The code-first reel starter

From @learningwithcole

Every reel on this page is a React file, not a project in a video editor. Remotion turns code into an MP4, and Claude Code writes the code. Here's the smallest setup that works.

#1. Set it up (one command)

You need Node.js. Then:

npx create-video@latest

Pick a blank template, open the folder in your terminal, and start Claude Code there.

#2. One composition

A composition is a React component plus the video's size, length and frame rate. You register it in src/Root.tsx:

<Composition
  id="MyReel"
  component={MyReel}
  durationInFrames={30 * 40} // 40 s at 30 fps
  fps={30}
  width={1080}
  height={1920}
/>

Inside MyReel, useCurrentFrame() tells you which frame you're drawing. A video is just what your component returns for frame 0, 1, 2 and so on. Animation = a value that depends on the frame.

Prompt to give Claude:

#3. Time every scene to your voice

Put your voiceover in the public/ folder and add it to the composition:

import { staticFile } from "remotion";
import { Audio } from "@remotion/media";

<Audio src={staticFile("vo.wav")} />

1. Get word timestamps for the voiceover (start and end in seconds for each word) from any speech-to-text tool that outputs them, and save them as words.json.
2. Turn a spoken word into a frame: Math.round(word.start * fps).
3. Start each scene on a word, not on a hand-typed frame number. Write a tiny helper, cue("here is the trick"), that finds that phrase in words.json and returns its frame. Have it throw an error if the phrase isn't found, so a changed script can't silently break your timing.

Now if you re-record the voice faster or slower, every scene moves with it.

#4. Preview and render

npx remotion studio          # live preview in your browser
npx remotion render src/index.ts MyReel out/reel.mp4

The render runs on your own computer and writes an H.264 MP4. No upload, no video model.

#5. Change one line, render again

Keep the things you tweak most at the top of the file:

const ACCENT = "#E8553D";
const HOOK = "Claude made this reel in code";

Change one value, run the render command again, and every scene that uses it updates. Same goes for the ending: it's a component, so swap it and re-render.

#Good to know

• Remotion is free for individuals and for companies with up to 3 employees. Bigger for-profit companies need a company licence (see LICENSE.md in the repo).
• Ask Claude to keep one file per reel and reuse shared pieces (captions, character, end card) from a components/ folder. That's how this page makes a new reel without starting from zero.
• Remotion's own docs: remotion.dev/docs (opens in a new tab). Repo: github.com/remotion-dev/remotion (opens in a new tab).