Uploading videos
Every way to get a source video into OpenClip, from file upload to bulk URLs.
All uploads start at https://openclip.app/dashboard. There are three ways in: upload a file, paste a single URL, or paste a batch of URLs. All three feed the same pipeline and produce the same result: a Video in your Library with a Content Hub full of Viral Moments.
Processing requires an active subscription or a running trial. Without one your upload is still accepted: it is parked in your Library with an estimate of how many clips it would produce, and it starts processing by itself the moment you begin a trial or subscribe. A team with no entitlement can hold 2 parked videos at a time. Nothing sweeps them away, so a parked video keeps until you come back for it.
What you choose at submit
Whichever method you use, you pick these before processing starts:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Brand | The processing profile applied to the video: caption style, logo, tone. See Brands. |
| Audio language | The spoken language, used for transcription. |
| Max clip length | How long each clip may run. Auto (the default) lets the AI pick, usually 40 to 90 seconds. 30s, 45s, 60s or a Custom value from 15 to 90 seconds caps every clip at that length; clips then run between half the cap and the cap. Choose it in the upload queue before you click Start uploads; it applies to every item you start. |
| Clip guidance | Optional, up to 300 characters: which moments the AI should prefer, for example "only the funniest reactions" or "no spoilers of the finale". It applies to every item you start. |
Clip guidance
Guidance is a preference, not a filter. The AI favours moments that fit it and still uses its own judgement for what makes a good clip. Guidance cannot change caption styles, editing or anything other than which moments are picked.
OpenClip checks your guidance while you type, before anything is processed. Guidance is refused when it is:
- Too narrow: it points to one exact moment, such as a timestamp, a single quote or something that happens once. A long video would give you one clip at most.
- Not about picking moments: it asks for editing, captions, music or anything else.
A refused guidance shows the reason and a broader suggestion you can use with one click; Start uploads waits until the guidance is accepted or cleared. If only a few moments fit your guidance, the AI adds its best other moments, so narrow guidance never leaves you with next to nothing. The usual limit on clips per video still applies.
You can also trim the submission to a specific timeframe before processing. Only the selected portion is processed and charged, which matters for long recordings where you only care about one segment.
Direct file upload
Drag a file onto the dropzone or click it to browse. Files upload directly to storage from your browser; large files are split into parts automatically, so the upload survives a slow connection.
Accepted formats: MP4, MOV, WEBM, MKV, AVI, WMV, FLV, M4V, TS, MTS. Image files and GIFs are rejected.
You can queue several files at once. The queue shows per-file progress, and processing starts as each upload completes.
Paste a URL
Paste a link into the URL field and OpenClip downloads the video for you. Supported sources:
| Source | Accepted links | Max file size |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | youtube.com watch, Shorts, and live links; youtu.be links | n/a (fetched by resolution) |
| Vimeo | vimeo.com and player.vimeo.com video links | 10 GB |
| Rumble | rumble.com video and embed links | 10 GB |
| Google Drive | Public drive.google.com and docs.google.com file share links | 10 GB |
| Dropbox | Public dropbox.com share links | 10 GB |
| OneDrive | 1drv.ms, onedrive.live.com, and SharePoint share links | 50 GB |
| Direct video links | Any URL ending in .mp4, .mov, .webm, .avi, .mkv, .m4v, .flv, .wmv, .3gp, .mpeg, or .mpg | 10 GB |
YouTube videos are fetched at 1080p where available, falling back to 720p. Age-restricted YouTube videos cannot be fetched: OpenClip rejects the link as soon as you paste it, so save the video to your device and upload the file instead. Cloud storage links (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive) must be public share links; OpenClip cannot access private files.
The Pro plan lists input from 10+ sources as a plan feature; the table above is the baseline set every subscriber sees. See Credits and plans.
Bulk URLs
Click Want to upload more at once? under the URL field to open the Bulk URLs panel. Paste up to 20 URLs, one per line, and click Add all to queue.
Each URL is validated on its own: one bad link fails individually and the rest still go through. Each URL becomes its own Video, all using the Brand you selected.
After you submit
The Video appears in your Library immediately and moves through the pipeline: preparing media, extracting audio, generating the transcript, then detecting moments and creating clips. You can leave the page; progress updates on the dashboard. Select a Video that is not ready yet to see its current stage and overall progress. If it finishes while that window is open, use the Open Content Hub link; after that, selecting its Library card opens the Hub directly. Review the results starting with Viral Moments.
Finding videos in your Library
Each kind of video has its own tab, so long-form uploads never mix with short files:
- Videos: the uploads and links you submit for clipping.
- Quick Captions: files you captioned with Quick Captions.
- AI UGC: clips generated in the AI UGC Studio.
- All: everything in one list.
A tab only appears once you have something in it, and opens on Videos.
The dashboard's Recents shows the 10 newest videos on each tab, with the tab counting everything you have. View all opens the Content Hub on the same tab, which holds your whole library.
Costs
Processing costs 1 credit per minute of source video, and trimming the submission reduces the charge to just the processed portion. Details in Credits and plans.