Backgrounder: give Eddie context

The Backgrounder is a workspace library of reference material — scripts, briefs, links, dictionaries, reference videos and reference edits — that you organize into folders and attach to projects. Eddie reads the attached material every time it edits.

Open it at app.heyeddie.ai/backgrounder (also linked from the New project page). Everything is managed there; inside a project you only attach what you've built.

Folders

Group context into folders (for example one per client or per series). Folders live at the workspace level and are shared — any member can add to or prune them, and a change applies to every project using that folder on its next prompt.

What you can add

• Link — a web page; Eddie reads the text.
• Treatment / Brief — the creative brief. Paste text or upload a PDF, DOCX, XLSX or CSV. Spreadsheets are read sheet by sheet, row by row, so a shot list or interview schedule stays structured.
• Script (Teleprompter), Script (Narrative) and Script (Paper Edit) — classifying a script is what lets you later say "follow the teleprompter script" and have Eddie pick the right one. Eddie treats a paper edit as your intended cut: which soundbites to use, and in what order.
• Dictionary — one term per line: names, products and spellings Eddie must get right in titles, captions and summaries.
• Face — a person's name plus a reference photo. Read What a face does below before you rely on it.
• Reference video — a video whose style you want Eddie to copy.
• Reference edit — an edit file from your NLE. Eddie copies the pacing, structure and other qualities you pick.

Each item costs credits

Adding an item charges your workspace up front:

• 10 credits for each link, brief, script, dictionary, face and reference edit, and for each document (PDF, DOCX, XLSX or CSV) you upload. For a reference edit this buys the measurement Eddie steers by, described below.
• 500 credits for a reference video, because Eddie watches the whole video.

If your balance is too low, nothing is added and Eddie tells you the shortfall. If a reference video cannot be analyzed, the 500 credits are refunded automatically.

Reference videos

Upload a video, or paste a YouTube link. A short note is required: say what makes this video a good reference. Eddie watches it and extracts the style — pacing, shot choices, transitions, color and look, graphics, and structure.

Limits: 1 GB, 15 minutes, and 1080p or lower.

Analysis takes a few minutes. The item shows as fetching (YouTube links only, while Eddie downloads the video) and then processing while Eddie watches it. The page updates itself when the result lands, so you do not need to refresh. A reference video only reaches your edits once it finishes. Then you can prompt:

• "Edit this like my reference."

Eddie copies the approach, never the footage. It does not take clips, music or graphics from your reference.

Reference edits

Upload an edit file from your NLE — FCPXML, OTIO or Premiere XML — and tick which qualities serve as the reference: pacing, structure, transitions, titles or music. Pacing and structure are ticked for you. Eddie measures the file as soon as you upload it, so there is no wait.

Eddie reads the shape of your edit, never its content. It measures only the qualities you tick:

• Pacing — your average shot length, your cuts per minute, and whether the cutting speeds up toward the end, front-loads and eases off, or holds steady.
• Structure — how much of the timeline your b-roll covers, and how many a-roll shots you run per b-roll shot. An edit with no b-roll reads as a-roll-driven.
• Transitions — how many dissolves, fades and wipes you use, so Eddie can favor them where they fit. An edit of mostly hard cuts tells Eddie to keep transitions sparse.
• Titles — how many on-screen titles you use, and roughly when the first one appears.
• Music — whether a music bed runs under the edit, and how much of the edit it covers.

Your note travels with those measurements, so write down what you want copied.

Eddie applies this as guidance on every prompt once the folder is attached. It steers the feel of the cut. It will not invent footage to hit your numbers, and it never overrides what your footage actually shows. Nothing else crosses over: no clips, no audio, no graphics — only the measurements above.

What a face does

A face is a person's name plus a reference photo. Eddie uses the name: it spells that person correctly in transcripts, titles and captions, and it adds the name to the transcription dictionary described below.

Eddie does not recognize people in your footage. The photo is stored and shown in your library so you can see who the entry is. Eddie cannot find that face in a shot, label who is on screen, or cut to a person by name.

Attach and use

Inside a project, open the Backgrounder section and tick the folders this project should use. Then direct Eddie at them:

• "Follow the teleprompter script."
• "Use the spellings from the dictionary in the captions."
• "Cut to the brief — keep it under 60 seconds."

It also sharpens transcription

If you attach a Backgrounder before importing (from the Attach context row on the New project page, or when adding media), Eddie distills your folders into a keyterm dictionary — names, product and brand terms, proper nouns, plus the names on any Face items — and feeds it to the transcription engine. Those words get spelled and recognized correctly from the first pass, because the engine is biased toward them as it listens rather than corrected afterwards. Eddie sends up to 100 terms. Dictionary items make the strongest signal.

Attached the dictionary too late? Ask Eddie to transcribe the source again. A new transcription reads your folders as they are now, so the corrected spellings apply.

Pair with a brand kit so edits are on-message and on-brand.