rough-cut

In filmmaking, the rough cut is the second of three stages of offline editing. The rough cut is the first stage in which the film begins to resemble its final product. Rough cuts do not flow well and still undergo many changes before the release of the film.^[1][2]

Video editing workflow

With the advent of digital video editing software and non-linear editing systems (NLE), video goes through a number of stages between shooting on video tape and broadcast on television. The low cost of video tape has led to a huge quantity of shot content, and it is often not economical for the skilled video editors to use this raw content directly. A number of the preliminary stages can be undertaken by lower cost staff, or people less skilled in using expensive and sophisticated editing equipment such as directors. An example workflow is given below:

1. Digitizing: Ingesting the material into a digital computer allows the video to be handled much more simply than when it is on its original tape
2. Logging: Logging the shot material allows particular shots to be found more easily later
3. Offline editing
   1. Initial Assembly: The selected shots are moved from the order they are filmed in into the approximate order they will appear in the final cut.
   2. Rough cut: More shot selection, approximate trimming. The sound is untreated, unfinished, and will require sound editing. Often dialogue and sound effects will be incomplete. Titles, graphics, special effects, and composites are usually represented only by crude placemarkers. Colors are untreated, unmatched, and generally unpleasant.
   3. Final cut: The final sequence of images and sound are selected and put in order.
4. Online editing: The picture and sound quality of the program is adjusted and brought to their optimum levels.
5. Mix: Audio is finished by a specialist with equipment in acoustically-treated rooms.

Notes

References

• Giannetti, Louis. Understanding Movies. Prentice-Hall International, 1999.
• Wohl, Michael. Editing Techniques with Final Cut Pro. Peachpit Press, 2002.