Skip to content
Smedja
All the work
NO. 06 · ROUGHCUT · OWN PRODUCT · TRIAL VERSION · JULY 2026 · AR

RoughCut turns interview footage and B-roll in DaVinci Resolve into a first cut. You watch it in the app, then push it into Resolve as an ordinary timeline.

How it works

A real run from 30 September 2026, on my own footage: the teaser for episode 1 of Sim to Real, filmed at Zandvoort.

  1. 1

    In RoughCut I tag the bins from Resolve: the interview as A-roll, the rest as B-roll.

    RoughCut with the project Sim to Real, Richard teaser and the bins from Resolve: the A roll bin tagged A-roll, the B roll bin tagged B-roll, and the Start ingest button
    FIG. 1 · BINS FROM RESOLVE, TAGGED A-ROLL AND B-ROLL
  2. 2

    I write in plain words what the cut should tell and how long it may run.

    The brief in RoughCut, in plain words: a teaser for Sim to Real, episode 1, that opens on Richard's strongest line and ends back at the track, with a target length of 1.25 minutes
    FIG. 2 · THE BRIEF AND THE TARGET LENGTH
  3. 3

    RoughCut turns that into a story plan in five parts and picks the lines for each part from the interview.

    The transcript of the cut in RoughCut, grouped under the parts of the story plan, such as Race Because Of Sim-Lab and Head Buried In CAD, with the line that is playing lit up
    FIG. 3 · THE TRANSCRIPT, PART BY PART OF THE STORY PLAN
  4. 4

    I watch the cut in the app, with the timeline below it.

    The player in RoughCut with Richard at the wheel in a white helmet, the first version of the cut at 44 seconds, below it the playback controls and the timeline with the B-roll above the interview
    FIG. 4 · THE CUT IN THE APP, WITH THE TIMELINE
  5. 5

    If I want something different, I type it in the chat, like here: end on the Lando Norris story.

    A request in the RoughCut chat: after the last line, end on the Lando Norris story, who got one of the first seats Sim-Lab ever sent out
    FIG. 5 · A CHANGE IN THE CHAT
  6. 6

    RoughCut makes a second version, and it now ends on that story.

    The last part of version 2 in the transcript: Richard on driving on a real track, then I ask about the first seats and Richard names Lando Norris
    FIG. 6 · VERSION 2, WITH THE NEW ENDING
  7. 7

    Then RoughCut puts the cut into Resolve as a new timeline, and I take the edit from there.

    The new timeline in DaVinci Resolve: B-roll on V2, the interview on V1, camera and microphone sound on A1 to A4, and markers along the top
    FIG. 7 · THE NEW TIMELINE IN DAVINCI RESOLVE
Starting point
I no longer wanted to lay the first rough cut of my own episodes by hand.
What I built
A Mac app. Transcription runs locally on the Mac and the video files stay there. Only text and a few stills per B-roll shot go to Claude. Claude builds a storyline from the transcript and places B-roll. You watch the cut in the app, adjust it, and push it into Resolve as a new timeline. It never touches existing timelines.
Who uses it
Me, on my own episodes. Not rolled out to other editors yet.
Reads and writes in
DaVinci Resolve Studio: reads bins, writes a new timeline.
Built with
Python, React, Whisper, Claude by Anthropic, ffmpeg. Over 700 automated tests.
From start to first working version
7 to 13 July 2026.

Status: trial version. It works on my own footage, the first version still had bumps, and it is here because it shows how I work: locally where possible, and never overwriting anything that is yours.

Something like this for you?

You will hear from me within one working day.

Next work order

07 · Platform for an advisory firm

Outreach, LinkedIn posts in the founder's voice, appointments and bookkeeping behind one login.