Rough cut
The rough cut is the first continuous version of a film. Order, length and rhythm are in place, colour, sound and detail are not. It answers the one question that cannot be answered earlier: does the story hold.
What to look at
Not beauty. A rough cut looks unfinished on purpose, otherwise the conversation turns to colour instead of structure. Three things matter: does the film lose pace anywhere, is a shot missing that would establish the connection, and does the message land at all on first viewing.
A useful test: show the rough cut to someone who does not know the project and ask afterwards what it was about. If the answer does not match the message, no amount of colour correction will fix it.
Why it is an approval point
The rough cut is our fourth and final approval point. Changes to the order are still cheap here, because only the edit is affected. After colour correction and sound design, every rearrangement drags the whole finishing behind it.
If a shot is missing, we produce it. That is the quiet advantage of generative production: a reshoot would be a new date, a regeneration is a working day.
How we work with it
You get the rough cut as a link with timestamps, so comments attach to the second instead of sitting in an email. Music is laid in roughly to carry the pace but is not yet final. Speech is usually the final recording, because the script should not change after this point.
Frequently asked questions
What is a rough cut?
The rough cut is the first complete version of a film in which the order and length of the shots are fixed. Colour correction, sound design and detail are still missing. It serves to approve the structure before the expensive finishing begins.
How many revision rounds are there?
Two rounds are included in our fixed price, further ones by effort. What is included is stated in the offer. Most projects need fewer when concept and styleframes were approved properly.
Can the rough cut be shared?
Internally yes, that is what it is for. Publishing it is not advisable: it contains placeholder music whose licence does not cover your channels, and it shows the film in a state not meant for the outside.
Related terms
Read on: All terms in the glossary • Who does this with us
Four approvals, no surprises
Concept, styleframes, motion tests, rough cut. You decide at every point.
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