Talking Head Editor

Talking Head Editor

Use this skill to turn transcript-driven talking-head footage into a clean rough-cut plan. Prefer sentence-level transcript editing over scene-based montage logic. If the task also requires executable FFmpeg commands or delivery-safe export settings, read ../ffmpeg-best-practice/SKILL.md alongside this skill.

Scope

• Remove long pauses, filler words, false starts, repeated phrases, and obvious tangents.
• Preserve the speaker's meaning, rhythm, and necessary breathing room.
• Produce sentence-level keep/delete decisions and merged cut ranges.
• Call out jump-cut risks, subtitle strategy, and export notes.
• Focus this first version on edit planning and execution specs, not automatic face tracking, B-roll retrieval, or template animation.

Required Inputs

Start once at least one of these exists:

• srt, vtt, or transcript with timestamps
• Review notes that mark lines to keep/remove
• Source media plus a request to first create sentence-level timestamps

If the user only provides raw video without timestamps, first obtain or generate sentence-level timestamps before promising exact cut ranges.

Default Workflow

1. Decide the pacing preset: clean, creator, or viral.
2. Read references/workflow.md for the end-to-end editing sequence.
3. Read references/edit-rules.md when deciding what to delete, what to keep, how much handle to preserve, and how aggressively to merge.
4. Read references/file-formats.md when returning structured outputs like edit_decision.json, merged segment tables, or subtitle plans.
5. Produce three layers of output:
   • editorial summary
   • sentence-level keep/delete decisions
   • merged execution segments with start/end timestamps
6. If the user asks for commands, hand the merged segments to the FFmpeg workflow instead of improvising export parameters.

Pacing Presets

• clean: conservative cleanup; remove only obvious dead air, major stumbles, and duplicate starts.
• creator: default creator pass; tighten intros, trim fillers, and compress weak transitions.
• viral: aggressive density; short pauses, hard trims, stronger subtitle emphasis, and more visible jump cuts.

Output Contract

Always return:

• chosen pacing preset and assumptions
• sentence-level keep/remove decisions for any ambiguous lines
• merged cut segments with start, end, and short rationale
• subtitle notes and jump-cut mitigation notes
• export or render notes if the user asks for final delivery

Guardrails

• Do not cut inside a word, plosive, or audible breath unless a cover strategy is explicitly available.
• Prefer sentence boundaries over arbitrary silence boundaries.
• Merge nearby kept segments when semantic continuity is strong and the gap is below the preset threshold.
• Flag places that likely need punch-in, cutaway, B-roll, waveform mask, or subtitle emphasis to hide jump cuts.
• If the transcript quality is weak, say so explicitly and lower timestamp confidence.

References

• End-to-end sequence: references/workflow.md
• Keep/remove heuristics and pacing rules: references/edit-rules.md
• Structured outputs and JSON/table schemas: references/file-formats.md