Meta launched reels on Instagram in the year 2020. Since then Instagram has gained a lot of popularity worldwide. Many users make reels to get famous, this may happen when their reel gets viral. A viral reel is when a reel receives a lot of views in a few days. This increases engagement on your Instagram page. Many people have become popular due to their viral reels, this has helped them earn money through Instagram as well as increase their popularity. Instagram reels can benefit businesses as well. While businesses aim to reach more consumers, Instagram reels can help them spread their content and increase their brand engagement.
However, many people struggle to make an Instagram reel. They don’t know what kind of audio to use, where to search for the audio, and which icon to click on. That is why this article is there to give guidance on how to make an Instagram reel. Your reasons for making a reel could be anything. It doesn’t matter if you want to gain anything from it or not as these reels could also be for entertainment purposes, to have fun.
What are Instagram reels?
Instagram reels are videos of the full screen that could be up to 90 seconds. Reels are used for expressing an idea, entertaining, spreading awareness, connecting people, gaining more numbers of viewers, etc. Many editing tools could be used to make reels more engaging and fun. Instagram reels have plenty of audio tracks, which include trending reel audios, songs, dialogues, etc. One can also use filters, emojis, stickers, captions, video clips, and interesting backgrounds to enhance the look of their reel.
Instagram reels are very different from Instagram stories. Instagram stories don’t have the same kind of editing options. One cannot add more than one video to their Instagram story. Also, stories will only last for 24 hours and after that, you can also add them to your highlights to make sure they appear on your page. Whereas reels will always appear on your page unless and until you delete them.
The best part is that Instagram reels are suggested to users based on their interests. It doesn’t matter if you follow someone or not, Instagram would still give you suggestions to view reels that might interest you.
Where can you watch a reel?
Users can watch reels from many sections of Instagram. There is a section that is on the bottom page of Instagram, where you can directly click and scroll through trending and interest-related reels. (
One can also view their own reel on the feed page of their Instagram.
Another place to view others’ reels could be the explore section of Instagram, where you can easily scroll through the reels.
Where can you make a reel?
Instagram has given a lot of flexibility to make a reel. You can get the option of creating a reel on the homepage of Instagram. On the top right of the home page, there is a ‘+’ symbol, and then you can scroll down to the option of reels.
One can also create a reel from the reels section. You just have to click on the camera icon on the top right when you see a reel.
You can also go with the Instagram stories camera to create a reel. When you go to the camera section, you will find different sections such as posts, live stories, and reels. Go with the reels option to create the reel.
Two ways to shoot a reel: Clips from a camera roll and shooting with the internal Instagram camera
One can always choose if they want clips and images from their camera roll externally or record a reel from the Instagram reel camera. To simply use external clips from the camera roll, press on the ‘+’ icon in the bottom left corner of the Instagram camera roll. To create a reel from the Instagram camera roll, simply just hold the recording circle for reels from the bottom of the section.
How to add audio?
You will see a music symbol on the left side of the screen. All the audio will be divided into different sections, audio for you, newly released audio as well as original audio created by other users on Instagram. You will also get suggestions for trending reel audios on Instagram. If you have specific audio in mind then search for it, or you listen to the audio and pick the one that suits the best with your reel. You can also simply use your voice audio by just recording the clip.
The Filters
People can also use filters for recording the reels. You can find filters that you mostly use at the bottom of the screen. However, if you want to explore more filter options you can select the three-star symbol on the left side of the screen, below the audio option. You can search for the filter that you want, as well as explore trending filters.
The Speed and Time
Make sure you decide how long your reel is going to be. You have the option of making 15, 30, 60, and 90 seconds reels. You will find these options below the filters symbol. Below the time period option, you will also find the speed symbol. With this option, you can make a slo-mo reel. One can also speed up their reel.
Other Options
The video layout option is to divide your video clips into different sections. You can explore and find out if you want a video layout or not. If yes then what kind of layout? You will find this option below the speed option. One can also set a countdown of 3 or 10 seconds before the recording starts. Moreover, you can set a timer for how long you want your recording to be. It can be between 15 to 90 seconds. You will find this option below the video layout option.
Align
After recording a clip for less than 90 seconds, you will get an additional option of aligning. This option makes sure that if you want to align another clip in the same reel with the other clip that you recorded then you can do it by just clicking on align option. You can align as many clips as you want until your entire clips are for 90 seconds.
Edit Clips
There is also an option of editing the clips after you are done recording them. In this option, you can delete a clip. You can also rearrange the clips by going with the reorder options, where you have to drag the clips to reorder them. You also get the option of adding transitions between your clips. You will get this option in the edit clips section. You can choose what kind of transition you want and between which clips you want. Some transitions include blur, zoom, warp, flare, spin, etc.
Text, Stickers, Drawing
You can explain your clip more by adding text to it. You can also explore stickers from Instagram, that will enhance your content for the reel. There is also the option of drawing which will help make your reel more engaging. All these tools are to help you make an amazing reel. You will find these options after you are done making all the chips.
Additional Apps to use for Editing your Reels
InShot: Instagram reels are mostly vertical, however, InShot makes sure that you can upload a horizontal video on reels. It adds bars to make your horizontal videos become vertical and can fit for reels. The app also has many easy-to-use editing tools. The app also provides easy transitions, titles, and captions. You can experiment with the background, the speed of the clips, filters, audio, and many more.
KineMaster: KineMaster is best for professional work. You can record voiceovers, which you cannot do on reels. You can also include sound effects as well as trim your video. The app has motion graphics, text overlays, transitions, and a lot more to offer you.
Splice: The app has amazing effects and transitions. You can also change the background of the videos. The app also has filters, cinematic effects, dynamic transitions, and many more. These tools enhance the look of your reel and improve its quality as well.
There are many other apps that anyone can use to edit their reels. You get to experiment with the kind of reels that you want to make.
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Share Your Reel
After editing the reel, share your reel with a related caption that best describes your reel. You can choose the cover image of your reel. Whether you want your reel to be seen on your feed or not. In the ‘tag people’ option, you can invite a person to be a collaborator for that reel. If they accept it they will be a co-author of the reel. Moreover, you also have the option to add the location if you like. After this, you can share your reel!
