How to Trim Videos and Make Internal Cuts

It's easy to tighten a scene, remove dead time, or cut a section from the middle of a clip with within Vocal Video with transcript-based editing or by using the timeline. You can restore cut footage later if you need to revise the edit. You can find a detailed guide to editing videos here.

Open the video

  1. Go to Videos
  2. Open the draft video you want to edit.

Transcript-based editing

  1. Select the scene you want to edit and highlight the word, phrase, or paragraph you want to remove from the video, and select "Cut". That video clip will be removed from the video draft.

View Scenes Only, Scenes+Transcript, or Transcript + Cut Footage

Three ways to to display your video as you're working on it.

Transcript + Cut Footage shown
Transcript + Cut Footage shown

Trim scenes in the Timeline

Use this when you want to remove silence, setup time, or extra footage before or after the main answer.

  1. Click on Timeline in the bottom left of the video editor
  2. Select your scene
  3. Using the waveform as a guide for when the speaker starts, drag the yellow trim handle to choose when the scene should start or stop.
  4. Play the scene back and adjust the handles until the timing feels right.

Cut footage from the middle of a scene with the timeline

  1. Click on Timeline in the bottom left of the video editor
  2. Select your scene
  3. Click Split to split the scene
  4. Then trim out the sections you'd like to remove by clicking the scenes and adjusting with the yellow trim handle

See or restore cut footage

  1. In the transcript view menu, choose Transcript + Cut Footage.
  2. Select the cut words you want to bring back.
  3. Click Restore Cut Footage.

You can also click a trim marker in the timeline to review or remove a cut.

Tips for cleaner cuts

  • Cut complete phrases when possible. It usually sounds more natural than cutting single words.
  • Go to Scene > Timing to add short pauses at the start or end of a scene to make some cuts sounds more natural.
  • Experiment with Zoom Effects in the Timeline to cover trims
  • If a transcript cut is close but not perfect, fine-tune the scene in the timeline.
  • Looking for um-removal, automatic word gap shortening, and find and replace? See more detail in this guide to AI Tools