Guide
An AI rough cut is the first full edit an AI makes from your raw footage
Updated
An AI rough cut is the first full edit an AI makes from your raw footage, before anyone fine-tunes it. Which tool makes the best one depends on how much footage you have.
In short
- An AI rough cut is the first full edit an AI makes from raw footage, which you then adjust into the final video.
- For hours of interview footage, Eddie AI makes a rough cut that you finish in Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve.
- From one short clip of you talking, Cutroom's Magic Editor makes a first edit with cuts, captions, b-roll, music and an ending.
- The first edit normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email when it's ready.
- In Cutroom each change you ask for costs 40 credits, and going back to an earlier version is free.
What is an AI rough cut?
An AI rough cut is the first full edit an AI makes from your raw footage. It decides what to keep and puts it in order, so you start from a whole video.
- In traditional editing, the rough cut has the story in place, but the details still need work before the final version.
- An AI rough cut saves you the hours of watching your footage and putting it in order. You start with a whole video and fix what's wrong.
- For one short clip of you talking, the first edit can already be a finished video. Cutroom's Magic Editor works this way, with clips of up to 3 minutes.
AI rough-cut tools for long footage, and what they cost
Most rough cuts start from long footage, such as interviews or a recorded talk. For that, pick a tool that makes the rough cut and lets you finish it in a full editor.
- Eddie AI says it turns raw interview footage into a structured rough cut and syncs several camera angles.
- Descript calls Underlord an AI video agent. You ask it for an edit, and you keep editing the rest in Descript yourself.
- Cutroom isn't built for long footage. It takes one short clip and makes a vertical video from it.
AI rough-cut tools compared
Features and prices as each company shows them on its own website, checked 12 November 2026.
| Tool | Starts from | What you get | Price from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eddie AI | Raw interview footage, even from several cameras | A structured rough cut you export to Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve | Credit packs from $10, which Eddie says covers about an hour of footage |
| Descript's Underlord | A recording you've brought into Descript | The edit you ask for, such as "Edit this down to 2 minutes", inside Descript's editor | Free plan with limited Underlord; paid plans from $16 a month |
| Cutroom's Magic Editor | One clip of you talking, up to 3 minutes | A finished vertical video you change in a chat with Jacob | 250 credits for the first edit; Your first video is free |
Tool: Eddie AI
- Starts from
- Raw interview footage, even from several cameras
- What you get
- A structured rough cut you export to Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve
- Price from
- Credit packs from $10, which Eddie says covers about an hour of footage
Tool: Descript's Underlord
- Starts from
- A recording you've brought into Descript
- What you get
- The edit you ask for, such as "Edit this down to 2 minutes", inside Descript's editor
- Price from
- Free plan with limited Underlord; paid plans from $16 a month
Tool: Cutroom's Magic Editor
- Starts from
- One clip of you talking, up to 3 minutes
- What you get
- A finished vertical video you change in a chat with Jacob
- Price from
- 250 credits for the first edit; Your first video is free
How Cutroom's Magic Editor edits a video like this
Jacob is the AI editor inside Cutroom's Magic Editor: it edits your video for you, then changes it when you ask in a chat.
The 4 styles, as example edits
Steps
Three steps, four angles
Skit
Hook, hard stop, demo card
Verdict
The tester's verdict
Poster
Typography does the talking
Hover or tap an example to play it, without sound. These are example edits of each style; the presenters in them are generated with AI.
- Your take: one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes
- Your style: one of 4: Steps, Skit, Verdict or Poster
- Your files: screenshots, a screen recording or a logo, if you have them
- Your goal: what the video is for, in a few words, if you like
- Jacob makes it: normally 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email
- Your edit: ask Jacob for changes in a chat, then export
Then you ask Jacob, for example
- “Make this about 10 seconds shorter”
- “Put a clip on the strongest sentence”
- “Change the music to something calmer”
Each change is a new version, and going back is free. First cut 250 credits, each change 40, questions free, export 30 credits per started minute.
What the first edit from one clip contains
Cutroom's Magic Editor turns one clip of you talking into a finished vertical video. Jacob, its AI editor, makes the whole first edit from that one clip.
- Jacob picks the storyline and the length from your clip, and asks no questions after you press the button.
- The ums, false starts and repeats are cut, and long pauses get shorter.
- Captions follow your words in the language you speak.
- Your screenshots, screen recording and product photos land on the words where you talk about them.
- B-roll comes from your own clip library first, then from the stock sites Pexels and Pixabay.
- Music and sound effects come with the style. The video ends on your call to action or your logo if you gave one, and on your last word if not.
A founder's two-minute launch ramble, before and after the first edit
Jacob's first edit in the Skit style, then two changes asked for in the chat.
Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video
Before · the clip as filmed
A two-minute phone video of a founder talking, a bit all over the place, about her new bill-splitting app
“So, um, where do I even start. We launched on Tuesday, and, uh, this app splits every bill with your housemates. You snap the receipt, um, ... (pause) and it works out who owes what.”
struck through = what Jacob cuts
After · Jacob's first edit, Skit style
“This app splits every bill with your housemates. You snap the receipt, and it works out who owes what.”
- On “bill”: the opening line as the hook, then a sudden stop in the music
- On “receipt”: your screenshot receipt.png on a card that slides over your face
- On “owes”: your screen recording playing on a phone to close the video
- Under the whole video: energetic music and sound effects from the style
window: receipt.png
Then you ask Jacob
- “Put a clip on the strongest sentence”v2a b-roll clip over the line about splitting bills
- “Make this about 10 seconds shorter”v3the same edit, about 10 seconds shorter
How long an AI rough cut takes
How long it takes depends on the tool and on how much footage you give it. In Cutroom's Magic Editor, the first edit normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email when it's ready.
- You can press "Make my video" while your clip is still uploading.
- A popup in the app shows each step as it happens, from listening to your clip to making the first edit.
- You can close the page while Jacob works. Your video keeps going.
- Exporting the final video is a separate wait of a few minutes, and an email tells you when it's done.
From rough cut to final video: what you change
You turn the first edit into the final video by asking Jacob for changes in the chat, or by tapping words. Every change makes a new version.
- A chat message that changes the video costs 40 credits. If it ends up changing nothing, the credits come back.
- Tapping words, the settings and going back a version are free.
- The smallest finished video costs 280 credits: 250 for the first edit and 30 to export up to a minute.
- While Jacob makes a change, the editor is locked until it's done. You can stop the change, and your credits come back.
- Every change Jacob makes is a new version. The earlier versions stay, and going back to one is free.
Questions people ask
- What is an AI rough cut?
- An AI rough cut is the first full edit an AI makes from your raw footage. It picks what to keep and puts it in order, so you begin by adjusting a whole video instead of an empty timeline.
- Can AI make a rough cut from raw footage?
- Yes. For hours of interview footage, Eddie AI makes a structured rough cut that you export to Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve. Descript's Underlord takes requests such as "Edit this down to 2 minutes". For one short clip of you talking, Cutroom's Magic Editor makes the first edit and you change it in a chat.
- How long does an AI rough cut take?
- In Cutroom's Magic Editor, the first edit normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email when it's ready. You can close the page while Jacob works. Your video keeps going. For long footage the wait depends on the tool and on how many hours you give it.
- Is an AI rough cut good enough to post?
- Sometimes, after a check. Watch it all the way through, fix what the AI got wrong, then export. In Cutroom each fix is a chat message to Jacob or a free tap on a word.
- What does it cost to change an AI rough cut?
- In Cutroom, a chat message that changes the video costs 40 credits. Taps on words, the settings, undo and going back to a version are free.
- Can I go back to the first version?
- Yes. Every change Jacob makes is a new version. The earlier versions stay, and going back to one is free. You can also type "undo" in the chat to go back one version.
Upload one clip of you talking and get the first edit back from Jacob. Your first video is free.