Video Editing
This skill handles only whole-project post-production. Individual shot video, images, dialog, or audio continue to reside in the corresponding video/shots/<shot-id>/ directories; cross-shot reusable materials remain in video/materials/.
1. Create edit on demand
The post-production directory and export naming follow references/EDIT-PROJECT.md to maintain the shallowest possible structure.
Only create video/edit/ when the project genuinely enters full post-production. The directory can directly contain:
- Premiere Pro, After Effects, DaVinci Resolve, or other post-production projects;
- Whole-project music, narration, or mixes;
- Subtitles, logos, titles, or composite resources;
- Review exports and final masters.
Do not add audio/, delivery/, or other top-level directories for organizational tidiness alone; add subdirectories only when the sheer file count makes basic navigation or readability difficult.
2. Assemble currently accepted shots
When multiple accepted shots enter a rough cut, read references/EDITING-RHYTHM.md. First resolve story/information flow, action cut points, reaction timing, sound bridges, and product legibility, then consider decorative transitions.
Bring the generated results currently accepted for each shot into the timeline. Shot files remain in their original locations as long-term sources; post-production projects may reference, proxy, or manage media as needed by the tooling, but do not copy multiple hard-to-track versions of the same source video for a "final" version. Derived results such as cuts, color grading, stabilization, or replaced audio do not create new shot identities, nor should they overwrite the original generated outputs. When the current project uses video-shot, its shot identity rules continue to be governed by that skill.
3. Deterministic post-production
Tasks that can be performed precisely by post-production tools should be handled deterministically: cuts and timeline assembly, subtitles and titles, logos and precise typography, aspect ratio adaptation, simple compositing, volume and mixing, audio-video sync, final encoding, and export. For color, exposure, stabilization, noise reduction, upscaling, and texture consistency across multiple models/batches, refer to references/FINISHING.md. Discrepancies that can be fixed deterministically should not be regenerated, but human identity, product structure, and serious timeline errors cannot be masked by finishing. Handle subtitles, logos, titles, product text, and end cards per references/GRAPHICS-TITLES.md; do not rely on a generative model to accurately render text. When the project requires dialog/narration subtitles, external subtitles, burned-in subtitles, accessibility captions, or multilingual subtitles, then read references/SUBTITLES.md, generate from the final audio/text, and check timing and safe zones for every language and aspect ratio.
Do not let a generative model redo tasks that deterministic post-production can handle reliably simply because it can attempt them.
When preparing for final export or whole-project review, first check the entire film content against references/FINAL-QC.md, then verify each official delivery file against references/TECHNICAL-QC.md for proper decoding, duration, aspect ratio, resolution, audio tracks, and other explicit delivery requirements. If ffprobe/FFmpeg is available in the current environment, prioritize using this skill's bundled scripts/delivery_qc.py to perform complete decoding and explicit parameter validation on official files; check width, height, aspect ratio, duration, FPS, container, video/audio codec, audio tracks, channels, sample rate, and square pixels as needed. Expected values must come from VIDEO.md / client / competition / platform requirements; the script does not provide generic delivery defaults and does not replace a full content review.
4. Full-film inspection
Review the final master from start to finish for plot/information continuity, shot transitions, music and dialog, subtitles/logos, product model numbers, or any other delivery requirements. Whole-project issues must be corrected by returning to the corresponding shot, material, or script; do not silently override upstream facts within the post-production project.
Completion criteria
The whole-project edit can clearly identify the currently accepted shots and all project-level resources. The final master satisfies the current delivery requirements specified in VIDEO.md, and no duplicate, untrackable "final" files have been created.