Editing videos and creating short clips for TikTok and Instagram reels require hard skills. You cannot learn these skills in a month or two. You need time to develop them. You have to watch the videos multiple times and cut and edit them into clips to the point where watching them repeatedly becomes torture. However, you can semi-automate this workflow with the right AI video editing tools, making social media clips in minutes rather than hours!

This tutorial shows you how to use OpusClip to find the best scenes in a 30-minute video, automatically cut them into clips formatted for TikTok or Instagram reels, and post them instantly without even touching the video editor or leaving the platform!

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll learn how to:

• Upload video and tweak clip settings
• Choose and rate clips
• Use built-in video editing tools to edit clips
• Post the clips to social media channels

Let’s get into it!

Step 1 - Upload video and tweak clip settings.

Getting started with OpusClip is super easy. Just upload your video, drag and drop it, and you’re ready to go! Once uploaded, you can play around with the settings to make the clips exactly how you want them.

For this tutorial, we will use a YouTube video to create small social clips. To do so, paste the link in the ‘Drop a video link’ field and click ‘Get free clips.’

If you visit OpusClip for the first time, you will be prompted to sign in or register for an account. After registering, you will be directed to the company's main video editing interface.

A trial account gives you 90 credits. That’s enough to provide you with an idea of how it works. Scroll down to the clip settings. Select genre and clip length. The video we chose is related to comedy. So we’ll select comedy and a clip length of less than 30 seconds.

Since the primary purpose of Opusclip is to create viral shorts, reels, or TikTok videos, it encourages you to suggest keywords for the clip. Although it’s entirely optional, we recommend you provide some keywords for your clips. 

Now comes a critical parameter: the processing timeframe. Use the slider to choose the length of your social clips. You can even select the full video length, but keep in mind that it will use up more credits.

You can select a template for your clips or set your own by clicking the ‘My Templates’ tab. The template gives you a preset style for the extracted clips. Also, choose an aspect ratio for your clips. If you are posting it on TikTok or Instagram, leave the aspect ratio to 9:16. Select a preset and click ‘Save settings above as default.’ A pop-up at the top of the screen will confirm the saved changes. 

Step 2- Choose and rate clips

Now that we have tweaked the parameters, it’s time to get ourselves some juicy clips. Click the large white button at the top of the screen that says, ‘Get clips in 1 click.’

Opusclip will start uploading your video and ask a few questions to set up its AI. Answer the questions to help it create amazing clips. 

After uploading, you will see a screen with the suggested clips. Select a clip to edit further. 

Step 3 - Use built-in video editing tools to edit clips

The selected clip will appear with the transcript. Click the ‘Edit clip’ option to edit the clip to your liking. 

Do not be overwhelmed by the options on the editing screen. It’s super easy. First, play the video. Move the caption to the bottom of the video. 

Next, click ‘AI enhance’ in the left sidebar and click ‘Remove filler words.’ If no filler words are found, turn on ‘speech enhancement.’

Click ‘Transitions’ and select the ‘Crossfade’ option. Then, find a place in the clip to use the transition. Transitions are a great way to add style to your clips. 

Next, click ‘b-roll.’ This great feature allows you to impose a visual at the beginning, middle, or end of the clip. Click ‘auto-generate AI B-Roll.’

OpusClip will select part of the clip and impose a stock clip over it to emphasize a point. You can grab the B-roll and place it where you want to highlight a point or generate an extra visual. 

You can use background music in your clip with the spoken words to create virility. However, the coolest feature is the ‘AI keywords highlighter.’ It shows you which words create an intensity that might make your clip viral. Turn on the highlighter in the right side panel of the screen. 

Step 4 - Post the clips to social media channels

Once you’re satisfied with the result, you can export the video to your preferred social media channel. First, save your changes by clicking the ‘save changes’ button at the top of the screen. 

You can now export your clip and publish it on social channels. Click the ‘Publish on Social’ button at the right side of the clip window. 

Click a tile of your preferred social account. 

You can schedule the post by clicking ‘Select time’ at the bottom of the pop-up screen. Alternatively, you can click the ‘Publish Now’ button to publish the clip instantly. 

That’s it. Creating social clips from a long video was pretty easy. Editing videos and cutting clips for shorts or reels has never been this easy. Play around and experiment with the features. Find your preferred style, and you can viral a clip in no time.