How to Edit Viral Instagram Reels with Claude

• A hook in the first second
• One clear idea
• Fast, purposeful cuts
• Captions people can read without sound
• A reason to share, save, or rewatch

Viewers decide in one second. Every edit after that earns the next second.

Here is my raw footage transcript and a list of my clips: [paste]. I want a 30-second Reel for [audience] about [topic]. Pick the strongest moments, suggest a hook, order the clips for retention, and list exactly where to cut.

If Claude cannot read your video files directly, share a transcript and a few screenshots.

• Start mid-action or with the result
• Put the hook on screen and in the voiceover
• Ask Claude for ten hooks and test the best two

• Short sentences, one idea each
• A small reveal every few seconds
• End by looping back to the start

Turn this script into an edit decision list: for each line, the clip, start and end time, on-screen text, B-roll, sound effect, and transition. Keep the total under 30 seconds.

• Use CapCut, Instagram’s Edits app, or Premiere Pro
• Follow Claude’s edit list clip by clip
• Cut pauses and filler words
• Change the visual every one to three seconds

• Ask Claude Code to write FFmpeg commands that trim, join, and resize clips
• Generate captions from a transcript as an SRT file
• Build animated captions and titles with HyperFrames or Remotion
• Batch-export vertical versions of many clips

• Big, high-contrast captions near the middle
• Keep text clear of the bottom caption area and the right-side buttons
• Highlight one key word per line

• Use Instagram’s music library or licensed tracks
• Add sound effects on cuts and reveals
• Keep music under the voice

Write five Reel caption options for this video: a hook line, one line of value, a save or share call to action, and five lowercase hashtags on one line. Also suggest three cover text options under five words.

• Ask Claude to review your script and edit list for slow moments
• Watch it once with sound off
• Check spelling in every caption
• Confirm the ending loops cleanly

• Use only footage and music you have rights to
• Credit creators when you remix
• Label AI-generated content when Instagram requires it
• No misleading hooks or fake results