A straight cut changes picture and sound on the same frame. It is how every rough cut starts, and it is why a rough cut feels like a rough cut. Conversation does not work that way. You hear someone start talking, then you look.
J and L cuts fix that by letting the sound change before or after the picture. This guide shows how to make them by hand in Premiere Pro, then how we apply them across a whole sequence with Editor.
This video may reference an older version of Editor. Features and UI may have changed since recording.
What are J and L cuts?
They are edits where audio and video change at different moments. The name is the shape the clip makes on the timeline.
- J cut. The next clip's audio starts before its picture. You hear the answer while you are still looking at the person who asked.
- L cut. The outgoing clip's audio carries on after the picture has cut away. You see the listener react while the line finishes.
Both do the same job. They hide the edit by giving the ear and the eye different moments to notice it.
How do you make a J or L cut in Premiere Pro by hand?
You roll the audio edit point without moving the video edit point. Premiere Pro links a clip's audio and video, so the trick is one modifier key.
- Pick the Rolling Edit tool. Press N.
- Hold Alt on Windows, or Option on Mac. This lets you grab the audio edit on its own, without unlinking the clips.
- Drag the audio edit point. Left for a J cut, so the next clip's sound comes in early. Right for an L cut, so the last clip's sound runs long.
- Play across the cut. Half a second is a common starting point. Adjust by ear.
If you do a lot of them, there is a keyboard version. Hold Alt or Option and click the audio edit point to select it, park the playhead where the sound should change, and press E to extend the edit to the playhead.
For one scene, this is the right way to work. Every cut gets its own decision. The cost shows up on a long interview or a talking-head video with a hundred cuts, where you repeat the same four steps a hundred times.
What do you need before you start?
- Premiere Pro. Editor runs as a panel inside it.
- Filmit Studio. The desktop app installs it into Premiere Pro, on Mac or Windows, and Editor comes with it.
- A Filmit account. Editor is part of Filmit Studio, and there is a free trial.
Once it is installed, open it in Premiere Pro from Window, Extensions, Filmit Studio, then open Editor from the panel.
How does Editor add J and L cuts for you?
It rolls the audio edits for you, on the cuts you choose, with one offset. In the video above it treats a single cut first, then every cut in the sequence.
- Open Cut FX. In Editor, go to the Cut FX tab and choose J or L cuts.
- Choose which cuts to treat. Only the cut between two selected clips, the in and out cuts of the clips you have selected, or every edit point in the sequence.
- Choose the type. J cut, L cut, or alternate, which switches between the two from one cut to the next.
- Set the offset. The demo uses 0.5, so the sound changes half a second away from the picture.
- Set the extras. Add a crossfade on the audio edit or leave it off, and keep a backup copy of the sequence if you want one.
- Click Apply. The audio edits move on the timeline. They are ordinary edits, so you can adjust any of them afterwards.
Pro Tip: Run it on two clips first. Select them, choose "only the cuts between the two selected clips" and apply. If the offset sounds right there, select the rest and run it again.
Where does it stop?
- It needs handles. A J or L cut borrows audio from beyond the visible part of a clip. Where the source audio ends at the cut, there is nothing to borrow. This is true by hand and with Editor.
- One offset per pass. Every cut in the pass gets the same offset. The cuts that matter most still deserve a pass by ear.
- Alternate is a starting point. Whether a cut should lead with sound or trail with it is a story decision. Alternating gets a long timeline most of the way there, and you change the ones that feel wrong.
Getting started
J or L cuts is one part of Editor, which comes with Filmit Studio. For everything else it does, from repeated takes to filler words, see Editor for Premiere Pro.
