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Guide

UGC deliverables are usually raw files, one base edit and extra hooks

Updated

Most brands ask a UGC creator for the same set of files: the raw footage, one finished base edit and two or more versions with a different opening. Here is what goes in each and how to send them.

In short

  • UGC deliverables are usually the raw footage, one edited base video, at least two hook versions with a different opening, and the product shots as separate files.
  • Insense's brief template asks for a 15 to 30 second base edit in 9:16, at least two alternative hooks and one alternative call to action.
  • Raw files are the clips straight from your phone, with no captions or music added, so the brand can edit its own versions.
  • Captions burned into an edit can't be taken off later, so check the brief before you add them.
  • In Cutroom's Magic Editor, Jacob makes the base edit, and each hook version is a new version you get by asking in the chat, then export.

What deliverables do brands expect from UGC creators?

The brief should list the deliverables, and you should agree them before you film. When it doesn't, the set in the table is the common one in brief templates from UGC platforms such as Insense.

Billo, another UGC platform, goes further and suggests three to five hook versions for every raw video. More versions mean more editing, so price them in.

A typical set of UGC deliverables

Based on Insense's brief template and Influee's b-roll guide. The brief you get always wins.

DeliverableWhat it isTypical spec
Raw footageYour clips as filmed, uneditedOriginal files from your phone
Base editThe finished video15 to 30 seconds, 9:16 MP4
Hook versionsThe edit with a different openingAt least 2
Alternative call to actionA different endingThe last 3 to 5 seconds
B-rollProduct shots on their ownSeparate files, vertical 1080x1920

  • Deliverable: Raw footage

    What it is
    Your clips as filmed, unedited
    Typical spec
    Original files from your phone

  • Deliverable: Base edit

    What it is
    The finished video
    Typical spec
    15 to 30 seconds, 9:16 MP4

  • Deliverable: Hook versions

    What it is
    The edit with a different opening
    Typical spec
    At least 2

  • Deliverable: Alternative call to action

    What it is
    A different ending
    Typical spec
    The last 3 to 5 seconds

  • Deliverable: B-roll

    What it is
    Product shots on their own
    Typical spec
    Separate files, vertical 1080x1920

Raw files: what to include

Raw files are the clips straight from your phone, before any editing. Brands ask for them so their own editor can cut new openings, shorter versions or other formats.

Insense's template says to always request raw footage. It also asks creators to leave out platform audio, background music and auto-captions, because the brand adds its own later.

  • Send the original files from your phone, not a copy saved from a chat app.
  • Include every clip you filmed of yourself talking, mistakes and all, unless the brief asks for the best one only.
  • Send the product shots as separate files, as Influee's b-roll guide recommends, not only cut into the edit.
  • Don't add captions, music or text to raw files. Raw means as filmed.
  • Raw footage is often priced as an add-on, because the brand can cut more ads from it. Agree that in the brief.

How Cutroom's Magic Editor edits a video like this

Jacob is the AI editor inside Cutroom's Magic Editor: it edits your video for you, then changes it when you ask in a chat.

BEFORE · YOUR TAKESoum,I open thedashboard… (pause)Make my videoJacob edits itAFTER · JACOB'S FIRST EDITdashboard.pngDASHBOARDSo I open the dashboard.cut outyour fileon the word
A drawing of an example clip, not a customer video. What it shows is what the Magic Editor does: cuts the ums and pauses, puts your own screenshot on the word you say, sets key words big and adds music.

The 4 styles, as example edits

Steps

Three steps, four angles

Skit

Hook, hard stop, demo card

Verdict

The tester's verdict

Poster

Typography does the talking

Hover or tap an example to play it, without sound. These are example edits of each style; the presenters in them are generated with AI.

  1. Your take: one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes
  2. Your style: one of 4: Steps, Skit, Verdict or Poster
  3. Your files: screenshots, a screen recording or a logo, if you have them
  4. Your goal: what the video is for, in a few words, if you like
  5. Jacob makes it: normally 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email
  6. Your edit: ask Jacob for changes in a chat, then export

Then you ask Jacob, for example

  • “Make this about 10 seconds shorter”
  • “Put a clip on the strongest sentence”
  • “Change the music to something calmer”

Each change is a new version, and going back is free. First cut 250 credits, each change 40, questions free, export 30 credits per started minute.

The base edit and the hook versions

The base edit is the finished video: cut down, captioned, with the product on screen and a call to action. Hook versions are the same video with a different opening, so the brand can test which first seconds hold people best.

The easiest way to make hook versions is to film them. Say two or three different opening lines at the start of your clip. Each version then cuts the openings it doesn't use.

  • In Cutroom's Magic Editor, Jacob makes the base edit from your clip after one press of "Make my video". It normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email when your first cut is ready.
  • For a version that opens on a different line, ask Jacob to "Cut the first sentence", or tap the words in the transcript to cut them yourself. Taps on words are free.
  • For a version with a different look on the opening, ask Jacob to "Change the caption style on the hook".
  • Every change Jacob makes is a new version. The earlier versions stay, and going back to one is free. You export each version you want to send.
  • Each hook version comes out as a complete video, not a separate three-second clip. Tell the brand if its brief asks for hook clips on their own.

One clip, one base edit and two hook versions

The base edit opens on the first line. Version 2 cuts that line and opens on the second, and version 3 changes the caption look on the opening.

Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video

Before · the clip as filmed

A 50-second phone video of a creator on her sofa reviewing a pet hair remover

“Um, okay. I've tried every lint roller, and they all end up in the bin. This, uh, This one you never throw away. You roll it over the sofa … (pause) and the dog hair comes up in one go.”

struck through = what Jacob cuts

After · Jacob's first edit, Verdict style

BIN

“I've tried every lint roller, and they all end up in the bin. This one you never throw away. You roll it over the sofa and the dog hair comes up in one go.”

  • On “bin”: the word set big in your accent colour
  • On “one”: your product photo remover.jpg on a laptop screen, with you in a small card
  • On “sofa”: your close-up photo sofa-after.jpg of the clean cushion
  • Under the whole video: calm music under your voice

window: remover.jpg

Then you ask Jacob

  1. “Cut the first sentence”v2v2: the same edit opening on "This one you never throw away", exported as hook_02.mp4
  2. “Change the caption style on the hook”v3v3: the opening line set in a different caption look, exported as hook_03.mp4

Captions on UGC deliverables

Brands don't agree on captions. Billo calls burned-in, on-brand captions essential, while Useclip says many brands want to add their own captions, fonts and colours.

So check the brief. Captions burned into a video are part of the picture and can't be taken off later. That is why raw files should never have them.

  • If the brief asks for captions, burn them into the base edit and the hook versions.
  • If the brief says no captions, send the raw files and ask whether they want an edit at all.
  • In the Magic Editor, captions come with the style you pick and are timed to your voice. Fixing a misheard word is a free tap.
  • Cutroom doesn't make a separate captions file (SRT) or a copy without captions.
  • If the brand wants no music, ask Jacob to "Turn the music off" before you export.

Naming and sending the files

Name the files so the brand can tell them apart without opening them. Insense's template uses three folders, /raw, /hooks and /b-roll, with numbered files such as hook_01.mp4.

Send everything in one shared folder link, so the files arrive at full quality and the brand finds them in one place.

  • Cutroom exports a vertical MP4, 1080 by 1920, 30 frames a second, with the sound levelled. A 4:5 or 16:9 copy needs another editor.
  • Each export costs 30 credits per started minute. For a finished video of 60 seconds or less, the base edit and one export come to 280 credits, and each hook version adds 30 for its export plus 40 if you ask Jacob for the change.
  • Free exports carry a Cutroom mark across the middle. Lite at $19.99 a month removes it, which you need for paid brand work.

The pet hair remover delivery, as a folder

One clip from the example above, delivered in Insense's folder layout. The base edit sits at the top.

FolderFileWhat it is
Top leveledit_v1.mp4The base edit
/hookshook_02.mp4Opens on the second line
/hookshook_03.mp4Another caption look on the opening
/rawraw.mp4The clip as filmed
/b-rollremover.jpg, sofa-after.jpgThe product shots on their own

  • Folder: Top level

    File
    edit_v1.mp4
    What it is
    The base edit

  • Folder: /hooks

    File
    hook_02.mp4
    What it is
    Opens on the second line

  • Folder: /hooks

    File
    hook_03.mp4
    What it is
    Another caption look on the opening

  • Folder: /raw

    File
    raw.mp4
    What it is
    The clip as filmed

  • Folder: /b-roll

    File
    remover.jpg, sofa-after.jpg
    What it is
    The product shots on their own

Questions people ask

What are UGC deliverables?
They are the files a UGC creator sends a brand: usually the raw footage, one edited base video, at least two hook versions and the product shots as separate files.
How many hook variations should a UGC creator send?
At least two, unless the brief says otherwise. Insense's brief template asks for two alternative hooks, and Billo suggests three to five for every raw video.
What is raw UGC footage?
It's the clips straight from your phone, with no cuts, captions or music added. Brands use it to make their own versions of the ad.
Should UGC deliverables have captions?
Only if the brief asks for them. Some brands want captions burned in, others add their own. Captions burned into a video can't be removed, so raw files should never have them.
How do I send UGC files to a brand?
In one shared folder link, with clear names. A common layout is /raw, /hooks and /b-roll folders with numbered files such as hook_01.mp4, and the base edit at the top.
Can I make hook versions without filming again?
Yes, if you said more than one opening line. Cut the opening you don't want in each version. In Cutroom's Magic Editor, you ask Jacob to "Cut the first sentence" or tap the words to cut them, and each change is a new version you can export.

Film your next brief with two or three openings and let Jacob make the base edit. Your first video is free.

Try for freeYour first video is free, no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom mark; Lite at $19.99/month removes it