AI-Assisted Video Editing: From Raw Footage to Polished Content

What to gather

• Footage: Original camera files, or the current project if editing has started.
• Audio: The separate microphone recording if you used one. Keep sync information.
• Script or transcript: Useful for names, technical terms and intended meaning. The actual recording determines timing.
• A brief: Audience, topic, platform, desired length, tone and call to action.
• Visual references: Your own brand colors, fonts, logos and examples of the look you want.
• Brand assets: Logos, fonts, colors and any title templates you already use.
• Current project export: If editing has started — an XML export or your editor's equivalent.

Keep these in one project folder, with separate folders for source media, references and outputs. Keep external drives connected. Use assets you own or have permission to use; this resource does not include client brand kits, logos or footage.

Brief Codex

The brief is where good edits start. Fill this in and paste it into your first prompt — it becomes the instruction sheet for your whole style.

Project:
Topic:
Audience:
Platform:
Format: long-form / short-form / both
Target length:
Current stage: raw / rough cut / polished
What I want changed:
What I want preserved:
Style references (colors, fonts, captions, channels I like):
Call to action:
Files and folder locations:
Editor I finish in (Premiere Pro / Resolve / Final Cut / CapCut):
Required output: editable timeline / rendered video / both

The two lines that matter most are "What I want preserved" and "What I want changed." AI edits go wrong when the assistant is allowed to fix something you already approved. Write the brief once, keep it, and reuse it for every video.

Establish your style

Your references decide the look, not the AI. Before the cut, give the assistant your colors, fonts, caption style and two or three examples of channels whose pacing you like. Three rules keep an AI-assisted edit from looking generic:

1. One type system. A single font pairing and a consistent title style across the whole video.
2. Restrained motion. Movement should guide the eye, not perform for it.
3. Readable captions. Phrase-based, high contrast, clear of faces and platform overlays.

Put the rules in the brief once. The assistant should match your existing look, not invent a new one.

Plan and cut

1. Index the footage once: what exists, what's usable, where the strongest takes are.
2. Choose the best take per beat before any editing starts.
3. Build the hook: the first five seconds decide whether the rest gets watched.
4. Paste the brief into the universal prompt (Prompt 1) and let the assistant build a reviewable first cut.
5. Watch the first pass with sound. Check that cuts preserve meaning, the voice stays synchronized and the story still makes sense.

Cut at natural boundaries and keep the strongest complete delivery. A transcript helps locate mistakes, but it cannot decide every performance choice — that stays yours. Prefer a shorter coherent edit over stretching the material.

The prompts reference Final Cut's XML handoff — other editors have equivalent exports, and the workflow doesn't change.

Polish: captions, graphics and sound

Once the cut is right, lock its timing and add the polish layer:

• Captions: Phrase-based, verified against the audio, styled to your brand.
• Titles and callouts: Section headings, key numbers, definitions — only where they clarify a point.
• Supporting graphics: Diagrams, comparisons and progressive lists that appear as you introduce them.
• Sound design: Effects and audio layers placed to the edit; keep dialogue clear and natural.
• Color: One consistent look across every clip; check what conversion is already applied before adding another.

If your edit is already cut, graded and mixed, go straight to the finishing prompt (Prompt 4), which adds titles and graphics while preserving everything you approved.

Revise and export

Lock what already works, then revise one thing at a time — "make the intro punchier" beats "make it better." Keep each approved stage locked so a later change can't undo an earlier fix.

When the video is done, export for the platform and watch the final file through — including the last few seconds. For both formats, finish the long-form story first, then create a separate vertical version from Prompt 3; an automatic center crop may cut off a face or a graphic.

Try it now: the short-clip exercise

1. Pick one clip under 60 seconds — something simple, one idea.
2. Complete the brief above.
3. Paste Prompt 1, then Prompt 3 (short-form).
4. Review the result against the checklist below.
5. Write down one thing you'd hand to the system next time.

One finished short teaches you more about this workflow than an hour of reading. Then take the same brief and reuse it — that reuse is the whole point of the system.

Optional: the Final Cut handoff

If you finish in Final Cut Pro, the XML handoff makes the assistant's work round-trippable. This is an editor-specific path — other editors have equivalent exports (Premiere Pro XML, Resolve timelines, CapCut projects), and the workflow doesn't change.

1. Choose File → Export XML and save the export (keep an .fcpxmld bundle intact if that's what Final Cut produces).
2. Export a viewing copy of the same project with audio.
3. Give the assistant the XML, viewing copy, script and assets.
4. Prompt 4 adds titles, text and motion graphics while preserving your approved edit.
5. Choose File → Import → XML to bring the result back, and play it through before publishing.

These XML export and import commands are documented by Apple. Structural XML validation helps catch format errors, but it does not replace checking the imported project in Final Cut.

Common questions