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Turn One Long Video into Many YouTube Shorts (A Clipping Guide)

A 40-minute podcast or stream usually has five to ten moments that would work on their own: a funny reaction, a strong opinion, a short story, a surprising fact. Cutting them into Shorts by hand means watching the whole video, finding the start and end of each moment, turning it vertical and adding captions. That is why clipping channels and creators spend hours on it.

CIVE's Video to Shorts tool does the slow part for you and leaves the final choice with you.

What makes a good clip

  • It starts with a hook in the first two seconds: a question, a bold line or the start of a story.
  • It makes sense to someone who never saw the long video.
  • It ends on a point, a punchline or a clear takeaway, not in the middle of a sentence.
  • It is short enough to hold attention: 30 to 60 seconds works for most topics.

How Video to Shorts works

  • Open Shorts Maker and choose Video to Shorts. Drag in your long video (MP4 or MOV, 2 to 60 minutes, up to 2 GB).
  • Choose how many Shorts you want (2 to 5, or Custom for 1 to 15), the target length (30, 45, 60 or 90 seconds) and the spoken language.
  • Choose the shape: 9:16 vertical for Shorts, Reels and TikTok, or 16:9. For vertical, pick Fit with a blurred background, a fixed crop, or Smart crop, which follows where the action is.
  • Turn on captions if you want them. They are timed word by word and can sit at the top or bottom.
  • Press Prepare, then Analyse. The AI listens to the whole video, looks at pictures from it and suggests the strongest moments, each with a title, the opening line and a score.

Analysing costs 1 credit for every 2 minutes of video (at least 3). Making the Shorts afterwards is free, and you can make them again as often as you like.

Check and adjust before you make them

Every moment has a small preview. Watch it, untick the ones you do not want, and move the start or end by 1 or 5 seconds if a word is cut. Moments marked "Weaker than the others" are worth a quick look before you post them.

Then press Make. Each Short is checked after it is made (PASSED, NEEDS REVIEW or FAILED), and you can download them one by one or all together as one ZIP file.

Your video stays on your computer

The video is cut inside your browser. Only the sound and a few small pictures are sent to find the moments; the video file itself is never uploaded. Use Chrome or Edge on a computer or Android phone, and keep the tab open while the Shorts are made. If you switch away, it pauses and carries on when you come back.

Clipping other creators' videos

Many big creators run clipping programs and allow, or even pay for, clips of their videos. Clip only videos you own or have permission to use. Without permission, a clip can get a Content ID claim or a copyright strike, which can hurt your channel. If the video is on your own channel, paste its link in Video to Shorts and CIVE shows you how to download it from YouTube Studio in a few clicks.

Open Shorts Maker in CIVE, drop in your longest video and see how many Shorts are hiding in it.