How to Use AI to Instantly Remove Retakes in Premiere Pro

Editing a podcast or YouTube video can often feel like a never-ending cycle of reviewing, repeating, and rewinding just to find that one good take. With Cutback’s AI-powered retake remover, you don’t have to manually sift through the clutter. Whether you’re a video editor, YouTuber, or marketer, this tool helps you remove repeated lines and keep only the cleanest, most natural takes, automatically.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to use Cutback’s retake removal feature in Adobe Premiere Pro. You’ll learn:

• How to activate AI-based retake removal

• How to pick the best version of each line

• What makes this different from manual editing

Let’s jump in.

Why Remove Retakes with AI?

Manual editing takes time, and it’s mentally draining. Repeated lines, hesitations, or nervous starts are normal in content creation, but trimming them down can be one of the most frustrating parts of the editing process.

AI editing tools like Cutback automate this process by:

• Detecting repeated sentences and variations

• Comparing them based on audio clarity and delivery

• Keeping the strongest version and deleting the rest

This saves hours, reduces mental load, and helps editors focus on creative direction rather than tedious cleanup.

Step-by-Step: Instantly Remove Retakes in Premiere Pro

Step 1: Set Up Your Project

• Launch Adobe Premiere Pro

• Import your video and audio footage into a new sequence

Step 2: Launch Cutback

• Go to Window > Extensions > Cutback

• Select [Auto Rough Cut] from the Cutback menu

Step 3: Transcribe Your Footage

Cutback relies on transcription to analyze retakes. Configure the following settings:

• Range Selection: All, In/Out, or selected clip

• Language: Choose the language spoken

• Preview: Turn off for faster performance

• Speaker Settings: Assign speaker names by track or let AI detect

Click [Transcribe video for auto rough cut] to begin.

Step 4: Launch the Assistant

Once your transcript is generated:

• Click the Assistant icon at the top right

• Type "Remove retakes" or select it from the preset commands

Step 5: Select the Best Cut

The AI will:

• Identify repeated sentences and bad takes

• Analyze them for clarity, accuracy, and tone

• Keep the best one by default

You’ll see options to Select best cut manually if you want to double-check what the AI picked.

Step 6: Review and Save

You can:

• Click Save to apply the suggested changes

• Or Discard to undo the edit and go back to your original cut

Step 7: Finalize the Sequence

Click [Apply to sequence] and choose:

• Apply to current sequence

• Create new sequence

The edit won’t be finalized until this step is complete. Make sure to apply it to preserve changes.

Key Features That Help You Edit Faster

Cutback’s Remove Retake feature is even more powerful when combined with other AI tools inside the same plugin:

• Remove Filler Words: Clean up "um," "uh," and hesitations

• Shorten Video: Automatically trim less important segments

• Animated Captions: Add stylized subtitles with speaker names

Other handy features include:

• Undo/Redo shortcuts (u/r)

• Find/Replace in subtitles

• Time Machine to revert to pre-edit state

• Shortcut-based cutting using w, a, s, d keys

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What counts as a retake?

A: Any repeated line, whether intentional or accidental. The AI uses text and voice patterns to spot duplicates.

Q: Can I manually override the AI’s choice?

A: Yes, you can select the best cut manually if needed.

Q: Will it delete every retake automatically?

A: Only the ones that are clearly less clear or poorly delivered. You can undo any deletions before applying them.

Q: Does it support multi-speaker videos?

A: Yes. Assign speakers per audio track or let AI detect them from a single track.

Q: Is this available outside of Premiere Pro?

A: Not yet. Cutback is currently a Premiere Pro plugin.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve ever spent hours listening to yourself repeat the same sentence five times, Cutback’s Remove Retakes feature will feel like magic. It saves you from decision fatigue, speeds up your workflow, and helps you focus on making great content, not perfecting every cut.

Whether you're editing YouTube videos, interviews, courses, or podcasts, this feature lets you instantly clean up your timeline and keep only the content that matters.

Ready to ditch the bad takes? Let AI do the heavy lifting.

For more in-depth knowledge about the ins and outs of video editing, check out our latest posts on the Cutback blog or our YouTube channel. You can also join Cutback’s Discord community of like-minded video editors.