Recreate a Reel You Like With Your Clips

The pace and shot lengths of a reel you like, with your footage.

Pipeline: Basic edit (cut): cuts, captions, looks, speed, split screens, stock, voices and music.
Format: 9:16
Upload: The reel you want to copy (as the reference) and your own clips, in the recreate panel.

The prompt

Type your own words into the fields: the [BLANKS] fill in as you go. Copy it and send it to Claude or ChatGPT with Cut Express connected.

Prompt

I want to recreate a reel I like with my own clips. Open the recreate panel: I'll drop the reference in one box and my media in the other.

Then inspect the reference with breakdown and hook: its shots, their lengths, the movement and the beats, and its first 3 seconds frame by frame. Tell me in a few lines what makes it work.

Match each shot with the closest clip of mine about [MY SUBJECT], keep its pace, its text style and its caption look, and use [MUSIC]. Never cut the reference itself into the video. Show me the shot-by-shot match before you render.

The blanks

[MY SUBJECT]: What your clips show, for example "my bakery's morning" or "our team at the conference".
[MUSIC]: A track you uploaded (say its file name), or a mood and genre for the stock music search, like "upbeat lo-fi" or "cinematic, builds slowly".

Tips

Pick a reference with a similar subject. A dance edit's pace rarely suits a talking head.
Ask what makes the reference work before matching; it's the part you'll reuse next time.

New to prompting video? How to write a good prompt for Cut Express covers the story, the hook, captions, sound, pace and how to iterate with versions.

Paste it in Claude. Get the MP4.

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Basic edit9:16

Copy Only the Hook of a Viral Video

The first three seconds of a viral video, rebuilt with your footage.

Upload: The viral video (as the reference) and your clips, in the recreate panel.

Open the recreate panel: the reference is a video with a hook I want to borrow, and my clips are about [MY SUBJECT].

Inspect only its first 3 seconds with hook: true and tell me exactly what happens frame by frame: the cuts, the zoom, the text, the sound.

Then build my own [LENGTH IN SECONDS]-second video: the first 3 seconds copy that hook's technique with my footage and the text "[HOOK LINE]", and the rest is my edit: [WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE HOOK]. Captions in [CAPTION COLOR]. Show me the timeline before you render.

Fill in Tips

Basic edit9:16

Shorts From One Long Video

Several vertical Shorts cut from one long video, each with captions.

Upload: One long video with speech (a podcast, a talk, a stream, a course lesson).

I uploaded [LONG VIDEO], about [TOPIC]. Inspect it with moments and a transcript, then find the [NUMBER OF CLIPS] strongest moments that make sense on their own, each about [LENGTH IN SECONDS] seconds.

Before you render, list them for me: the in and out times, the first line said and why it works as a hook. Wait for my pick.

For each one I pick:
- Start on the hook line, no warm-up. Cut the silences and the false starts on the speech.
- 9:16, cover crop kept on the speaker's face. A slow punch-in on the key sentence.
- Captions from the speech: bold preset, 3 words per line, the key word in [CAPTION COLOR], bottom third.
- Clean the voice (denoise and enhance). No music unless I ask.
Render each as its own video titled "[SERIES NAME] 1", "2", and so on.

Fill in Tips

Basic edit9:16 and 16:9

Teaser for a New YouTube Video

A 30-second teaser that sells your new YouTube video without spoiling it.

Upload: Your finished YouTube video.

I uploaded my new YouTube video, "[VIDEO TITLE]". Make a [LENGTH IN SECONDS]-second teaser for it. Inspect it with a transcript and moments first.

- Open on the most surprising line or image in the video, then 4 to 6 fast cuts of the best moments, never the ending: [WHAT NOT TO SPOIL].
- A text at the top for the first 2 seconds: "[HOOK LINE]", white with a black stroke.
- Captions from the speech, pop preset, highlight [CAPTION COLOR].
- End card for 2 seconds: "Full video on my channel" over a dark frame of the video.
- [MUSIC] under the voices, ducked when anyone speaks.
Render it in 9:16 first. Then render the same timeline again as 16:9 for the community tab, as the next version.

Fill in Tips