AI music videos for TikTok, Reels and YouTube Shorts: formats, hooks and a release plan

TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts all play full-screen vertical video on a phone, and all of them let a viewer move on instantly. This guide covers the format, the first seconds, which lengths to make from one song, captions and a posting plan. Formats, lengths and prices below are those of HeyBop's AI music video generator; platform rules change, so check each platform's current limits before you post.

Vertical 9:16, composed for a phone

Export 9:16 at 1080×1920 — HeyBop's vertical format for TikTok, Reels and Shorts — as an MP4 (H.264); the Free plan exports 720P. If most people will see the video on a phone, make vertical its main format from the start and treat other shapes as extras, at 10 credits each. Cropping a horizontal video afterwards throws away the edges of every shot, and sometimes the part that mattered.

Compose for a small screen: one subject, close framing, strong shapes and contrast. All three platforms lay buttons and text over parts of the frame, so keep the important part of each shot toward the centre.

The first seconds

Nobody has to watch past the first second, so don't make them wait for the video to start. Open on movement, a face or the most striking image you have — not a slow intro, a title card or a black frame. A camera move from the first frame, such as a push in or a tracking shot, reads as intent. On HeyBop's Standard tier the opener is one of the hero shots that go to the top engine, along with the chorus drop, the closer and the hook.

Check the opening scene before anything else, on a phone and with the sound off. If it's the weakest shot, rewrite its prompt or regenerate it: one scene costs one clip, and the rest of the video, the cut and the sync stay as they are.

If the song itself opens slowly, save the intro for the full-length video. Short posts don't have to start at bar one: the hook video is built on the hook, and the teaser is the strongest 15 seconds of the chorus.

Build around the chorus or hook

The hook is the part people remember, so short cuts should be built on it. HeyBop's first step finds the sections and where the hook hits, and the edit gives the chorus bigger, faster shots. The lengths to make from one song:

Each paid length costs a 10-credit storyboard, its clips at 60 credits per 6-second clip (40 on Lite) and a 20-credit render; the hook video, for example, is 10 + 2 × 60 + 20. How credits work explains the rest.

Make the 12-second hook video first. It's the cheapest one-click length, it's usually ready in about 3–5 minutes, and it shows whether a look suits the song before you spend on anything longer. If it works, make the 30-second video (usually about 3–5 minutes) in the same look; if not, try another of the 12 looks. Pro's 800 credits a month cover about five hook videos.

Captions

Turn on lyric captions: they're timed to the vocals and come in several caption styles. Captions let people follow the song with the sound off, and they carry the words when the mix is busy. Pick a style that suits the look, read the captions through once, and preview the post on your phone to check nothing important sits under the platform's buttons.

A release-week posting plan

One song can carry a week of posts if each post is a different cut. Make them before release week starts: a hook video takes minutes, but you'll want time to fix a scene or two, and a full-length video takes longer. A simple plan:

1. Before release: the teaser. Post the free 15-second hook teaser or the 12-second hook video a few days out, so the hook is familiar by release day.
2. Release day: the hook video. Post the 30-second video, or the 12-second hook, with a clear pointer to where the full song lives.
3. After release: alternates. Make new cuts rather than reposting: a different look, a 1-minute short, a version with Sing along performance shots lip-synced to the vocals, or 1:1 and 4:5 cuts for feeds at 10 credits per extra format.
4. The full video. If there's a full-length version for YouTube, the short cuts can point people to it — see the YouTube guide.

HeyBop's public share pages and artist pages, both with embeds, are another place to send people. Paid plans include commercial use — release it, post it, run ads with it — and export 1080P without a watermark; videos made with the free trial credits are for personal, non-commercial use and carry a small watermark. Either way, you need the rights to the song.

Mistakes to avoid

• Cropping a 16:9 video to vertical instead of making 9:16 the main format.
• Opening on the intro when the hook arrives much later.
• Posting the same cut every day; a new look or length is a new post.
• Skipping captions on a song whose words matter.
• Promoting a release with free-trial videos, which are for personal, non-commercial use.

The step-by-step guide walks through making the video itself.