Long-form content is great for giving detailed information and conveying a story. But more often, people prefer to watch content that is short, sweet, and easily digestible. These fun-sized content types have become so popular that each social media platform has created its versions of them, such as YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. But making them on top of your normal content can be a hassle, which is why we are going to dive into how you can create short video clips from longer videos.
So, let us go through it step by step!
Why Are Short Videos the Hype?
When Vine started allowing users to publish six-second-long, bite-sized video content, people became hooked. They were entertaining and shareable, making it suitable for people who wanted to consume quick content in between their fast-paced lives. And this idea of Vine thus became an overnight sensation.
Creators adapted to this format, and quickly, platforms jumped on the bandwagon as well. It started with TikTok, and then spread to Instagram and YouTube as well.
These types of Short videos are highly addictive, making people spend more time on the platform. And brands, too, could use these videos to hook their audience and ultimately bring them to your profile and eventually your business.
How To Create Short Clips from Long Videos?
Before you start cutting up all your videos into bite-sized content, pump your brakes a bit. Because short videos are not just little snippets from a long video. They are much more than that. These videos also contain important aspects such as:
- A stunning hook
- Interesting body content
- And a stellar CTA that brings them to your profile for more
So, to create short video clips, you need to have a system and a plan in place. So, let us go through it step-by-step to create a video that goes viral.
1. Research Viral Content in your Niche
Before any work, the first step should always be about laying a strong foundation with in-depth research. And in this case, it is to find out what is going viral or being well-received in your niche.
By finding out what is loved by your audience, you can start creating short videos that match this preference. Or find snippets in your long videos that match these preferences.
Once you find out the snippets that you want, crop them and store them separately so you can edit them appropriately.
2. Content Curation
Now that you know what is in demand in your niche, you have to start curating your existing content to find the relevant pieces. So that you can figure out if you have to shoot additional content to make it coherent.
Here is a rough idea of the steps you will go through when curating your content:
- Identify your brand strategy and how this short-form content will align with it.
- Based on your strategy, figure out the overall aesthetics of the video and also its contents.
- Go through your long-form video that is related to this topic and split it into subtopics so you can see which ones will be most suitable for the clips.
- Choose the right content snippet that you can use. This snippet can either be motivational, or address a problem the user is facing, a how-to guide to help solve an issue, and so on.
- Figure out if you have to film additional content to make the video more coherent. Because let us face it, a continuous snippet from a longer video is not very appealing.
- See if the content is roughly suited for the platform on which it is going to be posted. For example, Instagram prefers visually appealing content, so if your video is text-heavy, then this might not suit the platform.
3. Restructure content
This is the step where you put together a rough layout of your video content. So, get your pre-existing snippets ready, film any additional content that you may need.
Once you have your videos ready, you need to figure out how to put them together in a way that will be interesting to watch. To do that, you can use a storytelling formula that I swear by.
The AIDA Formula:
AIDA is a copywriting formula that is effective for a variety of reasons. For starters, this format utilizes behavioral psychology to influence people and capture attention. But the concept can even be used to make your videos a hit, and this is how you can do it:
- Start your content with a hook that stops people mid-scroll. This can be done by using a surprising fact, a controversial take, a how-to guide for a common problem, or even just telling them the value they will receive at the end of the video.
- Once you have your audience hooked, delve into the core concept of the video. Have these points detailed clearly without too much fluff. Get right to the point and convey the information in a coherent manner.
- The last and final part of your video is to take the engagement the video generated and use it to make a conversion. And this can be achieved by using a creative and engaging CTA at the end of the video. These CTAs can be anything from asking them to subscribe to your channel or telling them to sign up for an email newsletter.
4. Edit into a Final Product
Everything you need to create short video clips is set and ready to go. Now, all that is left to do is assemble them into content that will be liked by your audience.
To start, combine all the video snippets into a single piece of content. You are bound to notice some sort of jumps, awkward transitions, and irregularities within the video. This is where you have to start cleaning up the video to make it coherent.
Once your video is clean, you can add visual elements such as changing captions, emojis, branding elements like logos, and make it appealing. And that is how you make short-form content that can go viral!

How To Make Short Form Content with Predis AI?
Sometimes, you might not have video snippets related to your content idea. In such cases, shooting them from scratch can be time and resource-intensive. In such cases, you can use AI-generative tools like Predis AI to make the process easier.
So, here is how you can create short video clips or video snippets with Predis AI:
- Sign up for Predis AI and get your free account if you are a new user.
- Click on the “Create New” option in the left side menu column.

- The next step is to choose the type of video that you want to create. For the sake of this demo, let us pick “Voiceover videos”.

- After which, you have to write a detailed prompt on the type of video that you want, including your preferred dimensions and the type of media that you want to use, like stock images or AI-generated ones.
- Once you are happy with all the modifications, click “Generate” and your video will be created in a matter of seconds.

Best Practices To Keep in Mind When Creating Short-form Content
When creating short-form content, using these tips can make it most effective for your strategy and engaging for your audience.
- Keep The Content Short: You can post at least 60 seconds or more of short-form content on many social media platforms. But studies suggest that the shorter the video, the more engaging it will be.
- Post Consistently: Posting content regularly is the best way to grow your account. So, when creating short-form content, batch prep it so you can be more consistent.
- Use captions: A lot of people prefer to watch their videos on mute, so having captions can make the video more accessible to them.
- Utilize trends: If there is trending content in your niche, try to think of ways in which you can incorporate it into your content strategy.
- Hashtags are a must: Hashtags are a great way to help the algorithm categorize your content and put it in front of the relevant audience. So use them in your captions strategically to ensure your content is discovered by the right people.

The Bottom Line
When you create short video clips and post them consistently, you are bound to grow on social media. While this might seem simple, it requires a lot of planning and tools to make it seamless as possible.
And Predis AI is one such tool that can make this process much easier. Because it allows you to handle end-to-end content creation from a single platform. Some of the things that you can do are:
- Get AI to generate your content for you
- Receive suggestions based on your past content performance, which will help optimize future posts
- Get captions and hashtag suggestions for every post
- Schedule the created content and visualise it with a built-in social media calendar
- Collaborate with multiple team members
- Analyse the performance of your posts
And do so much more,
So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for Predis AI today!
FAQ:
Almost all social media platforms prefer content that is engaging and fast-paced, which is why having it with 15 – 60 seconds can be the optimal length.
You can use tools like Predis AI, Capcut, Descript, and Adobe Premiere Pro to create short-form content for your social media channels.
Yes, you need to add captions to your videos to make them accessible for people who watch them on mute or are deaf.