Cinematic b-roll & tutorials editing style
Edit like Peter McKinnon.
Skip the timeline.
Snappy b-roll sequences, moody contrast, punchy sound design and transitions that hit like a shutter — the look that taught YouTube what 'cinematic' means. Shorty rebuilds it from your shots.
Built for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
THAT SLAPS.
01 / THE STYLE
The Peter McKinnon editing style, decomposed
Peter McKinnon's style is the house style of YouTube's camera community: b-roll shot like a commercial, cut to aggressive sound design, graded dark and warm. The signature is density — a ten-second sequence may hold fifteen deliberate shots, each with its own audio accent. Recreating it manually is a sound-design job as much as an editing job, which is why it remains a benchmark style creators ask their editors for by name.
- B-rollShort, intentional shots — hands, objects, light — cut into fast rhythmic sequences.
- TransitionsSnap cuts, whips and match moves timed to sound effects rather than long dissolves.
- ColourMoody, contrasty grade with lifted blacks and warm highlights.
- SoundEvery visual hit has an audio hit — the edit is as much heard as seen.
02 / HOW TO EDIT LIKE PETER MCKINNON
From your camera roll to a Peter McKinnon-style cut.
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1
Pick a reference in this style
Upload a short video whose pacing, captions and look you want to match — any edit in the Peter McKinnon style you admire. Shorty analyses how it is cut, captioned, graded and scored.
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2
Add your footage
Drop in your own videos and images, plus an optional music track. Shorty scans them for usable moments, faces and speech. Your files stay private to your account.
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3
Get the finished video
Shorty plans, edits and renders the video in the reference's own format — vertical 9:16, 4:5, square, 16:9 or cinematic 21:9 — ready to download and post.
03 / QUESTIONS
Editing like Peter McKinnon with AI — common questions
What footage do I need?
A batch of short detail shots — products, hands, environments. Shorty sequences them into the fast rhythmic b-roll pattern of your reference.
Can it edit a talking tutorial in this style?
Yes — talking segments get the moody grade and are intercut with your b-roll the way the reference does it.
Do transitions come from presets?
No presets — the reference's transition behaviour is analysed and rebuilt against your own shots.
SHORTY / READY WHEN YOU ARE
Your footage. The Peter McKinnon cut.
No timeline required.
Open Shorty
04 / MORE STYLES
Other editing styles to try
Shorty is an independent AI video editing tool. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Peter McKinnon. The name is used only to describe an editing style the way editors and tutorials commonly refer to it. Videos are always built from footage you own.