J and L cuts

Picture and sound do not change at the same instant, and that hides the edit.

Workflow

1. Separate the audio: detachAudio on the clip returns its audioClipId and mutes the video.
2. J-cut (audio leads): trim or move the incoming audio clip so it starts before the video cut, pulling the viewer into the next beat.
3. L-cut (audio lags): let the outgoing audio run past the video cut to hold a reaction.
4. Place from word timings: transcript words give the cut points; lead or lag by a phrase, typically 0.3 to 1 s.
5. No join falls to digital silence. Where the lead or lag leaves a gap in the audio, cover it with a quiet stretch of the same recording: another audio clip of that source, from a measured pause, under the gap. No command makes room tone, so never report it unless you placed that clip and listened.
6. Check the join with agentWorkspace action review mode speech and listen with mode audio.

Gotchas

• Never fake a J or L cut by changing a linked clip's mediaStart: that slips the picture and the sound together and creates no bridge.
• A lead or lag needs real source handles: audio that exists before or after the used range. Without handles there is nothing to extend into.
• In dialogue roughly two-thirds of cuts can be split; straight cuts on every line is what makes amateur dialogue feel like ping-pong.