AI Talking Head Video Editing

AI can prepare a talking-head edit when it has a source clip, a timestamped transcript, and rules for what to cut. Keep the recording intact, put editorial decisions in a separate edit plan, and watch a low-resolution preview before exporting the final video.

In Scott’s workshop, a 5 minute 52 second recording became a 232 second vertical video. The edit plan kept 18 sections and marked 19 removals. The public repository includes the production workflow and its review tools. Talking Head Video Factory

Which footage works with this approach?

Start with a person speaking to camera and a story the transcript can follow. The main recording is the A-roll. Product demonstrations, screenshots, and other material that appear over it are the B-roll. Retakes and long pauses are normal inputs. A montage without narration needs a different plan because it has no speech sequence to anchor the cuts.

How do you go from recording to final export?

1. Inspect the recording and make a visual contact sheet where useful.
2. Transcribe the audio with word-level timestamps and preserve the original file.
3. Mark repeated takes, false starts, and pauses that interrupt the story.
4. Write an edit plan with the retained sections, intended cuts, and supporting media.
5. Refine cut points against the waveform so a transition does not clip the start or end of a word.
6. Match B-roll to the claim it illustrates and generate captions from the timed transcript.
7. Add motion graphics from templates. Specify their data and timing in the edit plan.
8. Render a lightweight preview. Review cuts, captions, pacing, and the framing on a phone.
9. Export at the resolution and aspect ratio required by the channel after the preview passes.

The important file is the edit plan. Someone else should be able to answer which line got cut, where a chart came from, and why a clip appears at that timestamp.

How do you keep an agent from over-editing?

Separate checks the renderer can enforce from judgments that need an editor. Code can check whether a source clip exists or a caption overlaps a boundary. An editor still has to check whether the visual changes help explain the point. In one workshop example a draft passed technical checks while changing presenter placement 19 times. The review showed the movement was distracting, so that failure went into the editing rules.

Choose one approved clip as a reference for framing and pacing. Keep reusable components for charts, callouts, and timelines. Have the agent supply text, values, and start and end times. Look for the same editorial failure on the next preview before broadening the template.

How do you try it on one video?

Follow the platform setup in the repository, run its diagnostics, then choose one original clip with a few natural retakes. Ask for the edit plan and a preview. Review the opening, one section with a technical term, and the final call to action before accepting the export. For footage that does not exist yet, use the product video workflow to plan and generate the shots first. Repository and setup instructions · AI product video workflow · SCT Camp Cohort 2