Turn your long YouTube videos into Shorts
Upload a long video you own, like a podcast episode, a stream or a webinar. Reeltopus reads the whole transcript, picks the moments that work on their own, cuts them to Shorts length, keeps the speaker in a vertical frame and burns in captions that stay clear of YouTube's title and buttons. Reeltopus is in early access, so join the waitlist to try it.
YouTube Shorts at a glance
- Maximum length
- Up to 3 minutes. A square or vertical video up to 3 minutes long, uploaded on or after 15 October 2024, is treated as a Short.Checked 17 October 2026 · Source
- Shorts over 1 minute
- A Short longer than one minute with an active Content ID claim of any type is blocked worldwide. Nothing changed for Shorts under a minute.Checked 17 October 2026 · Source
- Recording vs uploading
- The Shorts camera records up to 3 minutes in segments. Uploaded Shorts play at a maximum resolution of 1080p.Checked 17 October 2026 · Source
- Shape
- Square or vertical. A wider video, such as 16:9, is treated as a regular long-form video. 1080 × 1920 (9:16) fills the Shorts player.Checked 17 October 2026 · Source
- Automatic captions
- YouTube makes automatic captions with speech recognition, in about 80 languages, for Shorts and long-form videos. They may not be ready right after upload, and you can edit them in YouTube Studio under Subtitles.Checked 17 October 2026 · Source
- Title and description
- Titles can be up to 100 characters and descriptions up to 5,000 characters.Checked 17 October 2026 · Source
- Hashtags
- Up to 3 hashtags can show by the title. If a video has more than 60 hashtags, YouTube ignores every hashtag on it.Checked 17 October 2026 · Source
- Scheduling
- UnclearYouTube Studio can schedule a private upload to go public at a set date, time and time zone. The scheduling help page doesn't mention Shorts specifically.Checked 17 October 2026 · Source
840 × 960
What works on YouTube Shorts
Start with the point
A Short starts playing as soon as it scrolls into view. Open on the line that makes someone stay, not a greeting, a logo or a slow lead-in.
Pick moments that stand alone
Most people in the Shorts feed haven't seen your long video. Choose a story, an answer or an opinion that makes sense with no context, and end after the payoff, not mid-sentence.
Stay under a minute when you don't own everything
If a clip contains music or footage that could draw a Content ID claim, keep it under one minute. YouTube blocks claimed Shorts that run longer.
Put the topic first in the title
You have 100 characters. Lead with the words people would search for, then add the hook. Up to 3 hashtags can show by the title, so pick specific ones.
Point viewers to the full video
YouTube lets channels with advanced features link a Short to another video on the channel. A clip from an episode is the natural lead-in to that episode.
How Reeltopus prepares clips for YouTube Shorts
The speaker stays in the 9:16 frame
Face detection and active-speaker tracking move a virtual camera smoothly across your 16:9 video. Two-person conversations switch to a split-screen layout, and letterboxed sources are handled.
Captions clear of the Shorts buttons
Animated captions are burned in and placed inside the safe zone Google publishes for vertical video, away from the title at the bottom left and the buttons on the right. Pick from 10 styles with a live preview.
Clips sized for Shorts
The clip brain picks complete moments with a hook and a payoff, ranks them and says why. Ask for a length in plain words, like "make it 45 seconds with a stronger hook", and undo if you don't like it.
Exports that match YouTube
Download MP4 at 1080p, the highest resolution YouTube plays for Shorts, plus SRT or VTT caption files. Prefer your own editor? Get a Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro timeline.
Posting: Posting to TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Threads and Facebook is rolling out platform by platform, switching on as each platform's app approval completes. The YouTube connector is built, so YouTube is first in line. Until it's switched on for your account, download each Short and upload it in YouTube Studio or the YouTube app, which works from day one.
Free tools
Aspect ratio and safe-zone calculator
Exact pixel sizes and UI safe zones for YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, TikTok, LinkedIn and X, plus a crop calculator and ffmpeg command for turning 16:9 video into 9:16.
YouTube title and description generator
Paste what your clip says and get 5 YouTube title ideas, a description and hashtags, written by AI from your own words. Free, no sign-in.
Hook line generator
Paste a paragraph from your video or script and get 5 opening hook lines for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, written by AI. Free, no sign-in.
Thumbnail and cover safe-area checker
Check your video cover or thumbnail against the UI safe zones and grid crops of YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube. Your image never leaves your browser.
Questions
How long can a YouTube Short be?
Up to 3 minutes, for square or vertical videos uploaded on or after 15 October 2024. A Short over one minute with an active Content ID claim is blocked, so keep clips with music you don't own under a minute.
Can I turn any YouTube video into Shorts?
Use videos you own or have permission to use. Upload the original file to Reeltopus and it finds the moments, reframes them to 9:16 and adds captions. Clips from other people's videos can be claimed or taken down.
Does YouTube caption Shorts automatically?
YouTube can add automatic captions to Shorts, but viewers have to turn them on and they may not be ready right away. Burned-in captions are part of the video, so they show with the sound off. Reeltopus burns them in and also exports SRT and VTT files.
Should I upload Shorts in 4K?
There's little point. YouTube's Shorts help says uploaded Shorts play at a maximum of 1080p. Reeltopus exports 1080p on every plan, and 1440p or 4K on Pro if you need them for other places.
When will Reeltopus post straight to YouTube?
The YouTube connector is built and switches on as part of the platform-by-platform rollout. Until then, download the MP4 and upload it yourself. Reeltopus opens in early access batches from the waitlist.
Make YouTube Shorts clips from every long video.
Join the waitlist for early access. The free plan includes 2 upload hours a month.