AI Clipping Guide

How to Automatically Extract Viral Clips from Long Videos

Turn hours of long-form video into a library of short, shareable clips — automatically, with no manual editing required.

beginner

15 min

Automated Video Clipping with AI

Prerequisites

An active OpenClip account (Starter, Pro, or Business)
A long-form video file (MP4 or MOV) or a direct video URL
At least 5 minutes of source video for meaningful clip detection

Steps

Create your OpenClip account and log in

Sign up for an OpenClip account on the web app. Choose the plan that fits your volume — Starter, Pro, or Business. Once logged in, you'll land on your project dashboard.

Tip: If you're processing videos regularly, the Pro or Business plan unlocks batch processing and higher monthly limits.

Upload your long-form video

Click 'New Project' and drag your video file into the upload zone, or paste a video URL. OpenClip accepts MP4 and MOV files. Processing begins immediately after upload.

Tip: MP4 files encoded with H.264 upload and process fastest. Keep source files at their original quality — OpenClip handles compression on export.

Let AI analyze your video for viral moments

OpenClip's AI transcribes your video and uses AI to analyze the transcript. It scores every segment by hook strength, narrative completeness, and viral potential — then surfaces the best 5–15 clip candidates automatically.

Tip: Videos with clear speech and minimal background noise yield more accurate moment detection. See our audio-optimization-guide for tips.

Review your clip candidates

OpenClip presents each detected clip with a score, a preview, and the reason it was selected. Review the list to understand why each moment was flagged as high-potential — look for strong hooks, emotional peaks, or quotable statements.

Tip: Don't skip clips with slightly lower scores. Sometimes a moment that scores lower for hook strength makes up for it with strong narrative completeness.

Select and refine the clips you want

Check the clips you want to keep. You can adjust the in/out points of each clip to fine-tune where it starts and ends. Rename clips to keep your project organized.

Tip: Aim for clips between 30–90 seconds for most short-form platforms. Shorter clips (under 60 seconds) tend to perform best on TikTok and YouTube Shorts.

Apply captions and speaker tracking

Enable word-level AI captions for your selected clips and choose a caption preset (e.g., Beast, Dan, Pop). OpenClip's speaker tracking automatically keeps the active speaker centered using face detection.

Tip: Use high-contrast caption presets like Beast or Pop for maximum readability on mobile screens.

Export your clips

Choose your export format: vertical 9:16 for TikTok/Shorts/Reels, square or horizontal . Click Export and download your clips when ready.

Tip: Export the same clip in multiple aspect ratios to maximize distribution across platforms without extra effort.

What You'll Achieve

A curated library of AI-detected, captioned short-form clips ready to publish on TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and more — without any manual editing.

Features

AI Viral Moment Detection

AI scores every segment by hook strength, narrative completeness, and viral potential to surface your best clips.

5–15 Clips Per Video

Each long-form video typically yields 5 to 15 high-potential clip candidates automatically.

Automatic Speaker Tracking

AI face detection keeps the active speaker centered in frame throughout every clip.

Word-Level AI Captions

10 caption presets with word-level sync, emoji injection, and customizable styles baked in.

Vertical Short-Form Export

Export every clip in 9:16 vertical for any platform in one step.

Batch Processing

Upload multiple videos at once and let OpenClip process your entire content library in parallel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Typically between 5 and 15 clip candidates per video, depending on the length and content density of the source video. A 60-minute podcast will usually yield more candidates than a 10-minute explainer.

OpenClip uses AI to analyze the video transcript and score each segment on three criteria: hook strength (does it open with something compelling?), narrative completeness (does it have a clear beginning, middle, and end?), and viral potential (is it quotable, emotional, or surprising?).

Yes. After OpenClip detects your clips, you can trim each clip's in and out points before exporting. This lets you tighten the hook or cut a trailing outro.

It works best with speech-driven content like podcasts, interviews, webinars, conference talks, and YouTube videos. Content with clear narration and minimal background noise gets the most accurate detection.

Processing time depends on video length and current queue. A 60-minute video typically completes transcription and clip detection in under 10 minutes. Batch jobs may take longer depending on volume.

No manual editing is required. OpenClip handles cropping, speaker tracking, and captions automatically. You only need to review and approve the clips you want to keep.

Yes. OpenClip supports batch processing — upload multiple long-form videos and they'll all be processed in parallel. This is especially useful for agencies managing multiple clients or creators with large back catalogs.

Start Clipping Your Videos Automatically

Upload your first long-form video and let OpenClip's AI find your best moments in minutes.

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