---
name: extract-15-60-second-clips-from-long-form-video
description: "Cut one useful idea from a long video. Give it clear captions and a link to the source."
category: Content Factory — Process
stage: Process
definitive_article: GAP — to be written
status: needs-work
---

# Extract 15–60 second clips from long-form video

A long video may hold a short answer worth sharing. This guide helps you cut one clear point that can stand on its own. Start with the source and the place where the clip will be used.

**The path:** Source moment → Complete short idea → Captioned export → Checked clip list.

**Use this when:** A timestamped source has useful standalone moments for a defined short-clip deliverable.

## Inputs
- The source recording, verified timestamped transcript, GCT and rights to edit/reuse it.
- The exact source version or cleaned cut, with a mapping to original time if editing changed its clock.
- A working editor such as Descript, actual export access, and current requirements for the planned destination.
- The clip tracker, intended count if agreed, named editor and posting/promotion owner.

## First-run prompt

> Find and prepare standalone 15–60-second clips for the specified channels from this real source. Check surrounding context, preserve source times, add accurate captions and verify actual exports. Record the real number made and pending audio checks. Do not invent highlights, guarantee reach, publish or launch ads outside the job’s scope.

## Steps
1. Read the full timestamped source and list candidate ideas with start/end times. Choose a point that helps the intended reader; do not promise ten or twenty clips from an hour regardless of its content.
2. Check context before and after each candidate. Preserve conditions, speaker identity and meaning. A dramatic sentence that reverses the full discussion is not a good standalone clip.
3. For this task, target 15–60 seconds as the house brief, not a universal platform limit. If a complete useful idea cannot fit, choose another moment or explicitly propose a longer asset instead of cutting away the necessary qualification.
4. Create a separate composition for each selected clip. Trim near natural phrase boundaries and check the opening quickly states a useful point. The first few seconds matter editorially, but no three-second hook test guarantees views.
5. Use any filler cleanup selectively. It is optional, not a prerequisite that must consume AI credits before every cut. Preserve the source version and avoid synthetic speech that misrepresents what was recorded.
6. Frame for the actual destination: choose an agreed portrait, square or landscape layout, and keep the speaker, key action and readable captions inside it. Verify current destination requirements rather than assuming all feeds use the same dimensions.
7. Add accurate visible captions or the requested subtitle track. Descript SRT/VTT export is a separate artifact; it does not by itself burn captions into the video. Check names, line breaks and the final exported frame.
8. Export a local finished file or the specifically authorized share destination. Confirm duration, dimensions, complete idea, caption readability and file integrity. A plan-dependent export setting cannot create detail missing from the original.
9. Save one row per actual clip with source ID/times, cut version, hook, duration, dimensions, output path and next use. Record actual count and any audio review still pending. Route suitable clips to posts or ad-creative preparation; exporting a clip does not publish it or authorize spend.

## Definition of done (QA checklist)

- [ ] Each clip is a complete source-faithful idea in the agreed 15–60-second brief or has an explicit exception.
- [ ] Source/cut timestamps and rights are recorded.
- [ ] Final exports have checked dimensions, duration and accurate readable captions.
- [ ] Actual exported count, audio review state and next owner are logged without performance or publication claims.

## Example(s)

**Fictional teaching example — no clips were made.** A sample source has a useful passage from 03:10 to 03:42: “Tell us when the noise happens. A noise while braking gives us a different starting point from a noise while pedaling.” That is a 32-second candidate with one complete idea.

The clip title is “Say when the noise starts.” Its row records original source 03:10–03:42, the separate cut version, portrait layout if the planned channel calls for it, and “caption/export checks pending” until the file exists. A separate sentence saying “we can quote from a photo” is rejected if the next line limits that claim. One good clip is a truthful result; a template quota is not.

## Handoff and Content Factory context

The content owner receives clip files and the source map for [Prepare platform posts](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=create-social-media-posts-per-platform#task-create-social-media-posts-per-platform) or [Prepare Dollar a Day creatives](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=create-dollar-a-day-ad-creatives#task-create-dollar-a-day-ad-creatives) when appropriate. These are separate scoped deliverables.

Produce supplies the real source. **Process**, this stage of the [Content Factory](https://blitzmetrics.com/content-factory/), turns it into useful finished assets. Post saves or publishes them on the agreed channels. Promote tests and distributes suitable work within its own scope. The handoff above names this task’s actual next step; catalog neighbors alone are not prerequisites.

## When this runs

One extraction pass per source and agreed deliverable. A later run can add new moments after checking the existing clip ledger; it should not duplicate earlier exports.

## First-run setup and continuity

Open the supplied task file and its linked source. Verify the project’s real inputs, account, access and output folder before work. This Markdown file is a guide; it does not install an app, connect an account, supply a subscription or create a schedule. Carry out work already authorized; do not ask for the same approval again. Keep any unsupplied destination or new action outside that scope clearly pending.

Save source IDs, versions, decisions, checked outputs and next owner in the project tracker. Before a retry, check the saved state and other workers’ changes. A model name does not guarantee memory or a running timer. Repeated work needs an actual configured trigger and durable state; one-off work can be started by the prompt above.

Keep agent media muted with volume zero before playback. If mute cannot be verified, use captions, metadata or still frames. State the limit: silent visual checks do not prove spoken-word accuracy or audio quality. Do not start sound through the user’s speakers unless explicitly asked.

## Write up the real run

For every actual attempt, [write its meta article](https://blitzmetrics.com/meta-article-prompt/) with this recipe and revision, trigger, steps performed, output evidence, measured result, gaps and next owner. Failed, blocked and partial attempts also get a written record. A draft can satisfy writing; publishing it follows the existing job scope.

Keep one stable execution ID across retries and edits. A separately scoped child task may have its own ID linked to its parent. Writing the parent’s meta record is part of that run, not an endless new chain. The [recipe and meta-article guide](https://localservicespotlight.com/meta-articles/) explains this distinction. Teaching examples are not real executions and must not enter the run count.


<!-- factory-layer:start -->

## Factory chain (do not treat this as isolated)

- **Phase:** Process
- **Importance:** 5/5 `●●●●●` — frequency 5, revenue 4, gating 3 (runs every factory cycle or weekly; creates the asset ads amplify)
- **Suggested previous station:** `step-4-research-edit-add-timestamps-and-outline`
- **Suggested next station:** `create-quote-cards-from-strongest-statements`
These stations are generated neighbors, not verified prerequisites or handoffs. Follow the task’s actual Inputs and Handoff sections.
- **Handoff:** Process-stage artifact examples include `transcript.md`, `gct.md`, `article.html` (or a staged draft), `clips/`, or `04-Promote-Creatives/`. These are examples, not requirements for every task. Follow this task's actual Inputs and Handoff sections for the required output, evidence, and next owner. Pass the files or records, not one vendor's memory.

## Model routing (same factory, any engine)

- **This task's lane:** `computer` — Logged-in UI (Meta Ads Manager, Descript, GSC, wp-admin when REST is blocked). Requires a supported browser tool and the right account access.
- **Single-engine path:** Use the capable AI app you already have. Check its required tools and access before starting. Pass the actual result and proof to the next task.
- **Optional multi-engine:** A tested local model may draft; a stronger model may review facts and voice. Use supported tools for approved actions. Pick models from observed quality and cost; a model name does not prove it can run this task.
- **Never** store the working state in one vendor's memory. Files in the Content Library are the bridge.

<!-- factory-layer:end -->
## Definitive article & links

- Dedicated canonical article: not mapped in this source record. Use the maintained owned training below until that article gap is reviewed.
- Exact task: [Extract 15–60 second clips from long-form video](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=extract-15-60-second-clips-from-long-form-video#task-extract-15-60-second-clips-from-long-form-video)
- Writing standard: [Article Guidelines](https://localservicespotlight.com/article-guidelines/)
- [Descript text edits and media](https://help.descript.com/hc/en-us/articles/10164808475149-Inline-notes)
- [Descript subtitle exports](https://help.descript.com/hc/en-us/articles/10255811669773-Exporting-subtitles)
- [Descript export quality](https://help.descript.com/hc/en-us/articles/28868035473421)
- [Descript composition copies](https://help.descript.com/hc/en-us/articles/10612359826061-Duplicating-a-composition)

## Review and evidence still needed

The source contributor status is preserved. It is not certification of this draft or proof of account access, completed work or a live outcome. The worked example teaches the method and is explicitly fictional.
- No dedicated canonical article is mapped; actual source moments, destination specs and sound review require a real run.