PricingWhy AI can change what your product looks like
AI video tools fall into two groups. Editors such as Shorty cut, order, reframe and caption footage you supply. Generators create new frames from text, images or video, or transform the frames you give them. A generated shot can redraw a label, change a cap or shift a shade, because the product is rendered again rather than taken from your footage.
Editing real footage avoids redrawn packaging, but not every risk. A vertical crop can cut off a logo, a caption can sit on the label, a colour treatment or reference look can move a shade, and a shot can end before anyone can read it. Those are the decisions to brief and check.
Real-footage editing versus generative video
This compares the two kinds of workflow, not named products. You can combine them: generated scenes for atmosphere, filmed shots for the details a buyer relies on. Shorty edits generated clips like any other supplied footage, so check those shots the same way.
| Question | Editing your real footage | Generating or transforming video |
|---|---|---|
| Where the product pixels come from | Your filmed clips and supplied photos | New or transformed frames produced by a model |
| Label text, logo and packaging shape | Shown as filmed; crops, captions, effects and compression can still hide or soften detail | Can be redrawn; compare every generated shot with the real pack |
| Product colour | A colour treatment or reference look can shift the shade; ask for natural product colour | Can vary between shots; compare with an approved pack shot |
| Missing shots | Not invented; supply footage of every detail the story needs | Can be created, so check that they show the real product |
| Best fit | Product videos where the item on screen must match what ships | Concept scenes, backgrounds or moments you could not film |
Film the shots accuracy depends on
An editor can only show what you supply. Shorty does not invent missing scenes, so collect these shots before you write the brief.
- A front-of-pack shot with the label square to the camera, in focus and evenly lit.
- Close-ups of any text that must be readable: product name, shade or scent, size and claims.
- One shot in neutral light to judge true colour, plus an approved pack shot to compare against.
- The product in use: a pump, spray, swatch, pour or a garment in motion.
- A clean hero shot that can hold at the end.
Write the details that must stay true into the brief
State the product facts and visual limits the edit must respect. If you add a reference video, name the traits to borrow, such as pacing or typography, and say that its colour look should not apply to product shots.
Make a 20-second vertical product video from my clips. Open on the product in use, show the front of the pack with the label readable, then finish on the hero shot and hold it for at least two seconds. Keep the real product colours: no colour grade or filter on product shots. Keep captions and titles clear of the label, logo and cap, and do not crop the product name or shade. Use only the supplied footage and the exact product name I provide.
What to check in the exported video
Watch the downloaded MP4 on a phone, then pause on every product shot.
- Label and logo: every word you need is readable and nothing is cropped by the 9:16 or 4:5 frame.
- Colour: product shots match the real item or approved pack shot; skin tones and garment colours look natural.
- Shape and packaging: cap, pump, bottle, box and garment details match across shots, with no mirrored or warped text.
- Overlays: captions, titles and effects leave the label, shade name and required claims uncovered.
- Timing: the hero shot stays on screen long enough to read the name.
- Claims: on-screen words match the approved copy, and the footage shows what the words claim.
- Generated material: any shot made with a generative tool has been compared with the real product frame by frame.
Fix a problem with a focused revision
Name the shot, the change and what should stay, for example: “Hold the final product shot longer so the label can be read. Keep the demonstration and caption wording unchanged.” To move a caption or title off the label, select it in the preview when it is an editable element and describe the new position.
Text printed on the pack is part of the footage, not a layer Shorty can retype. If a shot shows an old label or the wrong shade, supply corrected footage; an edit cannot fix what the source does not show.
Sources: Edit a video by chat · What you can select in the preview. Shorty product documentation and workflow pages.
Beauty, fragrance and fashion: the details that go wrong first
The perfume commercial style starts from the bottle silhouette, a label detail, a recorded spray and a clean hero shot, and asks for readable branding and true product colour. The fashion reel brief keeps the full silhouette in frame and the actual garment colours. The skincare packaging guide asks you to check ingredient and volume text against the supplied pack.
| Category | Details to protect | Where to start |
|---|---|---|
| Beauty and skincare | Shade names, texture, swatch colour, ingredient and volume text from the real pack | AI beauty video editor |
| Fragrance | Bottle silhouette, glass and liquid colour, the cap and readable branding in the final hold | Perfume commercial editing style |
| Fashion and accessories | Garment colour, fabric detail and the full silhouette in a vertical crop | AI fashion video editor |
Sources: Perfume commercial editing · A 15-second fashion reel brief · Skincare packaging video guide. Shorty product documentation and workflow pages.
A recorded edit from supplied product clips
In a Shorty browser test published on 17 September 2026, six supplied fragrance clips became a 10-second vertical film using four of the shots. A follow-up request changed their timing to 2, 2, 2 and 4 seconds, giving the final bottle shot more time on screen. The source clips, briefs and both exports are public.
Sources: Six clips, a first cut and a timing revision. One first-party test; results depend on your footage and brief.
Where Shorty fits and where it does not
Shorty fits when you have real product footage and want a directed edit: a product demonstration, a skincare routine, a fragrance Reel or a fashion lookbook. Upload clips up to 1 GB each or supported photos, describe the edit or add a reference, and review the rendered MP4.
It does not generate product shots, retouch or retype a printed label, or replace an outdated pack in existing footage. Rendering needs an account and credits; check current plans on the pricing page.