Feature
Remove retakes from a video: false starts and repeated lines are cut in the first edit
If you stop and start a sentence again while filming, you don't have to find the restart by hand. Cutroom's Magic Editor cuts false starts and repeated lines in its first edit, and you check what it kept.
In short
- Retakes can be removed automatically by editors that read your words, such as Descript, Tella and Cutroom's Magic Editor.
- A retake is a sentence you started, stopped and said again, or a line you said twice to get it right.
- Cutroom's Magic Editor cuts false starts, repeats and ums in the first edit, without a button to press for it.
- You check the result on the transcript, where a tap brings a cut word back and costs nothing.
- Retakes are easiest to cut when you pause, then say the whole sentence again from its start.
Can retakes be removed from a video automatically?
Yes. In a timeline editor you find each retake yourself, split around it and delete it. Editors that work from a transcript can spot the repeated line and cut it for you.
- Descript has a Remove Retakes tool that, in its own words, removes the bad takes in a single click.
- Tella's Remove mistakes lists every cut it proposes, and you approve or keep each one. It needs a paid plan or Tella's 7-day trial.
- Cutroom's Magic Editor cuts false starts and repeats as part of the first edit, together with captions, screenshots and music.
- Whichever tool you use, check the result, because only you know which version of a line you meant to keep.
What counts as a retake, and what gets cut
A retake is any part you said again because the first try went wrong. Here is one example clip with the retake struck through.
- A false start is a sentence you begin, stop and start again, like “The plan costs, wait.”
- A repeat is a word or a line you say twice in a row, like “in, in”.
- Fillers like um and uh come out in the same edit.
- Each style shortens long pauses; ask Jacob to keep your pauses if the video feels rushed.
A yoga studio owner's price announcement, with one false start
She stopped halfway through the price and said the sentence again. The first edit keeps the full sentence and drops the false start.
Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video
Before · the clip as filmed
A 30-second phone video of a yoga studio owner announcing a new membership plan, plus her studio logo
“The plan costs, wait. The plan costs nine dollars a month, um, and your first class is free.”
struck through = what Jacob cuts
After · Jacob's first edit, Poster style
“The plan costs nine dollars a month, and your first class is free.”
- On “nine”: the price as a big neon number
- On “month”: big stacked words in three fonts
- On “free”: the word set big in your accent colour
- Under the whole video: your logo closing the video
Then you ask Jacob
- “Make the key words stand out more”v2the same edit with “class” set big as well
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.
Checking what the edit kept
After the first edit, read the transcript next to the video. Cut words are still there for you to see, so a wrong cut is quick to spot and undo.
- Tap a cut word to bring it back, or tap a kept word to cut it. Taps are free.
- If the edit kept the wrong try of a line, tap the try you want back in and cut the other one.
- Ask Jacob “Why did you cut what you cut?” and it answers from a log of what it did. A question that changes nothing is free.
- You can also ask for a cut in plain words, like “Cut the first sentence”, for 40 credits.
- Every change Jacob makes is a new version. The earlier versions stay, and going back to one is free.
Filming so retakes are easy to cut
You can film in one go and restart as often as you like. A few habits make each retake clean to cut.
- Pause for a second after a mistake, so there is a clear gap between the two tries.
- Say the whole sentence again from its start, not from the middle of it.
- Redo the line straight away, not three sentences later, so it's clear which line it replaces.
- Keep the whole clip under 3 minutes, retakes included, because that's the longest clip the Magic Editor takes.
- Keep the camera running between tries, because the Magic Editor takes one clip per video.
What removing retakes can't fix
Cutting only removes what you said. It can't add or move anything, so some problems still need a new clip.
- A sentence can't be moved to another place in the video.
- A missing or wrong word can't be added, because there is no new speech or cloned voice.
- Background noise stays in, so film somewhere quiet.
- If every try of a line went wrong, film that line again.
Questions people ask
- How do I remove bad takes from a video?
- Cut each bad try out, either by hand with split and delete in a timeline editor, or with an editor that finds repeated lines in the transcript. Cutroom's Magic Editor cuts false starts and repeats in its first edit.
- Which take does the AI keep?
- Check it every time. Tella asks you to approve each cut, and Descript's page doesn't say. In the Magic Editor, if the wrong try was kept, tap the words of the one you want and cut the other, for free.
- Does removing retakes also remove ums?
- In the Magic Editor, yes. The first edit cuts fillers, false starts and repeats together. If you want an um back, tap it in the transcript.
- Will cutting retakes leave jump cuts?
- It can, because your head moves a little between tries. A screenshot or a b-roll clip on those words hides the jump, and Jacob can put one there when you ask.
- Can I remove retakes from a long video?
- Not in the Magic Editor, which takes a clip of up to 3 minutes. For a long recording, use a transcript editor such as Descript or Tella.
Film it in one go, mistakes and all, and Jacob cuts the retakes in the first edit. Your first video is free.