How to create custom video effects with AI
October 8, 2026
Create a custom video effect in invideo Editor in three steps: add your clip, describe the effect or share a reference, and adjust the result. The agent builds the effect; you refine it through chat or the available controls. Controls vary by effect, and agent jobs use credits.
Creating a custom video effect can involve drawing shapes, combining layers, tracking movement and adjusting keyframes. The work depends on the effect: a glow around a moving subject needs a different setup from a distortion across the whole frame.
With invideo Editor, you can ask an AI agent to build the effect from your description or a reference, then adjust the result using its custom controls. The workflow is simple: add your clip, describe the effect, and make it yours.
For example, Noam Agassi’s highlight-streak demonstration shows bright streaks extending from a dancer’s hands, followed by controls for trail length, mix and direction. The effect is something the creator can adjust after it has been built.
Highlight-streak effect and adjustable controls demonstrated by Noam Agassi in collaboration with invideo. Watch on Instagram.
What is a custom video effect?
A custom video effect is a visual treatment built or adapted to produce a particular look or behavior in your footage. It could stretch bright areas into streaks, distort the edges of a shot or reveal the next clip through a pattern you describe.
“Custom” describes the creative result; it does not require one particular technique. You can build effects manually, generate new imagery with AI, or ask an editing agent to construct an adjustable effect on your timeline. This guide covers the last approach.
Why create a custom video effect?
Create one when an existing preset does not give you the look or control your edit needs. You might want to:
Emphasize a moment: add a visual accent to a product reveal or a movement.
Adapt a reference to your footage: use its streaks or distortion with your own subject and composition.
Control the finish: change the effect’s strength, direction or timing to fit the surrounding shots.
If a preset already does the job, follow the guide to adding effects to a video. Build a custom effect when you have a specific change in mind.
Six custom effects to try with invideo
Invideo’s effects demonstrations include these treatments and transitions. Select an effect name to watch its Instagram demonstration, then choose the one that fits the moment you want to emphasize.
Effect | What it looks like | Where you could use it |
|---|---|---|
Footage combined with illustrations, cutouts and textures for a collage-like treatment. | Give a fashion, music or lifestyle edit a graphic style. | |
A moment plays forward, reverses and repeats. | Emphasize a jump, gesture or product movement. | |
Shots connect through a similar shape, subject or composition. | Link products or locations through a recurring visual motif. | |
Strips of the next shot appear before the full image is revealed. | Introduce a product or new scene in stages. | |
The next shot appears tile by tile across a grid. | Add a patterned reveal to a montage or campaign edit. | |
A torn-paper edge reveals the next shot. | Give a travel, fashion or scrapbook-style sequence a textured transition. |
These effects use different constructions. A boomerang rearranges footage; a mixed-media treatment may include generated images or separate graphic layers. Start by describing the result you want, then refine the controls and elements available in that particular effect.
How to create a custom video effect with AI in three steps
1. Add your clip
Open the invideo editor and attach the clip you want to work on to the invideo Agent. If you have a reference, attach it to your request. You can also start with a description alone.
Choose a clear moment to try first. For the highlight-streak example, a shot with distinct bright areas makes the treatment easier to judge.
2. Tell the AI what to build
Describe the look you want, or point out the effect in your reference. Include anything you want to keep unchanged.
An attached reference and a short request for adjustable controls in invideo’s custom-effects demonstration, 00:10. This is a separate example from the highlight-streak treatment below.
For example:
Create highlight streaks on this clip like the reference. Keep my existing colors and give me controls for streak length, direction and mix.
This is a suggested starting prompt. In Agassi’s demonstration, the visible request specifically asks for highlight streaks while leaving out the reference’s color-space transform and grading.
Invideo’s agent builds the effect in the editor. You do not need to write the effect code yourself, and you can request the adjustments you want available in the panel. The exact controls depend on the effect created. See how custom effects work without writing code.
3. Adjust the result
Preview the effect and move the available controls until it suits the shot. In the highlight-streak example, the panel includes Highlight Threshold, Highlight Softness, Trail Length, Trail Taper Strength, Mix and Direction.
The adjustable panel shown in Agassi’s demonstration, 00:34. These controls belong to this example; other effects may expose different settings.
You can also ask for a change:
Make the streaks shorter and more subtle. Keep the direction and colors the same.
Check the effect with the surrounding shots, adjust when it appears if needed, and export when you are happy with the result. You can keep refining through conversation or use the manual controls.
What if you want more control?
You do not need to adjust every setting to finish an effect. Start with the change that matters most: its strength, direction or timing.
If the effect overwhelms the subject, compare a lighter mix or shorter streaks. If it looks right but arrives too early, adjust the timing. If a control you need is missing, ask the agent to add it or revise the effect.
For a treatment that changes during the shot, use keyframe animation on supported properties. Separate graphic layers can also be repositioned or trimmed when the effect uses them. These are optional refinements, not prerequisites for creating your first effect.
Why build your effect in invideo Editor?
Invideo brings the effect request, the result and its editable controls into the same editing workflow. Describe what you want, let the agent build it, then use the available controls or continue the conversation to refine it. The highlight-streak example shows that progression from a request to an adjustable panel.
The question to ask is what you want to adjust afterwards. Invideo’s custom-effects workflow is useful when you want the agent to build a treatment and leave you controls for refining it. Details baked into generated imagery remain part of that imagery; they do not become separate sliders or layers simply because the clip sits on a timeline.
For generating visual elements and combining them with a shot, see the AI video-effects workflow.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a reference to create a custom effect?
A reference is optional: you can describe the effect instead. If you use one, identify the part you want to recreate rather than asking for every detail in the video.
Is creating a custom effect free?
Invideo’s current Editor page distinguishes free manual editing from agent jobs that use credits. Check the current cost for your task before starting.
Start with one clip and one effect in invideo Editor. Describe the look you want, then adjust the result around your edit.