PricingLook at the shape of the material
One hour-long interview already contains a sequence of ideas. Twenty loose product clips do not. A nearly finished Reel may only need captions or a new ending. The same “AI editor” label can hide very different starting points.
Write a one-line inventory: what the files contain, how much is usable, and what is missing. If the main problem is finding a passage in a long recording, a transcript or highlight workflow is worth testing. If the problem is building a sequence from separate shots, test assembly from a brief.
Give the shortlist the same assignment
Choose representative footage and define the result. Keep the required wording, duration, format, and source restrictions consistent. In Shorty, supply the selected clips and describe the story you want the edit to tell.
Do not clean up one trial so much that it no longer resembles your real work. Equally, do not make the test an impossible brief with missing footage. You want to learn whether the tool handles the normal job, not whether it can guess an unwritten intention.
Check the second pass and the exit
Request one correction that you commonly need. Then download the result and inspect it in the destination format. The path from first draft to approved file matters more than the first impression alone.
This is Shorty’s guidance, not a claim that we have benchmarked every editor. The useful winner is the workflow that leaves you with a clear video and a manageable amount of review. Keep your original files so you can change tools without losing the material.