PowerCut for Mac | Your Rough Cut, In Minutes, On Your Mac

The problem

The rough cut is the part that eats your day

Before any of the fun editing starts, someone has to scrub every minute of raw footage, find the good takes and cut the dead air. That someone used to be you.

You filmed 26 minutes for an 8 minute video

RAW · 26:14

FIRST CUT · 8:46

PowerCut strikes the dead air, fumbles and bad takes first, so the footage you scrub is already mostly keeper.

The same line, five takes, scattered everywhere

TAKE 1/5~~This studio took five, took five years to~~

TAKE 3/5~~This studio took five years to build, and~~

TAKE 5/5 ★This studio took five years to build.final take · cleanest read

Retakes are found and grouped, the best full read wins, with the reason shown and every alternate one click away.

Um, uh, and a breath between every thought

~~Um,~~ the colors are spot on ~~[1.8s pause]~~ and honestly, ~~uh, it, it~~ it never let me down.

Fillers are confirmed by two independent engines and pauses are cut on the audio itself, never clipping a word.

How it works

Three steps to a first cut

Drop in your footage

Any video files, any length, multiple clips. PowerCut reads frame rates and timecode, then transcribes everything on your Mac. A 20-minute clip transcribes in about 20 seconds on Apple Silicon.

Run the Auto Edit Pass

Silences, filler words, false starts, trail-offs, production chatter and repeated takes get struck, with the best read of every line kept and every decision labeled with its reason. Nothing is deleted, everything is one click to restore.

Polish, then export

Edit like a document: strike a sentence, swap a take, punch in on a line, trim a clip edge to the frame. Then export a cuts-only timeline to Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Premiere Pro, zooms included as real transform adjustments, plus captions that match the cut and follow the voice: a new cue on a breath, a sentence end or a change of speaker, never a wall of text. Need to hand the edit to someone without the footage? Save Project with Audio writes one small folder that opens anywhere with the cut and audible playback.

Silences past your slider Um, uh False starts Re-reads Repeated takes Trail-offs… Production chatter Off-script lines Doubled words

MOV · MP4 · M4V H.264, HEVC, ProRes MXF Sony · Canon · Panasonic NEW 10-bit · 4:2:2 · VFR handled WAV · MP3 · M4A audio-only projects EN · ES · FR · DE · IT · PT + 7 more in beta

MXF imports keep camera timecode and every audio track; exports reference your original files, untouched. MKV from OBS: File → Remux Recordings, then import.

Languages

Speaks your language

PowerCut transcribes and cuts in twenty languages, entirely on your Mac. It listens to your first clip and sets the language itself, remembers the one you picked last for the next project, and any clip can still carry its own language: right-click it in the sidebar and choose Clip Language.

English Spanish Español French Français German Deutsch Italian Italiano Portuguese Português

These six run the full pipeline: transcription, pauses, filler words, stutters and repeated takes. Models download once, on first use, and nothing is ever uploaded.

Japanese 日本語 · beta Korean 한국어 · beta Chinese Simplified 简体中文 · beta Chinese Traditional 繁體中文 · beta Cantonese 廣東話 · beta Hindi हिन्दी · beta Hinglish Hindi + English · beta Russian Русский · beta Ukrainian Українська · beta Polish Polski · beta Dutch Nederlands · beta Swedish Svenska · beta Lithuanian Lietuvių · beta Greek Ελληνικά · beta Vietnamese Tiếng Việt · beta Auto Detect mixed languages · beta

Japanese, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Dutch, Swedish, Lithuanian and Greek run the full pipeline too, filler words included; Korean, Chinese, Cantonese, Hindi and Hinglish get transcription, pause cuts and the whole paper edit, with the filler-word pass still to come. Hindi, Hinglish and Vietnamese are carried by an on-device Whisper engine (a one-time model download on first use). Cantonese and Chinese run on Apple's engine or, with the Maximum or Large v2 accuracy choice, on Whisper, with a second read on another model when the first comes back unusable; Cantonese writes Traditional or Simplified, your pick. Need another language? Email apps@rafaelludwig.com, requests decide what ships next.

Translate to English any language → English · beta

Shooting in a language you don't edit in? PowerCut can transcribe the speech and write the transcript in English, with every word timed to the original footage, so your cuts land exactly where things were said. Translate one clip from its language menu or the whole project with the Translate button; name the spoken language or let Auto Detect handle mixed footage. Translating an already-edited clip keeps your cut in place. On-device like everything else, and a Maximum accuracy option runs OpenAI's full Large-v3 model when the wording matters.

Why PowerCut

No uploads. No subscription. No black box.

Everything runs on your Mac, every automatic decision shows its reasoning, and the app learns your taste the more you overrule it.

Stays on your Mac

100% on device

Your footage never leaves your Mac. No uploads, no processing queue, no per-minute metering. Works offline, on a plane, and on client footage under NDA.

Edit text, not timelines

The transcript is the edit. Select words and strike them, press Return to split, drag sentences to reorder. Find anything with ⌘F, fix a mis-heard name everywhere in one click, and teach it corrections it applies to every future transcript. Press play and the text follows along.

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3full read★

Best take, with receipts

Repeated takes are grouped and the best full read wins, guided by your script if you load one: paste it, or just drop the Word file in. Every pick shows its reason, and every alternate read is one click away.

A review queue that confesses

The automation tells you which calls it was least sure about: close-call take picks, context strikes, possible mishears. Audition each one in place and settle it in a click.

Trim, ripple, skim

A real timeline underneath

Audible skimming to find words by ear, FCP-style trim brackets with live waveform reveal, ripple edits, a range tool for surgical cuts, and frame-precise overrides on any strike. See the edit as a Rough Cut or every file as Full Footage, and let Follow keep the word that is playing in the middle of the strip at any zoom.

10:4210:51nowKeep this one

Versions and merge review

Every Auto Edit Pass saves a timestamped version first. Revert outright, or merge: review each difference between then and now, and keep the side you prefer.

FKM♥●⚑

Markers, keywords, favorites

Press F, K, or M on any words, in the transcript or the Doc view: favorite the lines you love, keyword the b-roll to find later, and drop a ⚑named marker right on a word. They show on the timeline, jump from a searchable list, export as real FCP metadata on your original clips, and ship as a CSV log with timecodes and the line each one sits on.

Cam A

Cam B

Cam C

Recorder

Multicam and compound wrappers

Attach the other cameras and recorders to each clip, sync by timecode or by waveform, and the export lands in Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve as synced multicams, ready to angle-switch. Wrap every source in its own compound clip, or the whole shoot in one. Built the multicam in your NLE already? Import it and PowerCut links the angles, reads every dialogue angle as one conversation, and sends it back out as a multicam.

Learn more about multicam

Ana:

Ben:

Ana:

Ben:

Multi-speaker support

Two hosts, an interview, a panel: tick Multiple speakers and PowerCut labels who is talking, from separate microphones, one track or angle per person, or from the voices on a single mic. Names sit in front of each turn in the transcript, in the Doc view, and in the captions if you want them. Give each speaker a camera and the picture switches to whoever is talking; the multicam export carries every switch.

FillersTakesAsides

Cleanups you can toggle

Every cleanup pass computes in the background whether or not its box is checked, so flipping one applies or lifts it instantly. Spots you edited yourself are always skipped: your edits win. Music stays in: PowerCut listens to the channels and tracks the transcript does not use, keeps the pauses your music fills, and a Music Tutorial style is built for voiceover over playing.

Preset 1Preset 2

Punch in without keyframes

Select the words that deserve a closer look, or right-click a clip on the timeline, and zoom in: two editable preset levels, a draggable dot to aim it and a ring to set the strength, live in the preview. Zooms export to Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve as real transform adjustments, frame accurate at any resolution.

It learns you, privately. Every strike you restore teaches PowerCut. Rules you consistently overrule get more conservative on your Mac, for your footage. Nothing is collected, nothing is sent anywhere.

Editions

Try it free. Pay once, own it.

Free

The full editor, forever. Export locks after the trial.

7 days fully functional, including export
After that: import, transcribe, auto edit, review, trim, versions, forever
Your projects stay yours and keep autosaving
Timeline and caption export locked after day 7

Free Download • Mac

PowerCut

One-time purchase with 18 months of updates.

Everything in the free version
Unlimited export to Final Cut Pro, Resolve and Premiere
Caption export (.srt) matching the edited cut
Every update released within 18 months of purchase
Keeps working after the 18 months, on the last version you received

$79one-time

Buy PowerCut

PowerCut Lifetime

One-time purchase. Every update, forever.

Everything in PowerCut
Every update, every version, for as long as PowerCut exists
New languages, new NLE exports, new features included
Never pay again

$149one-time

Buy Lifetime

PowerCut for Windows is in development

The same rough-cut workflow on Windows, with frame-accurate export to DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro. Join the waitlist and you will be first into the beta, with early-bird launch pricing locked in.

Windows • Join WaitlistWindows • Get Notified!

~20 sec

to transcribe 20 minutes

3 NLEs

FCP · Resolve · Premiere

0 uploads

everything on device

$0/month

one-time purchase

Updates & ownership. Both licenses are permanent and never expire. PowerCut includes every update released in the 18 months after purchase, then keeps working on the last version you received; upgrading to Lifetime later is always available. Lifetime includes every update for as long as PowerCut exists. If a product is ever retired I will say so rather than go quiet: the final version stays downloadable and your license keeps working. Refunds: if it is not for you, email apps@rafaelludwig.com within 14 days of purchase and you get your money back, no questions asked.

Questions

The short answers

Does my footage get uploaded anywhere?

No. Transcription, take detection, the context pass, everything runs on your Mac using on-device models. PowerCut works with the network cable unplugged. The only network calls are license activation and the update check. The one exception is opt-in: if you connect the Claude Desktop app or Codex to PowerCut (Assistant Editor +, beta), the transcript (never audio or video) goes to that AI through your own app and account, and only when the AI asks for it.

What does the export actually give me?

A cuts-only, frame-accurate timeline, landscape or vertical to match the footage. Final Cut Pro and Resolve get FCPXML, as plain clips or wrapped in compound clips or multicams, one per source or one for the whole shoot; re-exports merge into the same FCP event. Premiere gets an XML where your full footage lives in a nested sequence and the edits sit on top, the way Premiere editors expect. Markers, keywords, and favorites travel too: FCP browser metadata on the original clips, marker EDLs for Resolve, timeline markers for Premiere. Captions export as .srt timed to the edited cut.

Does it change or re-encode my media?

Never. Your files are referenced in place and untouched. The exported timeline points at your original media, and every automatic cut inside PowerCut is a restorable strike, not a deletion.

What are the requirements?

An Apple Silicon Mac. On-device transcription uses Apple's speech engine on macOS 26 (Tahoe). The verbatim engine downloads once (about 500 MB) for filler-word and stutter detection.

What languages does it support?

English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese with the full pipeline, plus Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Cantonese, Hindi and Hinglish in beta. Japanese gets the full pipeline too; the other beta languages get transcription, pause cuts and the whole paper edit, with filler detection still to come. The six main languages are fully supported; the rest are labeled beta while real-world feedback shapes them. Pick the project's main language on the start page, or set a language per clip for bilingual shoots. Language models download once, on first use, and everything still runs on your Mac. And any language can be translated to English while you edit (see the next question), while Auto Detect handles clips that switch language mid-recording, writing each part in its own script. More languages are coming: email apps@rafaelludwig.com and tell me which one, requests decide what ships first.

Can it translate my footage to English?

Yes, in beta. Choose Translate to English from a clip's language menu (or the Translate button for the whole project), and Whisper transcribes the spoken language and writes the transcript in English, on your Mac. Every English word stays timed to the original footage, so striking a sentence cuts exactly where it was spoken, and if you translate a clip you already edited, your strikes and cuts stay in place. Pick the spoken language for best accuracy or use Auto Detect; a Maximum accuracy option runs OpenAI's full Large-v3 model (a one-time download of about 3 GB). Translation always writes English; that is the one language Whisper translates into.

What is Assistant Editor + (beta)?

An optional layer of AI help that uses the AI app you already have. PowerCut works fully without it. Connect the Claude Desktop app or Codex in Settings (no key, no sign-up), then chat with it about the project you have open: it reads the transcript, strikes and restores, corrects misheard words, picks takes, settles review items, adds markers and runs the Auto Edit Pass, and you watch every change land in PowerCut with the assistant's reason and an Undo. Only the transcript and PowerCut's own measurements ever go to the AI, through your own app and account (never audio, video or files), and only when the AI asks for them. It runs on your Claude or ChatGPT plan; PowerCut charges nothing for it. ChatGPT's desktop app cannot connect yet (it only takes remote connectors).

How does the free version work?

Seven days fully functional, export included. After that the editor keeps working forever, and a one-time license unlocks export whenever you're ready. Your work is never held hostage.

Can I get a refund?

Yes. If PowerCut isn't for you, email apps@rafaelludwig.com within 14 days of purchase and you get your money back, no questions asked. With the free trial before buying, that's three weeks to be completely sure. Refunds go back to your original payment method, and the license key is deactivated.

Free7-day full trial $7918 months of updates $149Lifetime

One-time purchase · no subscription · 14-day money back

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PowerCut
Your Rough Cut, In Minutes

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