{
 "slug": "hard-cut",
 "name": "Hard cut",
 "category": "transition",
 "group": "Cuts",
 "media": [
  "video"
 ],
 "checked": "2026-11-13",
 "effect": "Nothing softens the change, so attention goes straight to what happens next.",
 "use_when": "Ads played straight, talking heads, most short-form edits.",
 "phrase": "hard cut on the action, no transition effect between the shots",
 "pitfalls": [
  {
   "text": "Our own 25-second spec ad uses hard cuts only, each on the action: 2.4 visual changes per 10 seconds, median shot 2.57 seconds. Any other transition is listed as a failure of that style.",
   "evidence": "measured",
   "source": "Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"
  },
  {
   "text": "Hard cuts land on movement or a beat, never on a still pose.",
   "evidence": "vendor",
   "source": "Director Chair field notes on video prompting"
  }
 ],
 "per_model": [],
 "external_refs": [],
 "licensed": [],
 "site_names": [],
 "related": [
  "cut-on-action",
  "jump-cut",
  "title-card-on-black"
 ],
 "rights": "own-work",
 "evidence": "measured",
 "source": {
  "url": null,
  "note": "Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026 (our own film) and Director Chair field notes on editing"
 },
 "body": "",
 "shown_with": null,
 "url": "https://directorchair.ai/transition/hard-cut",
 "markdown": "https://directorchair.ai/transition/hard-cut.md",
 "prompts": {
  "seedance-2.5": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nShot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): one continuous shot. Cut: hard cut on the action, no transition effect between the shots",
  "seedance-2.0": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nShot 1: one continuous shot. Cut: hard cut on the action, no transition effect between the shots",
  "kling-3": "[your subject]. The scene is [your setting]. Hard cut on the action, no transition effect between the shots.",
  "veo-3.1": "[your subject] in [your setting]. Hard cut on the action, no transition effect between the shots. Framing and subject stay as in the start image."
 },
 "licence": {
  "code": "MIT",
  "text": "CC BY 4.0",
  "third_party": "Clips and card texts inside a \"licensed\" block belong to their makers and are shown with permission and credit."
 }
}