> Yes. You can give Shorty your clips and describe the edit you want. You will get a version to review and revise. The closer your description is to what the footage actually contains, the more useful that first version can be. Source: https://shortyedit.com/guides/describe-a-video-from-your-own-clips --- # From “I can picture it” to a video brief that works Yes. You can give Shorty your clips and describe the edit you want. You will get a version to review and revise. The closer your description is to what the footage actually contains, the more useful that first version can be. The Shorty team · Updated 24 September 2026 ## Translate the picture in your head You might imagine a quiet opening, one satisfying action, and a clean finish. Put those three things into words. “Start on the empty table, show the cup being placed, finish with steam rising” is already a workable direction. The trouble starts when the imagined video includes shots you never recorded. Before uploading, check that the opening, action, and ending exist. If they do not, change the concept or film the missing piece. More adjectives will not solve a missing shot. ## Let the footage do some of the work You do not have to prescribe every cut. Tell Shorty what matters and what is flexible. Perhaps the pouring action must remain intact, but the order of the detail shots can change. Clear priorities leave room for the assembly to work. Add a reference when the rhythm is difficult to describe. Explain which part you mean: the pauses, the order of the reveals, or the amount of text. Use reference material and audio you are allowed to use, and check the finished soundtrack. ## Expect a conversation The first output makes your idea visible. Watch for what feels right before listing what feels wrong. Then request a focused revision, such as a slower reveal or a different closing shot. This workflow is useful when you want to direct a result without arranging every clip by hand. It still needs your eye. Check that the edit shows the right product, preserves the meaning of speech, and does not imply something your footage cannot support. Download the version you have actually reviewed. ## A brief to adapt to your footage Example direction. Replace the subject, shots, and wording with your own. Make a calm 15-second coffee video from these clips. Start with the empty cup, show the pour without interrupting the main action, and end on the steam close-up. Use few cuts and no sales headline. Keep the natural sounds if they are clear. ## Keep the ideas coming ### What to type when you would rather not drag clips around Shorty lets you direct an edit with a written brief and request changes in words. Give it your footage, explain the result, then review the video. You can avoid manual clip arrangement while keeping responsibility for the final cut. ### A video brief that saves the editor from guessing A useful AI editing brief names the audience, message, source material, sequence, and output. Shorty accepts that kind of direction. The goal is to make the important choices clear without writing a shot-by-shot novel. ### You want a video, not an empty timeline Yes. Shorty takes supplied footage and a brief or optional reference, then produces an edited MP4 to review. The work shifts toward directing and checking the result rather than placing each clip yourself. ### More ways to finish your footage Practical answers for the part after the shoot: find the story, choose an editor, write a useful brief, and get the finished video out the door. ### Shorty product facts and limits Shorty turns your own video clips and photos into an edited MP4 from a written brief or optional reference. You can review the result and request revisions. This page collects current product facts, fit, limitations and canonical sources. ### Current plans and allowances Explore this editing workflow in Shorty. ## Your next video starts here. Bring the footage. Tell us the idea. Shape the edit. --- Published by Tools Products FZ-LLC. Canonical HTML: https://shortyedit.com/guides/describe-a-video-from-your-own-clips