How to Create Ali Abdaal-Style Videos Without Complicated Editing
Learn how to create Ali Abdaal-style videos using Tella, including moving glowing borders, pop-out effects, overlays, layouts, and more, without complicated editing.
DIGITAL TOOLSVIDEO FOR STARTUPS
9/29/20265 min read
Edit videos like Ali Abdaal in Tella
Have you ever watched an Ali Abdaal video and wondered how his editor creates those polished layouts, screen recordings, camera frames, and moving glowing borders?
His editing style is clean, dynamic, and instantly recognizable.
The problem is that creating similar effects traditionally means learning software like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro, spending hours editing, or hiring a professional video editor.
But there’s a much easier way.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to create an Ali Abdaal-style video using Tella, including the moving “snake” border, pop-out camera effect, custom layouts, overlays, motion blur, and more.
And you don’t need advanced video editing skills to do it.
Why I Use Tella for My Videos
I’ve been using Tella for around three years, and one of the reasons I keep using it is its simplicity.
It’s especially useful if you’re a solo creator who creates:
YouTube videos
Tutorials
Product demos
Online courses
Client videos
Reels and Shorts
Screen recordings
Instead of recording your video in one app and then moving everything into another video editor, you can record, edit, customize, and export your video inside Tella.
And its newer editing features make it possible to create much more dynamic videos than a traditional screen recorder.
Step 1: Record Your Screen and Camera
Start by recording your screen and camera in Tella.
If you’re using a Mac, you can use the Tella desktop app. Windows users can record using Tella's web app.
You can choose between Quick Mode and Multiple Clips.
Quick Mode is useful when you want to record something and immediately start editing.
I personally like using multiple clips because I can record, stop, record again, and create separate sections instead of one extremely long recording.
This also makes it easier to repurpose parts of the video into YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, TikToks, or other short-form content later.
Once your clips are ready, click Preview to enter the video editor.
Now the fun begins.
Step 2: Choose Your Video Layout
One of my favorite things about Tella is how quickly you can change your video's layout.
You can create:
Side-by-side layouts
Split-screen videos
Presenter layouts
Camera bubbles
Screen-focused layouts
Custom screen and camera combinations
For an Ali Abdaal-inspired look, try placing your camera next to or partially overlapping your screen recording.
You can adjust the camera size, position, shape, and how much it overlaps the screen.
You can also change the overall video format depending on where you plan to publish it.
For example, use landscape for YouTube or switch to vertical when creating Shorts and Reels.
No rebuilding the whole video from scratch. 🎬
Step 3: Create the Moving Glowing “Snake” Border
Now we get to one of the coolest effects.
The moving glowing border around the camera frame is one of those little details that can instantly make a simple screen recording feel more polished.
In Tella, select your camera layout and go to the style settings.
From there, you'll find different border options, including the Snake effect.
You can customize the:
Border color
Thickness
Glow
Pulse length
Speed
Camera shape
Experiment with the settings until you find something that fits your own visual style.
You can use a rounded frame similar to the style you might see in Ali Abdaal's videos, or choose something different.
Personally, I like the squircle. 😄
The goal isn't to make an exact copy of another creator's videos. It's to borrow inspiration from professional editing techniques and turn them into a style that feels like your own.
Step 4: Make Your Camera Pop Out of the Frame
Another Tella feature I love is Pop Out.
Instead of keeping your entire camera image trapped inside a rectangular or circular frame, Tella can cut out your subject and allow part of you to extend beyond the frame.
Go to:
Layout → Customize Layout → Pop Out
Tella will prepare your cutout, and you can then adjust how much of your camera image pops outside the frame.
I especially like using this feature for vertical videos and Shorts.
It's a small effect, but it makes a screen recording feel much more dynamic.
Step 5: Add Zooms and Motion Blur
You can also add zoom effects directly inside Tella.
Zooming into important parts of your screen can help guide your viewer's attention, especially when you're creating tutorials.
Instead of expecting viewers to figure out where they should be looking, you can visually point them toward the important part of the screen.
Tella also lets you add motion blur, with options such as subtle or strong.
These effects can make transitions and movement feel smoother without requiring you to manually animate everything in a traditional video editor.
Step 6: Add Text, Images, Stickers, and Other Overlays
This is another area where Tella has become much more powerful.
You can now add overlays directly to your video, including:
Text, media, stickers, and sounds.
For text, there are dozens of styles to choose from.
You can customize the font, size, weight, alignment, color, background, shape, and position.
You can even place text behind your presenter, which creates a surprisingly professional-looking depth effect.
The same applies to images and other media.
Upload an image, position it where you want, and decide whether it should appear in front of or behind you.
This opens up a lot of possibilities for making screen-recorded videos more visually interesting.
Step 7: Create Different Versions for YouTube and Social Media
One of the biggest advantages of this workflow is repurposing.
You might originally record your tutorial for YouTube in a 16:9 format.
But parts of that same recording could become:
YouTube Shorts
Instagram Reels
TikTok videos
LinkedIn videos
Promotional clips
Because your recording is already divided into clips, it's much easier to take the strongest sections and adapt them for other platforms.
This is especially helpful for solo creators who don't want content creation to consume their entire week.
You Don't Need Complicated Video Editing to Make Better Videos
Professional-looking videos don't always require professional editing software.
Tools like Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro are incredibly powerful, but not every creator needs that level of complexity.
If you're primarily creating screen recordings, tutorials, educational videos, product demos, or talking-head content, Tella can dramatically simplify the process.
You can record your screen and camera, customize your layout, create moving borders, add pop-out effects, use zooms and motion blur, add overlays, and repurpose your content without constantly jumping between different apps.
For solo creators, that's a huge time saver.
And more importantly, you can spend less time wrestling with an editing timeline and more time actually creating.
Want to Try Tella?
If you want to experiment with these effects yourself, you can try Tella free for 7 days.
If you decide to upgrade to a monthly or annual plan, you can also get 30% off using my link.
[Try Tella Free for 7 Days + Get 30% Off ]
I've been using Tella for around three years, and it continues to be one of my favorite tools for creating screen-recorded videos.
The new editing features make it even easier to create engaging videos without becoming a professional video editor first.
And yes, I'm still having way too much fun with that pop-out effect. 😄
Watch the Full Tutorial
Want to see exactly how I created the moving snake border, pop-out camera, overlays, layouts, and other effects?
Watch my full step-by-step tutorial on YouTube above.
If you're interested in more tutorials about Tella, creator tools, video creation, productivity, and building better content as a solo creator, subscribe to my YouTube channel for more.
🧰 Creator Tools Worth Knowing (and Using)
These are the tools I genuinely use to run and grow my business. Whether you're building content, managing projects, or streamlining how people connect with you, this stack has been essential. A few include partner links with exclusive discounts.
1. Tella
Create polished screen recordings and video presentations quickly. Great for demos, tutorials, and sharing ideas with clarity.
2. CapCut
A free, intuitive video editor that’s surprisingly powerful. Ideal for both short-form content and more in-depth edits.
3. Dub
Perfect for startups looking to grow through affiliate programs. Set up, manage, and scale your affiliate strategy—get 20% off with my link.
4. Cal.com
Easy, free and customizable scheduling that integrates with your workflow. A professional way to make meetings seamless.
5. Notion
Your all-in-one workspace for notes, project management, documentation, and collaboration.
Some links are affiliate partnerships, which means I may earn a commission if you choose to sign up. I only recommend tools I’ve tested and actually find valuable in my own work.
5. Buffer
Convert video into powerful blog articles.
5. Video to Blog
Your all-in-one social media management tool.
I’m Novie, I become your marketing arm — content, video, positioning, and systems — so you can focus on building the product.