Create Shortform Videos in Seconds with AI

Introduction

Cutback makes content creation effortless to create shortform content from your long videos. With just a few clicks, the AI short video generator finds the most engaging moments, helps you reframe them for mobile formats, and adds captions that boost retention. Whether you’re repurposing interviews, webinars, or podcasts, this workflow helps you go from raw footage to publish-ready clips in minutes, directly inside Premiere Pro. The tool is perfect for any type of content, including Reddit story videos, UGC videos, dialogue videos, and even faceless videos; they all work as long as you can generate a transcript.

🔽 In this guide:

✅ How to make a turn long videos into shorts

✅ Features that make rough cutting easier

✅ Frequently asked questions and answers

Getting Started - How To Edit Viral Shorts With AI

Step 1. Open a new Premiere Pro project and load your audio and video files into a sequence.

Step 2. Go to [Window] > [Extensions] > [Cutback] from the top menu to launch Cutback.

Step 3. Select the [Auto Rough Cut] option.

Step 4. Configure the following recognition settings:

1. Range Selection:

   • All: Generate subtitles for all tracks in the sequence.

   • In/Out: Use the in/out points set in Premiere Pro.

   • Clip: Generate subtitles only for selected clips.

2. Language Selection: Choose the language of the video (one language per session).

3. Preview On/Off: Enable preview to see a draft before applying changes.

   • Note: Preview requires encoding. For faster performance, turn it off.

4. Number of Speakers:

   • If each speaker has a separate mic/audio track, assign names per track.

   • If all speech is on a single track, input the number of speakers. AI will identify them by voice.

5. Video Tracks: Assign video tracks per speaker if needed.

Step 5. Click Transcribe video for auto rough cut to begin.

How to Create Short Viral Videos in Just a Few Clicks

Step 1. Click the Assistant button at the top right.

Step 2. In the chat window, select [Create shortform clips] or type the command manually.

Step 3. Cutback’s AI shorts generator will review the video and suggest segments that could be ideal for shortform content (i.e., YT Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikToks). These AI-generated stories based on your storyline are detected by analyzing the meaning and cues from your transcript and video analysis, a common methodology used in vibe video editing. Select a segment to auto-generate a short video using AI.

Step 4. Click [Select Layout] to adjust the visual style and frame size. Hit [Create Shortform Sequence] to generate a new sequence based on those clips.

Step 5. Add animated captions using the subtitle generator to finish it off and enhance viewer retention. You can also translate subtitles to add global appeal to your viral content and use readily available auto B-roll to improve your short-form content for platforms like YouTube Shorts.

Step 6. Click [Apply to sequence] to finalize the changes in your Premiere Pro sequence.

• Create new sequence: Saves the changes in a new sequence while keeping the original untouched.

• Apply to current sequence: Updates the existing sequence with the changes.

Note

• Segments marked for deletion by AI will appear in gray. These edits will not be applied until you click [Apply to sequence].

• Any changes not applied to the sequence will not be saved. Make sure to click [Apply to sequence] to preserve your edits.

By using the shortform clip maker to auto-generate shorts, you’ll be able to boost your video engagement and scale your content strategy in alignment with your goals, e.g. content monetization or attaining a certain metric in your video analytics.

Explore More Cutback Features To Utilize For AI Video Shorts

Aside from the short video AI generator, Cutback also boasts other helpful AI editing features for video editing, such as the ability to remove retakes, remove silences, remove filler words, and more.

1. Top Menu Features:

   • Undo/Redo: Use buttons or keyboard shortcuts u (undo) and r (redo).

   • Time Machine: Revert to the state before you applied changes.

   • Find/Replace: Search and replace words in subtitles (f key).

   • Export Subtitles: Export to .txt or .srt, or copy chapters + timestamps for YouTube.

2. Keyboard Shortcuts:

   • Move between words: w a s d

   • Cut at word: k

   • Cut at sentence: l

   • Faster preview: > (Shift + .)

   • Slower preview: < (Shift + ,)

   • View all shortcuts via the keyboard icon (top-right of Cutback window)

3. Smart Summary Tips:

   • Click a summary to jump to that chapter.

   • Edit chapters directly with the Assistant via chapter titles.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How many times can I use Auto Rough Cut per month?

A: Currently in open beta, Auto Rough Cut has no usage limit. This may change after the official release.

Q: Can I load previously created subtitles?

A: Yes. If you've already generated subtitles in a sequence, you can reload them using [Import] in the Subtitle Generation & Edit menu or open them via [Check Subtitle File] > [Open Previous Work].

⚠️ Caution: Clicking [Generate New Subtitle] will overwrite previous subtitle files.

Q: I clicked [Apply to Sequence] and received a message saying the subtitle track prevents cuts.

A: Delete all subtitle tracks (i.e., 'Captions' in Premiere). Check inside nested sequences for hidden subtitle tracks.

Q: I don’t like the edit the Assistant created.

A: Feel free to try another prompt, give clearer instructions, or revert using Time Machine.

Q: Line breaks don’t work when I try to edit subtitles.

A: Use Subtitle Edit Mode to change subtitles. Cut Edit Mode only supports cuts, not line breaks.