Turn your long videos and best comments into Shorts

Paste a video transcript with timestamps and a few viewer questions; get clip picks, a hook from your own words, and comment-reply Short ideas, using YouTube's own Shorts rules.

What it does

No bot required. Your long videos already have Shorts hiding in them. YouTube Help's "Create YouTube Shorts from your videos" says that in the YouTube app you can open the watch page of one of your own public long-form videos, tap Remix, then Edit into a Short, and pick up to 60 seconds (you can also record extra clips to fill out the 60 seconds) before adding text or filters. That Short links back to the original video. It doesn't work on private or unlisted videos or on videos with third-party copyright claims, you can't add Audio Library music or sounds to it, and if you don't see the option, check that "Shorts remixing: Allow people to sample this content" is turned on for the video in YouTube Studio. If you'd rather edit a vertical clip yourself, YouTube counts square or vertical uploads up to three minutes long (uploaded on or after October 15, 2024) as Shorts. But a Short over one minute with any active copyright claim is blocked everywhere on YouTube until the claim is resolved (with no penalty to your channel), so keep other people's music and footage out of longer Shorts. Comments are the other gold mine. In the app, tap Reply on a viewer's comment to make a Short with that comment shown as a sticker. The commenter gets notified, and your Short shows up under their comment. You can also save comments now and answer them later from the Shorts camera. Paste a transcript with timestamps and a handful of viewer questions into any chat AI, and it finds 3-5 moments that make sense on their own, like a clutch play explained, one quick tech fix, or the punchline of a tutorial. It writes the first line from your own words and suggests short comment-reply videos. You make and post them yourself.

Copy-paste prompt

No bot needed: paste this into Grok, ChatGPT, or Claude.

Help me turn one of my long YouTube videos and a few viewer comments into Shorts. Use YouTube Help's "Create YouTube Shorts from your videos," "Understand three-minute YouTube Shorts" and "Reply to comments with your YouTube Shorts" as background.

My channel: [gaming / tech / tutorials / faith / family / cooking / other]. I'm [just starting out / growing / established].
The video: [title]. Is it public: [yes / no]. Does it have any copyright claims: [no / yes / not sure]. Does it use music, clips or footage that aren't mine: [no / yes, at these times].
Transcript with timestamps:
[paste]
Viewer comments or questions I'd like to answer:
[paste 5-10, no usernames]

1. Pick 3-5 moments that make sense on their own, each 60 seconds or less, with start and end times. For each one, tell me in one line why it works without the rest of the video.
2. For each pick: a first line taken from my own words in the transcript, 3-6 words of on-screen text, and an honest title. No clickbait the clip doesn't deliver.
3. Tell me which picks I can make with Remix, then Edit into a Short (public video, no third-party claims, up to 60 seconds, no Audio Library music), and which would work better as a vertical clip I edit myself.
4. If a pick would run over one minute, warn me if it includes any music or footage that isn't mine. A Short over one minute with an active copyright claim gets blocked.
5. From the comments, pick 3 that would make good reply Shorts. For each one, give me a 20-40 second outline: answer in the first sentence, one example, then point to the full video. Remind me to make these with Reply on the comment so the viewer gets notified.
6. End with a short checklist: Shorts remixing turned on for this video in Studio, a related video set on any Short I edited myself (Edit into a Short ones already link back), and posts spread out over the week instead of all on one day.

What you need

Any chat AI (Grok, ChatGPT, Claude)
Your video's transcript with timestamps (from YouTube Studio)
The YouTube app (to make and post the Shorts yourself)

Sources

← PreviousCompare homeowners or renters insurance quotes side by side Next →Hogwarts-style morning paper that prints itself at 6:07 AM

Related setups

No Bot

Compare homeowners or renters insurance quotes side by side

Type in the numbers from two or three quotes (no policy numbers or address); get one comparison table, the differences that matter and questions to ask each agent.

View setup →

No Bot