How to Use invideo to Cut Your Footage Into a Launch Ad

The short answer: switch the agent to ask before it generates anything, set a credit limit for the project, upload your footage to a blank timeline, brief the agent for a 60-second first cut, review it on the timeline and fix it by hand for free, share a review link, export the MP4, then have Claude rebuild the cut as a 9:16 vertical through invideo's MCP server while you watch the timeline.

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A launch usually leaves you with more footage than edit: a product demo, three interview answers, some b-roll from the office. invideo's editor is built around an agent that watches that footage and assembles a cut you can then take over on a normal multitrack timeline (editor introduction). Manual editing on the timeline is free; agent work and generated media use credits (credits article). For plans and prices, see the invideo glossary entry.

Before the first brief:

1. Know what a seat buys. Starter is $20 a seat a month on monthly billing with 400 credits, and only the Lite agent (pricing page, checked on 24 October 2026). For example, a two-person team cutting the launch on Starter pays 2 x $20 = $40 for the month and holds 800 credits; Pro and Ultra agent modes need Plus at $60 a seat.
2. Start from the footage you have. Name the files and folders before you upload. The help centre advises referring to folder and file names in instructions so the agent can find the assets you mean (own media article).
3. Decide how the cut will be judged. Agree with whoever signs off the launch the one thing the 60 seconds must show, and the place the audience goes after. Review against that, not against taste.

The free plan is enough to learn the timeline. It gives limited credits that reset every Monday at 12 a.m. UTC, with no card (free plan article).

Step 1: Put the guardrails on first

By default the agent is set to Always allow and generates without asking. Click the permission toggle in the chat box and choose Ask before generating videos, or Always ask before generating; an Approve pop-up then shows the prompt, model, duration and aspect ratio before anything runs. Set a credit limit for the project too (agent credits article). A default of Always allow suits the vendor's credit meter better than it suits your budget, so change it before the agent has anything to do.

Step 2: Open a timeline and upload

On ai.invideo.io, select Timeline Editor below the prompt box and create a blank timeline. Open Media and upload or drag in the footage (editor introduction). If someone already started in Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve, open that project instead and keep going from it.

Step 3: Brief the agent for a first cut

Open the agent panel on the left. Give it the length, the opening, the ending and what must not change, as the first cut guide suggests. Its own example is a good template: "Create a 60-second first cut from these interview clips. Keep the answers in order, remove false starts and finish with the product demonstration." Add the file names of the demo shots and the claim the founder makes that has to stay word for word.

Step 4: Review on the timeline, and fix by hand

Play the sequence in the Monitor. Trim or rearrange clips yourself, which costs nothing, or give one focused follow-up instruction (timeline guide). Every agent edit stays on the same editable timeline. Press Command + Z on a Mac to undo the last one, use version history to return to an earlier state, and use a branch to try an alternative without losing the cut you like (earlier state article).

Check two things the agent cannot know: that the product shown is the version you are launching, and that nobody in the b-roll objected to being filmed.

Step 5: Fix sound and colour

Ask for the change in plain words, for example "Lower the background music during the dialogue" or "Adjust these two shots so their color feels consistent" (agent instructions guide). Or select a clip and use the Audio and Color controls yourself, which uses no credits. After each agent reply, the three-dot menu on the message shows what that exchange cost.

Step 6: Share it for review

In the Notebook, Shift-click the timeline, click Export, name it and choose Playlist. Set access to Anyone with the link and decide whether viewers may download. Watching needs no account; leaving a timecoded comment needs an invideo account (review link guide). Send it to the person who approves the launch before you export anything final.

Step 7: Export the master

Select Export, choose H.264 MP4, and check Range, Resolution, Frame rate, Quality and the Loudness target, then select Export (export guide). Open the file and check picture and sound. Exporting costs no credits. To finish in another editor, choose Editable project: Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro directly, DaVinci Resolve through OpenTimelineIO.

Step 8: Have Claude build the vertical cut

The 9:16 version is a good job to hand to an agent you already use. In Claude, go to Customize, then Connectors, add a custom web connector named invideo with the server URL https://mcp.invideo.io/mcp, sign in to your invideo account, and enable invideo for the conversation. Test it with "Use invideo to show me my projects" (Claude connection guide). On a Team or Enterprise Claude workspace, the owner adds the connector under Organization settings first.

Then name the project and ask for the change, in the words of invideo's own MCP page: "Rebuild this cut as a 9:16 vertical for Reels, then export the video." Open the editor link Claude returns and watch the edits land under a cursor with its name. Before the export goes anywhere, a person checks the framing of every shot and the captions against the safe area, then plays the file through, as the MCP export guide advises: picture, sound and duration. Generation through MCP uses invideo credits, and Claude's own plan requirements still apply (MCP credits article).

Mistakes invideo's help centre covers

• Judging watermarks in preview. They show by default on the preview page and are removed on export; a project exported before you subscribed keeps them until you export it again (watermark article).
• Leaving the agent on Always allow. It then generates without asking (agent credits article).
• Banking credits. Plan credits reset monthly, on annual plans too, and unused ones do not roll over (pricing page).
• A connector that is on in one chat only. Claude needs invideo enabled per conversation under + and Connectors, and on a Team or Enterprise workspace the owner adds it first (Claude connection guide).

FAQ

Does manual editing ever use credits?

No. Arranging clips and adjusting picture and sound by hand is free; only agent work and model generation are charged, per the credits article.

Can several people cut the launch together?

Yes. Multiplayer editing with live cursors is on every plan, for up to 5 seats on Starter, 10 on Plus and 20 on Max (pricing page).

Which agent mode should I use?

Lite is fast and credit-efficient for sketching, Pro is for final output at a higher cost, and Ultra adds 4K video and upscaled images, per the agent credits article. My recommendation: draft in Lite, switch for the final pass.