Cut to a song

Cut to a Song takes a wedding you have already analyzed and a music track, and hands back a few short edits cut to that track. You hear the song, see every cut on it, move any cut you disagree with, and generate.

How Hailo places the cuts

Hailo listens to the whole track, not just its beat, and places cuts where the song actually turns. You see every cut before you generate, and you can drag, add or delete any of them.

Step one: the wedding and the song

Click Cut to a song on the Edit launchpad. The screen is titled Cut to a Song with the line "Pick the wedding and the track. Hailo reads the song and shows you where it will cut."

1. Under Wedding, click Which wedding is this for? and choose from the list of analyzed weddings. Each row shows the couple and the clip count, for example "Sarah and Ben · 412 clips". If you already have a project open it is picked for you. If nothing is analyzed yet the list says "Nothing sorted yet. Sort a wedding first."
2. If the footage drive is not connected, a note reads "Sorted, but the footage is not on this Mac. Plug in Weddings before you generate."
3. Under Song, click Choose the track… and pick the audio file. If the picker cannot open, a field appears with the placeholder "Or paste the path to the song".
4. Click Read the song.

Step two: the cuts

The card widens and the line changes to "Play it, scrub it, and move the cuts. Then generate."

Element	What it does
Song name and feel line	The file name, then a summary like "124 bpm · driving · builds · 3:12".
Cut strip	Every planned cut as a marker over the song. Drag a cut to move it. Click a cut to remove it.
Waveform	Click or drag to seek. The playhead follows playback.
Play button and time	Play or pause, with "0:00 / 3:12" alongside.
Add a cut here	Drops a new cut at the playhead.
Cut count	"38 cuts, as Hailo would" until you change something, then "39 cuts, yours".
Hailo's cuts	Throws away your changes and restores Hailo's original placement.
Versions	A stepper from - to +, default 3. The hint under it names the versions you will get, for example "Story-Driven, Balanced, Tight & Punchy".
Generate	Starts the build.
Different wedding or song	Goes back to step one.

The five version styles, in order:

Version	Character
Story-Driven	Opens wide, builds through the day, peaks at the party
Balanced	Natural pacing, follows the song
Tight & Punchy	A cut on every beat
Slow & Cinematic	Long holds, room to breathe
Maximum Variety	The widest spread of clips

While it runs

A progress bar with a phase line ("Starting…", then the engine's own progress) and a Cancel button. Cancelling returns you to the cuts.

Done

The title reads Cut to followed by the song's name, with the line "3 versions for Sarah and Ben, saved beside the wedding's other timelines."

Under it, a list of the versions with clip counts and durations. Click a version to make it the current one.

Button	What it does
Open in your editor	Opens the current version in the editor set in Settings.
Preview the cut	Plays a 720p preview of the current version with the song on it. Appears once the preview has rendered.
Reveal in Finder	Opens the folder holding the versions.
Back to the cuts	Returns to the cut strip so you can adjust and generate again.
Build another	Clears everything and returns to step one.

The versions are saved beside the wedding's other timelines, in the deliverables folder for that wedding. See Where files land.

If it didn't work

What you see	What to do
The Cut to a song card is not on your launchpad	The feature is not on for your account yet.
"Nothing sorted yet. Sort a wedding first."	Run an analysis on the wedding first. See What Analyze does.
"Sorted, but the footage is not on this Mac. Plug in … before you generate."	Connect the drive named in the message.
Read the song stays greyed out	Both a wedding and a song are needed.
The preview never appears	Reveal the folder in Finder and open the timeline in your editor. The versions are already written.