YouTube Studio's Video Clips tool or an AI clip maker: which should you use?
YouTube removed viewer Clips in April 2026, but YouTube Studio now cuts Shorts from your own videos. What it does, and when an AI clip maker helps.
The short answer
In YouTube Studio, the Video Clips & Shorts tool turns a passage of your long video into a Short, with automatic captions where available, a link to the source and AI suggestions in 10 countries and 7 languages (October 2026). It suits a few YouTube-only Shorts. An AI clip maker helps with many shorts per video, a face-following crop, styled word-timed captions or files for TikTok and Reels.
Sources checked on 16 October 2026, each listed at the end of this guide with its date.
Cutting Shorts from a long video?
If the video is a talk, podcast, course or webinar you recorded, these pages describe how shortshort cuts it into vertical shorts and schedules them on your YouTube channel. Everything said below about YouTube Studio comes from YouTube's own pages.
What happened to YouTube Clips in 2026
On April 16, 2026, TeamYouTube posted "Updating how you share video moments" in the YouTube Help Community. Share at Timestamp, a desktop feature, came to the YouTube mobile app and became the main way to share a specific moment in a video, replacing the Clips feature. The post says the two tools are very similar and existing Clips stay viewable, but setting an end time or a custom description when sharing is no longer available.
The same post pointed creators to other ways of clipping. It says a number of third-party tools with advanced clipping features and authorized creator programs are available across video platforms, and that Video Clips in YouTube Studio lets creators republish clips from longer videos and archived live streams. It also announced Video Clips to Shorts and auto-suggestions for your most "clippable" moments later in the year. When we read YouTube Help on October 16, 2026, the Studio tool described both: it makes Shorts as well as video clips, with AI suggestions in some countries and languages.
What YouTube Studio's Video Clips & Shorts tool does
In YouTube Studio, open Content, then Videos, pick one of your long videos and select Clips and Shorts in the left menu. Create clip or Short asks whether you want a Short or a video clip. You then choose the part of the video to use: select text in the transcript, type timestamps in the timeline editor or, where available, pick one of the AI-powered suggestions in the left panel. An AI-generated outline helps you find moments in the transcript, and a suggested Short used without changes may come with a suggested title.
For a Short, YouTube adds automatic captions where available, made from the transcript in the tool. Their colour, font, styling and position can be changed in the preview, or the captions turned off. The help page says the preview can show black bars above and below some scenes, and that the final Short shows a blurred crop of the video there instead. It does not say how the vertical frame is placed on the picture, or whether it follows a face.
Create Draft saves the Short, and you publish it through the standard upload dialog; YouTube's scheduling help describes a Schedule card in the upload flow, with a date, a time and a time zone. The source video is added automatically as the Short's related video, unless the Short is private, unlisted or made for kids. A video clip is a separate regular video, with an optional intro or outro taken from another eligible video, and YouTube suggests linking the source in its description. The help page also says: "You won't be penalized for using your content in a video clip or Short."
- Countries for AI suggestions: Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, for suggestions and outlines alike.
- Languages for AI suggestions: English, French, German, Hindi, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.
- Picking by hand: the help page attaches that list to the AI suggestions and outlines, not to selecting a passage from the transcript or the timeline.
Side by side: YouTube Studio's tool and shortshort
The middle column is what YouTube Help says about its own tool, read on October 16, 2026; where the page is silent, the cell says so. The right column is shortshort, one AI clip maker, from its own product rules. Other clip makers work differently, so check their own pages.
| Question | YouTube Studio, Video Clips & Shorts | shortshort |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | No price, plan or credit on the help page; the tool is part of YouTube Studio | 1 credit per minute of source video. 30 free credits once, no card; paid plans from 12 EUR a month before VAT |
| What it starts from | A long video already on your channel; TeamYouTube also names archived live streams | A file in MP4, MOV or WebM, up to 2 GB, or the link of your own public or unlisted YouTube video, downloaded on our servers at up to 720p with its audio |
| How moments are picked | You select transcript text or timestamps, or choose an AI suggestion where available | The AI analyses the whole video and proposes the number of shorts you ask for, on passages that open and close on complete sentences; you retouch them in the editor |
| Where AI picks work | The ten countries and seven languages listed above | The choice of moments follows the language spoken. Each short's words are transcribed by OpenAI's whisper-1, which OpenAI says supports 98 languages; the interface and suggested titles are in English |
| How many per video | The steps make one clip or Short at a time; the help page sets no limit | Up to 3 on the Free plan, 5 on Starter, 10 on Creator and 20 on the Studio plan, in one run that never reuses footage |
| Length | Not stated on the help page; a YouTube Short can run up to three minutes | You set a target from 15 to 90 seconds; each short may run 25% shorter or longer to end on a sentence, 112.5 seconds at most |
| Vertical framing | Not described. Scenes shown with black bars in the preview get a blurred crop of the video in the final Short | The 9:16 crop is placed on the most visible face and moves with it, with zooms between x1.0 and x1.6; slides and wide shots stay full-frame, and a 4:5 export is tracked again. It follows a face, not a voice, and has no manual framing controls |
| Captions | Automatic where available, from the transcript; colour, font, styling and position adjustable, or off | Timed on every word and burned into the picture in four styles: Spotlight, Impact, Karaoke and Minimal. Words are editable, with SRT import and export |
| Output | A Short on your channel, or a separate video clip | MP4, H.264, 30 fps: 9:16 at 1080 x 1920, or 4:5 at 1080 x 1350 for the Instagram feed |
| Publishing and scheduling | A draft, published through the standard upload dialog, where YouTube's scheduling help puts the Schedule card | Scheduled on a connected YouTube channel from the Publish page, or downloaded to post anywhere; TikTok publishing is in early access |
| Link to the full video | Added automatically as the related video, unless the Short is private, unlisted or made for kids | Not set by shortshort: add the related video in YouTube Studio, an option that needs advanced feature access |
| Watermark and gallery | Not mentioned on the help page | Free exports carry a small shortshort.io badge and a 1.5 s end card; paid plans export without them. Your upload stays private until you export; exported shorts join the community with their source video by default, and any paid plan can keep them out. |
When YouTube's own tool is enough
YouTube Studio's tool covers the plain case well. Its help page names no price, plan or credit, the Shorts never leave YouTube, and a public Short links back to its source by itself. Try it first when most of these apply:
- Same channel: the long video is already on your channel, and the Shorts are for YouTube only.
- A few Shorts: you want one or two per video and are happy to make them one at a time.
- Your own picks: you would rather choose passages in the transcript yourself, or your country and language are on YouTube's list for AI suggestions.
- Native captions: YouTube's automatic captions, restyled in the preview, are enough for you.
- A horizontal highlight: the video clip option publishes a separate regular video. shortshort has no 16:9 export.
- Phone only: in the YouTube app, Edit into a Short turns up to 60 seconds of a public long video you uploaded into a Short linked to the original.
When an AI clip maker helps
A clip maker earns its cost on volume, framing, captions and platforms other than YouTube. These are the cases where shortshort, for one, does what YouTube's help page does not describe.
It has costs of its own. Every minute of source video takes a credit, Free exports are watermarked, exported shorts join the public community gallery with their source video by default, a YouTube link is imported at up to 720p, so the original file gives a sharper crop, and the related video is yours to add in YouTube Studio.
- Many shorts at once: shortshort returns the number you ask for, up to 20 on the Studio plan, and shorts from one run never share footage.
- Framing on the face: the 9:16 crop follows the face on screen, and a 4:5 version for the Instagram feed is tracked again for its own shape.
- Styled captions: every word is timed and burned into the MP4 in one of four styles, so the file carries them wherever you upload it.
- Beyond YouTube: the recording does not have to be on YouTube, and the same MP4s can go to TikTok, Instagram or a website, downloaded one by one or in a ZIP.
- Other languages: shortshort's choice of moments follows the language spoken, outside YouTube's list for AI suggestions too.
- A whole series: the Publish page spreads the shorts of one video over a calendar on your YouTube channel.
Edit into a Short, and what YouTube has announced next
The YouTube app has a second native route. From the watch page of a public long video you uploaded, Remix, then Edit into a Short, lets you select up to 60 seconds, add text or filters and post a Short linked back to the original. If you select less, you can record more with the Shorts camera, up to 60 seconds in total. Music from the Audio Library cannot be added, private and unlisted videos and videos with third-party copyright claims cannot be used, and the video must allow Shorts sampling, a setting in YouTube Studio.
On September 23, 2026, the YouTube Blog announced a conversational editing assistant built on Gemini for Shorts and the YouTube Create app: you start from suggested prompts or your own for a first draft, then ask for changes such as reordering frames or trimming and syncing music to the beat. The post gives no release date, and it does not mention choosing moments in a long video.
With shortshort
shortshort is an AI clip maker for long recordings you made: a file in MP4, MOV or WebM, up to 2 GB, or the link of your own public or unlisted YouTube video, downloaded on our servers at up to 720p with its audio. It listens to the whole video, then proposes the number of shorts you ask for, up to 3 on the Free plan and 20 on the Studio plan, never sharing footage within one run. The AI picks passages that open and close on complete sentences, then checks the end of each short against the transcript; when an exact ending cannot be confirmed, the studio says so. The 9:16 crop is placed on the most visible face and moves with it, with automatic zooms between x1.0 and x1.6; slides, screens and wide shots are kept full-frame. It does not tell who is speaking, and there are no manual framing controls. Captions are timed on every word, in four styles: Spotlight, Impact, Karaoke and Minimal. Scheduled publishing to YouTube: connect a channel on the Publish page, then pick a day and time for each short or let shortshort fill the calendar. Publishing to TikTok is in early access and opens to every account once TikTok approves shortshort's app. It costs 1 credit per minute of source video, with 30 free credits once and no card. Free exports carry a small shortshort.io badge and end card; Starter, at 12 EUR a month before VAT, removes them. Your upload stays private until you export; exported shorts join the community with their source video by default, and any paid plan can keep them out. shortshort does not set the related video on YouTube: add it in YouTube Studio.
Questions people ask
Did YouTube remove the Clips feature?
For viewers, yes. On April 16, 2026, TeamYouTube said Share at Timestamp would become the main way to share a moment in a video, replacing Clips. Existing Clips stay viewable, but an end time or a custom description can no longer be set when sharing. Creators keep the Video Clips & Shorts tool in YouTube Studio, which cuts clips and Shorts from their own long videos.
How do I make a Short from my long video in YouTube Studio?
Open Content, then Videos, pick the video and select Clips and Shorts. Click Create clip or Short, choose Short, then select the passage in the transcript or the timeline, or pick an AI suggestion where available. Preview the Short, restyle or turn off the automatic captions, click Create Draft and publish it through the standard upload dialog, which can also schedule it.
Does YouTube Studio suggest clips in every country and language?
No. As of October 16, 2026, YouTube Help lists AI-powered suggestions and outlines for creators in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, and in English, French, German, Hindi, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. The page attaches that list to the AI suggestions, not to picking a passage by hand from the transcript or the timeline.
Does YouTube Studio's Shorts tool follow faces when it crops?
Its help page does not say. It says the preview may show black bars above and below some scenes, and that the final Short shows a blurred crop of the video there instead. shortshort places its 9:16 crop on the most visible face and moves with it, tracks the face again for a 4:5 export and keeps slides and wide shots full-frame; it does not tell who is speaking.
Do I need a clip maker if YouTube Studio already makes Shorts?
Not always. For a few Shorts from a video already on your channel, posted only on YouTube, the built-in tool may be all you need, and it links a public Short to its source. A clip maker such as shortshort helps when you want many shorts from one video in one pass, a crop that follows the face, word-timed captions in a chosen style, MP4 files for TikTok or Instagram, or a language outside YouTube's list for AI suggestions.
Sources
The official pages this guide relies on, with the day each one was read.
- Video Clips & Shorts in YouTube Studio - YouTube Help, checked .
- Updating how you share video moments - TeamYouTube, YouTube Help Community (Apr 16, 2026), checked .
- Create YouTube Shorts from your videos - Android - YouTube Help, checked .
- Schedule video publish time - YouTube Help, checked .
- Add a related video to your YouTube Shorts - YouTube Help, checked .
- Understand three-minute YouTube Shorts - YouTube Help, checked .
- New tools to power your creation journey from start to finish - YouTube Blog (Sep 23, 2026), checked .
- OpenAI API: Speech to text, checked .
Related
Cut your own long video into shorts.
30 credits are free at sign-up, no card. One credit is one minute of source video, whatever the number of shorts.