Best Practices

Here are some best practices to achieve optimal performance with the SDK.

Do not upload images for simple shapes

If you need a rectangle, circle, or any other basic shape, it is better to use the Shape clip instead.

Avoid calling deserialize to apply updates

Calling deserialize multiple times can initialize many internal resources unnecessarily. If you frequently apply updates using JSON, it is more efficient to identify the changes and apply them manually, or use Timeline.loadSerializedData for partial updates.

Check isSafeToSerialize before saving

The Library processes media asynchronously (transcoding, hashing, filmstrip, samples). Saving in the middle of this work produces incomplete JSON. Always gate saves on Engine.isSafeToSerialize().

Stream large exports, do not merge them in memory

For projects larger than 2GB enable chunked output and stream the chunks straight to disk or network. Merging chunks in the browser hits the single-blob allocation limit.

Prefer xxHash for large files

SHA-256 is slow on large inputs. For files larger than a few hundred MB, switch to xxHash. xxHash is non-cryptographic but sufficient for content addressing.

Recompute layout after programmatic changes

Methods like setPlaybackSpeed, setStartTime, setLeftTrim, and setRightTrim can change a clip’s position or duration in the timeline. Call Timeline.adjustClipsLayout() afterwards so overlapping clips are reflowed.

Scope Undo/Redo groups

When performing a compound change (for example, transform + style + text), wrap the operations in a single undo group so the user can undo them atomically. See Undo / Redo.