background Tasks popover. It lists every run. A run that finishes successfully shows a checkmark, then disappears from the list after a few seconds. A run that fails or is cancelled stays in the list until you dismiss it with its X.
Cancel a run
- Click the status-bar text to open Background Tasks.
- Click the X button on the right side of the run's row.
The row reads Cancelling… while the app stops the run, then Cancelled. Click its X again to dismiss it. There is no cancel button in the status bar itself, so the popover is the place to go.
When a run fails
A red notification appears in the bottom-left corner, just above the status bar, naming the tool and the reason. Notifications fade after a few seconds. If you missed one, open the Background Tasks popover: the failed run stays there labelled Failed until you dismiss it, and hovering Failed shows the full error text.
If the run failed because an AI service key is missing or invalid, the notification includes an Open Preferences… button that jumps straight to the API Keys section of Preferences. If the app catches the key problem before the run even starts, there is no notification. Instead, the run dialog shows the message in red and stays open, so you can fix the key and try again.
If a run finished but some of the files failed, a warning notification says so. The files that succeeded keep their results, so re-run the tool on just the failed files.
Run a tool again
There is no re-run button. To run a tool again, open it from the Process menu again and click its run button.