Automate Video Editing

Using video editing automation is an effective way of creating large amounts of video content, such as slideshow videos, video ads, or social media videos. Whether it involves tasks like adding watermarks, intros, or outros to videos, trimming, cropping, or resizing video content, or even generating brand-new videos from text, images, and video clips, all of these tasks can be completely automated.

This page describes three methods to automate video editing, both with and without using code:

Edit videos in bulk
Edit videos using no-code tools
Edit videos through API

How to Automate Video Editing?

Here's a brief overview of how automated video editing works. First, you create a design template that defines the visual appearance of all the videos. Then, you can automatically edit videos using three different methods: with a bulk generation spreadsheet, through no-code tools like Zapier, or via an API.

1
Start with a video template

The first step involves creating a template that serves as the basis for your video automation workflow. This template specifies the editing operations to be automated, such as adding watermarks or merging multiple video elements into one. Alternatively, you can set up a video design to generate entirely new videos based on text, images, video clips, and other elements.

Using the online template editor, which provides many customization tools, you can create your own video designs for a wide range of use cases. In addition to creating your own video template, you can also start with a ready-made template.

01	Spring Sale	Image 1	#4980f1
02	Summer Sale	Image 2	#4980f1
03	Autumn Sale	Image 3	#4980f1
…	…	…	…
99	Holiday Sale	Image 99	#4980f1

99 videos generated

2
Choose your automation method

Once you have a template ready, you can choose one of the following three automation methods:

Bulk generation using spreadsheets. This is the easiest way to automate video editing. It involves importing video clips, text, and images from a data file such as CSV for batch video editing. Here's a 7-minute tutorial to get you started.
No-code tools like Zapier. Use this approach if you want to automate the entire video production process. With support for over 5000+ apps, you can build custom workflows that perfectly fit your needs. This 8-minute tutorial makes it easy to get started.
API integration. If you know how to code, or have a developer on your team, you can integrate the API to edit videos directly from within your own application. This method offers the most flexibility, as it allows you to perform any editing operation using a programming language such as Node.js, PHP, Ruby, or Python. Follow the instructions in this article to get started.

3
Create and edit videos automatically

No matter the use case, there's always a way to get fast results through video automation.

If you're not sure which automation method to use, try the spreadsheet approach first. You can always decide later if a no-code tool like Zapier or integrating with the API works better for you. For some inspiration, make sure to check out the step-by-step tutorials on automated video editing.

Want to try it yourself? Get started for free in minutes:

Frequently asked questions

Can you automate video editing?

Yes! Video editing can be automated using a platform like Creatomate. The process is straightforward: start by creating a video design, and then set up an automated workflow using either a video generation spreadsheet, a no-code tool like Zapier, or the REST API.

What kind of videos can I make?

As long as the video's design fits into a template, you can generate any kind of video. The most common use of video automation is for marketing purposes. However, our customers use it for a variety of applications, including creating social media videos, adding text captions to videos, generating videos from dynamic data, video personalization, etc.

How long does it take to set up?

All three automation methods can be set up in just 10 minutes. To help you begin, we have a variety of step-by-step tutorials that describe practical use cases.

What's the best tool to automate video editing?

We believe that the Creatomate video API is the best choice for the job. It offers all the tools you need to edit videos entirely automated – whether you're a developer, a no-code enthusiast, or business owner looking for a cost-effective way to automate videos. For a more detailed comparison, please refer to our article on the best video generation APIs.