timbercut
Request a pilot

Workflow

From client note to signed-off revision.

Six stages, in the same order every round. Timbercut does the reading, the routine edits and the checking. The last stage always belongs to your team.

  1. 01FeedbackTimbercut
  2. 02UnderstandingTimbercut
  3. 03Edit planTimbercut
  4. 04ProductionTimbercut
  5. 05VerificationTimbercut
  6. 06ApprovalYour team

01 · Feedback

Collect every note, wherever it landed.

Review links, chat channels, email threads, shared notes docs and the producer’s call notes are read together as one round. Nothing has to be copied into a new tool first, and every comment keeps its author, its source and its time.

Your team: Keep leaving notes where you already leave them.

Round 3 on V7 · 48 comments

  • Review linkTimecoded comments on V7 18 “The price card has to go. Pricing isn’t final for the launch markets.” Sarah Okafor
  • Team chat#corvane-fold-launch 9 “Can we raise the music under the VO? Feels flat.” Daniel Reyes
  • EmailThread “Re: Corvane Fold V7” 7 “Please pull the price card. Pricing varies by market and isn’t approved.” Daniel Reyes
  • Notes docRound 3 notes: Legal & Brand 7 “Rider crosses on a red pedestrian signal. Use a take with a green signal.” Priya Nair
  • Call notesReview call, Tue 11:00 (notes by Theo Brandt) 7 “Use the 2025 end card for now. The new one isn’t ready.” Theo Brandt

31 of 48 comments carry a timecode · 7 people · Mon 09:14 to Tue 17:45

02 · Understanding

Read each note against the project.

Every note is linked to what it’s about: a timecode, a shot, an asset, a clause in the brief, a brand or legal rule, an earlier decision. References get resolved, repeats get merged with every source kept, and anything that will cause trouble later is flagged now.

Your team: Answer a question only when a note genuinely can’t be resolved.

Resolving one phrase from the producer’s instruction

  1. Instruction“use Sarah’s comment from yesterday”Theo Brandt · Team chat · Wed 09:05
  2. Resolves to“For the opening: start on the fold close-up, then go straight to the street. We don’t need the skyline at all.”Sarah Okafor · Email · Tue 16:40 · C-45
  3. TouchesSH-03 Fold latch close-up (opening)SH-01 City skyline at dawnSH-02 Rider carries the folded bike down to the street
  4. HistoryV7: opening revised after a documented test. Also noted, as an inferred preference: the client favors product-first openings.
  5. BecomesOpen on the fold, lose the skyline R-42 · explicit

Also found while reading the round

  • 4 repeat notes merged
  • 2 earlier instructions superseded
  • 1 conflict with the brief
  • 1 missing file
  • 7 requests that depend on another

03 · Edit plan

Turn intent into explicit operations.

Each unique request becomes an operation anyone on the team can read: what changes, where, by how much, and why. Interpretations are marked as explicit or inferred, so a guess never passes for an instruction.

The plan also decides what can go ahead, what needs a person, and what can’t happen yet.

Your team: Read the plan if you want to. Only flagged items wait on you.

44 operations: 34 supported, 6 for approval, 2 blocked, 2 superseded

  1. R-01

    Remove the outdated price card

    Explicit 
    remove_clip   GFX_Price_1899   [00:00:21:00 → 00:00:23:12]
extend_clip   SH-10 head   +2s12f   (handles: 3s02f)

    CompletedThree people asked for it and brief §4 excludes pricing, so it goes ahead.

  2. R-02

    Make the opening punchier

    Inferred 
    trim          SH-03 tail   −6f
trim          SH-02 head   −14f
extend_clip   SH-10 tail   +20f   (runtime held at 00:00:30:00)

    Needs approval“Punchier” is subjective, so the reading is marked as inferred and goes to the creative director.

  3. R-28

    Cut the fold demonstration

    Explicit 
    remove_clip   SH-04   (unfold, 4s13f)   (blocked)

    Blocked: conflictBrief §2.1 requires the fold shot, so this is blocked until its owner decides.

04 · Production

Apply what’s supported. Hold what isn’t.

Supported operations are designed to run through connected editing tools, building the next version alongside the current one so nothing is overwritten. Runtime, handles and sync are respected: when a shot comes out, something has to fill the gap.

Proposed changes wait for approval, and blocked ones don’t run at all.

Your team: Nothing, unless you want to watch. The previous cut stays as it was.

Picture track, V7 and the proposed V8 · both 00:00:30:00

  • Skyline removed; the street shot extended into the gapR-42
  • Price card removed; the sunset shot extended from handlesR-01 · R-40
  • Café moved ahead of the bridgeR-19
  • Bridge shot 10 frames shorter, take 3 with the helmet fastened, frame color correctedR-06 · R-16 · R-20
  • Crossing and riverside shots swapped to compliant takesR-12 · R-41
  • End card: Brand Kit 2026.2 lockup, new line punctuation and CTA, two frames longerR-36 · R-03 · R-38 · R-04

In the demo these operations are applied to a simulated V8. No video is edited or rendered.

05 · Verification

Check every change, and say what’s blocked.

Each change is checked against the request behind it and the rules that govern it, with evidence attached. Then the round itself is checked: every comment accounted for, the brief, brand and legal rules, decisions still waiting and anything blocked.

A blocked check stays blocked. An approved exception is recorded as an exception, never as a pass.

Your team: Look at what’s blocked and why.

Round checks after the first pass

  • Passed

    Every comment has a disposition

    48 of 48 comments accounted for. Accounted for means each one has an outcome and a reason, not that each one was done.

  • Blocked

    Brief requirements

    §2.1 blocked by the conflict on R-28. §2.2 and §4 pass.

  • Blocked

    Brand rules

    Lockup at 16% (12–18% allowed) and supers pass. The 9:16 end card from Brand Kit 2026.2 is missing (R-37).

  • Passed

    Legal rules

    Legal line timing, safe riding, plates and third-party marks pass. The current claim is on the approved claims sheet.

  • Waiting for a decision

    Decisions waiting for a person

    6 proposed changes wait for a named approver.

  • Blocked

    Blocked requests

    2 blocked: 1 by a conflict, 1 by a missing asset.

Three of the 43 per-request checks

  • Passed

    Legal line on screen for at least 3 s R-13

    Simulated evidence LEGAL-1 duration 3s05f.

  • Passed

    End-card lockup is from Brand Kit 2026.2 and within 12–18% R-36

    Simulated evidence Asset ID BK2026-2/Lockup_Horizontal at 16.0% of frame width.

  • Blocked

    9:16 end card present R-43

    Simulated evidence Blocked: the 9:16 end card is missing (R-37).

06 · Approval · Your team

People make the calls. Then a person signs off.

What’s left is a short queue of decisions, each one with the person who owns it and the reason it needs them. Approving or declining updates the plan, the checks and the audit together.

When nothing is waiting and nothing is blocked, the round is ready for a person to sign off. Nothing goes to a client automatically.

Your team: Make the calls that need you, then sign off the round.

Decision queue · 6 waiting

  • Make the opening punchier R-02

    Mina Cho, Creative Director · Creative call

  • Try the alternate music track R-25

    Theo Brandt, Producer · Cost and licensing

  • Make the end-card logo bigger R-29

    Sarah Okafor, Brand Lead · Brand decision

  • Change the claim to “Folds in seconds” R-30

    Priya Nair, Legal Counsel · Legal review

  • Use VO take 6 for the end line R-35

    Sarah Okafor, Brand Lead · Client-approved element

  • Prepare 9:16 and 4:5 versions R-43

    Mina Cho, Creative Director · Creative call

Ready for the client? Not yet: 6 decisions and 2 blocked requests remain. Every comment is accounted for, but not every request is done.

Edge cases

When the round gets messy.

Real rounds aren’t tidy. These are the situations the sample round was built to show, each with the request you can open in the demo.

  • Two notes disagree

    Timbercut weighs who said what, when and with what authority. A later instruction from the brand lead supersedes an earlier request, and both stay on record.

    R-08 → R-33

  • A note breaks the brief

    The request is blocked and the options are set out for the brief’s owner. A compromise that still breaks the brief needs an exception.

    R-28 · brief §2.1

  • A file isn’t anywhere

    Timbercut lists where it looked and drafts a request for the file. Anything that depends on it stays blocked.

    R-37 → R-43

  • A note repeats an old mistake

    The history comes with it. Instead of repeating the reverted change, Timbercut proposes the largest change the rule allows.

    R-29 · V5 → V6

  • A note is vague

    Timbercut proposes one specific reading, labels it as inferred and asks the person who owns that call.

    R-02 · “punchier”

  • Requests depend on each other

    Edits that touch the same layer or shot are ordered, and checks that depend on something unfinished wait for it.

    R-30 after R-05

Run all six stages yourself.

Start the sample round, watch each stage, then make the decisions that are waiting for a person.

Open the demo Explore the Decision Graph