Talking Head Edit is for speech-led videos such as monologues, interviews, lessons, and video podcasts. AI can choose the strongest takes, remove filler and repeated ideas, tighten long pauses, and add captions, B-roll, motion graphics, or music when requested.
What do I need before writing the prompt?
- Import one or more video or audio files with clear dialogue, then decide whether to process the whole recording or only part of it.
- For multiple takes or cameras, identify the main picture and supporting angles. Use AI multicam sync from Chapter 3 first when the recordings need automatic alignment.
- Optionally prepare B-roll, logos, brand assets, a Design Style, or a preferred caption style.
- Use Selection Mode for clips, transcript text, or a time range, or plan to
@mention the target. Also decide the target length, ideas that must remain, and what AI may remove.
How do I remove filler words and pauses from video?
For AI speech video cleanup, import your recording and use the first prompt below. You can use the AI as a filler-word remover, but review each cut in context: words such as “like” or “well” can carry meaning. Specify ideas that must stay and the pauses you want shortened.
For precise manual cuts, select the unwanted spoken range in Transcript. Play through each edit and use Undo if it changes the meaning or makes speech sound rushed.
Prompts you can copy
Edit @interview. Keep the clearest and most natural takes, remove filler words, repeated sentences, and obvious restarts, and shorten pauses longer than 0.8 seconds without making the delivery feel rushed.
Clean up only the first 60 seconds of the talking-head footage on @V1. Remove empty pauses and repeated ideas, then add clean captions on key phrases. Do not add music.
Turn @interview into a 45-second vertical short. Open with the strongest line, preserve the complete point, use @B-roll to cover visible jump cuts, and add a lower third when the speaker first appears.
State the target length, ideas that must remain, what AI may remove, and whether you want captions, B-roll, motion graphics, or music.
Edit manually
- Place the footage on the timeline and open Transcript. If it is hidden, use Workspace → Transcript.
- Choose the track that contains the dialogue. Clicking text moves the playhead to that moment.
- Select unwanted words or sentences and press Backspace or Delete. ChatCut removes the matching spoken range from the timeline.
- In clip view, drag transcript segments to reorder the matching clips. Use the pause controls to shorten or restore pauses that exist in the source recording.
- Open the Captions menu in the playback controls to show captions and choose a style.
- Drag B-roll, motion graphics, sound effects, or music from My Assets, Library, or Templates onto the appropriate tracks.
Walk through one interview clip
This walkthrough uses ChatCut Web, its built-in Agent, and one short speech recording you have permission to use. The first result is an editable cut to review, not an automatically finished captioned video or exported file. Keep the original recording.
Agent editing uses variable ChatCut credits even when you supply all the footage. Check your plan and balance before sending, and review any confirmation shown. See Credits and Credits History.
1. Add the recording and send one request
Open ChatCut Web and go to Home. Select Talking Head Editing when offered. The card prepares an editable request and a selected Skill; selecting it does not start the task. Choose Upload (+) in the composer, attach your recording, and review the request before selecting Send message.
If you already have a project open, you can continue there instead: use My Assets → Upload → Files…, wait for the recording to finish processing, then type @ in the composer and select that actual asset. Keep Agent selected. The example names in this guide, such as @interview, are placeholders for your own references, not built-in assets.
Use the starter request or adapt this first-cut request. Name any passage or point that must stay:
Use the attached or referenced recording to make an editable first cut. Remove clear false starts, repeated takes and long pauses while preserving the speaker's meaning, original picture and voice, and natural breathing. Put the cut on the active timeline for review. Use only the supplied footage; generate no new media. Leave captions and other finishing layers until I have reviewed the speech.
Read the Agent’s progress and questions in the same project. If it asks which passage, platform or format you want, answer that question before expecting a finished edit. If transcription is pending, keep the project open and let the current task proceed; do not submit another copy of the request while it is working.
2. Inspect the editable first cut
Look for clips on the active Timeline, then select Play in the Viewer. Open Transcript, or Workspace → Transcript if it is hidden, and choose the track with the dialogue.
Check that the intended recording is present and its clips remain selectable. Play from the first spoken word through the last with sound on, including both sides of each cut. Use the checklist below to assess meaning, natural breaths, complete syllables, picture and audio continuity. A shorter duration or a completion message alone does not establish a good cut. If the supplied recording ends partway through a point, the edit cannot recover speech that was never recorded.
Ask for one precise revision in the same project, such as “Restore the breath before the last sentence and leave the other cuts unchanged.” Reference the relevant clip, time range or selected transcript text. Use Undo to reverse an unwanted edit, or save a Version before a larger pass; see Versions / Undo / Redo.
3. Add finishing layers after reviewing the speech
No captions is expected for the first-cut request above. When the speech works, use the Captions control in the playback controls to choose the intended source track and a style, or ask for a specific addition. Review the words, timing and placement in the Viewer. Listen to uncertain names and terms before correcting caption text in Content. Deleting words in Transcript cuts their time range from the recording; it is not just a spelling correction.
For a portrait short, use Aspect Ratio → 9:16 below the Viewer and check that the speaker and captions fit; see portrait framing. Add B-roll or other supplied media only when it helps the point. See Transcript and Captions for the caption workflow and readiness states.
4. Export when the cut is ready
Make the intended Timeline active and select Export → Video. Choose the offered format, resolution, frame rate and range for your delivery. Follow Web vs Desktop Export for compatibility and plan limits; keep the project tab open while browser rendering runs.
Follow the same job in the queue under Export. Retrieve the finished download, open the actual file in your player and check picture, speech and any captions with sound on before sharing. The Agent may have completed the edit without exporting it. A queue completion or download notification is a delivery signal, not a substitute for opening the file. Save it in your own storage and keep the editable project; see Export Queue, Downloads, and Retries.
If the next step is blocked
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| The Home request is filled in, but no task has started | Check the recording, request and selected Agent, then select Send message once. |
| Transcript is pending, empty or on the wrong speech | Check processing and the selected dialogue track in the same project. Let the current task proceed. If transcription fails, use Retry Transcription on the asset card when offered; do not send duplicate edit requests. |
| The edit is present but captions are missing or wrong | The first-cut request leaves captions for later. Add them after reviewing the speech, then check the source track, wording and timing. Do not delete Transcript words merely to correct caption spelling. |
| Media is unavailable, keeps relinking, or the expected cut is missing | Preserve the project, original files and browser site data. Note the exact visible state and follow workflow recovery; a credit warning does not diagnose missing media. |
| Export is disabled, fails or stays at Preparing media… | Confirm the intended Timeline has clips and source uploads are complete. Inspect the same queue row and its message. Follow the queue recovery steps before retrying. |
How do I know the edit is ready?
| Check | What to verify |
|---|---|
| Meaning | The selected clip contains a complete point and enough context; it does not change the speaker’s claim. |
| Rhythm | Cuts and shortened pauses sound natural when played together. |
| Picture | A visible jump cut is acceptable or covered by media you provided. |
| Captions, if requested | The active track has the correct words, speaker timing, and readable layout. |
| Delivery, if exporting | The queue shows completion and the exported file opens with the expected picture and sound. |
If an asset is still processing, resolve that before retrying an edit or export. If a render fails, inspect its queue row and the relevant workflow recovery guide rather than starting the same request repeatedly. For current charges and plan limits, use Credits Policy and the export guide.
What happens afterward?
Both AI edits and transcript edits change the current timeline without rewriting the source media. Review speech continuity, visible jump cuts, and the active caption track. Use Undo or save a Version before another major pass.
To localize a finished speech edit, see AI Video Translation. For a presenter you do not have to film, see AI Avatars / Digital Humans.
See also Transcript and Captions, Motion Graphics, and Versions / Undo / Redo.