YouTube is trying to make it even easier for creators to turn their longer videos into Shorts formatted for the platform’s TikTok competitor, by adding a new “Edit in a Short” tool to its iOS and Android app . It allows creators to select up to 60 seconds from any of their videos and bring the clip to the Shorts editor directly from the YouTube app on iOS or Android. From there, they can add things like text, filters, and additional videos taken with the Shorts camera or taken from their photo library.
In an announcement post for the positionYouTube says the completed Short will link to the full video it was cut from, which could help make Shorts an ideal promotional tool for the creator’s longer content — a major incentive for them to dive in as YouTube continues to develop testing monetization options for the position . If a viewer enjoys a short created with this tool, they don’t need to go to the creator’s channel to find the full video.
Unlike other tools such as Cut, which allows you to use five seconds of a longer video in a Short, or Clips, which can be converted to Shorts, the Edit in Short tool cannot be used for uploads from other users. It only shows up in the Create menu when you’re viewing a video you’ve uploaded.
YouTube has paid a lot of attention to Shorts since it began rolling out the feature in 2020. It has tried to encourage creators to adopt the format by setting up a fund that pays creators when they upload Shorts. As TechCrunch notes, the company has also supplemented its library by converting existing videos to Shorts, as long as they were filmed vertically and shorter than 60 seconds. Last month, YouTube said more than 1.5 billion people watched Shorts every month.
The post from YouTube says that the Edit tool in a short “will allow you to breathe new life into your classic content” and access to it is currently being rolled out. While it probably won’t completely replace more traditional video editing software when it comes to creating shorts (such as in a case where a creator wants to merge multiple clips from the same video), it could encourage creators to look at their backsides. catalog and see if there is anything that would work well as Short.