Editing & Post-Production
Rough cut
Also called: first cut
A rough cut comes after the assembly, where you lay everything down in order, and before the fine cut. The story is in place, the sections run in the right sequence, and the video is roughly the right length. Everything cosmetic is still missing. This is the stage to show someone, because the only question that matters yet is whether the thing holds together, and cutting ten minutes now is cheap where cutting them after grading is not. Editors who colour and sound-design as they go end up defending work they should be deleting.