How to Build J-Cuts and L-Cuts on the Timeline

Most cuts change picture and sound at the same moment. A split edit moves them apart. In an L-cut, the sound of the shot you are leaving keeps playing over the picture of the next shot. In a J-cut, the sound of the next shot starts before its picture arrives. The names come from the shape the two tracks make on a timeline. Both are standard tools for dialogue, interviews and any scene where you want a join to feel smooth.

Why split sound from picture

Sound that runs across a join connects the two shots. A J-cut lets the viewer hear a new speaker or place first and see it a moment later, so the change feels expected. An L-cut lets a reaction land on the listener while the speaker is still talking.

DepCut keeps a video clip's sound attached to its picture until you separate them. Detach audio does that.

Detach the audio

1. Click the clip whose sound you want to move.
2. Click the three-dot Clip options button at the clip's top right and choose Detach audio.

The picture clip is muted. A green clip appears on the soundtrack, lined up with the picture and selected. It plays the same part of the same file, so nothing changes until you move one of its edges.

Build a J-cut

You want the sound of shot B to begin before its picture.

1. Detach the audio from shot B.
2. Drag the left edge of the green clip to the left. The sound now starts earlier. The edge stops at the start of the source file, so shot B needs footage before its trimmed start.
3. Shot A's own sound plays through this stretch. Click shot A, put the playhead where the green clip begins, and press S. Open Clip options on the piece after the split and choose Mute clip, or lower its Clip volume in the Volume tab.

Build an L-cut

You want the sound of shot A to continue over shot B.

1. Detach the audio from shot A.
2. Drag the right edge of the green clip to the right, past the cut. The edge stops at the end of the source file, so shot A needs footage after its trimmed end.
3. Shot B's own sound now plays underneath. Click shot B, put the playhead where the green clip ends, and press S. Choose Mute clip on the first piece.

S cuts at the thin skimmer line that follows your pointer over the timeline, and at the playhead when the pointer is elsewhere. Select the picture clip before you press S. With the green clip selected, S cuts the green clip.

Check the result

Press the Up and Down arrow keys to jump between clip edges, the green clip's edges included, and press Space to play across each one. Listen for a doubled word or a sudden change in room tone. If the overlap sounds abrupt, give the green clip a short Fade in or Fade out from its tabs on the right.

Practice the split

Take a two-person conversation into DepCut, detach the audio of the shot after one cut, and drag the green clip's left edge a half second earlier. Play it back and compare it with the plain cut.