Rough cut

The first full edit of a video. All the parts are there in order and the mistakes are out, but it hasn't been polished yet.

The edit stage after the assembly, in which footage is shaped into the intended structure and approximate duration. Shot selection and order are set while trims, transitions, graphics, captions and audio remain unfinished, ahead of the fine cut and picture lock.

Editors usually move through four stages, each one narrower than the last.

1. Assembly: every usable piece of footage laid out in script order. Long and loose.
2. Rough cut: the story shaped. Weak lines out, the order decided, the length close.
3. Fine cut: the timing tightened, cuts smoothed, B-roll placed, captions on.
4. Picture lock: nothing in the picture moves again, so sound and colour can be finished.

In a 30-second UGC video these stages can blur into minutes, but the questions at each one stay the same.

Watch it once all the way through without stopping, then ask:

• Does the opening line make you want to see the next one?
• Is every line needed? Cover one with your hand and see if you miss it.
• Is the order right, or does the best point arrive too late?
• Is the call to action clear and at the end?
• Is it near the length you need, or will it have to lose a whole section?

Ignore caption typos and small jumps for now. Those belong to the fine cut.

With one camera and one person talking, most of a rough cut is removing things: the silence before you speak, the false starts, the ums, the line you said three times. What is left is a string of good sentences joined by jump cuts.

By hand, that first pass is the slowest part of the edit, because you have to listen to every second of footage. It is also the least creative, which is why it is the part most worth handing to software.

Picture a skincare review filmed in four clips: a few minutes of talking, with the opening line said three ways, a tangent about packaging and a long pause while you checked your notes.

The first edit drops the pause, keeps the clearest of the three openings and lands somewhere near 45 seconds. Watching it through, you notice the packaging tangent slows the middle and the strongest claim, "no breakouts in a month", is buried in the second half. Those are rough-cut decisions: cut the tangent, move the claim earlier, aim for 30 seconds. Only once that works is it time to fix captions.

Add your clips and press Auto Edit on iPhone, the web or the Mac. Bang AI reads what you said, keeps your strongest lines, and always cuts the silence, the repeated tries at a line and the lines that aren't clear. The result arrives as a version you can watch.

To try something else, such as a shorter length, Let AI Reorder on, or captions off, open the video and press New Version, or Re-cut in the apps once it has a version. Each run makes another version and costs credits again, and the versions you already have stay. Credits shows what each run costs.

Open a version in the editor and the fine cut is yours.

• Swap a clip for another recording of the same line, from the badge on the timeline.
• Fix a caption word by tapping it on iPhone and the Mac, or with Edit words on the web.
• Trim a line that runs long.
• On the Mac, put B-roll on layers by hand.

You can also ask ChatGPT, Claude or Claude Code to cut a line, remove the ums or swap in another recording on a video you've already cut.

• Fixing caption typos before you know which lines stay.
• Polishing the opening for an hour, then cutting it.
• Watching in pieces instead of all the way through, so you never feel the pace.
• Treating the first version as precious. Making another one is how you compare.
• Cutting to a target length before the story works at any length.