Extract 15 60 Second Clips from Long Form Video

Task Library

Cut a long-form recording into 15-60 second standalone clips that feed social posts, quote cards, and Dollar a Day creatives.

Category: Content Factory – Process

Use this when a long-form asset – conference talk, audit screen share, team conversation, client interview – is transcribed and timestamped and needs to become short-form content.

Inputs

  • The Descript project with verified transcript and Step 4 timestamps (run use-descript-underlord-to-remove-filler-words first)
  • The GCT statement for the source video
  • The Content Library tracker
  • Platform specs for the intended destinations (vertical for Reels/TikTok-style placement, square/landscape for feed)

Steps

  1. Re-read the timestamped transcript and mark every candidate moment: a complete thought with a strong first line – one idea per clip, no setup required to understand it.
  2. Apply the hook test: the first 3 seconds must earn attention on their own (a claim, a number, a question). If the moment needs 10 seconds of context, it is not a clip.
  3. Cut each clip in Descript by selecting the transcript text – trim to the idea's boundaries, 15-60 seconds, never longer.
  4. Start the clip on the speaker mid-energy (just before the key line), and end on the punch, not the trail-off.
  5. Add captions to every clip – most social viewing is sound-off – and verify caption text against the transcript.
  6. Export in the destination aspect ratios; name each YYYY-MM-DD-source-clipNN-hookphrase.
  7. Log every clip in the Content Library tracker, linked to its source video row, with its GCT note and intended destination (social post, quote card source, or Dollar a Day creative).
  8. Route the strongest clips onward: create-social-media-posts-per-platform and create-dollar-a-day-ad-creatives.

Definition of done (QA checklist)

  • Every clip is one complete, standalone idea, 15-60 seconds
  • First 3 seconds of each clip pass the hook test
  • Captions present and accurate on all clips
  • Exports match destination specs and naming convention
  • All clips logged against the source video in the tracker with routing
  • Linked back to the definitive article and relevant siblings

Example(s)

  • Example needed – run the Meta-Article Prompt after first real run. Candidate: clipping a recorded conference talk or a client audit screen share into a week of social content.

File in the zip: skills/content-factory-process/extract-15-60-second-clips-from-long-form-video.md. Download the Task Library zip.

Index: Task Library. Article guidelines.

Scroll to Top