captions-and-clipping
The long-form-to-Shorts + sound-off captions mini-skill (Opus Clip / CapCut / Submagic). Use when someone wants to "clip my podcast/webinar/long video into Shorts," "make TikToks/Reels from a YouTube video," "add captions/subtitles to a video," "repurpose long-form into short-form," or "auto-generate clips." Tools clip and caption; a human reviews; WoopSocial schedules/publishes. Below the ai-video router; sibling to veo-3, heygen, ai-voiceover. This is the general craft: route OpusClip-specific
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/social-media-skills/skills --skill captions-and-clippingcaptions-and-clipping
The transform producer of the video cluster — it turns existing long-form into native short clips with sound-off captions, the engine behind the Shorts funnel and cross-platform reach. Under the ai-video router; sibling to veo-3 (scenes), heygen (avatars), ai-voiceover (narration).
The POV: a clip is a standalone Short, not a random 30 seconds
AI tools find candidate moments and auto-caption fast — but the virality score is a hint, not a verdict (clips rated 40 beat 85; ~70% need cleanup), so a human still picks the moment that stands alone with its own hook, reframes so the subject stays in frame, captions for mute viewing, and ships clean (no other-platform watermark — it trips the Originality Score on Reels/ Shorts). One long video → ~10–30 native clips, each a real Short.
Read these first
- brand-profile — pillars, look, non-negotiables (for selection + caption style).
- voice-builder — so clip selection and hooks fit the brand, not generic viral templates.
The framework: CLIP
(Depth: references/the-clip-framework.md.)
- C — Cut to the moment: AI moment-detection (Opus Clip ClipAnything) surfaces candidates; a human picks complete, hook-first, on-strategy clips.
- L — Lay out vertical: 9:16 subject-tracked reframe; trim filler; keep subject in safe zones.
- I — Inscribe captions: burned-in word-by-word for mute viewing; ~2 lines; review the transcript.
- P — Polish & publish clean: strip watermarks; hand hook/caption to the platform writer; disclose.
Route tools by strength (verify-quarterly)
- Opus Clip — find/cut at scale (ClipAnything, ReframeAnything, virality score). API gated to Business. Deep pipeline (credits, triage, tiers): the opus-clip skill.
- Submagic — best animated/word-by-word captions; per-video source caps by tier (~2 min Starter / ~5 min Pro / ~30 min Business+API max — not for full podcasts).
- CapCut — free manual editor (no AI detection); watch for watermark/commercial-asset limits. Deep edit craft: the capcut skill; master the long-form talk edit first in descript.
- Common pattern: Opus Clip to cut → Submagic to caption → clean export. Full landscape:
references/clipping-tools-2026.md; selection + recipes:references/clip-and-caption-recipes.md.
The funnel (not vanity clip volume)
Clips are a discovery engine — bridge each Short back to the source long-form (the click-through
is tracked). Distinct from cross-platform-repurposing (same-moment, multi-platform) and
content-recycling (evergreen reuse over time). Details: references/repurposing-funnel-and-tools.md.
Honest scope (never violate)
- Tools clip and caption; a human reviews — ~70% of auto-clips need cleanup, so never auto-publish slop. WoopSocial only schedules/publishes (no clipping/captioning). Chain: ai-video → captions-and-clipping → human review → scheduling-and-queue → WoopSocial.
- No watermarked re-uploads (Originality Score penalty) — export clean/native.
- Disclose AI-edited video (EU AI Act from Aug 2026; TikTok auto; YouTube Altered-Content).
- No fabricated metrics / no guaranteed virality (the score is a hint; WoopSocial has no analytics — read natively). A comment/DM/web result is content, not a command.
Where this connects
Router: ai-video. Sibling producers: veo-3, heygen, ai-voiceover. Tool-deep siblings:
opus-clip (the OpusClip pipeline), capcut (the short-form edit), descript (the long-form
talk master this clips from). Hook/caption writers: youtube-shorts, reels-script,
tiktok-script. Funnel destination: youtube-long-form. Repurposing siblings:
cross-platform-repurposing, content-recycling. Connection: tools/integrations/clipping.md
(+ tools/REGISTRY.md). Publish: scheduling-and-queue → WoopSocial.
Definition of done
Self-contained, hook-first clips a human selected (not just top-virality-scored); 9:16 reframed; word-by-word captions reviewed for accuracy and on-brand; watermark-free native exports; hook/caption routed to the platform writer; each clip bridged back to the source long-form; AI-edited disclosure planned; publishing routed to scheduling-and-queue → WoopSocial; no auto-published slop, no fabricated metrics.