Plan a short video before you open the editor

Open the editor with four answers in hand. What is the one idea? What is the first line a viewer sees or hears? What happens in the middle? What should the viewer do at the end? A video that starts from those answers needs fewer decisions on the timeline, and the decisions you do make are easier.

Write the plan in four lines

Keep it to four lines on a note or in a text file.

• Idea: one sentence that a friend could repeat.
• Hook: the first line, spoken or on screen.
• Beats: three or four moments in order, each one a short phrase.
• Ask: the one thing the viewer should do at the end.

If a beat does not serve the idea, cut it now while cutting is free. Every beat you keep becomes a clip to find, trim and place later. Read the idea line out loud. If it needs an "and" to finish, the plan may hold two videos, and each can have its own edit.

List the footage each beat needs

For every beat, write down where its picture and sound will come from.

• Shoot it, then bring it in with Upload in the Media tab.
• Record it in the editor. The Record menu in the top bar offers Record camera and Record audio.
• Browse stock. The Video and Image panels under AI Gen include Stock Videos and Stock Images sections below the generator.
• Generate it with the Video, Image or Audio panels under AI Gen.

Mark the beat that carries the hook. It is the shot worth getting right, so give it the most care, whether you film it or describe it to a generator.

Generating images, video and voiceover spends credits from your account. Write the prompts into your plan first, so you generate each shot once with a clear description.

Set up the project

1. Create a project and open the Aspect ratio tab. Choose the shape your platform uses, such as Vertical · 9:16, before you import anything, so the first video you add keeps your choice.
2. Add your footage to Media.
3. Open Details and paste the four lines into Notes, which saves with the project. Write a first draft of the post Caption while the idea is fresh, with the hook as its first line.

Build a rough cut first

Lay the beats on the timeline in order before you polish any of them. Drag clips into place, split them with S, and delete the extras. Press Space and watch the whole thing. A rough cut shows quickly whether the idea works, while changes are still cheap.

Then add the layers in this order: captions from Subtitles, a headline with T, sound effects from Sound FX, and transitions last. Each layer supports the idea, and the plan tells you which layers earn a place.

Check the plan against the result

Before you export, reread your four lines. Does the first moment of the timeline carry the hook? Does the last moment carry the ask? If either answer is no, fix that before you touch anything else.

Give it a go

Open DepCut, write your four lines in Details under Notes, and build the rough cut.