A UGC video editor is any editor you use to turn creator footage into videos a brand can post or run as ads. The job is different from editing your own content. The brand doesn't want one perfect video. It wants a few versions it can test against each other, in the formats it runs.
This guide covers what that edit needs: the hook, the captions, the formats, the versions. Then which tool fits which kind of UGC. If you're new to the work itself, start with UGC creator for beginners.
What makes a UGC edit different?
Three things:
- It's built to be tested. Brands running UGC as ads usually test hooks and openings against each other. One video with one hook gives them nothing to compare.
- It has to look native. UGC works because it looks like a person posted it, not a studio. Heavy effects and polished motion graphics undo that.
- It ships in a brief's formats. Usually 9:16 for Reels, TikTok and Stories, often 4:5 or 1:1 for feeds, sometimes with and without music.
How do you edit UGC for brands, step by step?
- Read the brief for the deliverables. Count them: videos, hooks per video, ratios and maximum length. That list is your export plan.
- Pull the best moments first. Watch the raw footage once and mark the best lines and product shots. Most UGC edits are built from a handful of good seconds.
- Cut the hook to land in the first second or two. Start on the product in hand or a line that names the problem. Reel hooks: the first three seconds has patterns that work.
- Cut the body tight. Remove pauses and false starts. A jump cut is fine in UGC; it reads as a real person talking. What is a jump cut explains why.
- Add captions. Many people watch with the sound off. Keep captions large and clear of the platform's buttons. Reel captions and subtitles covers placement.
- Make the versions. Same body with different hooks, or the same footage in a different order. Label each file so the brand knows what it's testing.
- Export every ratio the brief asks for, and check each one on a phone before you send it.
Which versions should you make for testing?
Change one thing per version, so a winner tells the brand something.
| Version | What changes | What stays |
|---|---|---|
| Hook A, B, C | The first one to three seconds | Body, captions, ending |
| Text hook vs spoken hook | On-screen text vs the creator's first line | The footage |
| Problem-first vs product-first | The order of the opening shots | The claims and call to action |
| Music vs no music | A track under the edit | The cut |
| 9:16, 4:5, 1:1 | The crop and text placement | The edit |
Which UGC video editor should you use?
It depends on what the footage is.
| Tool | Best for | Weak at |
|---|---|---|
| CapCut | Talking-head UGC on a phone or desktop, captions, quick cuts | Repeating the same edit across many versions |
| Descript | Editing a talking video by editing its transcript | Music-led, beat-cut edits |
| Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve | Agencies, heavy client revisions, full control | Speed on simple edits |
| Canva | Text-led ads and brand templates | Precise cuts on fast footage |
| Easy Reels | Music-led b-roll UGC and product reels in many versions | Talking-head edits with speech captions |
For talking-head UGC, where the creator speaks to camera, a timeline or transcript editor is the right tool. You need to cut on words and caption speech, and CapCut, Descript and Premiere all do that well.
For b-roll and product UGC, where the creator films the product in use or an unboxing and the edit runs to music, the job is mostly repetition: the same structure with different clips and different hooks. That's where Easy Reels fits.
How do you make many UGC versions from the same footage?
In Easy Reels you put the creator's clips and photos in a folder and build a template once: the song, the cut style on the beat, a colour filter and a text design. A design has per-video placeholders, so the hook text changes while its position and font stay fixed.
Then you write a copy pool: all the hooks and captions the brief calls for, written once. Each render draws a hook it hasn't used lately and a different set of clips from the folder. A batch makes 10 videos on Pro or 50 on Ultra, so one template can produce the hook variations in a single run. Every video is a 1440x2560 vertical MP4 of up to 60 seconds that you download and deliver. Templates render 9:16; if the brief also wants 4:5 or 1:1, the Easy Reels MCP on Ultra renders those ratios when you describe the edit to Claude or ChatGPT. Product video reels has the shot list that feeds this kind of template.
If you edit for several brands, Ultra has unlimited brand spaces, so each client can have its own; Pro has one. What Easy Reels doesn't do: it doesn't generate captions from speech in templates, and it isn't a timeline editor, so cut talking-head UGC elsewhere. There's no free plan. A 14-day free trial gives full access, then Pro is $19 a month and Ultra $39; cancel before the trial ends and you aren't charged. See pricing.
Take your next brief, count the versions it asks for, and build the edit once for all of them.
Common questions
What do UGC editors use to edit?
Many use CapCut, because it's free and handles talking-head edits and captions on a phone or desktop. Agencies often use Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve, and some editors use Descript for transcript-based cutting.
How many versions should a UGC video have?
Whatever the brief says. When it doesn't say, ask; a common setup is one body with several hook variations, so the brand can test openings against each other.
What aspect ratio do brands want for UGC?
Usually 9:16 for Reels, TikTok and Stories. Many briefs also ask for 4:5 or 1:1 for feed placements. Vertical video dimensions lists the sizes.
Should UGC videos have music?
It depends on the video. Talking-head UGC often runs with the creator's voice alone or quiet music underneath. B-roll and product UGC usually runs to music. Use tracks you have a licence for, especially for ads.