How to Turn a Long Video into Shorts with Opus Clip

Upload a long video to Opus Clip and let its AI find, crop, and caption the most clippable moments into ready-to-post Shorts.

8 minBeginner

Visit Opus Clip

Opus Clip takes a single long video, like a podcast or a webinar, and slices it into short vertical clips that are ready for TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. It scores each moment for virality, reframes the speaker into a 9:16 crop, and burns in animated captions. This guide walks you from a raw upload to a folder of finished clips you can download or schedule.

What you need

A free or paid Opus Clip account from opus.pro
A long-form video (a file upload or a YouTube/Drive/Zoom link)
Clear spoken audio so the transcript is accurate
About 10 to 15 minutes for processing

Step 1: Create a project and add your video

Log in at opus.pro and click New Project on the dashboard. You can paste a YouTube link, a Google Drive or Zoom share link, or upload a file directly from your computer. Pasting a link is usually fastest because Opus pulls the video without using your upload bandwidth.

Opus Clip - new project

[ + New Project ]

Paste a YouTube / Drive / Zoom link

https://youtube.com/watch?v=________

or drag a video file here (.mp4 .mov)

[ Get clips in 1 click ]

The import box accepts a link or a direct file upload.

Step 2: Set the clip length and processing range

Before processing, choose a target duration. Auto lets the AI decide, but you can force buckets like under 30 seconds, 30 to 60 seconds, or 60 to 90 seconds. If your video has a slow intro, set a Processing Range so Opus only analyzes the part where the real content starts. This saves credits and avoids weak clips.

Opus Clip - clip settings

Clip length: ( ) Auto (o) 30s-60s ( ) 60s-90s

Processing range: 00:02:15 -> 00:48:00

Keywords (optional): pricing, mistakes, growth

Aspect ratio: 9:16 vertical

[ Get clips ]

Pick a length range and trim the part Opus should analyze.

Step 3: Review the Virality Score on each clip

When processing finishes, Opus shows a grid of clips, each with a Virality Score from 0 to 100 and a one-line reason such as a strong hook or a clear payoff. Sort by score and watch the top three or four first. The score is a guess, not a guarantee, so trust your own ear too: a clip needs a hook in the first two seconds to survive on a feed.

Add keywords for better cuts

If your video covers several topics, type a few keywords in the settings. Opus weights clips that mention them, so you get cuts about the subject you actually want to post rather than random tangents.

Step 4: Open a clip in the editor and fix the boundaries

Click a clip to open it in the editor. The AI rarely nails the exact start and end, so drag the trim handles on the timeline so the clip begins on the hook and ends on a clean beat, not mid-sentence. The right panel lets you tweak the caption style, the layout, and the speaker framing in the same place.

Step 5: Export or schedule

Click Export to render an MP4, or use the built-in scheduler to post straight to your connected TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram account. On the free plan, exports carry a small Opus watermark; paid plans remove it. Download the ones you like best and keep the rest as drafts.

Result: a single 45-minute interview can produce 10 to 20 vertical clips in about 15 minutes, of which 3 to 5 are usually strong enough to post as-is. The rest become a backlog you can polish later.