What is Cut Studio? The free AI video editor inside Cat Claw
Generating the clip was never the hard part. Getting 6 clips to feel like one video, with captions that sit on the voice and an opening that holds, is. That is the job Cut Studio does, and it does it for nothing.
Published 2026-09-30 by Cat Claw, the UK's create-and-distribute AI studio. About a 10 minute read.
The short version
- Cut Studio lives at catclaw.ai under Video, then Cut Studio. Editing is free: trims, per-clip volume, captions, title cards, 4 music beds, loudness levelling to the social standard, and a render back to your gallery.
- A cut holds up to 30 clips from your gallery at 9:16, 16:9 or 1:1, from 480p to 1080p, with letterbox, blur or crop fitting and hard cut or cross-fade transitions.
- AI fixes make a new version of any clip and never touch the original: Upscale to 4K, Extend by 5 seconds, or Reshoot with a note. These are the only paid actions, and they refund automatically on failure.
- Smart edit is free and only proposes: word-timed captions from speech, tighten dead air, cut to the beat, a hook check on the first 3 seconds, and follow the face when a clip is the wrong shape for the frame.
- A/B versions render 2 or 3 openings of one cut together, each with its own Post button for Puurfect Post, so the test happens in your real feed.
- It is rolling out gradually, so if Cut Studio shows as not yet switched on for your account, that is the rollout, not a fault.
Cut Studio is the video editor inside Cat Claw AI. Pick any finished videos from your gallery, put them in order, trim each one, add captions, title cards and a music bed, level the sound for social, and render one video back to your gallery. It runs on Cat Claw's own Cut engine rather than on a generative model, which is why the edit itself costs no credits at all.
On top of the free edit sit 3 things a normal editor does not have: AI fixes that make a new version of any clip, a smart edit layer that proposes captions from speech, silence trims, beat-synced cuts and a hook score, and A/B versions that render 2 or 3 openings of the same cut so you can post them and see which one holds. This guide covers all of it, what each part costs, and how it connects to Drama Studio and Puurfect Post.
What is Cut Studio?
Quick answer. Cut Studio is a free video editor inside Cat Claw AI that turns finished clips from your gallery into one rendered video: order them, trim them, add captions, title cards and music, level the sound and render. It runs on Cat Claw's own Cut engine, so the edit costs no credits. Optional AI fixes on individual clips are the only paid part.
The Cut engine is the same one Drama Studio uses to render an episode, so a micro-drama's intro card, burned-in dialogue captions and loudness levelling and a Cut Studio edit of 6 gallery clips are the same machinery underneath. Building it once and putting every product on it is why the editor could be free: there is no generative model in the loop, just a render.
Everything you edit is a clip you already own. The gallery is the source, the timeline is the edit, and the render lands back in the gallery as a new video with the Post button next to it. Nothing leaves Cat Claw unless you send it.
What does the free edit include?
| Control | What it does | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline | Tap gallery videos to add them in order; the same clip can appear more than once | Up to 30 clips per cut |
| Trim | Take seconds off the head and tail of each clip | Up to 5 seconds each end |
| Volume | Per-clip gain from mute to double | 0 to 2 |
| Captions | A caption across each clip, burned in | 160 characters per clip |
| Title cards | An intro and an outro card with a title and subtitle | 80-character title |
| Music | A music bed ducked under the speech | 4 beds: Smoky Noir Jazz, Warm Acoustic Pop, Neon Synthwave, Tension Strings |
| Loudness | Levels the whole cut to the social standard | Minus 14 LUFS |
| Frame | Aspect, resolution and how odd-shaped clips fit | 9:16, 16:9 or 1:1; 480p to 1080p; letterbox, blur or crop |
| Transition | Between clips | Hard cut or cross-fade |
Loudness levelling is the one most people skip and most feeds punish. TikTok, Reels and Shorts normalise audio, so a cut that is too quiet gets pushed up with its noise and a cut that is too loud gets squashed. Levelling to minus 14 LUFS before you post means the platform leaves your sound alone.
AI fixes: a new version of any clip
A fix takes one of your finished clips and makes a new version of it with an AI tool Cat Claw already runs. The original is never touched. The new version lands in the gallery with a record of where it came from, and you decide which version the cut uses.
| Fix | What happens | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Upscale to 4K | Sharper, bigger, same shot | Per second of the clip: about 8 for a 5-second clip, 16 for 10 seconds |
| Extend +5s | Continues from the exact last frame, already mid-motion, from your note on what happens next | About 37 |
| Reshoot | A new take of the shot with the original as reference plus your direction, at the original's length | About 23 for a 5-second clip, 45 for 10 seconds |
- Fixes are the only paid actions in Cut Studio. The price shows before you confirm, and a failed fix reads as failed and refunded, with the credits back in your balance.
- The same 3 fixes are available on any finished Drama Studio take through the wand button. The result arrives as a new take in the scene, badged with where it came from, and is never auto-approved.
- Extend and reshoot render on Seedance at 720p. Upscale runs to 4K on clips from 3 seconds to 10 minutes.
Smart edit: captions from speech, tighten, beat sync and the hook check
Smart edit is a set of free helpers that read your clips and propose changes. Nothing is applied until you say so, and every proposal follows the timeline live, so reordering or trimming after the fact does not break it.
- Hook check. The first 3 seconds are scored on movement, a face on screen, words on screen and speech in the first second, with plain-English tips on what to change. Free, and worth running before every render.
- Captions from speech. Each clip's audio is transcribed into word-timed caption cues, grouped into short social lines and editable word by word before the render. Cues live in the clip's own time, so they follow trims and moves. Silent clips are never sent to a recogniser.
- Tighten. Dead air at the head and tail of each clip is detected and proposed as trims with a little padding. It never loosens a trim you set yourself.
- Cut to the beat. Beats are detected on the music bed and cut points are nudged onto the nearest beat within a quarter of a second, by adjusting tail trims. Pick a bed, tap Snap cuts, render.
- Follow the face. When a clip is another shape to the frame, a 16:9 interview in a 9:16 cut for example, the crop pans with the main person instead of cutting from the middle. Faces are found on your device from stills sampled through the clip, and the path sticks with one person, holds through gaps and never jerks.
- Hook line. A big opening line over the first clip. It counts as words on screen in the hook check, which is the cheapest way to lift a weak score.
A/B versions: post 2 openings, keep the one that holds
Most short-form video lives or dies in the first 2 seconds, and nobody can reliably guess which opening wins. A/B versions render the same cut 2 or 3 ways, each opening on a different clip and or a different hook line, as one group. Every version lands in the gallery with its own Post button.
The test is not inside Cat Claw. Post the versions to different accounts, or the same account at different times, through Puurfect Post, then compare them in its analytics. Rendering is free, so the only cost of testing is the discipline to do it.
A sensible default. Version A opens on your best clip with the hook line. Version B opens on the second clip with no line. If B wins, your best clip was not your best clip.
How to edit a video in Cut Studio, step by step
- Open Cut Studio. Sign in at catclaw.ai, open Video in the navigation, then Cut Studio. Your gallery videos are listed on the right; tap any of them to add it to the end of the timeline.
- Set the frame. Choose 9:16, 16:9 or 1:1 and a resolution, then how clips of another shape should fit: letterbox, blur or crop. Follow the face is the smart version of crop.
- Order, trim and caption. Drag clips into order, trim heads and tails, set per-clip volume, and either type a caption per clip or run captions from speech and correct any word.
- Run the hook check. Read the score and the tips. Add a hook line, swap the lead clip or trim the dead air until the first 3 seconds earn their place.
- Add cards, music and levelling. An intro and outro card if the piece needs them, a music bed ducked under the voice, cuts snapped to the beat, and loudness levelling on.
- Render, or render A/B. Render one version, or 2 or 3 openings as a group. Renders queue in the background and land in your gallery, each with a Post button for Puurfect Post.
A cut made from Drama Studio takes works the same way, and the guide named "DramaClaw vs Cat Claw Drama Studio: what's the difference?" covers how an episode is assembled and finished. For the free editor pack that exports clips with an EDL, FCPXML and SRT for Premiere, Resolve, Final Cut Pro or CapCut, see the same guide. The cat approves of every cut. He is, after all, the one with the claws.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cut Studio?
Cut Studio is the free video editor inside Cat Claw AI. It edits finished clips from your gallery into one rendered video with trims, captions, title cards, music and loudness levelling, on Cat Claw's own Cut engine rather than a generative model, which is why the edit costs no credits.
Is Cut Studio really free?
Yes. Every editing control and every render, including A/B versions and the smart edit helpers, costs nothing. The only paid actions are the optional AI fixes on a single clip: Upscale to 4K, Extend +5s and Reshoot. Each shows its price first and refunds automatically if it fails.
Can Cut Studio add captions automatically?
Yes. Captions from speech transcribes each clip into word-timed caption cues, groups them into short social lines and lets you edit any word before the render. The cues follow the clip through trims and reorders, and silent clips are never sent to a recogniser.
How many clips can a Cut Studio cut hold?
Up to 30 clips from your gallery, and the same clip can be used more than once. Each clip can be trimmed by up to 5 seconds at either end, at 9:16, 16:9 or 1:1, from 480p to 1080p.
What does the hook check measure?
The first 3 seconds of the cut, scored on movement, whether a face is on screen, whether there are words on screen and whether there is speech in the first second, with plain-English tips. Adding a hook line is the quickest way to lift the score.
How does A/B testing work in Cut Studio?
You render the same cut as 2 or 3 versions, each opening on a different clip and or a different hook line. All versions land in your gallery with their own Post button. Post them through Puurfect Post to different accounts or at different times and compare them in its analytics.
Can Cut Studio turn a 16:9 video into a 9:16 one?
Yes. Set the frame to 9:16 and pick crop, or use Follow the face, which pans the crop with the main person instead of cutting from the middle. Faces are found on your device from stills sampled through the clip.
What do the AI fixes cost?
Upscale to 4K is priced per second of the clip, about 8 credits for 5 seconds and 16 for 10. Extend +5s is about 37 credits. Reshoot is about 23 credits for a 5-second clip and 45 for 10 seconds. The original clip is never changed, and a failed fix is refunded.
Can I edit Drama Studio episodes in Cut Studio?
Drama Studio renders its episodes on the same Cut engine, with its own finishing panel for cards, captions, trims and loudness, and the same 3 AI fixes on any take through the wand button. For an edit outside the episode structure, download the free editor pack and finish in Premiere, Resolve, Final Cut Pro or CapCut.
Why does Cut Studio say it isn't switched on for my account?
It is rolling out gradually. The page tells you plainly when your account is not in the rollout yet rather than showing a dead button. Everything else in Cat Claw works as normal in the meantime.
Edit your videos into one. Free.
Trim, caption, score the hook, follow the face, render 2 openings and post the winner. Cut Studio runs on Cat Claw's own engine, so the edit never touches your credits. Free to sign up, no card needed.
Cut Studio edits your AI clips into one finished video for free: trim, captions from speech, title cards, music, loudness, follow the face and A/B openings. What it does and what the AI fixes cost.