# 5. Smart cut and notes for the director

> Reel length, the Smart cut group — video type, pace, effects and AI voiceover — and notes for the director in your own words.

Source: https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/tutorial/director/

**Step 5 of 9** · about a minute

Below the media on the **Media** step are three rows that tell the AI director what reel you need: **Reel length**, **Smart cut** and **Notes for the director**. All of them are optional: by default the director figures out the task from your footage.

**Demo (iPhone):**

1. Tap the Reel length row — the value changes from Auto to 15 s, tap again — 30 s
2. Tap the Smart cut row — the Direction sheet opens
3. Tap Video type — Talking head
4. Tap Pace — Dynamic, then “Done”
5. Tap the Notes for the director row — a sheet with a field and suggestions
6. Tap the “Fast, no pauses” suggestion, add “open with the result” and tap “Done”

## Reel length

The row cycles through **Auto**, 15 s, 30 s, 60 s, 90 s.

-   **Auto** — the AI decides from the content: usually 20–60 seconds, never more than 90.
-   A set length — the AI fits the most important parts into it, give or take about 15%.

## Smart cut

The **Smart cut** row shows the video type and opens the **Direction** sheet:

| Setting | Options | What it changes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Smart cut** | on / off | on — remove pauses and retakes, build from the best; off — for an already edited video: the edit stays, only “uhm” is cleaned from audio and captions |
| **Video type** | **Auto**, **Talking head**, **Story / vlog**, **Product / review**, **Aesthetic + music** | the genre the director edits for |
| **Pace** | **Calm**, **Balanced**, **Dynamic** | clip length, pauses, how often zooms and cutaways happen |
| **Effects & transitions** | **None**, **Light**, **Bold** | how many transitions and effects the director adds itself |
| **AI voiceover** | on / off | the AI writes a script from your footage and notes and voices it — for product footage and videos without speech |
| **Voice** | **Warm female**, **Soft female**, **Confident male**, **Deep male** | the voiceover voice |

Defaults: smart cut on, type **Auto**, pace **Balanced**, effects **Light**, AI voiceover off. The **Product / review** type turns the voiceover on by itself, **Aesthetic + music** turns it off. Each row has a “?” describing every option. Close the sheet with **Done**.

Once the reel is built, the director reviews the finished result itself and fixes what is needed — this is included in the montage price. More — [The self-check of the finished reel](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/ai/director/#self-check).

> **Note.** If you turn smart cut off, the other settings in the group do not apply and there is no self-check: Slicer keeps your edit and timing, adds captions and graphics and removes filler words.

## Notes for the director

The **Notes for the director** row opens a sheet with a field of up to 600 characters. Describe the mood, pace, what to show first, what to emphasize and how to end. Ready-made suggestions are added with a tap: **Fast, no pauses**, **Focus on price and benefits**, **Calm, to music**, **With humor**.

For example: “Fast, no pauses; open with the result; end with a call to follow”.

The director follows your notes when building and checking the reel and, if the AI voiceover is on, in its script too. The notes are stored encrypted.

> **Tip.** Notes work best when they are specific: “first 3 seconds — the finished dish in close-up” is clearer than “make it beautiful”.

## What you can change later

Reel length, smart cut and notes can be changed in the finished project's **Settings** section. That is a [rebuild with new settings](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/projects/remount/) — it is paid and resets manual edits.

## What's next

**Step 6 of 9** — [Montage and the run card](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/tutorial/montage/): starting the montage and following the stages.

-   [How the director works](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/ai/director/) — building the reel and its self-check, video types.
-   [AI voiceover](https://docs.slicer.media/en/guide/ai/voiceover/) — when to turn it on and how it sounds.