How to Make a Product Hunt Launch Video in Under 5 Minutes (AutoAE, 2026)
How to Make a Product Hunt Launch Video in Under 5 Minutes (AutoAE, 2026)
April 21, 2026
Keston CollinsVideo editor with nearly 10 years of experience, exploring the intersection of motion graphics and AI.
How to Make a Product Hunt Launch Video in Under 5 Minutes (AutoAE, 2026)
Product Hunt gives your product 24 hours in the spotlight. Most founders either skip the launch video entirely — Product Hunt community data consistently shows video listings drive significantly higher engagement than text-only submissions — or upload a Loom recording that looks like a support tutorial. Neither is right for launch day.
This tutorial shows you how to build a 30–45 second Product Hunt launch video using four AutoAE templates. No screen recording. No voiceover required. No video agency. Total time: under five minutes.
TL;DR — The 4-Template Product Hunt Formula
Section
Template
Video Timing
Purpose
Hook
Bold Slogan Opener
0:00–0:04
Stop the scroll before they read the title
Product Demo
UI Interaction
0:04–0:18
Show the core value prop in action
Credibility
Browser Reveal
0:18–0:28
Establish the product is real and live
CTA
Dynamic CTA
0:28–0:40
Drive the upvote without begging for it
What Makes a Product Hunt Video Actually Work
Product Hunt is not YouTube. The audience is mostly on desktop, hunting through a browser, evaluating dozens of products in a single session. Your video will play in a card, often without sound, often without the viewer clicking full screen.
Three rules govern what makes a PH video succeed:
1. Works without sound. No exceptions. Motion and text carry the message. The moment you require audio to make your point, you've lost the 50% of hunters who don't unmute.
2. Shows the product in the first three seconds. Not a logo. Not a tagline. The actual product — the interface, the output, the moment something useful happens. Hunters evaluating 30 products in a session have no patience for a setup.
3. One CTA. "Upvote if this would save you time" converts better than "subscribe, visit our website, follow us on Twitter, and check out our demo." Every additional ask dilutes the one action that matters on launch day.
What You Need Before You Start
Gather these assets first. The actual assembly in AutoAE takes under five minutes once everything is ready:
Product name + one-line value prop (10 words or fewer)
Two or three screenshots of your product's core UI — the moment the value happens, not the settings page
Your brand colors (hex codes)
Your website domain (just the URL, no https)
Your CTA line — one sentence: "Upvote if [pain you solve] → [outcome you deliver]"
That's everything. AutoAE handles the motion. You handle the content.
Step 1: The 3-Second Hook — Bold Slogan Opener
The first four seconds either earn the next 36 or lose them.
Open AutoAE and search for SaaS Launch Roadmap Pt.1 — Bold Slogan Opener. This template uses heavy typographic animation — text charges in with force, demanding attention before the viewer has consciously decided to watch. Replace the default text with your core positioning. "Proposals that close themselves" beats "WeLaunch 2.0." Name the problem, not just the product.
Line 2: Core value proposition (problem-first, 10 words max)
Color: Match your primary brand color
One timing note: preview before downloading. The animation pacing is calibrated for short phrases. If your value prop runs long, cut it down — the motion works best with fewer words.
Step 2: The Product Demo — UI Interaction
This is the make-or-break section. In 14 seconds, hunters decide whether your product is worth exploring.
Search for Season 2 SaaS Launch Kit Pt.3 — UI Interaction in AutoAE. SaaS products all have the same visual language: you click something, and something useful happens. This template animates exactly that — a button-click-to-result sequence with a cursor interaction. Replace the default UI frame with a screenshot of your product's core action.
What to put in this frame: If your product generates something — a report, a visualization, a document — show the input-to-output. If it's a dashboard, show the moment a key insight appears. If it's a workflow tool, show the step that eliminates the most painful manual process.
Don't show the onboarding flow. Don't show settings. Show the moment your product earns its price tag.
Step 3: The Credibility Signal — Browser Reveal
By the time hunters reach this section, they've seen what your product does. Now they need to know it exists and is live.
Search for Season 2 SaaS Launch Kit Pt.5 — Browser Reveal in AutoAE. The animation shows a browser window pulling back from a product interface to reveal the full URL in the address bar. It's a clean visual proof that your product has a real web presence — it's not a concept deck, it's a product you can visit right now. Replace the URL placeholder with your actual domain.
This section does double duty: it shows the product in a real browser context and gives hunters the subconscious confirmation that "this is live." An underappreciated Product Hunt signal is whether the video makes you trust the product is real. This template handles that without a single word of copy.
Step 4: The CTA — Dynamic CTA
The final section closes the loop — not with a generic "visit our website," but with the specific ask that matches what Product Hunt hunters can actually do right now.
Search for SaaS Launch Roadmap Pt.6 — Dynamic CTA. This template centers on a brand logo plus an animated action line with typographic emphasis. Replace the action text with your specific Product Hunt CTA.
CTA formula that works: "Upvote if [specific pain point] → [specific outcome]"
Examples:
"Upvote if client proposals waste your Mondays"
"Upvote if you've ever re-recorded the same demo four times"
"Upvote if your team still exports slides as videos"
The goal is to make the upvote feel like the obvious response to what they just watched — not a favor they're doing you.
Putting It All Together
You now have four clips. Import them into CapCut or Premiere Pro in sequence. Target total runtime: 35–45 seconds.
A few assembly notes that matter:
No fades between clips. Cut straight through. This is standard video editing advice: fades read as a presentation; cuts read as content. The same applies here.
Music: Use something from YouTube Audio Library with no abrupt shifts around the 18-second mark where the demo section ends. The credibility segment needs a moment to breathe.
Captions: Optional, but recommended. Write them for the hunters watching on mute. Keep each caption line under eight words.
Thumbnail: Use a static frame from the UI Interaction section (Step 2) as your Product Hunt thumbnail — not the Bold Slogan Opener. Product screenshots consistently outperform typography stills for PH thumbnails.
Templates Used in This Tutorial
Template
Collection
Purpose
SaaS Launch Roadmap Pt.1 — Bold Slogan Opener
SaaS Launch Roadmap
3-second hook
Season 2 SaaS Launch Kit Pt.3 — UI Interaction
Season 2 SaaS Launch Kit
Product demo
Season 2 SaaS Launch Kit Pt.5 — Browser Reveal
Season 2 SaaS Launch Kit
Credibility signal
SaaS Launch Roadmap Pt.6 — Dynamic CTA
SaaS Launch Roadmap
Upvote CTA
All four templates are available at autoae.online. Search by template name in the library.
If...Then Decision Guide
If your product is still in private beta → Use the Browser Reveal to show your waitlist page instead of your live product UI. Domain credibility works the same way without revealing unreleased features.
If you're launching with existing Screen Studio or Loom footage → Import your demo recording into the UI Interaction frame instead of screenshots. The motion wrapper still elevates the production quality significantly.
If your product doesn't have a clear click-to-result moment → Swap Season 2 SaaS Launch Kit Pt.3 for Pt.4 — Media Selection. It works for products that present options rather than generate outputs.
If you want a longer video (up to 60 seconds) → Add Season 2 SaaS Launch Kit Pt.2 — Social Proof between steps 3 and 4. Use it to show a key metric: user count, a press mention, a growth stat from your beta period.
If you want to update your listing after launch → Product Hunt allows listing edits within 24 hours. Build the video, publish your listing, then edit your PH submission to add the video even partway through launch day.
FAQ
Can I use these AutoAE templates without any video editing experience?
Yes. AutoAE is browser-based — no download, no After Effects required. You replace text placeholders, drop in your screenshots, preview the result, and download. The full workflow runs under five minutes once you've gathered your assets. You'll still need CapCut or Premiere Pro for the final assembly step, but the actual editing there is just dragging four clips into a timeline.
Does a Product Hunt video need voiceover?
No, and many of the strongest PH videos skip it entirely. Experienced SaaS buyers can read a UI. Motion plus text communicates a core value proposition efficiently without audio. Add voiceover only if your product solves a complex workflow that genuinely benefits from spoken explanation — but always test without it first.
How long should a Product Hunt launch video be?
30–60 seconds. Under 30 seconds doesn't give hunters enough context to evaluate your product. Over 60 seconds loses them at the midpoint. The formula in this article targets 35–45 seconds — complete enough to inform, tight enough to watch twice.
What's the difference between a Product Hunt video and a regular product demo?
A regular product demo can run 2–5 minutes, assumes the viewer opted in, and often walks through features sequentially. A Product Hunt video has 30–60 seconds maximum, must function without sound, and needs to show the product's core value in the first three seconds. The template formula in this article is built specifically for PH's format constraints — not general SaaS demos.
What does it cost to make this video with AutoAE?
AutoAE's Starter plan is $9.90/month and includes 50 downloads at 1080p. If you only need one video for launch day, the one-time option is $2.90 per video — 1080p, no watermark, commercial license included. Compared to a motion design agency (typically $2,000–$8,000+ for a 60-second launch video with a 2–4 week turnaround), the math is straightforward.
