Every capability, in depth

The full production layer, module by module.

PaperCuts brings every stage of documentary post-production into a single workspace. Here's what each layer does, from the first word spoken in the room to the final paper cut.

LIVE

Nothing gets lost between the subject and the transcript.

Transcription and translation run side by side as the interview happens. Speakers are separated and labelled automatically. Share a live view with your translator or remote producer without them needing to be on set.

  • Four real-time transcription engines covering 20+ languages. Pick the best fit per session.
  • 20+ source languages with live translation to a target of your choice.
  • Live-share links for up to 25 viewers, each picking their own translation.
  • Local recording in the browser as a safety net for outages.
LIVE SESSION · RECORDING
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ESPAÑOL · SOURCE
00:12:47
INTERVIEWER

¿Cuándo se dio cuenta de que el puente no resistiría?

ELENA M.

Lo supimos a la segunda semana. Los números dejaron de tener sentido. [typing…]

ENGLISH · LIVE
+38ms
⟶ translating in real time
INTERVIEWER

When did you realize the bridge wouldn't hold?

ELENA M.

We knew by the second week. The numbers stopped making sense.

SPEAKERS

One name. Every appearance. Across every file.

Voice prints are matched automatically across your entire project. Rename a speaker once and the change ripples across every interview they appear in, including files you uploaded last month.

  • Voice fingerprinting matches speakers automatically across every file.
  • Stable identities you can merge, split, or rename project-wide.
  • Per-file appearances tracked with timestamps for quick navigation.
  • Automatic re-embedding when you correct or reset an identity.
SPEAKERS · PROJECT-WIDE
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EM
Elena Marín
Auto-matched across 14 files · 6.2h
+10
MT
Marcus Thorne
Auto-matched across 9 files · 4.7h
+5
DR
David Reyes
Auto-matched across 7 files · 3.1h
+3
?
Unknown Voice
Auto-matched across 2 files · 0.4h
Voice prints matched automatically. Rename once; the change applies across every file.
ARCHIVE

300 hours of rushes. Find the line you need in seconds.

The classic paper-edit problem: you remembered a quote but not the reel, so it got cut. Upload your library and search by idea rather than exact words. The chat goes further. Ask why something happened across a multi-day shoot and it draws the connections between speakers, surfacing causality and references that would otherwise be lost.

  • Searches by meaning, not just keyword. Finds the line even when you can't recall the exact phrasing.
  • Chat retrieves soundbites by idea: describe what you're looking for and it finds the tape, regardless of the speaker's exact words.
  • Surfaces causality and cross-speaker connections that would otherwise be cut because no one could place the exact line.
  • Concept extraction pulls recurring themes across hundreds of hours; every result links back to file, timecode, and speaker.
PROJECT ARCHIVE · 312h
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when the numbers stopped making sense3 matches · 0.4s
ELENA M.·Day 04 · Marin Interview.wav
00:24:11

"The numbers stopped making sense. That was the moment we knew."

DAVID R.·Day 11 · Reyes Cutaway.mov
01:02:47

"No one talked about it. Everyone could see the numbers were wrong."

MARCUS T.·Day 17 · Thorne Followup.wav
00:08:33

"I told the board the math wasn't adding up in the third quarter."

FACT-CHECK

Check every claim against the internet before it goes to broadcast.

Select any line from a transcript and the fact-checker queries the live web for corroborating evidence, contradicting coverage, and known counter-narratives. Built for journalists and investigative producers who need the public record next to the transcript, not as a separate step.

  • Queries the live internet, not a fixed knowledge base. Results reflect what is publicly available right now.
  • Surfaces counter-narratives and contradicting reporting the subject did not mention.
  • On a multi-day shoot, links the claim to what the same subject said in earlier sessions, so the check covers prior context on tape as well.
  • Verdict arrives with source links; corroborating and contradicting items listed separately.
FACT-CHECK · CLAIM ANALYSIS
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CLAIM · ELENA M. · 00:24:11

"The bridge inspection reports were suppressed for eighteen months before the blackout."

COUNTER-NARRATIVE · reuters.com · 2023-04

City records show one inspection report filed eleven months prior, not eighteen. Two others are listed as pending.

CORROBORATING · nytimes.com · 2023-07

Three engineers confirmed in sworn testimony that safety memos were not forwarded to the oversight committee.

VERDICT

Timeline disputed. Suppression of memos corroborated. Follow up on the eleven-vs-eighteen-month discrepancy.

BEATS

Shape the story before you cut the picture.

Group moments into beat sheets that mirror the arc you're writing toward. Drag, reorder, and annotate without ever leaving the transcript that fed the idea.

  • Multiple named beat sheets per project for parallel structures.
  • Drag-and-drop ordering with inline notes on every beat.
  • AI-assisted beat generation and summarization from indexed transcripts.
  • Beats stay linked to their source moments. One click back to the tape.
ACT 1 · NARRATIVE BEATS
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01The Arrival
Setting + key players in the control room.
02The Blackout
Power grid fails. Confusion turns to panic.
03First Refusal
Marcus refuses manual override. Schism forms.
04The Override
Elena bypasses the chain of command.
05Aftermath
The reports. The lies. Who chose silence.
PAPER CUTS

Build your paper cut without leaving the transcript.

Pull selects directly from any transcript and arrange them into a spreadsheet-style assembly. Timecodes, speaker labels, and section headers travel with every quote.

  • Spreadsheet-style editor with drag-and-drop reordering.
  • Three ways to read the shape of an assembly: acts as cards, pace along the running time, and a banded read of who holds the floor.
  • Typo-tolerant search across the cut, notes on any row, and a story turn flagged on the row where it turns.
  • Import existing paper cuts from Excel, Word, or PDF.
PAPER CUT · ACT 1
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INOUTSPEAKERTEXT
00:04:3100:04:42ELENA M.It wasn't planned. None of it was.
01:12:0401:12:18DAVID R.We had run the simulation a hundred times.
02:44:1102:44:26MARCUS T.I followed protocol. That's all I'll say.
00:04:4800:04:55ELENA M.That's what the reports said. But that's a lie.
03:21:0903:21:33DAVID R.Marcus had the codes. He just chose not to use them.
5 selects · 03:12 runtimeExport → .docx · .xlsx
CONFORM

The cut leaves the room with picture already under it.

A paper cut is built on the sound recordist's audio, because sound is what got transcribed. The picture is on camera cards, married to that sound by an assistant in Premiere. Hand over those sync sequences and the export carries the camera angles with it, cut to the same frames as the quotes.

  • One flattened sequence per shoot day, brought in as XML from the assistant's sync bin.
  • Recorder files matched by length and folder as well as name, so the MixPre-003 from Georgia is never married to the MixPre-003 from London.
  • Every bite from one marriage is cut at the same frame offset, so a two-hour sitting is still in sync at the end of act three.
  • Bites with no camera on them export as sound and are counted, rather than quietly disappearing.
SYNCYARD · COVERAGE
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MixPre-003.wavLondon
A001_C012.mov9 bites
MixPre-007.wavGeorgia
A003_C004.mov4 bites
Phoner_Reyes.mp3Phone
no camera rolling3 bites
Picture coverage13 of 16 bites
CHARACTERS

A portrait of every character, drawn from their own words.

Character overviews assemble a structured portrait of each speaker from everything they've said on tape, across every interview in the project.

  • Four modes: Portraits, Ensemble, Timeline Chronicle, Thematic Assembly.
  • Optional Serendipities, Facts, and Editor's Note sections per character.
  • Per-speaker generation grounded in your project archive. Only what they actually said on tape.
  • Export to .docx for sharing with directors, writers, and editors.
CHARACTER OVERVIEW · ELENA MARÍN
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EM
Elena Marín
Portrait · drawn from 14 files · 6.2h of testimony
PORTRAIT

Elena is the engineer who saw the failure coming and was told to be quiet. Her account is precise where the others' are evasive. She returns again and again to the night the simulation broke.

SERENDIPITIES

In three separate sittings, Elena uses the same phrase, "the numbers stopped making sense", without prompting.

FACTS
  • Joined the project in its second year.
  • One of two people who held the override codes.
  • Filed the original safety memo eleven weeks before the blackout.
Export → .docx

Put it to work today.

Start a project, upload your rushes, and build a searchable archive with speakers, beats, and paper cuts.