Edit Your
Reels
Like A Pro
ReelCut is a browser-based video editor built for short-form content. No installs, no accounts — open the HTML file and start cutting.
Up & Running
in 4 Steps
ReelCut runs entirely in your browser. No server, no login, no setup required.
Open the File
Double-click ReelEditor.html to open it in Chrome or Firefox. Edge works too. Safari has limited export support.
Upload Your Video
Click Upload Video in the top bar, or drag and drop an MP4, WebM, or MOV file onto the editor.
Edit
Use the tools in the left panel to cut, split, add text, apply effects, and adjust colours.
Export
Click Export in the top bar. Your video downloads as a .webm file, ready to share.
Best browser: Use Google Chrome for the widest codec support and best export quality. Firefox also works great.
Loading Your Video
ReelCut supports any video format your browser can decode — typically MP4 (H.264), WebM, and MOV.
Click "Upload Video" in the top bar
A file picker opens. Select your video file. The video loads into the canvas preview automatically.
Video appears in the timeline
The bottom timeline shows a Video clip and an Original Audio track. The video duration shows in the status bar.
Preview playback
Press Space to play/pause. Use ← / → arrow keys to step frame by frame. The timecode display shows your current position.
Trim the clip length
Drag the left or right edge handles on the video clip in the timeline to set your in-point and out-point. Playback will only run within that range.
Cut Tool
The Cut tool lets you mark a region of the video and permanently remove it from playback and export. Both video and audio are silenced in the cut range.
Activate the Cut tool
Click Cut in the left panel tool grid, or click the Cut button in the top bar. A control bar appears at the bottom of the timeline.
Set the IN point
Seek the playhead to where you want the cut to begin. Click Mark In or press A. A cyan IN marker appears on the timeline.
Set the OUT point
Seek to where the cut should end. Click Mark Out or press B. A pink OUT marker appears.
Remove the segment
Click Remove Segment. The region turns red on the timeline. During playback the video jumps over it. During export it is completely skipped.
Undo a cut
Click the ✕ button on the red shaded region in the timeline to restore that segment.
Note: You can add multiple cuts. They stack and merge if they overlap. All cuts are skipped in the exported file.
Split & Delete
Split divides your clip into independent segments at the playhead. You can then select and delete any individual segment.
Split at Playhead
Move the playhead to the exact frame where you want to split, then click Split or press S.
- Creates two separate segments visible in the timeline
- A pink divider line marks the split point
- Click the divider line to remove the split and merge the clips back
- You can add multiple split points
Delete a Segment
After splitting, click any segment in the timeline to select it (it gets a highlighted outline), then delete it.
- Click the segment in the timeline — it highlights
- Press Delete / Backspace, or click Delete Selected Clip in the left panel
- The segment is removed; a gap appears in both video and audio tracks
- Associated audio timing adjusts automatically
Tip: Split → Select → Delete is the fastest workflow for removing a section from the middle of your video. Split at the start of the bad section, split at the end, click the segment in between, press Delete.
Crop
The Crop tool lets you define a region of the frame. Only that region will be visible in the preview and export — stretched to fill the canvas.
Click the Crop tool
In the left panel tool grid, click Crop. A pink dashed bounding box appears over the preview. The area outside the box is dimmed.
Drag the corners to resize
Grab any of the four corner handles (small pink squares) to resize the crop box. Drag the middle of the box to reposition it.
Click Apply Crop
Click the Apply Crop button that appears below the tool grid. The crop takes effect immediately in the preview and will be baked into the export.
Reset the crop
Click Reset to remove the crop and restore the full frame.
Text & Emoji
Add animated captions, titles, or emoji stickers on top of your video. All overlays are baked into the export.
Adding Text
Go to the Text tab in the left sidebar.
- Type your caption in the text field
- Choose font, size, colour, and background
- Toggle Bold, Italic, Shadow, Outline
- Click Add Text
- Drag the text on the preview to position it
- Text appears on screen from the current playhead time through the end
Adding Emoji
Go to the Emoji tab and click any emoji to drop it onto the canvas.
- Drag to reposition on the preview
- Adjust size with the Emoji Size slider
- Multiple emoji can be placed at once
- Baked into video on export
Remove an overlay: Click it in the preview to select it (border appears), then press Delete. Or click the ✕ in the Text Items list.
Visual Effects
Go to the FX tab in the left sidebar. Effects are toggled on/off by clicking them. The Intensity slider controls how strong they appear. All effects are rendered in real-time and baked into exports.
Stars
Floating star particles slowly drift upward across the frame. Great for dreamy or cinematic looks.
Sparkle
Animated 4-point sparkle bursts in random rainbow colours. High-energy, celebratory feel.
Light Leak
An animated colour wash sweeps across the frame, simulating an analogue film light leak effect.
Glitch
Periodic scanline displacement and chromatic aberration — for a digital distortion aesthetic.
Vignette
Darkens the edges of the frame to draw focus to the centre. A classic cinematic look.
Film Grain
Adds per-frame pixel noise simulating 35mm film grain. Pairs well with warm colour presets.
Neon Glow
Adds a purple/cyan screen blend and a glowing neon border around the frame.
Rainbow
A diagonal spectrum overlay blended on top of the video. Vibrant and surreal.
Blur Region
Blur any rectangular area of the video — useful for hiding faces, licence plates, watermarks, or personal details.
Go to the FX tab
Click FX in the left sidebar. Scroll down to the Blur Region section.
Click "Add Blur Region"
The tool activates. Your cursor changes to indicate you can draw on the preview.
Drag a rectangle on the preview
Click and drag on the video canvas to draw the blur area. A frosted-glass overlay appears showing the blur.
Add more regions or remove them
Repeat to add multiple blur regions. Each one appears in the Blur Region list in the panel. Click ✕ on any region to remove it.
Export note: The blur is rendered using backdrop-filter in preview, which is baked into the canvas during recording. Ensure you use Chrome for best results.
Filters & Adjustments
The right sidebar has three tabs: Filters, Adjust, and Motion.
Colour Presets
- Normal, Grayscale, Sepia
- Saturated, Inverted
- Hue Shift, High Contrast, Warm
- Click any preset to apply it instantly
Manual Adjustments
- Brightness, Contrast, Saturation
- Hue Rotate, Blur (global), Opacity
- Sliders update the canvas in real-time
- Click Reset to restore defaults
Motion Effects
- Rotation — rotate the frame
- Flip — mirror horizontally
- Ken Burns — slow zoom effect
- Transition — fade in/out at clip edges
Working with Audio
Original audio
The original video audio plays by default. Toggle Mute in the playback controls to silence it. The audio track in the timeline turns grey when muted.
Add background music
Click Add Audio in the top bar and select an MP3, WAV, or OGG file. It appears in the Audio tab (left sidebar) and in the Music track in the timeline.
Volume control
Use the volume slider in the playback controls to adjust the overall playback level during preview.
Audio and cuts
When you delete a video segment, the audio in that region is also removed and the remaining audio shifts in sync automatically.
Export audio limitation: Browser security restrictions may prevent capturing audio from local files in the exported WebM. If your export has no audio, try opening the editor from a local web server (e.g. npx serve .).
Exporting Your Video
ReelCut exports your edited video directly from the browser using the MediaRecorder API. All edits — cuts, text, FX, colour — are baked in.
Click Export in the top bar
The export modal opens. Choose your quality setting: High Quality (high bitrate) or Standard (smaller file).
Click Start Export
The video plays through from your trim start to trim end while the canvas is recorded. A progress bar shows the status.
File downloads automatically
When done, reelcut-export.webm downloads to your Downloads folder.
Convert to MP4 if needed
WebM plays in Chrome, Firefox, and VLC. To get MP4 for iPhones or Instagram, run: ffmpeg -i reelcut-export.webm output.mp4 — or use Handbrake (free GUI).
Why WebM? Browsers can only encode WebM video natively — MP4 encoding requires server-side processing. WebM (VP9) has excellent quality at small file sizes and is widely supported.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Learn these to edit at full speed.
| Action | Shortcut | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Play / Pause | Space | Works any time |
| Step back 1 frame | ← | Hold to scrub back |
| Step forward 1 frame | → | Hold to scrub forward |
| Split at playhead | S | Not in cut mode |
| Mark IN (cut mode) | A | Cut tool must be active |
| Mark OUT (cut mode) | B | Cut tool must be active |
| Delete selected | Delete or Backspace | Deletes clip, text overlay, or emoji |
| Open Export | Ctrl + S | ⌘ S on Mac |
Common Questions
Answers to the most frequently asked questions.
file:// URLs. Serve the editor from a local server: open a terminal in the same folder and run npx serve . then open http://localhost:3000/ReelEditor.html.ffmpeg -i reelcut-export.webm out.mp4) or Handbrake to convert. Both are free.