CapCut Clone

Build a polished native iOS clone of CapCut in SwiftUI + AVFoundation: a real mobile video editor with a scrolling multi-track timeline, split and trim, transitions, filters, effects, text, music, aspect ratios, templates, AutoCut and MP4 export. Bundle sample clips and royalty-free songs so it works with an empty camera roll.

It is CapCut on screen: its name and its words ("New video", "AutoCut", "Templates", "Projects", "Export", "Mute clip audio", "Cover", "Add audio", "Add text", "Apply to all", "Use template", "Saved to device and Projects"). The home is light, the editor is black. Draw the CapCut mark (two brackets crossed by two diagonals, cut flat on the right) in code. Fictional creators and user (Maya Lin, @maya.makes).

SHELL
Flat white tab bar (icon over label, black selected, grey others): Edit (scissors), Templates, Projects, Me. Opens on Edit: no splash, login, paywall or permission prompt. The editor, media picker, template preview and export open full screen.

SCREENS
1. Edit (home): sky-blue gradient hero with a polaroid collage of real clip frames and stickers ("summer dump"), a translucent "Try Pro free for 7 days" pill and a search circle, "Trending now / Make a summer recap in one tap >" (opens a template); two big frosted cards "New video" (+ in a black rounded square) and "AutoCut"; a 3-column grid of thin line-icon tools (Templates, Auto enhance, Text, Music, Effects, Filters, Speed, Resize, Transitions) that open the picker and then the editor on that tool; a "Projects" row of recent drafts.
2. Media picker (black): "Recents", Videos tab and a Device button (PhotosPicker, copies videos into the app), 3-column grid with durations and numbered cyan selection circles, bottom tray of picked thumbs and a cyan "Add (n)" (templates: "Select 4 clips", "Use (3/4)").
3. Editor (black): X, help, cyan diamond, "1080P v" resolution menu (720P/1080P/2K), cyan "Export". The preview keeps the project ratio. Transport row: full screen, "00:03 / 00:14", play/pause, undo, redo. Timeline: ruler "00:00 . 00:02 .", fixed white playhead in the middle, the edit scrolls under it (drag to scrub, pinch to zoom). Left of the first clip: "Mute clip audio" and a "Cover" tile. Main track: square filmstrip frames from each clip, white transition buttons at every cut, white "+" at the end. Rows under it: orange text bars, purple effect bars, green music bars with a real waveform; empty rows show "+ Add text" / "+ Add audio". Tap a clip: white frame with trim handles and a length badge, and the tool bar becomes Split, Speed, Volume, Filters, Adjust, Add, Duplicate, Delete. Main tool bar: Edit, Audio, Text, Effects, Filters, Ratio, Canvas, Adjust.
4. Panels (dark sheets with a check mark): Transitions (Trending/Movement/Basic: Mix, Pull in, Slide left, Push up, Wipe, Blur, Flash, Black fade, Apply to all; plays the cut after you pick one), Filters (thumbnails of the clip's own frame: Vivid, Fresh, Golden, Retro, Film, Mono, Teal Orange, Candy, Moody, strength slider, Apply to all), Video effects (Light leak, Flash, Shake, RGB split, Zoom lens, VHS, Film grain, Vignette, Blur, Mirror; dropped at the playhead for 2.5 s), Text (keyboard field + "Aa" style grid of 10 looks + size), Sounds (mood chips, play preview, cyan "Use"), Speed (0.25x-4x), Volume (0-200), Adjust (brightness, contrast, saturation), Ratio (9:16 TikTok, 16:9 YouTube, 1:1, 4:5, 3:4, 2:1), Canvas (Blur, black, white, pink, sky). Selected text gets a box on the preview: drag to move, corner to resize, pencil to edit, x to delete.
5. Export: progress ring with "Exporting... Don't lock your screen or switch apps", then the real MP4 loops with "Saved to device and Projects", size line, cyan "Share video", Done.
6. Templates: search, chips (For you, Trending, Travel, Vlog, Beat, Aesthetic), two-column staggered cards (real frame + the template's own title style, scissors use count, Pro badge, creator avatar). Preview plays the template's real edit full screen with Like/Share and a cyan "Use template" that recuts your picked clips into its slots.
7. Projects: "New project", drafts with cover, "Edited 2 days ago", length, clip count, ratio, and a ... menu (Rename, Duplicate, Delete). Me: profile, stats, Liked templates and Projects grids.

ENGINE
Clips alternate between two video tracks of an AVMutableComposition so transitions overlap; a custom AVVideoCompositing draws every frame with Core Image (fit + canvas, clip filter and adjust, transition, time-based effects, text images with a pop-in), so preview and export match. AVPlayer plays the audio (clip audio + music with fade-out) and owns the clock; preview frames come from AVAssetReaderVideoCompositionOutput into an AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer on the player's timebase. Export uses AVAssetExportSession and saves to Photos (add-only permission asked at export).

DATA
8 bundled 5 s vertical clips (coast road, turquoise waves, beach dog, neon rain, latte art, palm-street skate, alpine sunrise, night market) and 5 instrumental songs (Salt & Sun, DRIFT MODE, Slow Sunday, Neon Highway, Higher Ground). 8 templates, 4 starter drafts saved as JSON whose dates slide forward each day. Every edit is one undo step. Launch args -DemoTour YES, -DemoScreen <name>, -ResetDemo YES.

REMIX-READY
Brand.swift (name, words, colours), Catalog.swift (filters/effects/transitions/text styles), Fixtures.swift (clips, songs, templates, drafts), one feature per folder, files under 300 lines, README with the file map.