How Two Feedback Rounds Shape Your Final Highlights Project
The question we hear most is what actually happens in the two feedback rounds. Here is how the labelled sample project is submitted, reviewed, revised and finished, step by step.
Priya Nair · · 6 minutes to read
The question we hear most often
Before enrolling, nearly everyone asks the same thing: what happens in the feedback rounds, and how much will actually change in my edit? It is a fair question, because the final project is where the earlier modules come together. You work on a labelled sample project, build a first cut, and then revise it through two rounds of instructor feedback.
The short answer is that each round has a different job. The first round looks at the big decisions: which moments you kept, how the sequence reads, and whether the video suits its audience and target length. The second round is smaller and sharper, focused on trims, captions and the exported versions.
Knowing this in advance takes most of the worry out of it. Nobody expects a polished cut on the first attempt. The rounds exist because a second pair of eyes catches what you have stopped seeing after a few hours on the timeline.
What goes into the first submission
Your first submission is a complete rough cut, not a finished piece. Pick the footage from the labelled sample project, choose your clips, assemble them in order and trim to roughly the target length you set for yourself. Add placeholder captions if you have them, but do not spend hours on polish yet.
Alongside the cut, write a few lines about the intended audience and purpose. A recap for people who missed a conference session needs a different shape than a short highlight for a social feed. Those notes tell the reviewer what you were aiming for, so the feedback measures your edit against your own goal.
We ask for the project file or an exported preview, whichever you can share. A rough cut that plays from start to finish is far more useful to review than a half-built timeline with gaps.
- A rough cut that plays from start to finish
- Two or three lines on audience, purpose and length
- A short list of any doubts you want checked
What the first round of feedback covers
The first round concentrates on structure. Your reviewer watches the cut as a viewer would, then comments on what holds attention and where it drifts. Typical notes ask whether the opening earns the next ten seconds, whether a strong moment sits too late, or whether two similar clips could become one.
Context matters here as well. If a speaker's comment has been trimmed so that it sounds different from what was said, that is flagged straight away. Keeping the meaning of the original remark is a rule of the course, and the first round is the best time to fix it.
You receive written comments tied to moments in the video, plus a short summary of the three changes that would improve the cut most. Instead of forty small remarks, you get a clear order of priorities to work through.
Making the revision between rounds
Between the rounds you revise at your own pace. Start with the summary of priorities and handle the largest change first, since structural edits tend to settle many smaller issues without further effort. Then go through the timed comments one by one and decide what to apply.
You do not have to accept every suggestion. If you keep something the reviewer questioned, note your reason in a line when you resubmit. Defending a choice clearly is a skill in itself, and the reviewer will respond to your reasoning rather than simply repeating the point.
Keep a copy of your first cut before you change anything. Comparing the two versions side by side often shows how much tighter the pacing has become, and it gives you something concrete to look back on.
- Handle the biggest structural change first
- Note the reason for any suggestion you decline
- Save the first cut so you can compare versions
The second round and the final deliverables
The second round is finer. By now the structure should be sound, so the review turns to trims at the edges of clips, caption timing, line breaks, readable on-screen text and audio levels between shots. These are the details a viewer feels without noticing, and they separate a working edit from a finished one.
This is also where delivery comes in. You export the horizontal, square and vertical versions and check that captions and titles stay inside the safe areas of each frame. The reviewer looks at all three, because a text line that fits a wide frame can be cut off on a phone screen.
After the second round you make the last corrections and submit the final files. There is no third formal round, so the second is worth preparing carefully, with a short list of anything you are still unsure about.
Common worries, answered plainly
People often worry that feedback will be harsh. The tone of the course is direct but constructive: every comment points to a moment in the video and explains why it matters. If a note is unclear, you can ask for it to be explained, and the answer comes with a concrete example.
Another worry is time. Most learners spend a few evenings on the first cut and a shorter stretch on each revision, though the pace is yours. The main requirement is to finish the rough cut so the reviewer has something whole to watch.
Finally, some ask whether the final project needs their own footage. It does not. The labelled sample project provides authorised material, so you can focus on editing decisions without sorting out permissions first.
- Comments are tied to specific moments
- You can ask for any note to be explained
- Authorised sample footage is provided
The two feedback rounds are the part of the course where your edits get sharper, because someone else watches them as a viewer would. Send a complete rough cut, state your audience and length, work through the priorities in order, and use the second round for the finishing details. If you still have questions about how it works, write to us through the contact page and we will answer them.