# About Taalcut

> Why a reel editor is named after the rhythm cycle in Indian music, who Kaatu is, and how Taalcut is built.

Page: https://taalcut.app/about/

Taalcut is a video editor for creators that makes your version of a reel you love, from your own camera roll. It’s named after taal, the rhythm cycle in Indian music.

## The name

Two words, one rhythm. Taal keeps time, and cut is what an editor does.

- **Name:** Taalcut, with one capital
- **Say it:** TAHL-cut, the “aa” as in “father”
- **Taal:** The rhythm cycle in Indian music
- **The story:** Taal is the rhythm cycle in Indian music. Taalcut cuts your clips to the rhythm of a reel you love.

## One cycle, four beats

The logo is one avartan, a single turn of a rhythm cycle. It is drawn as jhaptaal: ten beats in groups of two, three, two and three.

- Beats 1, 2, marked X: sam, the first beat, the heaviest arc, in marigold
- Beats 3, 4, 5, marked 2: tali, a clap, a medium arc, in rose
- Beats 6, 7, marked 0: khali, the wave, the lightest arc, in violet
- Beats 8, 9, 10, marked 3: tali, a clap, a medium arc, in teal

Each arc’s weight follows its accent. Sam, the first beat, is the heaviest. The two claps are medium, and the wave is the lightest. The cycle is the taal; the gaps between the arcs are the cuts.

The arcs carry the app’s four colours in the order of their jobs: marigold acts, rose keeps the beat, violet is the AI and teal is you.

## Kaatu

Kaatu is Taalcut’s mascot, a young beaver. The name comes from काटना (kaatna), “to cut”: beavers cut, and Taalcut cuts your clips to the beat.

In the app Kaatu keeps you company at the foot of the sidebar. It thinks while work runs, looks pleased when it ends well and falls asleep after a quiet minute. It never sits on your footage.

- **Thinks:** while an import, the agent or an export runs
- **Cheers:** when the work ends well
- **Naps:** after a quiet minute

## What Taalcut believes

- **The agent does the work. You approve once.** Every step before that is there to see and change, but nothing waits on you.
- **Every AI decision shows, and can be undone.** What the AI decided is marked as its work, what you changed is marked as yours, and the timeline keeps the record.
- **Your footage comes first.** Your clips are the content. The app stays quiet around them, and they stay on your computer.
- **No jargon, and defaults that work.** You shouldn’t need Settings to make your first video.
- **Your AI, your files.** Taalcut doesn’t run AI for you or keep your files. Use the ChatGPT plan you have, your own keys or the models on your computer.

## Who makes Taalcut

[Matterward Labs Private Limited](https://matterwardlabs.com) makes Taalcut and runs this site.

## The code opens with the beta

Taalcut is free. Its code is under the AGPL-3.0-or-later licence and opens with the beta. The name and the logo follow the Taalcut trademark policy, so a fork takes a name of its own.

## Follow along

News and works in progress are on Instagram at [@taalcut.app](https://www.instagram.com/taalcut.app/).