# Cutaway / Insert — effect skill for cuts & pacing

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Briefly leave the main shot for a detail or related shot, then come back. Shows what is talked about and hides edits.

- **Type:** [Effect](https://varg.ai/how-to/effects.md) · [Cuts & pacing](https://varg.ai/how-to/browse/skills/cuts.md)
- **Slug:** `cutaway-insert`
- **Status:** live
- **Publisher:** varg (varg, verified)
- **License:** MIT
- **Source:** https://github.com/vargHQ/skills/blob/main/varg-video-edit-library/references/cuts.md#cutaway-insert
- **Works in:** Claude Code, Claude.ai, Codex, Cursor, OpenClaw, Gemini CLI, Any MCP client, varg Studio
- **Requires:** ffmpeg, HyperFrames (npx hyperframes), Remotion, CapCut (by hand)
- **Cost:** Free — the take renders locally; generated footage, if any, bills by the model

## What it does

Main speaker, then 1–3 s of the object, screen or place mentioned, then back to the speaker.

**When:** Explainers, interviews, product demos, and to cover a cut in the main shot.

**Watch out:** Inserts unrelated to what is being said feel like filler.

**Timing:** 1–3 s per insert

**Also called:** insert shot, cutaway, cut-in, detail shot

### In FFmpeg

Overlay the insert on top of the continuous main shot between 3 and 5 s (main audio continues):
```bash
ffmpeg -i main.mp4 -i insert.mp4 -filter_complex \
"[1:v]trim=0:2,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS+3/TB,scale=1920:1080[ins];\
 [0:v][ins]overlay=eof_action=pass[v]" -map "[v]" -map 0:a out.mp4
```

### In HyperFrames

Put the insert on a higher z-index over the main clip:
```html
<video id="ins" class="clip" src="insert.mp4" data-start="3" data-duration="2" muted data-track-index="1" style="z-index:2"></video>
```

### In Remotion

```tsx
<AbsoluteFill><Video src={main} /></AbsoluteFill>
<Sequence from={90} durationInFrames={60}><Video src={insert} muted /></Sequence>
```

### In CapCut

Drag the insert onto the track above the main track (Overlay on mobile), stretch it to full frame, mute it.

### Where this comes from

- [Wikipedia: cutaway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutaway_(filmmaking))
- [FFmpeg filters: overlay](https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-filters.html#overlay)
- [HyperFrames: data attributes](https://hyperframes.heygen.com/concepts/data-attributes)

## Use when

- Explainers, interviews, product demos, and to cover a cut in the main shot.

## Not for

- Inserts unrelated to what is being said feel like filler.

## Install

- Claude Code: `claude plugin marketplace add vargHQ/skills && claude plugin install varg@varg`
- Codex: `npx skills add vargHQ/skills --skill varg-video-edit-library -a codex -y`
- Cursor: `npx skills add vargHQ/skills --skill varg-video-edit-library -a cursor -y`

## Example output

https://s3.varg.ai/how-to/previews/84c67c11caa8/take-cutaway-insert.mp4 — insert between two shots, with the timeline strip of the edit. Footage: Tears of Steel (2012), (CC) Blender Foundation | mango.blender.org, CC BY 3.0; Sprite Fright (2021), Blender Studio | studio.blender.org, CC BY 4.0. (credit: Rendered by varg · Tears of Steel (2012) + Sprite Fright (2021))

## More cuts & pacing skills

- [SmartCut (capcut-ai-editor)](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/capcut-smartcut-mcp.md): MCP that reads CapCut auto-captions to cut silences and duplicate takes right inside your CapCut project.
- [Auto-Editor](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/auto-editor.md): CLI that cuts dead space by loudness or motion and exports MP4 or editor timelines; now also an agent skill.
- [AutoCut](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/autocut.md): Edit video in a text editor: Whisper transcribes, you delete lines in Markdown, AutoCut cuts the video.
- [Cut Video](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/cut-video.md): Claude Code skill that tightens long recordings with forced-aligned cuts, keeping laughs and comedic pauses.
- [Videogrep](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/videogrep.md): Search spoken words across videos and auto-build supercuts of every match.
- [PySceneDetect](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/pyscenedetect.md): Find cuts, fades and scene changes in a video, then split it or export scene lists for the edit.