The ad factoryGuide
How to give feedback on a video ad so the next take is right
Short answer
Pin every note to one thing, a second, a word, a clip or a spot in the frame, and say what should change, not how it feels. Send all notes as one batch, so the next version is made against one list, then check that list off before you write new notes.
A vague note costs a round of edits, whether it goes to a person or to a machine. From June 2026 our ads went to human editors as Final Cut Pro packages. Since then we have written notes for people and for a machine, and the rules turned out to be the same: a note works when it points at one thing and says what should change.
A vague note and a pinned note
Most feedback fails because the editor has to guess where to look. Compare these pairs. The timecodes are examples.
| Vague note | Pinned note | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Make the start punchier | At 0:00–0:03, cut the first shot and open on the product close-up | The first shot |
| The captions feel off | At 0:12 the caption appears after the word is spoken; show it just before the word | Caption timing |
| It drags in the middle | Clip 4 holds for 3 seconds; shorten it to 1.5 | One clip’s length |
| Wrong mood for the b-roll | Swap clip 6 for a library clip that shows the product in use | One clip |
| The zoom is too much | The zoom at 0:08 is a crash zoom on a plain word; make it a gentle push | The zoom type |
| The text covers something | At 0:20 the caption box overlaps the product label; move it up | Caption position |
Source: our own review loop, October 2026.
Notice what the pinned notes share. Each names where, and each names a change you could check afterwards.
Four places a note can live
A note can attach to a second, a word, a clip or a spot in the frame. A second suits timing and pacing. A word suits captions, because captions and cuts follow the spoken words. A clip suits anything about a whole shot, and a spot suits things that sit in the picture, such as a label covered by a caption.
- 01A second0:12 · timing and pacing
- 02A word“farms” · captions and cuts
- 03A clipClip 4 · a whole shot
- 04A spotA label under the caption · things in the picture
That is what Notes on the video Early access is built for: you write the note straight on the video, as the review loop on the Turntake home page shows. It is an internal tool for our own ads today, and others come in through early access. Early access: we set it up with you. Coming: we’re building it.
Words that save a round
Shared vocabulary removes a round of questions. These are the names we use in notes, and you can borrow them:
- Zooms. A crash zoom is an exclamation mark, kept for reveals and numbers. A punch-in is the default when someone points at something. A push builds up slowly on a title card or a long graphic. A gentle drift suits realistic b-roll. No zoom at all suits website and call-to-action screens. Never crash zoom on every other word.
- Transitions. In the twenty finished timelines from our editors that we studied in August 2026, every one used hard cuts and no transitions. So a hard cut is the default, and anything else is a request by name.
- Captions. Two or three words per group, on one line. Color highlights only for numbers, strong words and negations, and at most two groups per sentence: punctuation, not confetti.
- Swap clip. Name the clip and describe its replacement by what it shows.
- Slivers. No shot under one second, and no gap under one second with the talking head between two b-roll beats. If a cut feels like a flash, say so.
One batch, one list, checked off
Collect your notes and send them together. The next version is then made against one list, and when it arrives you can check the list off item by item. Notes that arrive one at a time get applied in separate passes, and nobody can tell which version answers which note.
- Your turn: Pin every note on the video
- Your turn: Send them as one batch
- Claude’s turn: One job: the next take, each note ticked off
- Your turn: Check the take against the list
Back to 01
Send to Claude Early access follows the same idea: all your notes become one job, and Claude cuts the next take and checks off the notes it handled. It is built and tested, but as of October 2026 we have not seen it run on real takes, so we make no claims about speed or quality. How to use Claude for ads covers how we set up that kind of loop.
What a machine can do from notes, and what needs an editor
A pinned note is something a machine can act on. A judgment call is not. In our work the split looks like this:
| A pinned note a machine can act on | A call that needs an editor |
|---|---|
| Change a zoom type at a given second | Whether the rhythm of the whole ad feels right |
| Shorten or lengthen one clip | Whether a turn or a joke lands |
| Swap a clip for a library clip | Reordering the story |
| Move a caption group or fix a spelling | Color and look across the whole cut |
| Retime captions to the voice | Fixing captions that are burned into the picture |
Source: our own review loop, October 2026.
This works because we make every final video editable from the start. It gets a recipe a machine can read, tied to the final file and pointing at library clips by ID, so a machine can recut instead of starting over and a person can swap clips, zooms and transitions. Quick edits Early access puts captions, zooms, transitions and clip swaps in your own hands. Mechanical rendering covers our clay and UGC formats today, and other formats go through Claude.
The AI ad editor handoff guide specifies the editable recipe, clean media, captions and alternatives an editor needs. Our planned Export to Final Cut Pro Coming, Export to Premiere Pro Coming and Handoff pack Coming concern that package, while Editor seats Coming and Round-trip Coming concern review and return. Keep the feedback record attached to the exact take throughout the handoff.
Never overwrite a reviewed take. Preserve the changed file and a short revision note, so someone can check the requested change. Video ad version control explains how to identify an approved version and preserve its dependencies.
Check the next take against the list
Look at the frames, not just the file. We look at frames at every note (about 0.3 seconds either side), around the start of every zoom so the build-up is gradual, and across the hook. Shipping without watching is how our own mistakes got through.
Then check that nothing new slipped in. Captions and highlights never add a number or a promise that isn’t in the approved voice. Our video ad QA checklist has the full list we run before upload. For the whole chain around notes, from research to the test, see the AI UGC ads workflow.
Who wrote this We made the ads first, for SmartSolar in Denmark, Sweden and Ireland. Then we built Turntake. Where Turntake comes from
FAQ
How do I give feedback to a video editor?
Pin each note to one thing, a second, a word, a clip or a spot in the frame, and say what should change, not how it feels. Send the notes as one batch, so the editor works from one list, and check the next version against that list before you write new notes.
Should I send notes one at a time or all at once?
All at once. One batch means the next version is made against one list, and the notes can be checked off together. Sent one at a time, notes get applied in separate passes, and it becomes hard to tell which version answers which note. Keep every take, so you can compare two versions side by side.
Do I still need a video editor if AI cuts my ads?
For mechanical changes such as a zoom type, a clip length, a clip swap or a caption position, a pinned note is enough for a machine to act on. Judgment calls still need a person: the rhythm of the whole ad, whether a turn lands, the order of the story. In our work, human editors come in for the final take.
What should a video editing brief include?
The goal of the ad and who it is for, where it runs and so which part of the frame is safe, the length, the voice and music, the clips that must be in and the ones that must stay out, the caption style, and any words that are claims and cannot change. Add references, and a folder of alternative clips so the editor can swap without hunting.