> 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. Source: https://shortyedit.com/guides/write-a-brief-for-an-ai-video-editor --- # 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. The Shorty team · Updated 24 September 2026 ## Tell the editor what the viewer should learn A list of effects is not yet a brief. Before deciding on transitions, finish this sentence: after watching, the viewer should understand ____. For a reusable bottle, the answer might be how the lid locks. That gives the edit a job. Name the material you have. The locked lid, the filling shot, and the bottle inside a bag are useful clues. If the only proof of a feature is missing, say so or choose a different angle. A written instruction cannot make missing evidence appear. ## Add the few choices that matter Set a target length and canvas. Name the opening, required wording, and ending. Explain anything that must stay accurate, such as a product version or a spoken qualification. Add a reference only if it communicates something the words do not. Avoid loading the brief with mutually competing requests: calm but frantic, minimal but packed with text, very short but containing every feature. Choose the priority. You can try a different direction in another version rather than asking one video to satisfy everything. ## Turn feedback into an instruction After Shorty assembles the first cut, compare it with the brief. If the story is right but the opening is weak, change the opening. If the point is unclear, revise the sequence before polishing the caption style. Keep the successful brief as a starting point for the next shoot. Replace the product facts and shot notes, not just the name. A good reusable brief carries the decisions that stay useful while leaving room for the footage to change. ## A brief to adapt to your footage Example direction. Replace the subject, shots, and wording with your own. Audience: commuters. Message: show how this bottle lid locks. Use the close-up, filling shot, and bag shot supplied. Make a 20-second 9:16 video. Open on the locking action, show the bottle going into the bag, and end on the product name. Do not add claims beyond what these clips show. ## 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. ### 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. ### 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/write-a-brief-for-an-ai-video-editor