AI Shorts Generator

Search "AI Shorts generator" and almost every result is a clipping tool: you upload a podcast, a stream or a webinar, and it finds the moments and crops them vertical. That is a real job and a good one. It is not this job.

Use a clipper when you already record long-form and want the same content on Shorts. Opus Clip, Klap and the rest do that well, and MakeViral does not compete there.

Use a generator when you have no footage, publish faceless, want several Shorts a day, or need to promote a product you can describe but not film. If you want the honest comparison against a clipper, read the Opus Clip alternative page.

YouTube's own rules, checked 15 September 2026 on the Shorts help page:

• Length: up to 3 minutes. Longer vertical uploads are treated as regular videos.
• Resolution: Shorts upload at a maximum of 1080p.
• Shape: vertical or square. 1080 x 1920 is the safe choice and what MakeViral exports.
• Placement: a Short earns its Shorts Feed distribution by being short and vertical, and that feed is where the monetized views come from.

Two practical notes the help page does not spell out. First, YouTube's player draws the title, channel name and action rail over the lower and right edges, so keep captions in the middle band exactly as you would for TikTok. Second, the watch-hours path and the Shorts path to monetization are separate: YouTube states that qualified watch hours from Shorts views in the Shorts Feed do not count toward the 4,000-hour threshold. A Shorts-only channel is on the Shorts-views path, and nothing else.

Shorts viewers arrive from a feed and from search, which rewards curiosity and answers more than pure drama. These are the eight MakeViral formats ranked for that:

The Shorts-specific bias is toward length. A 6-second Short can rack up views and still contribute almost nothing to a monetization threshold measured in views, so use the 6-second formats to find hooks and the 60-second formats to build the channel. Browse them all on the faceless video generator hub.

Checked 15 September 2026.

Getting into the YouTube Partner Program. You need 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 qualified public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days (YPP requirements). Ten million views in 90 days is roughly 111,000 views a day, which is why almost every Shorts-first channel arrives through volume and one or two breakout videos.

How the Shorts money is calculated. YouTube pools the ad revenue from ads between Shorts in the Shorts Feed each month, removes the music licensing share, allocates the rest by each channel's share of engaged views in each country, and pays creators 45% of their allocation (Shorts monetization).

The change that is already announced. YouTube states that starting 1 February 2027, to earn a share of Shorts ad revenue and YouTube Premium revenue in a given month, you will need at least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. Plan for a volume bar, not a one-time threshold.

What a view is worth. YouTube publishes no RPM. Independent reporting puts Shorts at roughly $0.01 to $0.10 per 1,000 views depending on the viewer's country and the niche (AIR Media-Tech, 2026). At $0.04, ten million views is about $400 a month. That is real money and it is not a business on its own, which is why faceless channels attach a product, an affiliate link or an email list. The YouTube Shorts monetization guide has the full breakdown with a calculator.

What it costs to produce. Each render is 10 credits, so $0.71 per Short on the $49.99 plan or about $0.67 on the $199.99 plan. Three Shorts a day for a month is 90 videos, which is 900 credits.

Thirty Shorts is the smallest number that tells you anything. Run them in three blocks of ten, and change one variable per block.

Block 1, Shorts 1-10: find the format

Pick one niche and one subject area. Generate ten Shorts across three formats, for example four AI voiceover, four Reddit story, two quiz. Post one a day. Record the 3-second view rate and average view duration for each. One format will be clearly ahead.

Block 2, Shorts 11-20: find the hook

Take the winning format. Write ten different first lines for the same topic area: a number ("Four things..."), a warning ("Do not..."), a question, a contradiction, a confession. Same format, same length, same voice. Hooks change view rate more than anything else you control.

Block 3, Shorts 21-30: find the length

Keep the winning format and the winning hook style. Post five at 30 to 45 seconds and five at 70 to 90 seconds. Compare total watch time, not percentage watched. The longer video usually wins on total minutes even when the percentage drops.

After 30 Shorts you know your format, your hook shape and your length. Then it becomes a volume question, and volume is what the YouTube automation tool page is about. The YouTube Shorts ideas list is a good source of subjects for block 1.

Shorts get distribution from the feed and from YouTube search, and the text is the only part search can read.

• Title: write the search phrase, not a caption. "How much do YouTube Shorts pay" beats "you won't believe this". Keep it under about 60 characters so it does not truncate in the feed.
• Description: two lines of context and your link. Nobody reads it, but search does, and it is where the affiliate or app link goes.
• Hashtags: one or two topical tags. #shorts is optional in 2026 because YouTube identifies Shorts by length and shape.
• Your first comment: pin the question you want answered. On quiz and would-you-rather Shorts this is most of the comment volume.

Do not let the generated caption be the title. The script writes for the ear; the title writes for search.

• Publishing 200 identical Shorts. YouTube's channel monetization policies make mass-produced or repetitive content ineligible for monetization and name AI content built from generic templates as an example (policy page, checked 15 September 2026). Rotate format, voice and subject.
• Chasing the watch-hours threshold with Shorts. Shorts Feed views do not become watch hours. Pick the path you are actually on.
• Only making 6-second Shorts. Views are cheap, thresholds are measured in views, but sponsors and payouts follow watch time and qualified views.
• Posting once a week. Three a day for a month is 90 tests. One a week is four. The channel that learns faster wins on a feed platform.
• No niche. A channel that posts stories on Monday and crypto facts on Tuesday teaches the recommendation system nothing.
• Titles written for humans only. Half of a good Shorts channel's long-term views come from search and suggested, both of which read text.
• Ignoring the description link. Platform payouts at this scale are small. The link is where the money is.
• Treating the tool as the strategy. The generator removes the production work. It does not pick your niche, and the niche decides your RPM.