Process

Split edit

You might say: J-cut, L-cut, pre-lap, sound bridge

A cut where sound and picture change at different moments: the next shot’s sound starts early, or the last shot’s sound runs on.

What it does
Smooths a cut and carries the viewer across it. Sound that arrives first builds anticipation for the picture.
Ask
Should the next sound lead the picture, or the last one trail it?
Typical
About half a second of lead for a subtle split, two to three seconds for a deliberate pull.
Trouble
Two sounds fighting in the overlap.

What to look for

  1. A voice heard before its speaker appears
  2. A line that carries on over the next shot
  3. J and L shapes on the timeline

Catalogue: Shape

Sources

  1. Apple, Create split edits in Final Cut Pro for Mac, Create split edits in Final Cut Pro for MacYou can use a split edit to introduce the sound of a new shot or scene before cutting to the video of that shot or scene, or to extend the audio of a shot over a subsequent shot.
  2. Apple, Create split edits in Final Cut Pro for Mac, Create split edits in Final Cut Pro for MacAdjust the audio level of either clip (using keyframes or audio fade handles) so that the audio overlap sounds natural.
  3. Randy Thom, Designing A Movie For Sound, Sound’s Talentssmooth otherwise abrupt changes between shots or scenes
  4. Sami Ullah, What Is a Prelap in Film Editing? J-Cut vs L-Cut, Explained, How to build a prelap in your NLEDrag the start of scene B's audio to the left, under the end of scene A's video, by the amount you want: half a second for a subtle lead, two to three seconds for a deliberate pull.

Use it on your project

teardown-apply: hold "Split edit" (split-edit) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/content-creation/ against my project

Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.

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