Instagram is targeting one of the most time-consuming parts of making a Reel: staring at a folder of raw, unedited clips and deciding what to do with them. The company’s latest Reels editing innovation, First Draft, promises to turn minutes of footage into an assembled, trimmed, and edited initial cut in seconds. First Draft takes the clips a creator has already filmed and edited into a working cut of a Reel, removing pauses and connecting the best moments.
How First Draft Actually Works
First Draft works by identifying the best parts of the selected media, removing unnecessary sections, and trimming the clips. Instagram announced the release by stating that one simply selects the desired clips and hits the First Draft button, which, in seconds, creates a beginning draft made from the selected material. A TechCrunch review offers a good example: it turned nearly five minutes of roller-skating footage into a 17-second Reel. For talking-head clips, the report states, the tool finds the pauses between words and trims them, ensuring the final product consists of the moments the creator actually wants to share.
First Draft is not meant to be the final product. Everything it does is “reversible,” the company stressed, since creators who use the tool can rearrange the media in the new project, remove parts, and tweak the timing. This attention to reversibility is likely meant to reassure users that First Draft does not do anything set in stone. The tool does exactly what one would expect from a phone app meant to help people edit their content: it removes the early, time-consuming, and tedious parts of video editing so that a creator can get to the actual creative process of putting the final product together.
Once the initial cut is ready, the creator moves on to the regular Instagram editing tools, which are used in the same way as before. First Draft is not a groundbreaking innovation, but rather a helpful addition to the existing Instagram Reels toolset, and one that appears to be aimed at specific kinds of content.
Not Groundbreaking, But Helpful
First Draft is not the first tool of its kind: similar features have existed in video editing software such as Adobe Firefly’s Quick Cuts and CapCut’s Auto Cut. However, by introducing the technology in its own application, Instagram has managed to remove a potential reason for users to turn to other apps for their editing needs. The trend fits in with the company’s broader efforts at keeping as many potential users on its platform as possible by providing as many useful tools as it can in-house. Earlier this year, Instagram launched a Replace Audio feature that lets users change the audio of their existing feed or carousel posts, saving them from having to delete the entire media and re-upload it with new audio. The company is also reportedly working on an AI assistant for its Edits video editing application and a Series feature that would let users organize their Reels into a single piece of content that viewers could watch in order.
In all cases, the company appears to be working to keep as many elements of the content creation process as it can within its app, from making changes to existing posts to organizing multiple pieces of media into a single project. The same philosophy appears to extend to the new First Draft tool, which is intended to streamline the process of getting raw material into an initial edit.
Why Instagram is Prioritizing it Now
Reels account for approximately 50 percent of time spent on Instagram, according to the company, meaning that the product has become the lifeblood of the platform. Anything that allows people to get their content on Instagram more easily is beneficial to the company, and not just because of the potential to increase the amount of content on the platform. Removing one of the most annoying aspects of putting together a Reel, no matter how small, could entice many more people to use the product, and it would make the experience much better for those who do. Digital Trends noted that staring at raw footage is one of the moments when people are most likely to give up on using the app.
At the same time, there is an obvious competitive reason why Instagram would want to develop such a feature. First-party tools such as Firefly and CapCut have already provided similar automated editing software for some time, but people who wanted to use it had to switch to another app to utilize it. This kind of friction, however minor, has the potential to push some users away, and introducing a similar tool in-house would let Instagram retain those users who might have otherwise switched to another service. It remains to be seen how popular the tool will be overall, but it will almost certainly serve as an important retention mechanism.
What is Still Unclear
Instagram has not yet disclosed whether or not First Draft uses generative AI in any capacity. The report by Digital Trends notes that, for now, the feature should be regarded as a simple, smart automated editing tool rather than anything explicitly relying on artificial intelligence. That could change as Instagram develops the feature, particularly if it adds more generative capabilities in future updates.
It should be noted that, from a user perspective, the mechanics of the two technologies are not likely to differ: the creator chooses what content they want to include in the Reel, and the software does the rest, removing the need for extensive editing on the user’s behalf. The tool is not explicitly marketed as an AI technology, but it appears to be the precursor to more interesting applications down the road.
Meanwhile, the feature is only available on iOS for now, with no word on whether or what time Android users may be able to access it. This is not unexpected, given that many Instagram features debut on iPhones before making their way to other devices, but it nonetheless limits the tool’s appeal for now. It should also be noted that, outside of the technical implementation, there is nothing truly revolutionary about the feature. First Draft is ultimately another automation tool that Instagram has added to its editing suite, which may not be exciting for people who already have a well-established editing process.
What This Means for Creators
The main audience for First Draft is the kind of creator who has to spend significant amounts of time searching through their footage for something usable. Some people edit their reels by choosing from multiple takes, while others have to trim long, unedited talking-head clips to get something decent out of them. First Draft is ideal for these kinds of creators, who can take their best moments and put them together to form something watchable without putting in much effort. It is also likely to be popular among brands who maintain Instagram accounts and create content on a large scale.
For them, getting a Reel up and running faster without sacrificing quality could be valuable, and the option to tweak the auto-generated initial draft gives them the confidence to try the feature out on smaller posts first. Whether or not it encourages them to make more Reels overall is hard to say, but the mere presence of the option will almost certainly help with the production speed. It will be particularly interesting to see how the tool affects everyday creators, who appear to be its target audience.
Instagram has not shared any specific figures on how this kind of tool may be utilized, but it is safe to assume that the company will eventually share some results as the tool continues to grow in popularity.
Frequently asked questions
Q 1: What is Instagram’s First Draft feature?
First Draft is a new Reels editing tool that allows a creator to assemble a finished, trimmed, and edited version of a Reel from multiple pieces of footage by eliminating pauses and putting the best moments together.
Q 2: How can one access First Draft?
A creator can either view the tool in the Reels gallery after selecting multiple clips or use it in the camera after recording footage by hitting the First Draft button.
Q 3: Is First Draft available on Android?
The tool debuted exclusively on iOS and is yet to be announced for Android.
Q 4: Can what First Draft puts together be edited further?
Everything that the tool does is “reversible” according to Instagram, which means that the creator can reorder, rearrange, remove, or undo any part of what has been automatically put together.
Q 5: What kind of material is best suited for First Draft?
According to the announcement, the tool was created with multi-clip montages, talking-head, and day-in-the-life videos in mind.
Q 6: Does First Draft use artificial intelligence?
The report by Digital Trends suggests that, for now, the feature should be regarded as a smart automated editing tool rather than an artificial intelligence technology.
Q 7: What is the difference between First Draft and Edits?
Edits is the separate Instagram video editing application meant for advanced creators. First Draft is a part of the regular Instagram Reels toolset and is essentially the starting point for putting together a video.
Q 8: Are there any similar tools on the market?
As mentioned, Adobe Firefly’s Quick Cuts and CapCut’s Auto Cut offer similar automated editing features. However, those tools are part of separate applications that one has to download separately.
