Client review for interview edits: let the client pick the story before you cut
Client review in FlashCut happens before the detailed edit. You share the narratives proposed from a shoot through a password-protected link, and the client reacts to individual soundbites with a thumbs up or down and a short note, hearts the narrative they prefer, and leaves an overall note. Client review links are included on the Pro and Studio plans.
Updated
Why review the story before the cut
On interview projects, the most expensive client note is “this isn’t the story we wanted.” It usually arrives after a cut is finished, when changing direction means going back through the footage.
FlashCut moves that decision earlier. Because it proposes several narratives from one shoot, each at 90, 60 and 30 seconds, the client can choose between storylines and react to specific soundbites before anyone polishes a timeline.
How to share narratives with a client
- Open the Narrative Discovery board for the project and choose Share with client.
- Set a password of at least six characters and choose Get sharable link.
- Check the project title in the share dialog. It is the heading your client sees, and renaming it there updates the review page.
- Copy the link and send it to your client, with the password sent separately.
- To end the review, choose Stop sharing. Changing the password signs out anyone currently viewing.
What the client can do
- Enter their name before the board opens, so each note is attributed to the person who left it.
- Switch between the 90, 60 and 30-second versions of every narrative.
- Open a narrative to read its soundbites and see a still of each one.
- Give any soundbite a thumbs up or thumbs down, and add a one-line reason.
- Heart the narrative they prefer. More than one can be hearted, and a heart can be removed if they change their mind.
- Suggest a line that is not in any narrative with Find soundbites. The suggestion waits for the editor to approve it before it can be added to a narrative.
- Leave an overall note for the editor.
- Review on a phone as well as a desktop; on a narrow screen the narratives stack in a scrolling list.
What stays with the editor
The review link is built so the client signals and the editor decides. A client cannot remove soundbites from a narrative or move them between narratives, and a line they suggest only becomes part of a narrative once the editor accepts it.
If you want to freeze a narrative’s soundbites while the conversation continues, lock it. Clients can still react and comment on a locked narrative.
Reading the feedback
- Reactions appear on your own Narrative Discovery board as they arrive, next to the soundbites they refer to.
- When several people review through the same link, each reviewer’s reactions and notes are kept separately under their name, so one person does not overwrite another.
- A reviewer who changes their mind updates their own reaction rather than adding a second one.
- Once the client has hearted a narrative, assemble it, refine it by chat or transcript, and export it to Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro.
How this differs from proofing a finished video
General video proofing tools are built for a different stage. The editor uploads a finished or near-finished video, and reviewers leave time-coded, frame-accurate comments on it. That suits notes on pacing, graphics, color and typos, once the story is settled.
FlashCut’s review is about choosing the story. The client compares several narratives and reacts to individual soundbites, so feedback is attached to lines from the footage rather than to a timestamp in one cut. Many teams will use both: story review in FlashCut first, then frame-level notes on the finished video.
Plans
Password-protected client review links are included on Pro ($69 a month) and Studio ($199 a month). The free tier and Starter include narratives, rough cuts and every export format, without client review links.