Edit video by editing text

A new algorithm allows video editors to modify talking head videos as if they were editing text - copying, pasting, or adding and deleting words. In television and film, actors often flub small bits of otherwise flawless performances. Other times they leave out a critical word. For editors, the only solution so far is to accept the flaws or fix them with expensive reshoots. Go to the web site to Imagine, however, if that editor could modify video using a text transcript. Much like word processing, the editor could easily add new words, delete unwanted ones or completely rearrange the pieces by dragging and dropping them as needed to assemble a finished video that looks almost flawless to the untrained eye. A Stanford-led team of researchers created such an algorithm for editing talking-head videos - videos showing speakers from the shoulders up.