Line Up a Match Cut by Comparing the Frames at the Cut

A match cut joins two shots that share a shape, a position or a movement. A spinning wheel turns into a clock face. A hand that reaches right in one clip finishes the reach in the next. The join works best when the subject lands in the same place on both sides of the cut, so you check it a frame at a time. DepCut gives you stepping keys and framing controls for exactly that.

Choose shots that already rhyme

Look for pairs that share one of these:

• A shape, such as a round lens followed by a round lamp.
• A position, such as a face centered in both frames.
• A movement, such as two shots that travel in the same direction at a similar pace.

The closer the pair is to begin with, the less you have to correct.

Look at both sides of the cut

1. Put the playhead a little before the cut, and keep the pointer off the timeline while you step, because the preview shows the frame under the pointer whenever the pointer is over the timeline.
2. Press the Down arrow. The playhead jumps to the next edit point, which is the first frame of the incoming clip. Every video clip and sound clip edge is a stop, so press the key again if it lands somewhere else.
3. Note where the subject sits in this frame: which side, how high and how large.
4. Press the Left arrow once while the video is paused. The playhead steps back one frame and the preview shows the last frame of the outgoing clip.
5. Compare the two frames, then press the Right arrow to return to the first frame of the incoming clip.

Move the second shot into place

1. Click the incoming clip to select it, then press Up or Down until the playhead is back on the cut.
2. Open Framing in the right panel.
3. Raise Zoom above 100%. The picture grows past the frame, so it can be dragged. A clip shot in a different shape from the project can also use Fill.
4. Drag the picture in the preview until the subject sits where it sat in the outgoing frame.
5. Step across the cut with the Left and Right arrows and adjust until the two frames agree.

Zoom enlarges the picture, so when the incoming subject is the larger of the two, select the outgoing clip and zoom that one. The Center button returns a moved picture to the middle.

Match the direction of the movement

If the first clip moves left to right and the second moves right to left, the join breaks. Select the second clip and press Flip horizontally, the first icon button in the Flip row of the Framing tab. Check the frame for writing and logos first, because a flip mirrors them.

Keep the join plain

Leave the match as a plain cut. A transition spreads the change over several frames, and a match cut needs the change on a single frame. Play from a couple of seconds earlier at normal speed. If the shape seems to jump, step across the cut again and nudge Zoom.

Pair up your next shots

Pick two clips that share a shape and line them up in DepCut. Start from the frame at the cut and let the rest follow.