A compilation here means one or more short scenes cut from your own footage and stitched into a single vertical video with a hook, a build, a peak moment and a payoff. ReelWorkshop builds that structure for you once you give it clips; it does not generate footage or pull from a stock library.
Step 1: import your clips
Drag your video files into the import area or use the file picker. You can bring in 1 to 100 clips per project. Each one gets fingerprinted locally on your device, which is how exact duplicate files get flagged, and each gets an automatic quality score that later feeds ordering suggestions.
Step 2: arrange, trim and remove
Before you touch the render button you get free reign over the raw material. Trim any clip's in and out points, move clips earlier or later in the sequence, drop the ones that don't earn their place, and open a clip to inspect it at full size if you're not sure it's usable.
Step 3: generate edit plans
- Pick a target length
Choose 60, 75 or 90 seconds. Shorter targets force tighter scene selection; longer ones let more of your footage survive.
- Generate 1 to 20 edits
ReelWorkshop proposes that many distinct plans, each structured as hook, build, escalation, peak and payoff beats made of short scenes pulled from your clips.
- Preview before committing
Play a plan back live in the browser. If the pacing or scene choice is off, generate again or manually reorder and re-trim, then look at the plan once more.
Step 4: render and export
Rendering happens in your browser using FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly, so your footage never leaves your machine to be processed. Output is a vertical 9:16 MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio, at 1080x1920 or 720x1280. You can keep the original audio from your source clips or mute it. The finished file downloads as an MP4 and also lands on your Exports page with a render queue that shows progress and lets you cancel or retry.
Importing, arranging, trimming and previewing are free. Actually rendering and downloading an export requires the Starter plan, which is $19.99/month for 25 GB of storage and 60 exported minutes per calendar month.
Mistakes to avoid
- Importing everything you shot instead of a curated set — quality scoring helps, but it can't invent a good scene from a bad one.
- Skipping the preview step and rendering blind, then burning export minutes on a version you'd have reordered anyway.
- Choosing 90 seconds when your best footage barely supports 60, leaving weak filler scenes in the middle beats.
- Forgetting to check whether you want source audio kept or muted before you render, since that's set per export.
When this isn't the right tool
If you need color grading, multi-track audio mixing, a music library, auto-captions or keyframed effects, ReelWorkshop won't do that part of the job — use a general editor like CapCut, Premiere or DaVinci Resolve for those steps, then bring the trimmed clips back if you still want the automated compilation structure.