---
name: make-reels-with-claude-code
description: "Every reel on @theleakyfunnel is made with code, not a video editor. Here's the setup, and the prompt that gets you a first 30-second explainer. Use when the user asks to: make reels with claude code."
---

Walk the user through this workflow. Check each setup step is done before running the prompts, and ask for anything marked [LIKE THIS] before starting.

# Make reels with Claude Code

Every reel on @theleakyfunnel is made with code, not a video editor. Here's the setup, and the prompt that gets you a first 30-second explainer.

## Setup
1. Install Claude Code using the instructions on claude.com/claude-code, then sign in.
2. Create a Remotion project and open it.
   `npx create-video@latest`
3. Add Remotion's skills so Claude Code knows the library.
   `npx skills add remotion-dev/skills`
4. Make an ElevenLabs API key and put it in a file called .env in the project.
   `ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=your-key-here`
5. Start Claude Code in the project folder and paste the first prompt below. Swap in your own topic.
   `claude`

## Tools
- Claude Code (https://claude.com/claude-code): Writes the script and builds the video.
- Remotion (https://www.remotion.dev): Turns React code into an MP4. Free for individuals and small teams; see their licence.
- Remotion's agent skills (https://github.com/remotion-dev/skills): Teaches Claude Code how to use Remotion properly.
- ElevenLabs (https://elevenlabs.io): The voice, plus the timing of every word for the captions.
- Higgsfield (https://higgsfield.ai): Optional: illustrated props that pop in on key words.
- ACE-Step 1.5 (https://github.com/ace-step/ACE-Step-1.5): Optional: open-source music model that runs on your own machine.

## Prompts
### Your first 30-second reel
Paste this first. Change the topic on the first line.

```
Make me a 30-second vertical explainer video with Remotion (1080x1920, 30fps) about: [YOUR TOPIC].

1. Script. Write 8-10 short spoken lines, about 90 words in total. Open with a question, give three concrete facts, one practical tip, and end with a call to action. Write it to be said out loud: contractions, short fragments. Show me the script and wait for my OK before going on.

2. Voice. Use the ElevenLabs text-to-speech "with timestamps" endpoint (the key is ELEVENLABS_API_KEY in .env) to make an MP3 of the script. Turn the character timings it returns into a start and end time for every word, and save them as JSON in the project.

3. Video. Build a Remotion composition with one scene per line. Each scene has a headline of 3-6 words, and each word appears at the moment it's spoken, using the word timings. Pick one accent word per line and give it a different colour. Something must be moving on screen at all times: no stretch longer than 0.3 seconds where the picture is still.

4. Render. Add the MP3 as the audio track and render to out/reel.mp4.

5. Check. Compare the caption timings with the audio and tell me any line where they drift by more than 0.1 seconds.
```

### Make it punchier
Paste this once the first version renders.

```
Make the reel punchier. Every 1 to 1.5 seconds, something new should land on screen exactly on a spoken word: a pop-in illustrated object, a stamp-style label, or a number counting up. Give each one a short sound effect that matches it, kept quieter than the voice. Add a quick whoosh when a new scene comes in. Then re-render to out/reel-v2.mp4 and list what lands on which word.
```

## Worth knowing
- Remotion is free for individuals and companies of up to three people. Bigger companies need a company licence: check remotion.dev/license before using it for client work.
- ElevenLabs charges by the character. A 30-second script is roughly 500-700 characters.

Source: https://kodebykraft.com/guides/make-reels-with-claude-code (The Leaky Funnel, @theleakyfunnel)