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Editing styles and video shape

The same workflow and the same footage can become very different videos. An editing style tells the AI how to cut it — how fast, in what order, how shots join, what it should feel like — and the video shape decides whether it comes out tall for Reels and TikTok, square for a feed, or wide for YouTube. You choose both when you press Run, and they apply to that run only.

Choosing a style and shape when you run a workflow​

Press Run on a workflow. Below your brief, the confirmation box has two extra choices:

  • Editing style — pick one of the built-in styles, one of your own saved styles, or No particular style. A short summary under the menu says what the style does.
  • Video shape — one click: As set up (keep the shape the workflow was built with), 9:16 (Reels, TikTok, Shorts), 1:1 (square feed posts), 4:5 (portrait feed posts that fill more of the screen) or 16:9 (YouTube, websites).

Some built-in styles suggest a shape — "Fast social reel" picks 9:16 for you. If you click a shape yourself, your choice wins. The run history shows each run's style and shape, so you can compare two versions of the same video side by side.

The built-in styles​

ReelBolt comes with five styles you can use straight away:

  • Fast social reel — opens on the best moment, quick hard cuts, one big caption word at a time, bright colour. Suggests 9:16.
  • Cinematic — slow and atmospheric, long shots, gentle joins, a film-like colour look and very little text. Suggests 16:9.
  • Corporate explainer — states the problem, then shows the answer; clear captions and tidy titles. Suggests 16:9.
  • Documentary — tells the story in order and lets people finish their sentences, with natural colour.
  • Beat-synced music video — cut to the music, a montage of moments, vivid colour, no titles. Suggests 9:16.

Making your own styles​

Open Styles in the left menu to see the built-in styles and your own.

  • New style starts from scratch; Make a copy on a built-in style starts from it, so you can change just one thing.
  • For each choice — Pace, Story order, Cuts, Tone, Captions, Colour, Music energy, On-screen text — pick an option or leave it at No preference.
  • Notes for the AI is an optional sentence or two about the look and feel ("warm and a little nostalgic", "keep the product on screen as much as possible"). Notes are treated as a preference, never as instructions that change how the workflow works.
  • When you create a style from inside a project you can tick Only use in this project.

Editing or deleting a style never changes runs you already made: each run keeps its own copy of the style it used.

What a style changes, and what it does not​

A style steers every AI agent in the run — the editor that picks the shots, the people deciding on music, colour, sound effects, titles and narration — towards your choices. It also adjusts a few finishing touches directly:

  • Smooth cuts switch on gentle transitions between shots, unless the workflow already set its own.
  • A Captions choice changes how captions look when the workflow already adds captions. It never adds captions to a workflow that has none.

A style cannot add steps to a workflow. If your workflow has no music step, choosing "high music energy" will not add music; if it has no captions, the caption choice does nothing. To add those, use a template or ask the assistant to change the workflow.

How the video shape works​

Choosing a shape changes the size of the finished video for every editing step in the run. When the shape is taller or squarer than your footage, ReelBolt crops each clip around its subject (the person or the phone screen) rather than just cutting off the sides.

The AI editor is told the target shape and the shape of each of your clips, and prefers clips that already match: for a 9:16 reel it reaches for footage you filmed upright, and uses wide footage only for moments nothing else covers. For the best vertical video, upload some footage filmed in portrait.

Asking the assistant​

You can ask the assistant to "list my styles", "save a style called Launch reel: fast, hook first, punchy captions", or "run the reel workflow in the cinematic style as a 4:5 video". It shows you what it is about to save or run and waits for your yes.