GitHub - barefootford/buttercut: Edit Video with Claude Code

ButterCut

Make Claude your Video Editor

Give Claude Code your video footage. Claude analyzes it, then builds roughcuts and sequences for Final Cut, Premiere, and Resolve.

Behind the scenes Claude uses ButterCut Skills and a little Ruby library to generate timelines for your editor.

Watch the Demo

Click to watch "I Taught Claude Code to Edit Movies" on YouTube

Getting Started

Click to watch the ButterCut install video on YouTube

Clone ButterCut:

git clone https://github.com/barefootford/buttercut.git && cd buttercut

Open Claude Code:

claude

# or skip permission prompts (faster, but riskier):
claude --dangerously-skip-permissions

Tell Claude to install ButterCut:

Claude will check your system and install any missing dependencies (Ruby, Python, FFmpeg, WhisperX).

For manual installation, see docs/installation.md.

Usage

First tell Claude to create a Library. A library organizes your video footage along with audio and visual transcripts. Then tell Claude you want to create a rough cut or sequence.

Creating a Video Library

You: "I want to build a new library"

Claude: [Guides you through library setup and asks for details]

You:
  - Library name: "wedding"
  - Video location: "/path/to/videos"
  - Language: "English"

Claude: [Automatically processes all videos]
  ✓ Creates library structure
  ✓ Transcribes audio with WhisperX
  ✓ Analyzes video frames
  ✓ Generates visual transcripts

Result: Full footage analysis ready for rough cut creation

Claude handles the parallel processing, metadata extraction, and transcript generation. See the full walkthrough for a detailed example of me setting up a library from my wedding footage.

Creating a Roughcut or Sequence

Once your library is analyzed, Claude can create rough cuts through an interactive conversation:

You: "Let's create a new roughcut"

Claude: [Loads roughcut skill and analyzes footage]
        What should this roughcut focus on?
        - Full story
        - Just the meetup coverage
        - Short teaser sequence

You: "Just the meetup coverage"

Claude: [Asks 3 preference questions]
        - Narrative structure? (chronological, thematic, hook-based)
        - Target duration? (1-2 min, 3-5 min, 6-10 min)
        - Pacing style? (fast & punchy, conversational, cinematic)

You: "Start with presentations (5 sec clips), then interviews,
      then my closing reflection. 3-5 minutes, conversational pacing."

Claude: [Asks which video editor you want to use]
        - Final Cut Pro X
        - Adobe Premiere Pro
        - DaVinci Resolve

You: "Final Cut Pro X"

Claude: [Creates roughcut with editorial decisions]
        ✓ Combined visual transcripts
        ✓ Selected 29 clips (4:32 total)
        ✓ Exported to FCPXML

Result: Ready-to-import timeline at:
        libraries/[library]/roughcuts/[name]_[datetime].fcpxml

Claude makes editorial decisions based on transcript analysis and your preferences, then exports a timeline for your editor.

XML Generation

For direct XML generation without Claude Code, see docs/basic-xml-generation.md.

Thanks

ButterCut was inspired by ambitious open source work from Chris Hocking and Andrew Arrow.

License

MIT

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests welcome.