# Short Form Edit

Turn talking-head footage into a finished reel, YouTube Short, or short advertisement...

- Repository: https://github.com/nateherkai/herk-edit-kit (2482 stars)
- Category: Media
- License: see repository
- Last updated: 2026-10-14
- Runs scripts: yes, review before use

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add nateherkai/herk-edit-kit --skill short-form-edit -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add nateherkai/herk-edit-kit --skill short-form-edit -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add nateherkai/herk-edit-kit --skill short-form-edit -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add nateherkai/herk-edit-kit --skill short-form-edit -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Turn talking-head footage into a finished reel, YouTube Short, or short advertisement with curiosity-led openings, earned payoffs, story-driven cuts, transcript-synced motion graphics, moving B-roll, captions, subtle music, and synchronized sound effects. Use for short-form editing; use edit-video for long-form videos and cut-silences for pause removal alone.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Short form edit

Input: a source-video path and an optional reference-reel path.

Deliver the requested formats and the editable project. Default to 1080x1920;
when requested, also compose 1920x1080 with its own framing and text placement.
Verify each aspect ratio independently, including its opening and CTA. The edit must tell the
speaker's story through images, timing, and sound. Virality is an aspiration, not
a result that editing can guarantee. Work locally unless delegation is requested.

## Priority

The first creative gate is: **"In the first 3 seconds is someone convinced they
need to watch until the end?"** Establish a specific reason to stay and earn its
payoff inside the video. Effects, asset volume, and production polish come after
this test. Treat the answer as editorial judgment until audience data exists.

## House style and notes

Read `docs/EDITING-PLAYBOOK.md` before planning. It holds Nate's measured reel
style (pacing, layouts, captions, B-roll order, sound palette), the raw-reel,
long-to-Short, and narrated-explainer variants, and the lessons that cost time.
Use it as the default when the user gives no style; the user's brief wins.

When the user gives a note on a draft, fix the edit, then offer to write the
note into the relevant skill or reference as a rule, check, or script change, so
the next edit starts from it. Record the note and the resulting rule together.

## Establish the edit

The rest: https://github.com/nateherkai/herk-edit-kit/blob/HEAD/.agents/skills/short-form-edit/SKILL.md