How to make a reel: plan, record, edit, and post (by hand or with AI)

To make a reel, plan a hook and four to six shots, record or generate the clips, edit them, add text and a sound, write a caption, and post. The steps are the same whichever app you use. This guide goes through each one, then shows the AI way.

Hook Studio is an AI reel maker that makes short vertical reels and carousels for creators and small businesses. The AI part below comes from how the app really works and what it really costs. Specs and app features are as of October 26, 2026.

Before you open any app, write the first three seconds and list four to six shots. A reel that starts with a clear promise or a question is easier to watch than one that starts with "hey guys", and a list of shots keeps you from filming 40 clips you never use.

• The hook (0 to 3 seconds): one line of text or one action that says what the reel is about. "3 mistakes that make your photos look flat" works better than "Photography tips".
• The shots: write each one as a single line, for example "close-up of the camera settings", "before and after". One idea per shot.
• The ending: one thing you want the viewer to do. Follow, save, or comment a word.

If you need ideas for the first line, we collected examples in viral hooks examples. If you would rather start from a format that already works, see reel templates.

Film vertically, 9:16, at 1080×1920. That is the size Instagram and TikTok both work with (as of October 2026), and anything wider gets cropped or shown with bars.

• Light: face a window. Natural light on your face beats any filter.
• Steady phone: a cheap tripod or a stack of books. Shaky footage looks like a mistake, not a style.
• Leave space: keep the top and bottom of the frame free of important things. The app puts the caption and buttons there.
• Film each shot twice: the second take is almost always shorter and cleaner.
• Speak to the camera lens, not to the screen.

You can also generate the clips instead of filming them. We cover that below, along with when filming yourself is the better call.

For most people, the best app to edit reels is the one already on the phone. Instagram's own editor handles a simple reel, Meta's Edits app gives you more control, and CapCut and TikTok's editor are good when you post to TikTok. Hook Studio is not affiliated with Instagram, Meta, TikTok, or CapCut. The notes below are as of October 2026, and apps change their free and paid features often, so check the app before you rely on a feature.

If you are searching for how to edit TikTok videos, the steps are the same in any of these. Trim the dead air at the start, cut each shot as soon as its point lands, and keep the whole thing as short as the idea allows. The next two steps are what turn a pile of clips into a reel.

Put your hook on screen in the first second, and add captions to anything you say. Text lets someone understand the reel in the first second, before they decide to turn the sound on.

• Short lines: six words or fewer per screen, big enough to read on a small phone.
• Safe area: keep text away from the very top and bottom, where the app's buttons and caption sit, and away from faces.
• Contrast: white text with a thin dark outline or a solid box reads on any background.
• Auto captions: most editors can generate them from your voice. Read them once, because they get names and product words wrong.

Add the sound inside Instagram or TikTok when you post, from the platform's own library. That way the platform handles the music license for you.

• Lower your voice track or the music, never leave both loud. Speech should be easy to hear.
• A trending sound is optional. It can help a reel get shown, but a reel with a weak hook does not get saved by a good song.

Pick a cover frame with readable text, write a caption that adds one thing the video did not say, and post. Your cover also shows in your profile grid, cropped differently from the full screen, so keep the key words in the middle of the frame.

• Cover: choose a frame or upload an image. Put the topic in a few words in the middle.
• Caption: the first line shows before "more", so make it a reason to keep reading. Then one clear ask.
• Hashtags: a few that describe the topic. A long block of them does not add anything.
• AI label: if the reel contains realistic AI-generated video, label it. Instagram and TikTok both ask for it.

As short as the idea needs, usually 15 to 30 seconds for a first reel. As of October 2026, Instagram says it recommends reels of 3 minutes or less to people who do not follow you, and its own tools let you record longer ones. TikTok allows much longer videos than that. Platform limits are a ceiling, not a target.

More on what to do after you post is in our guide to how to grow on Instagram.

Film yourself when the reel depends on you being real: your opinion, your reaction, your product in your hands, or your face and voice as the reason people follow you. An AI clip cannot give a real review or show a real result.

• Reviews and demos: the proof is that it is the real thing.
• Your voice: Hook Studio does not clone voices. It can make a stock voice line, or a clip with its own voice, but it will not sound like you.
• A personal story or a local place: only you have the footage.

Generate when you do not want to film, when the hook is an image that is hard to shoot (a scene, a place, a stylised character), or when you want to test several hooks without a camera. This is also the way to make a reel without showing your face. See faceless content for the full approach.

You describe the reel in the chat, and the agent makes the hook clip, the on-screen text, the product screens, and the edit. You steer it in short lines, and nothing runs until you see the plan and the price. This is what the steps above look like when the agent does them.

• Describe it: "A reel for my bakery: a hook of someone pulling a tray of croissants out of the oven, three lines of text, and an end card with our address."
• Check the still: the agent makes an image first. It is cheap, and you change it with a short line ("less messy kitchen") before any clip is made.
• Approve the clip: the hook is the only AI video. It runs 4 to 10 seconds and is made from the still you picked.
• The rest is text and screens: the on-screen text, your product's real screens, and the end card are rendered for a few credits.
• Download and post: you download the reel and post it in Instagram or TikTok, and add a sound from their library. Direct posting is not available yet.

What it costs

A 5 second hook costs 107 credits, about $0.93 on the Concept plan ($20 a month for 2,300 credits). You see the price of each job before you approve it, and a failed clip refunds its credits.

These prices leave out the automatic realism checks, a few credits each. Your first $5 costs $3 (500 credits), which covers several hooks. Hook Studio is not affiliated with Kling, which is Kuaishou's model.

What it does not do

• No generated music or sound effects. Clips come back silent or with speech only. You add the music in TikTok or Instagram.
• No cloned voice. It has one stock voice for voice lines, and the clip's own voice for talking shots.
• Talking clips are 8 seconds or less. A longer line is split across two shots.
• No direct posting or scheduling yet. You post it yourself.

You can also star in the reel: upload a few photos of yourself and the same face appears in every shot, or use an avatar. Hook Studio asks for consent once when you upload a photo of someone else, and it never makes a celebrity's face. More on the format is on the AI reel maker page.