UseShorts

Purpose

UseShorts is an AI video tool used to automatically turn long videos (such as YouTube videos, podcasts, interviews, courses, webinars, etc.) into 9:16 vertical short videos suitable for platforms such as YouTube Shorts. Through transcription, AI clip discovery, automatic framing, and subtitle generation, it helps creators, podcasters, coaches, educators, and freelancers quickly produce multiple short clips, reducing the workload of manual editing and reframing.

Main Capabilities

Automated Process from Long Video to Short Video

UseShorts breaks long videos down into multiple short clips. The basic process is:

Long video → transcription → AI discovery of the best segments → framing and subtitles → preview or quick export

Users can let the tool automatically complete most steps, or preview clips one by one before export, retaining more control.

Transcription

• Supports using YouTube's built-in subtitles or free local transcription.
• Local transcription does not require uploading the full source video to the cloud.

AI Clip Discovery

• Uses free local AI or low-cost cloud AI to locate promising clips.
• The local AI runs based on Qwen3.5 and has been specially tuned for clip discovery rather than general conversation. The recommended Best Quality option uses Qwen3.5-4B Q4_K_M, and the Faster option uses Qwen3.5-2B Q4_K_M, both running locally via llama.cpp.
• Each discovered clip receives a score, helping users focus on the strongest candidate clips.
• Supports NVIDIA/CUDA acceleration on Windows; on Apple Silicon Macs, it is designed to use Metal acceleration (the Mac version has not yet been released).

Automatic Framing and Reframing

UseShorts automatically tracks and reframes the picture, reducing manual cropping and keyframe work, specifically including:

• Automatically track moving subjects: Follow moving subjects and keep the composition clean, designed specifically for 9:16 vertical output.
• Wide shot to dual-crop composition: First show a wider podcast or interview scene, and automatically switch to a tighter dual-crop composition when the conversation needs a closer view, generating clear close-ups for each speaker while preserving the sense of scene.
• Reframing from A-roll to B-roll: Automatically switch between the main speaker and supporting visuals, making talking-head style clips more dynamic.
• Context-preserving reframing: Intelligently adjusts or widens the frame when needed, preserving more scene information for easier viewer understanding.

Subtitles

• Supports editable static subtitles and Current Word subtitles.
• Static subtitles display text without word-by-word highlighting; Current Word subtitles highlight the current word as it is spoken, achieving a karaoke-like dynamic effect.
• Both styles can be edited and adjusted before export.
• Advanced subtitles are part of the normal workflow and require a third-party subtitle service. Based on the current provider's pricing, new users receive $200 in free credit, with subtitle costs of about $0.01 per 1-minute clip, covering approximately 20,000 one-minute clips.

Export and Branding

• You can preview the prepared clips first, checking the selected clips, framing, and subtitles before exporting.
• A faster automatic export workflow is also available, exporting clips automatically once they are ready.
• Supports 9:16 and other flexible export formats.
• Multiple brand profiles can be saved, including subtitle styles, fonts, colors, watermarks, logos, and end-card information; switch profiles for different clients without rebuilding each time.
• Supports adding a brand logo.

How to Use

1. Install UseShorts on a Windows computer (Mac version coming soon).
2. Import a long video.
3. Choose a transcription method: YouTube captions or free local transcription.
4. Choose a clip discovery method: free local AI or low-cost cloud AI.
5. AI discovers and scores candidate clips.
6. Framing and subtitles are completed automatically, or subtitle styles are edited manually.
7. Preview clips or use fast automatic export.
8. Export short clips in 9:16 or other formats.

Use Cases

• Podcasters and interviewers: Turn long conversations into multiple 9:16 short clips, handle two-person conversations with dual cropping, and keep scenes understandable with context-preserving reframing.
• YouTubers and creators: Discover clips worth editing without scrubbing through the entire video.
• Coaches and educators: Turn courses, webinars, and calls into reusable short videos with automatic speaker tracking.
• Freelancers and agencies: Produce consistently styled short clips for different clients and switch quickly via brand profiles.

Limitations and System Requirements

System Requirements

• Windows: Windows 10/11 64-bit, modern 4-core Intel or AMD processor, 16 GB RAM recommended, at least 10 GB free storage for UseShorts and local AI models, plus additional space for videos and exported files.
• Mac: Apple Silicon M1 or newer, 16 GB unified memory recommended, at least 10 GB free storage. The Mac version is coming soon.
• A discrete GPU is not required, but faster hardware can shorten processing time. On Windows, an NVIDIA GPU (6 GB+ VRAM) can significantly speed up local AI; on Apple Silicon, local AI can use Metal acceleration.
• Recommended configuration: 16–32 GB RAM plus an NVIDIA GPU on Windows; or an Apple Silicon Mac with 16–24 GB+ unified memory.
• Older or lower-performance computers may still work, but transcription, AI clip discovery, framing, and export will be slower. Faster local AI models use less memory and analyze more quickly.

Privacy and Uploads

When using the local processing option, the full source video does not need to be uploaded to the cloud. Local transcription, local AI clip discovery, framing, preview, and export can all run on the local machine. There are two exceptions:

• Advanced subtitles: the audio of the selected clips needs to be sent to a third-party subtitle service to generate an accurate subtitle timeline.
• Optional cloud AI: if cloud AI is chosen for clip discovery, the transcription text needed for analysis will be sent to the cloud provider configured by the user.

UseShorts does not require uploading the full source video for clip discovery or export.

Cost and Licensing

• Buy once, use permanently, with no monthly conversion limit.
• An optional monthly subscription short-term plan is available, includes the same core features, and can be canceled at any time.
• Optional cloud AI usage fees are charged separately by the cloud provider selected by the user; processing a typical 60-minute video with a low-cost model is estimated at about $0.01, and actual costs vary with video length, model, and usage.
• Includes 1 year of updates; after the first year, you can continue using the current version, and only renew updates when you need a new version.
• A free trial is offered: 2 free video conversions, no credit card required; however, trial processing is currently suspended.
• Live checkout is not yet available (Live checkout coming soon).

Other Limitations

• The Mac version is not yet available.
• The free trial is temporarily unavailable.
• Advanced subtitles depend on a third-party subtitleservice and are a required step; optional cloud AI depends on an external cloud provider.