Cuts the silences, ums and restarts
Every cut sits in a real pause, never in a word. It keeps your last clean try.
Takes AI video editor
An AI video editor for talking-head videos.
Ask in plain words. Takes cuts the silences, the ums and the restarts, reframes to 9:16 and adds captions. Point at a frame to fix it.
In the app
Ask like you would ask an editor.
The chat sits beside your video. Say what you want; Takes does the steps and puts the new version in the chat.
- “Cut my keeper. Tight, but keep one pause after the hook.”
- “Make a 60-second vertical clip from the best part.”
- “Add captions, two to four words a line, low on the screen.”
- “Put calm music under it, well under my voice.”
TakesI let AI edit my videos for a week
Cut my keeper into a vertical short. Keep it tight, no silences.
4 steps · Bash, get session, Read
The short is ready, cut from your keeper. I took out 14 silences and both false starts, and the captions sit above the platform buttons.
I checked frames at every cut: no jump on your face.
Message Takes
What it does
The boring part of the edit, done for you.
9:16 on your face
It crops around you, not the middle of the frame.
Captions
From the word times of the final cut. Burned in or .srt.
Cleans your voice
Less noise, steady level, ready to post.
Music under you
It dips while you talk.
Thumbnails
From the frames you saved while you watched.
Fix by comment
Mark a frame, say what's wrong. Get a new version.
Feedback
Every edit makes the next one better.
I let AI edit my videos
Y
0:04 – 0:07The captions cover my face. Put them lower.
Fixed in v2Moved them under your chin. Saved as a rule in your style.
Your styleread before every edit
- Cut every silence over 0.4 s
- Calm music, well under the voice
- Captions low, never on a face
Comment on the framePick the moment, mark the area, type the note.
Takes fixes itA new version, and a reply that says what changed.
Your style learnsThe fix becomes a rule for every next edit.
Fewer notes each timeThe next video starts from your rules.
Post
Then it writes the posts.
Ask for them in the same chat. Each one uses the new edit, and the Post tab shows it the way it will look.
Is it for you?
When Takes fits, and when it doesn't.
Takes fits if you…
- talk to the camera and want the rough cut done for you
- make short clips from longer takes
- would rather say what's wrong than drag clips on a timeline
- have a Claude Pro or Max plan
Pick another app if you…
- want a timeline to drag clipsTakes has none. Open its files in Final Cut or Premiere for that.
- want effects, transitions and templatesTools like CapCut are made for that.
- don't want a paid Claude planThe AI edit runs on it.
- use Windows or an Intel Mac
Guide
How to edit talking-head videos with AI.
What happens when you ask, and how to get the edit you want.
How the AI edit works
The chat in Takes is Claude Code, running on your Mac with your Claude plan. When you ask for an edit, it reads the video's folder: the script, the starred take and your style. Then it works the way an editor would:
- Transcribe: Whisper, a free speech-to-text model, writes down every word with its time.
- Find the bad parts: long pauses, ums and uhs, and restarts where you said a line twice.
- Cut in silence: each cut goes inside a real pause, with a short fade, so no word gets clipped.
- Render: ffmpeg builds the new video.
- Check: it looks at still frames from the result (a caption, the tightest crop) before it calls the edit done.
Each edit is a new file, name-v1.mp4, name-v2.mp4 and so on, in the video's edits folder. Nothing gets overwritten, and your takes are never changed.
What to ask
Talk to it like you would talk to an editor. Some asks that work well:
- "Cut my keeper. Tight, but keep one pause after the hook."
- "Make a 60-second vertical clip from the best part."
- "Add captions, two to four words a line, low on the screen."
- "Clean up my voice. The room sounds a bit hollow."
- "Put calm music under it, well under my voice."
- "Make a thumbnail from the frame I saved."
You can also ask from any terminal with Claude Code: "cut my last Takes take".
Review by pointing at the frame
Play the edit in Takes. When something is wrong, pick the moment, drag a box around the area and type a note, for example "the crop cuts my head off here". Takes makes a new version and replies with what it changed.
The fix is saved as a rule in your style: how long a pause may be, where captions sit, how loud the music is. Every next edit reads those rules first, so you write fewer notes each time.
Your files and your plan
Your videos stay in ~/Movies/Takes on your Mac. ffmpeg and Whisper run on the Mac too. Claude Code sees what it needs to plan the edit: the script, the transcript and the still frames it checks. Like any Claude chat, that goes to Anthropic under your own account.
Takes has no account and no bill of its own. The edits use your Claude Pro or Max plan, so there is no price per minute and no credits to buy.
Takes vs. Descript, CapCut and Final Cut
Takes is narrower than a full editor, on purpose. It is for one person talking to a camera.
- Descript lets you edit by editing the transcript, on a timeline, with its own subscription.
- CapCut is strong on templates, effects and trends.
- Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro give you full control, frame by frame.
Takes records the video too, and edits when you ask. Many people use both: Takes for the rough cut, captions and the vertical clip, a timeline editor for a final polish. Takes saves plain .mp4 and .mov files, so any editor opens them.
Optional: fix a word you said
Said the wrong number? With your own ElevenLabs key (Takes › Settings › Voices), Takes can say the right words again in your voice and cut them in. Your lips won't move with the new words, so it works best over b-roll or a screen shot. The same key lets you make a voice-over from your script.
Get started
One line in Terminal.
It installs Takes, ffmpeg and Claude Code, signs you in and opens the app. Run it again to update.
NeedsApple silicon, macOS 15+, and a paid Claude plan (Pro or Max) for the AI parts.
Rather click?Download the .dmg, then click Finish setup in the sidebar.
Free and openMIT licensed. Read the code on GitHub.
Questions
AI editor questions.
Is the Takes AI video editor free?
The app is free and open source. The AI edit runs on your own Claude plan through Claude Code, which needs Pro or Max. Takes adds no fee and sells no credits.
Does it remove ums and filler words?
Yes. It finds ums, uhs, long pauses and restarts from a word-by-word transcript, and cuts each one inside a real pause so no word gets clipped.
Can it add captions?
Yes. It builds captions from the word times of the final cut: short lines, low on the screen, clear of your face. It burns them in, or gives you an .srt file.
Can it make vertical clips from a wide video?
Yes. Ask for a 9:16 version. It crops around your face and keeps your head and shoulders in every shot.
Can I edit videos I didn't record in Takes?
Yes. Ask the chat to import a phone video, a QuickTime recording or a download into a video in Takes, then ask for the edit.
Does it upload my video?
No. The video files stay on your Mac, and ffmpeg and Whisper run there. Claude Code sees the script, the transcript and the still frames it checks.
Can I finish the edit in Final Cut or Premiere?
Yes. Every edit is a plain video file in the video's edits folder. Open it in any editor.
Do I need to know ffmpeg or code?
No. You ask in plain words in the chat, and comment on frames to change things.
More about Takes
One app, from script to post.
Takes homeStoryboard, record, edit and post, in one app.
TeleprompterRead your script while the camera records.
Screen recorderYour screen and your camera, as two synced files.
Vertical video9:16 for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, on a Mac.
Teleprompter apps comparedEight Mac apps, side by side, with our gaps.