Motion graphics designers are cooked. That was my reaction when I watched ChatCut turn my rough footage into animated logos, glowing glass cards, sound effects, and an entire pixel world, all through a conversation inside ChatGPT.
ChatCut is a video editor with a native ChatGPT desktop plugin. You describe the edit; it works on a real timeline you can inspect and change. Here’s the setup and the process I used.
Watch the full step-by-step tutorial:
1. Install ChatCut inside ChatGPT
Start at ChatCut’s official plugin page. This workflow uses the desktop app on Mac or Windows. The plugin cannot be installed from ChatGPT’s website or mobile app.
Update your ChatGPT desktop app, then open Plugins in the sidebar.
Search for ChatCut, open it, and select Install.
Choose Connect when prompted and sign in to your ChatCut account.
Start a new chat or task after installation. Select ChatCut in the prompt box, or ask it to use ChatCut for your video.
If you don’t see the plugin, use the copyable setup instruction on that page. In the video, you’ll also see the Codex workspace name.
The ChatCut plugin shown in the walkthrough. Connect it, then begin a new task.
2. Give it your footage and a visual reference
Drag in your video file. Add your logo or brand colors if you have them. Then include a link or screenshot showing the style you want.
I browsed Dribbble for inspiration and chose a look with soft shadows, transparent cards, and clean typography. A specific reference gives the AI something useful to work toward. Ask for an original design inspired by those qualities.
3. Clean up the edit first
Get the talking part right before adding the graphics. ChatCut transcribes the footage, so the AI can use your spoken words to find cuts and time the visuals.
PROMPT 1 · Copy and paste
Cleaned up from my spoken prompt in the video.
Use ChatCut to turn my attached footage into a polished intro. First, remove mistakes, repeated takes, filler words, and long pauses. Keep the speech natural, smooth the audio cuts, and leave no accidental gaps. Use my reference for the colors, typography, shadows, and transparency. Show me the clean edit before adding motion graphics.
In my demo, the first speech edit went from roughly 2 minutes 18 seconds to 54.5 seconds. Watch it back and make sure the cuts still sound like you.
The clean speech edit, before the motion graphics treatment.
4. Approve five seconds of graphics
This is the trick I would use every time: test the look on five seconds before decorating the entire video. It gives you something concrete to improve and avoids redoing a full edit.
PROMPT 2 · Copy and paste
A shorter version of my graphics preview and style instructions.
Create a motion graphics preview for the first five seconds only. Use the relevant logos, animated text, and floating cards. Match my reference with soft shadows, glow, and translucent glass-style cards. Keep me visible and avoid a full-screen background. Show me the sample for approval before applying the style to the rest of the video.
I refined the sample by asking for more glow and shadows, then slightly blurred, transparent card backgrounds. Give specific feedback on what you see.
The five-second style test, with the graphics kept on editable timeline layers.
5. Build out the treatment
Once you like the look, ask it to apply that style to the next section and time the graphics to your words. I started with 20 seconds, adding animated logos, cards, and sound effects, then requested color grading and subtle zooms at selected cuts.
For the ending, I pushed it further: turn the scene into a stylized pixel world. That is the result below. The point is that you can describe the idea in ordinary language, review it, and keep refining it.
The finished pixel-world ending. Watch the embedded video to see it move.
6. Review, then export
Play the whole edit. Check the timing, spelling, logo choices, audio, and whether anything covers your face. Then use Export in ChatCut and choose a standard MP4 for a normal finished video.
Already using CapCut? You can import the exported MP4 there for further editing. ChatCut is the plugin used in this tutorial; CapCut is a separate editor.
Is it really free?
ChatCut is free to start. Its plugin works with ChatGPT Free too, within your account’s usage limits. Manual editing, uploads, and transcription do not use ChatCut credits. The free plan currently includes a cumulative 60-minute cloud-export allowance. Optional generated media can use credits, and features such as transparent ProRes export require Pro. Check current plans and the credit policy before a bigger project.
You still choose the style and decide what looks good. But being able to direct this much editing and animation with plain language is a huge shift for anyone making videos.
Marcin
P.S. If you want to build apps and try workflows like this with other people, come hang out with us in AI Builders. No tech skills needed to get started.