How to turn a long YouTube video into Shorts with AI

Updated 18 October 2026

Finding the best 30 seconds in an hour-long video can take longer than recording it. Here’s how to hand that job to AI, and what makes a Short actually work.

Why cut long videos into Shorts?

Your best material is already sitting inside your long videos. YouTube Shorts, TikTok and Instagram Reels put it in front of people who would never press play on a one-hour episode, and a good clip sends some of them back to the full video. The hard part is finding the moments: scrubbing through an hour of footage for 30 good seconds is slow, tedious work.

Step by step with ShortsFinder

Add your video. Paste a YouTube link into the app, or pick a long video from your phone’s gallery.
Let the AI find the moments. ShortsFinder watches the whole video (the picture as well as the speech) and ranks the strongest moments with a score, from a bold opinion in a podcast to a knockout or an overtake.
Pick your Shorts. Every analysis includes 3 Shorts of your choice. Need more? Extra Shorts cost a few credits.
Edit in seconds. Captions are generated word by word. Choose one of five styles (Minimal, Bold, Highlight, Karaoke, Modern), then trim, crop and reframe to 9:16, change the speed or adjust the volume.
Export and share. Export in 1080p to your phone and post it on YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Instagram Reels or anywhere else. ShortsFinder doesn’t post for you, so you stay in control.

What makes a Short work

Hook in the first second. Open on the line, the punch or the reaction, not on the build-up.
One idea per clip. If a moment needs two minutes of context, it isn’t a Short.
Keep it tight. YouTube allows Shorts up to three minutes, but most strong clips land between 20 and 60 seconds.
Always add captions. Lots of people scroll with the sound off, and captions keep viewers reading to the end.
Frame for vertical. Keep the speaker’s face or the action in the middle of the 9:16 frame.
Write a clear title. Say what happens in the moment, not the name of the episode.

Videos that work best

Talking videos are the obvious fit: podcasts, interviews, panels, lectures and tutorials are full of quotable lines. But because ShortsFinder watches the picture too, it also finds moments without a single word:

Podcasts and interviews: strong opinions, funny exchanges, the payoff of a story.
Combat sports (UFC, MMA, boxing): knockdowns, submissions, the crowd’s reaction.
F1 and motorsport: overtakes, crashes, last-lap battles.
Football and other sports: goals, big saves, celebrations.
Gaming: clutch plays and big reactions.
Concerts and events: the chorus, the drop, the moment the crowd erupts.
Education: the one insight worth sharing.

By hand or with AI?

By hand, you watch the whole video, note timestamps, cut each clip in an editor, reframe it to vertical and type or sync the captions: easily an hour or more per video. With ShortsFinder you paste a link, wait for the analysis and spend your time choosing and polishing instead of searching. You still decide which moments go out and how they look.

What does it cost?

ShortsFinder is free to download and runs on credits, with no subscription. An analysis is priced by video length and includes 3 Shorts; extra Shorts cost a few more credits. If an analysis fails, you get the credits back. The app launches on Android first through Google Play, and an iPhone version is planned.

Only use videos you own or have permission to use.

FAQ

How long should a YouTube Short be?

YouTube allows Shorts up to three minutes, but most strong clips are 20 to 60 seconds long. You can trim every clip in the app.

Does it work with videos that have no talking?

Yes. ShortsFinder analyzes the picture as well as the speech, so it finds knockouts, goals, overtakes and crowd peaks too.

Do I need editing skills?

No. The AI finds the moments and writes the captions; you only adjust what you want to.

Where can I post my Shorts?

They’re saved to your phone as video files, so you can upload them to YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Instagram Reels or any other platform.