Edit a video by editing its transcript

1. 01Done

   Import the recording and correct the transcript

   Start a Descript project and add the recording. Descript transcribes it, and from then on the transcript is the edit: delete a sentence and the matching video goes with it.

   Read the whole transcript once with the video playing before you cut anything. Fix misheard names and product terms in Correct mode (Opt+C on a Mac, Alt+C on Windows). Correcting changes the text without touching the audio or video underneath.

   Do it now, not later. The captions are built from this text, and Claude will read whatever spelling is there.

   Checkpoint

   A transcript with every name spelled right.

   Copy step as prompt

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2. 02Done

   Strip the filler words and fix the sound

   Remove the filler words with Descript's AI tools. It lists every "um" and "uh" it found, each with a timestamp and a preview. Turn on Avoid harsh cuts: it skips any filler word that can't come out without clipping the words next to it.

   Review the list rather than taking all of it. In a testimonial, the pause before an answer is sometimes the most believable second in it. Filler detection works on English transcripts only.

   Then switch on Studio Sound for the script layer. It reduces background noise and echo in recorded speech. On current plans, both filler removal and Studio Sound use AI credits.

   If the waveform goes flat once it's on, the noise was too loud to separate from the voice: lower the Intensity, or turn it off for that file.

   Checkpoint

   A transcript without the ums, and audio you've listened to with Studio Sound on.

   Copy step as prompt

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3. 03Done

   Ask Claude for a cut list

   the step that pays off

   Export the transcript as a .txt file, with timecodes at paragraph breaks and speaker labels included (both are export settings). Keep this file. It's the original you'll check the edit against at the end.

   Before a testimonial transcript goes anywhere, check the customer agreed to it being edited and published, cut anything they said off the record, and read Claude's data settings before your first upload.

   Start a new Claude chat, attach the file and run the prompt below with your target length and where the video is going. Compare the first and last timecodes it reports with the file, so you know it read all of it.

   The rule doing the most work is the one about conditions. The usual failure in a tight edit is a claim that loses its condition: "it took us a few months, but it works" becomes "it works", and nobody notices in the script.

   Step 1: Get a cut list that hits your target length

   Copy

   I am editing a video by editing its transcript. The timecoded transcript
   is below. I need a cut list that brings it to about {{TARGET_LENGTH}},
   for {{WHERE_IT_WILL_BE_POSTED}}.
   Rules:
   - Quote every passage to cut word for word, from its first word to its
     last, so I can find it with search. Never paraphrase a passage.
   - Cut whole sentences or whole passages. Do not cut words out of the
     middle of a sentence.
   - Never propose a cut that changes what the speaker means. Keep a claim
     together with its conditions: if they said "it worked, but only after
     we changed the pricing", keep both halves or cut both.
   - Never join two separate statements so that they read as one claim.
   - Do not add, reword or reorder anything the speaker said.
   - Use the timecodes to estimate how long each cut is. If the timecodes
     are too far apart to tell, write [ESTIMATE UNCLEAR] instead of
     guessing.
   Return:
   0. The first and the last timecode you read, so I can check you read
      the full transcript.
   1. The cut list, in transcript order: the timecode, the quoted passage,
      and one line on why it goes (a repeat, a false start, a tangent, a
      slow run-up to the point).
   2. The estimated length after all cuts, and whether it hits the target.
   3. Any cut you were unsure of, and what it would change if I made it.
   4. Up to three moments that would work as a short clip on their own:
      start and end timecode, the first and last sentence quoted, and one
      line on why it stands alone.
   Transcript:
   """
   {{TIMECODED_TRANSCRIPT}}
   """

   Checkpoint

   A quoted cut list with an estimated length, and up to three clip candidates.

   Copy step as prompt

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4. 04Done

   Make the cuts, then caption and export

   Work down Claude's list. Search the script for each quoted passage, select it and delete it.

   Ignoring text also cuts it from the video, but the struck-through text stays in the script, so it's easy to find and restore. To keep a passage in, leave it alone.

   Editing in Descript is non-destructive, so a cut you regret comes back: restore the removed media.

   Then add captions and pick a style. Captions come from the script, so they're already timed to the cut you just made.

   Export it locally as an MP4. On the Free plan, exports carry a Descript watermark and are limited to 720p, which matters for a video that goes on your own site.

   Pro tip

   Descript also embeds a subtitle track in the MP4, which viewers can switch on where the platform supports it. That track isn't burned in; the captions layer is.

   Checkpoint

   An MP4 at your target length with captions on screen.

   Copy step as prompt

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5. 05Done

   Watch it once at full speed before it goes out

   Watch the export start to finish at normal speed, sound on, the way a viewer will. A cut that reads cleanly in the script can land mid-gesture or mid-breath, and only the video shows it. Fix each jarring jump in the script and export again.

   For a testimonial, do one more pass. Don't edit a customer into saying something they didn't. Export the edited transcript (leave ignored text out) and run the check below against the original from the Claude step. Then send the customer the final cut and get their yes before it goes on your site.

   Step 2: Check the edit did not change what anyone said

   Copy

   Below are two transcripts of the same recording: the original, and the
   edited version I am about to publish. Compare them for meaning only. Do
   not comment on style or length.
   For every statement in the edited version that makes a claim (a result,
   a number, a recommendation, an opinion about a product or a person),
   check it against the original and return one line:
   - KEEPS MEANING, or
   - CHANGED, then quote the original passage and say what context the
     edit removed or which two statements it joined.
   Then list every qualifier in the original ("at first", "for us",
   "sometimes", "but", "only") that the edit dropped from a claim.
   Quote only from the two transcripts. If you are unsure whether a change
   matters, mark it CHANGED and let me decide.
   Original transcript:
   """
   {{ORIGINAL_TRANSCRIPT}}
   """
   Edited transcript:
   """
   {{EDITED_TRANSCRIPT}}
   """

   Checkpoint

   One full watch, and for a testimonial, a meaning check and the customer's yes.

   Copy step as prompt

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