From Rough Cut to Fine Cut in Four Passes

Editing goes faster in passes. Each pass answers one question, and you leave the next question alone until you reach it. Polishing a clip you later delete wastes the effort, and the passes keep that from happening. Four cover most videos: structure, tightening, layers, and a final check.

Pass 1 - the rough cut

The rough cut answers one question. In what order does the story run?

1. In the Media tab, open Assets and drop your files onto the panel to stock them without placing them. Upload also appends each video to the end of the main track.
2. Click the plus button on a card (its tooltip reads Add to timeline) to add the clip to the end of the main track. You can also drag a card onto the timeline at the spot you want.
3. Drag a clip along the main track to change its place in the order.

Give the video a shape. Open with the most interesting moment, because the start is where a viewer decides whether to keep watching. Let the middle build on it, and end on a payoff that completes the idea. Leave the clips long and untrimmed in this pass. The only goal is the right shots in the right order.

Pass 2 - the fine cut

The fine cut answers a different question. Does every moment earn its time?

• Split with S, select the piece you do not want, and press Delete. With only the main track present, everything after it slides left.
• Drag a clip's edges to trim them. For small corrections, use the Trim start and Trim end jog controls in the Trim tab.
• Play each join with Space. Fix a join before moving to the next.

Pass 3 - the layers

Now add what sits on top of the picture.

• Sound. In AI Gen, open Audio and switch to Music. It holds a Sample library of bundled tracks. Set levels in each clip's Volume tab.
• Titles. Click Text (T) in the timeline toolbar, or press T, and write its wording in the Text tab on the right.
• Transitions. Add them at the joins that mark a real change, and leave the rest as plain cuts.
• Color. Match shots in the Color tab.
• Captions. Generate them in the Subtitles tab. Transcription spends account credits.

Doing layers last means the timing under them has settled, so a title never lands on a clip you later cut.

Pass 4 - check and export

Watch the whole video from the start without stopping. Write down every snag, then fix them in order of weight: structure first, then pacing, then sound, then graphics, then color. When it holds up, click Export in the top bar.

DepCut saves as you work. The top bar shows Saving and then Saved, so you do not need to save by hand, and the Undo and Redo buttons in the timeline toolbar step back through changes.

Start in pass one

Open the editor at DepCut with a handful of clips and stay inside pass 1 until the story reads in the right order. The editor is free to use, and AI generation and transcription are the features that spend credits.