Text Behind the Subject

Put a word BEHIND the speaker so their head and shoulders cut across the letters. Driven by the TRANSCRIPT, not by timestamps: the opening earns one word naming what the video is about, and an emphasis phrase earns the word that follows it. Three steps — preview the placements for free, matte only those moments, then apply.

Material

One recording of a person talking, with intelligible speech: the placements are decided from the words. ANY LENGTH — matting is per-placement, so a 20-minute take costs the same as a 20-second one. The subject must be in shot, large enough in frame, and must not leave it.

Spec

Field	Type	Required	Description
`position`	enum (`top` \| `middle` \| `bottom`)	no	Where the word sits relative to the speaker. Omit and the plan decides per placement.
`cadence`	number	no	How many moments the finished piece should carry, up to 4. Omit and you get exactly what the intro and emphasis rules earned — on a calm recording that is one, and that is correct. A target is not a guarantee: a take with nothing to say in a stretch comes back short and says why.
`only`	string	no	One explicit word to place, overriding both drivers. Use when the user names the word themselves.

Pricing & timing


Delivery	Editable canvas — this template returns a canvas and no mp4. Why
Price	75 credits: estimate is free and authoritative
Typical run	~120s
Review gate	No: runs straight through

Refusals this template can return

NO_SUBJECT
SUBJECT_TOO_SMALL
SUBJECT_LEAVES_FRAME
UNREADABLE

Refusals are free and typed: see Refusals.

Run it

curl (REST)
Agent (MCP)

⚠️ This template is a THREE-CALL FLOW, not one submit. The plan is agreed before any GPU is spent, which is why the preview is free and the charge lands on step 2.

# 0. read the recording — uploads it AND transcribes, returns projectId + words
curl -X POST https://api.askeditor.com/api/talking-head-cut/read \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ASKEDITOR_API_KEY" \
  -F "recording=@./recording.mp4"
# → { "projectId": "…", "transcript": [ { "t": "word", "s": 0.1, "e": 0.4 }, … ] }

# 1. PLAN — which word, when. FREE, changes nothing, iterate until happy
curl -X POST https://api.askeditor.com/api/text-behind/plan \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ASKEDITOR_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "projectId": "…", "words": [ … ], "durationSec": 165.5 }'
# → { "placements": [ { "startSec": 0.56, "endSec": 4.56, "text": "RIGHT", "why": "the opening" } ],
#     "quotedCredits": 75 }

# 2. SUBJECT — matte ONLY those moments. 75 credits, charged on success
curl -X POST https://api.askeditor.com/api/text-behind/subject \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ASKEDITOR_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "projectId": "…", "placements": [ … ] }'
# → { "baseUrl": "…", "cutouts": [ … ], "width": 1920, "height": 1080 }

# 3. APPLY — write the canvas. Free
curl -X POST https://api.askeditor.com/api/text-behind/apply \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ASKEDITOR_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "projectId": "…", "placements": [ … ], "cutouts": [ … ], "baseUrl": "…",
        "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "durationSec": 165.5 }'
# → { "canvasId": "…", "elements": 5 }

🚨 Pass step 2’s own baseUrl to step 3, never the original upload: the cut-out step normalises rotation, and the two layers must agree or the subject comes back on its side.There is no job to poll — apply returns the canvas id directly. See delivery.

Editable delivery: Delivers an EDITABLE CANVAS and no flat mp4 — three layers: the recording, one live text element per placement, and the subject cut-out on top. The text stays draggable and re-typeable, and the occlusion is a consequence of the stacking order rather than a composite. Export the canvas when you want a file.

The word going BEHIND the speaker is the entire effect. A word that never passes behind them is a caption, and this template is not a caption tool.

Charged 75 credits flat on the cut-out step, on success only. The flat price holds because at most 4 placements of at most 4 seconds each reach the GPU — matting is per-span, never the whole recording.

Two tiers, sized against each other: the word BEHIND the subject is the headline (240px on a 1080 short edge) and the optional caption rail in FRONT sits smaller. If you turn captions on, expect both.

​Material

​Spec

​Pricing & timing

​Refusals this template can return

​Run it

Material

Spec

Pricing & timing

Refusals this template can return

Run it