Getting started
Create your first breaking news video
Breaking News Maker turns a headline into an animated broadcast: typewriter headline reveal, scrolling ticker, pulsing LIVE badge, clock, channel bug and an intro sting. Here's the full loop, start to finish.
1. Open the editor
Go to the editor. No account is needed to write and preview — you only sign in (free, with Google) when you're ready to export.
2. Write the headline
Type the headline the way a newsroom would: present tense, all business, no jokes in the wording. The mismatch between the serious frame and a trivial story is the whole format — "LOCAL MAN OPENS GROUP CHAT, RESPONDS TO NOTHING" beats "SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENED". Short headlines reveal faster; the typewriter effect paces itself to what you write.
3. Add the ticker
The ticker is the crawl at the bottom — use it as a second punchline that rewards viewers who keep watching. Two or three short items separated by ellipses work best: "Sources confirm he saw it ... Experts warn it could happen again tomorrow ..."
4. Pick a station and set the scene
Choose a station style — Classic Red and Network are free; Cable 24/7, Markets and Retro 80s are Pro, as is the custom station builder. Edit the channel bug (the little station logo in the corner) to your own station name. See station styles and the custom builder.
Then add a backdrop: a photo on any plan (it gets a slow, newsroom-style push-in), or a video clip with Pro. Details in backdrops: photo and video.
5. Preview
Press play. The sting hits, the headline types itself out, the ticker crawls, the LIVE badge pulses and the clock ticks — exactly what the exported file will look like, because the preview and the export use the same renderer.
6. Pick a format
- 9:16 vertical — TikTok, Reels, Shorts.
- 16:9 (1920×1080) — YouTube, X, desktop group chats.
- 1:1 square — feeds and everywhere else.
7. Export
Press Export and sign in with a free Google account. Your video renders right there in your browser — nothing is uploaded — and downloads as an 8-second, 60fps MP4 (WebM on browsers without MP4 encoding), or a PNG if you just want the still. The free plan includes 3 exports a month at 720p with a small watermark; Pro is unlimited 1080p with no watermark. See export formats and limits.
That's it — post it, or drop it in the group chat and watch the typing indicators.