New Edits video effects: animations, blending and Restyle

The Edits app has three new ways to change how a video looks: 15 in and out animation effects for your clips, opacity and blending controls for text, stickers and captions, and Restyle, which rebuilds the look of a clip from a text prompt.

All three live on the timeline, a tap or two from the clip you are working on. The animation effects and opacity blending are free. Here is where each one sits, what it actually does, and where we would use it on a product reel.

What are the new effects in Edits?

Three things, doing three different jobs. The in and out animations control how a clip enters and leaves. Opacity blending controls how your overlays sit on top of the footage. Restyle changes the look of the footage itself.

The animations are the easiest win of the three. There are 15 of them, from Glitch Out to Particles In, and they add motion to your transitions so a cut feels deliberate rather than abrupt. They are currently available on iOS.

How do I add an in and out animation?

1. Tap a clip on the timeline.
2. Tap Effects.
3. Open the In and Out tab, which holds all the animation effects.
4. Pick one, such as Glitch Out, Particles In or Displace.

Our rule on these is one, not four. An entrance on the opening clip and an exit on the last one is usually plenty. An animation on every cut turns a tight 20-second reel into a slideshow, and the effect stops carrying any meaning by the third time a viewer sees it.

We would also keep to a single animation family across a reel. Particles In at the top and Particles Out at the end reads as one piece of work. Five unrelated effects read as a sampler of what the app can do.

What does opacity blending do?

It controls how your stickers, text and captions blend into your video instead of sitting flat on top of it. Adjusting opacity and blending lets you create layered, more stylised looks that feel intentional.

1. Tap a clip, overlay or text element on the timeline.
2. Look for the Opacity and Blending controls at the bottom.
3. Adjust the slider to control how the element blends into your video.

This is the control we reach for on price cards and product names. Text at full strength over a bright kurta shot competes with the kurta. Dropped back a little, it settles into the fabric and lets the thing you are selling stay the subject of the frame.

If you caption in two languages, blending helps there too. Our post on bilingual captions covers the setup, and we would hold the second line back a touch so the frame does not feel crowded.

What is Restyle, and can I use it?

Restyle transforms the look of your video with a simple text prompt. You describe a style and the clip comes back rebuilt in it. You can also browse the available presets instead of writing anything.

1. Tap a clip on the timeline.
2. Tap Restyle.
3. Browse the available presets, or type a text prompt describing the style you want.

Two caveats come with it. Restyle is available in select countries, so it may not appear for you at all. And generation limits may apply, which makes it a poor choice for a long edit where you would want to run it on every clip.

Restyle is a finishing touch, not the backbone of an edit.

Is any of this paid, and where can I get it?

The animation effects and opacity blending are free. Restyle carries no price either, but it does carry two limits worth planning around: select countries only, and generation limits that may apply.

Edits itself is available on iOS and Android, though the in and out animation effects are currently an iOS feature. If a tool is missing for you, we would update the app before assuming anything else, because rollouts land on different phones at different times.

How would we use these on a product reel?

1. Open on the product, not on an effect. A Particles In entrance earns its place on the first frame and nowhere else in the cut.
2. Keep one animation family for the whole reel, so the edit reads as a single piece of work.
3. Use blending on your price card and product name, so the text belongs to the shot rather than floating above it.
4. Save Restyle for a mood shot, such as a slow pan of the fabric, where a changed look will not misrepresent the item somebody is about to pay for.
5. Leave the last two seconds clean. If you want a comment, the frame asking for it should be the calmest one in the reel.

Then check whether any of it worked. Our guide to comparing reels in Edits covers reading three cuts side by side, which is the only honest way we know to tell a good effect from a habit.

And if the footage itself looks soft, effects will not rescue it. Our post on camera and export settings is the better place to start.

Effects are seasoning. The animations make a cut feel deliberate, blending makes text belong in the frame, and Restyle changes the weather. The product still has to be the reason anyone watches to the end.

And when a sharper reel starts pulling comments asking the price, Instoly can reply to each commenter with a DM, so nobody sits there waiting for an answer.