It used to take me two days to edit one YouTube video. Now I can edit two videos in a few hours, because Claude does the editing for me.
I build useful things like this with AI every week.
Subscribe on YouTubeClaude creates the project, puts the clips on the timeline and cuts them. Then it adds the music and the overlays, and gives me the final video. All of the videos I show in it were made by Claude, including a Short.
In this one I took a raw video and let Claude edit it from scratch, from the setup to the final export. Here's how it works.
What you need
- A Claude subscription. A GPT subscription works too. I prefer Claude because it does a better job at editing video.
- DaVinci Resolve Studio, the paid version.
On the free version of DaVinci Resolve? There's a workaround. The open-source DaVinci Resolve MCP has an in-app bridge for the free edition.
Step 1: Connect Claude to DaVinci
Open any project in DaVinci Resolve Studio and go to File. In there you'll find an option to set up AI assistance. Click on Claude Code, then click OK.
That opens Claude, and you can connect your DaVinci Resolve to it. That's the whole setup.
Step 2: Record like you normally do
Record your video the way you always do. I record my raw clips in OBS: an intro, a few numbered clips and an outro.
All of my mistakes and retakes are still in those clips. I don't clean anything up. Claude fixes that later.
Step 3: Let Claude build the project
I asked Claude to find my folder for the video and create a project in 4K 50 FPS. I recorded in 4K 50, so I wanted the project in the same format.
Claude opened DaVinci and imported every clip: the intro, clips 1 to 4 and the outro.
Then I said, "Hey Claude, I want you to arrange them in the timeline from intro, the numbers, and the outro." I didn't spell out the exact order. It's smart enough to work that out. And it was very fast. It was done before I could even start explaining it.
Step 4: Cut the mistakes, retakes and silences
This is the big one. My raw clips had a lot of pauses and mistakes. In one clip I don't start talking until 2 seconds in, and all of that is dead silence.
So I asked Claude to get the transcript of every clip, find the mistakes, retakes and silences, and cut them from the video.
It did a really good job. It told me the intro had been cut shorter, and the silence at the start was gone. Where I made a mistake, it cut that part out and joined the clips back together, and the transition is smooth.
This changed everything for me. I used to spend so much time cutting videos, and I don't have to anymore.
You can watch the whole video after, or just check the cuts to see if it missed something. If it did, those are usually very small things. Just tell Claude and it removes them.
Step 5: Raise the volume
I felt the video could be a bit louder. So I told Claude to increase the volume of the entire video by 4 decibels. It ran a script, and it was done. That simple.
Step 6: Find background music
First I asked Claude what audio it would recommend, based on the transcript. I use Epidemic Sound for music, so then I asked it to go to Epidemic Sound in my browser and find background music for this video.
Claude took control of my browser. You can watch its cursor search for songs. Then I asked it to download the music and add it in DaVinci as background music.
It decided on its own to use two tracks, because the cut runs 8:25. It left space for my call to action, then started a different song after it. It also turned the music down by itself, because it's background music.
Step 7: Add overlays and full-screen visuals
My intro looked a bit plain. So I asked Claude, "Can you add some overlays and full screen visuals?"
Claude made the visuals itself. Then it placed them on the timeline based on what I'm saying at each moment. It added full-screen visuals too. It took around 4 minutes for the hook.
If you want more visuals in the middle of the video, just ask for them the same way.
Step 8: Render in 4K
Last, I asked Claude to render the video in 4K 50 FPS. It opened the render tab and started the render. DaVinci showed 10 minutes remaining.
The result
I didn't touch a single button in DaVinci from start to end. Claude took full control.
It cut out every part where I made mistakes or said things that didn't make sense. It found the music and put it in. It raised the volume of my voice. It added overlay visuals so my hook looks more impressive. Then it rendered the video.
The only job left for me was to post it.
Things to know
- Check the cuts. Claude is good, but skim the cuts before you render. If it missed something small, ask it to fix it.
- Match your project to your footage. Tell Claude the resolution and frame rate you recorded in when it creates the project.
- Music needs a source. I use Epidemic Sound, and Claude browses it in my browser. Use a music library you have the rights to.
