---
name: short-video-from-long-video
description: Cut a 30–60 second short from a longer talking video through an MCP-connected video editor. Use when the user asks to "make a short", "cut a clip", "turn this video into a reel/short/TikTok", or to pick the best moments from a recording. Writes an editing brief first, picks complete thoughts from the transcript, builds the short on a new timeline, adds captions, and reviews before export.
---

# Short video from a long video

Goal: a short that says one thing well, built only from what the speaker really said, on a separate timeline the user can review.

## 1. Agree on a brief before touching the timeline

If the user has not given these, ask once, in one message, and offer sensible defaults:

- **One idea**: the single thread the short follows. One short, one point.
- **Length**: default 30–45 seconds.
- **Audience and format**: default 9:16 vertical with burned-in captions.
- **Ending**: the line the short should land on, if the user has one.
- **Leave out**: tangents, extra examples, repeated points, long pauses.

Fixed rules unless the user says otherwise:

- Use only the original footage and narration. Do not add new narration, rewrite quotes or invent lines.
- Never edit the original timeline. Work on a new one.

Restate the brief in 3–5 lines and continue.

## 2. Read before you cut

- Read the transcript at sentence level first (in VoxStudio: `get_transcript` with `granularity: "segments"`, or `search_media` / `find_text` to locate a topic).
- List 3–6 candidate passages with start and end times and one line on what each says.
- Treat search hits as leads, not answers. Open each candidate and widen or narrow it to where the thought really starts and ends.

## 3. Build the story by meaning

Order the chosen passages so the short makes sense to someone who never saw the source:

1. **Hook / premise**: the claim or problem, in the first 3 seconds.
2. **Turn**: the question or shift that makes it interesting.
3. **Proof**: one concrete example. Only one.
4. **Close**: the line that ends it.

Drop anything that does not serve this order, even if it is a good line.

## 4. Cut on complete thoughts

- Every clip starts at the start of a sentence and ends after the last word, with a short breath of room (about 0.1–0.3 s).
- No clipped syllables, no half sentences, no cut mid-breath.
- After assembly, read the new timeline's transcript (in VoxStudio: `get_transcript` on the new timeline) and check that it reads as natural speech from start to end.

## 5. Assemble on a new timeline

- Create a new timeline named after the short (in VoxStudio: `create_timeline`, then `add_clips` with `source: [start, end]` in source seconds).
- Keep clips in story order with no gaps.
- If the format differs from the source (for example 9:16 from 16:9), set it on the new timeline only and check framing.

## 6. Captions are part of the edit

- Add captions from the audio of the new timeline (in VoxStudio: `add_captions`).
- Check the words against the audio: names, numbers and technical terms are where transcripts go wrong.
- Keep lines short (about 3–7 words), readable on a phone, and away from any text already in the picture (check frames with `inspect_timeline`).

## 7. Review, then export

Before export, report to the user:

- Final length.
- Each clip: source time range and the first and last words.
- Anything you were unsure of (a join that may sound abrupt, a caption word you could not confirm).

Export only after the user agrees, or if they asked for it up front (in VoxStudio: `export_project`, then check the job with `manage_exports`). Confirm the file exists and give its path.

## Do not

- Do not summarize the video in new words and call it a short.
- Do not stitch half sentences to make a line the speaker never said.
- Do not overwrite or trim the source timeline.
- Do not claim the export is done before the export job reports it finished.