# Private video editing with local AI: what stays on your Mac

Canonical URL: https://getvidiyo.app/blog/private-video-editing-local-ai
Last updated: 2026-10-08
Author: Ajay Pawriya (https://getvidiyo.app/about)
Published: 2026-10-08
Category: Mac

> TL;DR: Private AI video editing means your footage, transcription and rendering stay on your Mac, and only what you choose leaves it. In Vidiyo, media, transcripts and exports stay local; the chat assistant sends your request, transcript excerpts, the edit list and the frames it inspects to Claude or ChatGPT. You can edit, caption and export without chat at all.

"Local AI" gets used loosely. For some tools it means the app runs on your Mac but sends your footage to a server for every AI step. For others it means nothing ever leaves the machine, which usually means no large language model either. The useful question isn't "is it local?" but "which parts are local, and what exactly leaves?" Here's how to answer that for any editor, and the honest answer for ours.

## What does private, local AI video editing mean?

Private, local AI video editing means the heavy, sensitive work happens on your own computer: importing footage, transcribing speech, rendering and exporting. Anything that leaves the machine is limited, visible and under your control. It matters most when the footage isn't yours to share, such as client work, unreleased products or interviews.

There are three things to check in any AI editor:

1. **Where does the footage go?** Uploaded to a server, or read from your disk?
2. **Where does transcription run?** On your machine, or in someone's cloud?
3. **What does the AI model see?** The full video, a transcript, a few frames, or nothing?

## What stays on your Mac in Vidiyo, and what leaves?

Your media, transcripts, projects and exports stay on your Mac. The chat assistant is the main exception: it runs on Claude or ChatGPT through your own plan, and sends the context it needs for each edit. Here's the full picture.

| Part | Where it runs | What leaves your Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Importing and editing | On your Mac; sources are read in place | Nothing |
| Transcription | On your Mac with whisper.cpp | Nothing (one-time model download) |
| Motion graphics | On your Mac, in a sandbox that blocks network requests | Nothing |
| Preview and export | On your Mac | Nothing |
| Chat assistant | Claude (via Claude Code) or ChatGPT (via Codex) on your plan | Your request, transcript excerpts, the edit list and the still frames it inspects |
| Publishing | Your own storage bucket and Buffer | The approved export, caption, title and time |
| Stock search | Pixabay | Your search terms |
| Beta analytics and conversations | Our backend | Usage events (no media, file names or credentials) and conversation text with images stripped |

The last row is a beta trade-off, stated on our [privacy page](https://getvidiyo.app/privacy): we store the text of assistant conversations, with images and frames removed, to see where the assistant gets things wrong. Your sign-in for Claude Code or Codex stays with those tools, and the traffic to Anthropic or OpenAI is covered by their own terms.

## Can I edit with no AI service at all?

Yes. Editing, captions and export work without chat. You can import footage, cut on the timeline, generate captions locally, add text, shapes and keyframes, mix music and export, all by hand, and nothing goes to Claude or ChatGPT.

This is useful for a specific kind of job: footage under NDA where you want the speed of local transcription and word-anchored captions, but no third party seeing frames. Do those projects by hand, and use the assistant on everything else.

## Why does the assistant need frames at all?

Because editing decisions depend on what's in the picture, not just what's said. Whether a caption covers a face, whether a cut lands on a blink, whether text is readable over the background: none of that is in a transcript. Vidiyo's assistant asks for specific still frames when it needs to check something, and works from the transcript and edit list otherwise. It doesn't upload your video file.

If that trade isn't right for a project, skip chat for that project. The rest of the editor doesn't depend on it.

## How do I check what a video editor sends to the cloud?

Read the privacy policy for specific nouns, not reassurances, and test the edges yourself. "We take privacy seriously" tells you nothing; "your video files aren't uploaded" tells you something you can hold them to. Ask these questions of any tool, ours included:

| Question | A good answer names |
|---|---|
| Is my footage uploaded? | Exactly when, if ever, and where it's stored |
| Where does transcription run? | On device, or which cloud service |
| What does the AI model receive? | Transcript, frames, the whole file, or metadata |
| Is my data used for training? | A clear yes or no, per provider |
| What's stored about me? | Email, analytics, conversations, and for how long |
| Can I delete it? | How to ask, and what gets removed |
| Does it work offline? | Which features, after which downloads |

A quick practical test: turn off Wi-Fi and try to import, caption and export a short clip. Whatever still works is genuinely local.

## How can I edit privately without Vidiyo?

Use tools that run entirely on your Mac: an editor that works offline, local transcription, and command-line tools for the rest. It's more manual, but nothing has to leave the machine.

1. **Transcribe locally** with [whisper.cpp](https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp), an open-source C/C++ port of Whisper that treats Apple Silicon as a first-class target, using Metal and Core ML. It can write SRT or VTT files.
2. **Edit offline** in a traditional desktop editor, with automatic updates and cloud features turned off for sensitive projects.
3. **Burn in captions locally** with FFmpeg's [subtitles filter](https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-filters.html#subtitles-1), if you need them in the picture.
4. **Watch with captions** using macOS [Live Captions](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-live-captions-mchldd11f4fd/mac) on Apple silicon, which Apple says processes audio on device. It's for viewing, not for saving captions into a file.

What you give up is the assistant. Fully offline setups can't ask a frontier model to restructure an edit, because those models run in the cloud. That's the real trade: either the AI sees some of your content, or you do that work yourself.

## What do I need to edit locally with Vidiyo?

A Mac with Apple Silicon running macOS 14 or later. Vidiyo is built for that one platform, and everything heavy runs there: whisper.cpp for transcription, and one compositor for both preview and export, so what you preview is what you export. There's no Windows or web version, which is also why there's no server holding your projects: they live in portable project bundles on your disk.

For a feature-level view of the local parts, see [private local editing](https://getvidiyo.app/features/private-local-editing). For the full list of what we collect, see the [privacy page](https://getvidiyo.app/privacy).

## Honest limits

- The chat assistant isn't local: it runs on Claude or ChatGPT through your own plan.
- During the beta, assistant conversation text is stored by us, with images and frames removed.
- macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon only.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Vidiyo upload my footage?

No. Footage, audio and images are imported, edited, transcribed and exported on your Mac. They aren't uploaded to us. Features you turn on, like publishing, send only what they need, such as the finished export.

### Is Vidiyo's AI assistant local?

No. The assistant runs on your Claude or ChatGPT plan, so your request, transcript excerpts, the edit list and the still frames it inspects go to Anthropic or OpenAI. Transcription, rendering and export are local.

### Can I use Vidiyo without sending anything to an AI service?

Yes. Editing, captions and export work without chat. Use the timeline, Captions tab and inspector by hand, and nothing goes to Claude or ChatGPT.

### Does local transcription work offline?

Yes, after a one-time model download. The English model is about 490 MB and the language pack for other languages about 575 MB. Each is checked against a pinned checksum.

### What does Vidiyo collect during the beta?

Your sign-in email, usage analytics without media or file names, and the text of your assistant conversations with images and frames stripped out. The privacy page lists it in full.

## Related

- [Private, local video editing with AI](https://getvidiyo.app/features/private-local-editing)
- [What data does Vidiyo collect, and what stays on my Mac?](https://getvidiyo.app/docs/privacy-and-data)
- [Privacy](https://getvidiyo.app/privacy)
- [Whisper transcription](https://getvidiyo.app/glossary/whisper-transcription)
- [The best video editing setup for Mac](https://getvidiyo.app/blog/best-video-editing-setup-for-mac)
- [Auto captions that are transcribed on your Mac](https://getvidiyo.app/features/auto-captions)

## Sources

- [whisper.cpp on GitHub](https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp) (accessed 2026-10-08)
- [Apple: Use Live Captions on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-live-captions-mchldd11f4fd/mac) (accessed 2026-10-08)
- [FFmpeg filters documentation: subtitles](https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-filters.html#subtitles-1) (accessed 2026-10-08)

Download Vidiyo for Mac (free during the beta): https://getvidiyo.app/download