A lecture clip maker for teachers and course creators
A 50-minute lecture or a course module holds a few explanations that would help someone who has never taken the class: a definition that clicks, a worked example, the mistake you correct every term. Reeltopus finds those moments in the transcript, frames you in 9:16 and captions them, so short clips can point people to your course or help students review.
What makes lectures hard to clip
The slide or the board carries the content
“As you can see here” doesn't survive a vertical crop around your face. The clip brain picks moments where the spoken explanation has a hook and a payoff. For clips where the slide matters, export the timeline to Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro and place the slide next to you.
Lecture-capture rooms and webcam bubbles
A fixed camera at the back of a hall shows a small figure at the lectern. A screen recording with a webcam bubble shows a tiny face. Cropping either to 9:16 enlarges a small image, and exports can't exceed the source resolution. Upload the highest-resolution camera feed you have.
Technical terms and spoken maths
Subject vocabulary, researchers' names and spoken formulas are where transcripts go wrong. Reeltopus flags words it's unsure of; fix a term once and every clip updates. Formulas come out as words, so check the captions say what you meant.
Students in the recording
Student questions are often off-mic, and faces in the room can be identifiable. Check your institution's recording policy before uploading class recordings to any outside service, get consent from students who appear, and repeat questions into the mic before answering.
Moments worth clipping
The definition that clicks
A concept explained plainly in under a minute, often the thing students search for the night before an exam.
A worked example, start to finish
Works when you talk through each step aloud. If the steps are only on the board, it belongs in the full lecture.
The common mistake
“Every year, someone writes…” followed by why it's wrong. Correcting a misconception makes a strong hook.
Why it matters
The aside that connects theory to a real job, a news story or everyday life. It's the clip people outside the class find most interesting.
A repeated question, then the answer
When you repeat a student's question before answering, the clip has its hook built in and the student isn't heard.
The summary at the end
“If you remember one thing from today…” A ready-made revision clip.
How it works
- 1
Upload the recording
Upload the file from your lecture-capture system, a meeting recording or your course's source videos. Transcription covers 100+ languages, including teaching that mixes languages, like Hinglish.
- 2
Review the picks
Each clip comes with a one-line reason. Keep explanations that work without the slide, and drop those that lean on something from earlier in the term.
- 3
Fix terms and trim
Correct flagged terms and names once. Delete words in the transcript to trim, remove filler and pauses, or ask in plain words: “make it 60 seconds and end on the example”.
- 4
Export for social and your course
Download MP4s for Shorts, Reels or LinkedIn, SRT or VTT caption files for your course platform, or a timeline for Premiere Pro, Resolve or Final Cut to add slides.
Recommended setup
| Setting | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Clip length | 45 seconds to 2 minutes | Explanations need more room than reactions. YouTube's help pages allow Shorts up to three minutes, so a full worked example can fit there. |
| Captions | A clean, readable style at a medium-large size, emphasis on key terms | Captions help students with hearing loss and anyone watching with the sound off. Highlighting the term being defined makes it stick. |
| Layout | Speaker tracking on you; slides added in your editor when they matter | Tracking keeps you in frame as you move around the room. Slides need a manual layout from the timeline export. |
| Where to post | YouTube Shorts, LinkedIn and Instagram Reels; TikTok for younger students | Shorts can link viewers to your full lectures on YouTube. LinkedIn suits professional and continuing education. |
| Caption files | VTT for web players and course platforms, SRT as a fallback | Many course platforms and web video players take VTT. Use the free subtitle converter if yours wants the other format or shifted timings. |
Free tools for this job
Caption generator
Paste a transcript or script and get short-form caption lines for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, with a live animated preview and free SRT and VTT downloads. No sign-in.
SRT to VTT converter
Convert subtitles between SRT and WebVTT and shift every caption earlier or later by any number of seconds. Runs in your browser, no upload, no sign-in.
YouTube title and description generator
Paste what your clip says and get 5 YouTube title ideas, a description and hashtags, written by AI from your own words. Free, no sign-in.
Video length and reading-speed calculator
Find out how long your script runs at your speaking pace, how many words fit a 15, 30 or 60-second clip, and whether your captions are too fast to read.
Questions
Can I post clips of my lectures publicly?
Check who owns the recording under your contract and your institution's policy. Also check the material in your slides: images and figures you can show in a classroom may not be cleared for public posting.
What about students who appear or speak?
Get consent, or leave them out. Clips frame you, not the room, and you can delete a student's words in the transcript to cut them from a clip. Repeating questions into the mic keeps students out of the audio entirely.
Does it work for lectures that aren't in English?
Yes. Transcription covers 100+ languages, including mixed-language teaching like Hinglish. Words it's unsure of are flagged for you to check.
Can I get caption files for my course platform?
Yes. Alongside the MP4, you can export SRT, VTT or ASS caption files for each clip. The free subtitle converter switches between SRT and VTT and shifts timings if you need to.
How many upload hours would a course use?
One hour of recording is one upload hour. Two 75-minute lectures a week comes to about 10 to 11 hours a month, just over the Creator plan's 10 hours at the planned launch pricing; Pro has 25. Uploading only the lectures you want to clip keeps it lower. Reeltopus is pre-launch, so join the waitlist for early access.
Turn your lectures into clips.
Join the waitlist for early access. The free plan includes 2 upload hours a month.