The Passcut Workflow: From Raw Footage to Rough Cut in Four Steps
Passcut simplifies video assembly by combining native Apple Silicon speech recognition with on-device natural language models and an assembly timeline editor on macOS 26.
Step 1: Import Media into Passcut
Passcut indexes raw camera files via AVFoundation, extracting audio tracks directly on-device using Apple SpeechAnalyzer to produce time-indexed transcripts without cloud network latency or server uploads.
Drag video files or folder trees from Finder into Passcut. Project state, media path references, transcript indices, and cut decisions are stored inside local `.passcut` project bundles with automatic background autosave.
Step 2: Enter a Plain-English Instruction
Type a natural language prompt explaining what content to keep or remove, such as "cut this down to the core discussion on network neutrality and drop tangents," which Apple Foundation Models parse against transcript text.
Rather than manually scrubbing through hours of camera A-roll to mark in and out points, you describe the desired narrative structure in plain English.
Step 3: Review and Refine on the Assembly Timeline
Passcut calculates exact timecodes by snapping selected transcript text boundaries to audio silence energy intervals and video frame edges, presenting a connected assembly timeline with full trim, split, and reorder controls.
Bidirectional transcript linking allows you to seek video playhead frames by clicking transcript words, or reject individual sentences to remove them from the primary assembly track instantly.
Step 4: Export FCPXML, EDL, or Rendered MP4
Export clean FCPXML or EDL files to hand off your rough cut timeline directly to Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Premiere Pro, or render a standalone MP4 video file on-device using AVFoundation hardware acceleration.
Project interchange files reference your original raw media files on disk without duplicating video data.
#Frequently Asked Questions
Does Passcut modify my original raw video files?
No. Passcut is non-destructive. Your source video files remain unchanged on disk while Passcut records non-destructive cut points in `.passcut` project bundles.
How does Passcut ensure speech cuts sound natural?
Passcut analyzes audio waveform energy around transcript word boundaries, snapping cut points to true silence gaps so words and syllables are never truncated.
Get Early Access to Passcut
Passcut is currently in pre-launch. Join the waitlist to receive early access as soon as the native macOS build is ready.
Requires macOS 26 or later and Apple Silicon. No cloud processing, zero spam.