Support

RoughCut transcribes your video locally on your Mac, then an AI editing pass marks what a human editor would remove — flubbed takes, restarts, tangents, dead air — keeping your last clean take. You review every decision, then export a frame-accurate FCPXML that opens in Final Cut Pro linked to your original media. Nothing is re-rendered. See it in action in the screenshots on the home page.

Getting started /

• First launch: the welcome tour walks you through the one-time speech-model download (~1.6 GB, cached on your Mac, removed with the app).
• AI key (optional): bad-take removal uses your own Google Gemini key — the tour shows you exactly how to create one in about two minutes at Google AI Studio. Without a key, RoughCut still performs silence-only cuts.
• First cut: drop a video into the studio, press Process, review, export.

Frequently asked /

• What does the AI cost? Google bills your key directly. A 10-minute video typically costs 5–25¢, and light use often fits Google's free tier. RoughCut itself never charges per use — it's a one-time purchase after 5 free cuts.
• Is my footage uploaded anywhere? No. Video and audio never leave your Mac. Only transcript text is sent to the AI provider you configure, under your own account. See the privacy policy.
• Keep your key safe: treat it like a password. Paste it only into RoughCut's Settings (it's stored in the macOS Keychain) — never into notes, chats, or screenshots. If it ever leaks, delete it in Google AI Studio and create a new one.
• Which editors work? Built for Final Cut Pro; the FCPXML also imports into DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Premiere Pro.
• Languages? English and Arabic, with auto-detection.
• Requirements? Apple Silicon (M1 or later), macOS 26 or newer, ~2 GB free disk for the speech model.

Contact /

Questions, bugs, or feature requests: start with the Help & FAQ section built into RoughCut — it covers every feature in depth. A dedicated support email will be published here at launch.