From the desk of David Utke
Subj: How the heck do I add captions to shorts!?
YouTube shorts are fun, interesting 1-3 minute or less vertical videos shot with your camera that can enable you to grow a brand new channel to thousands of views a day in just a matter of days.
In this short tutorial I’m going to walk you through how to create YouTube shorts that have those text captions everyone loves.
Why should you consider making shorts? They can drive serious attention and traffic to your YouTube channel:
Now, there are two ways to record short form content. You can either record vertical content using your phone or action camera, or you can use proper mirrorless camera and then edit a short from that content.
First, I’ll show you how to edit vertical content.
Make YouTube shorts using CapCut
CapCut is by far the best video editing software for YouTube shorts. Drag and drop interface, short form video presets and best of all, auto captions.
Auto captions make adding that fancy text to video fast, easy and done right.
So what’s the catch?
You have to upgrade to a paid account to access auto captions but it’s worth it if you’re serious about creating short form content for YouTube and other platforms.
Step 1: Download and install CapCut
CapCut is free to download and use, but the free version has obvious limitation in order to get you to upgrade
Step 2: Create a new project
Once CapCut is installed, you’ll see a big button to “create a new project.” Click that big button and then drag and drop your video into the timeline.
If you already recorded vertical content then CapCut will auto detect that.
But if you recorded a standard horizontal 1080p or 4k video then you’ll need to make some adjustments.
Step 3: Create your short
If you add in a horizontal video, click on the aspect ration and select 9:16 which is the short video form standard.
You can click on the video and expand it to fit correctly as well by clicking on the white dots and dragging them out so the video clip fits the 9:16 aspect ratio.
If you already recorded a vertical video, CapCut will auto detect this and set the correct aspect ratio.
Step 4: Add auto captions
This is the whole reason we’re using CapCut. Their auto captions feature is superior to any video editor currently.
Auto captions make your short videos more sticky and fun to watch. They have been shown to help increase watch time and have become an expectation of short form content.
To add auto captions simply click on “captions” then “auto captions” and it’s as simple as that.
From here CapCut will make captions for your video and it’s 98% accurate. You will have to spend a little time correcting a word here or there, but otherwise it’s pretty incredible how easy adding captions to video is.
Once you have captions added to your time line you can easily adjust the captions and the style.
Step 4: Render your short
One quirky thing about CapCut I don’t like is that when you go to render it does not auto detect your output settings.
With your video clip you need to know your frame rate primarily. If you recorded at 60 fps, then render at 60 fps. You can downscale if you like for some reason (record at 60, render at 30) but not the other way around.
How to make a YouTube shorts with their mobile app
To get started with shorts is easy. First, you’ll need a camera for YouTube or an iPhone.. Next, record a 1 minute or less video with your phone vertically like you would if you were recording an Instagram story or record a bunch of shorter clips you would like to use as a short.
If you record in landscape you’ll have to cut out the sides of the video to make it fit the vertical layout of YouTube shorts.
In the YouTube app on your phone, press the button to upload a video and you’ll see an option to upload a short or a video. Obviously, you’ll want to select “shorts” and from here you have a few options options:
1 – Use the YouTube mobile app and select the “upload” button
Here you’ll see an option to upload a full video or create a short. Choose “create a short” and you’ll be take to the YouTube shorts video editor within the YouTube app.
15 seconds or 60 seconds?
You’re now able to select clips that are on your phone into a short by clicking the image icon in the lower left hand corner. It’s similar to how you create a story for Instagram. You can also adjust the short length to being max 15 seconds or max 60 seconds.
I’ve uploaded shorts that were 4 seconds that got 10K views and full 60 second shorts that got 10k views. It really depends on the content you want to upload. If you already have a pre-made short video ready to go then select 60 seconds.
2 – Upload and edit together clips within the YouTube shorts upload interface
If you don’t have a premade short you can easily select the clips you want on your phone to be made into a YouTube short. Just select the clip and it will fill up the red bar timeline so you know how much time is left that is allocated to the video length:
You can add in text and music as well in this interface, when done just click the checkmark in the lower right corner and you’ll be taken to the final upload screen to add a title and description.
3 – Add text and music (optional)
When creating a short with the YouTube app you are allowed to add in text and music. However, if you do add music from YouTube’s library your short won’t be able to be monetized in any way.
You can also now add in multiple text pieces and adjust how the appear and disappear based on the video timeline. It’s not as fancy as using a proper video editor that allows you to have that visually captivating bubble text as yo talk however.
4 – Add a title and quick description
When your short is done, you’ll have to add in a title and video description. The title and thumbnail are the most important aspects as they determine if people click and watch your video.
Unlike longer form videos that rank well impart due to being relevant to what the user is searching, shorts get traffic and greater exposure based on engagement.
5 – You can now “edit a short” directly in the YouTube app
Do you already create longer form YouTube videos? Well if you have the updated version of the YouTube you should now see a “remix” option when viewing your own videos.
Select the remix option and you’ll see a bunch of helpful options to edit longer videos into clips or edit into a short. You can now create shorts from your already made videos and add in text and music.
Should I create a dedicated shorts channel?
No.
YouTube has now created a dedicated “shorts” tab within your channel to separate short videos from your main videos so you no longer need to worry about providing a poor user experience on your main channel by bombarding your audience with a bunch of one minute short videos.
However, please be aware that your short videos should match the content of your primary videos. The reason is that I’ve talked to channel owners who’ve uploaded shorts that have gone viral which then set the algorithm to promote their main videos to a wider audience.
This can be bad surprisingly if your longer videos start getting recommended to people who are not interested in your longer form content which will then hurt the rankings, engagement and ad revenue from your main content.
Shorts shelf algorithm
A lot of creators may not know this but YouTube shorts operate under a different algorithm than the rest of YouTube.
As such, when you post “shorts” you’ll get traffic referred to as “shorts” in your data. Yes, if you already have an established audience already your shorts will be viewed by your main audience and get a handful of views.
The real magic happens once videos get picked up by the shorts algorithm. Then your views will take off like a rocket, but only if they get picked up.
The good thing about this new feature is that it gives you a chance to get a bit more exposure because YouTube is providing the platform with a new feature and not enough creators are taking advantage of it.
The downside is that it can be a bit difficult building an audience strictly through shorts as they are restricted to the “shorts shelf” on mobile. Once one short is done, it moves to the next from a different creator.
Will shorts impact my watch time?
Yes it will. Your average view duration will tank as you’re posting 1 minute videos but your overall views will most likely take off. YouTube will not penalize you in any way, but as I previously mention you just need to make sure your short videos match the content of your longer form content.
Otherwise your longer form content could be impacted because it will start to be recommended and viewed by people who watched and liked a short from you.
Will YouTube shorts help me meet the 4000 hours, 1K subs requirement?
Yes, shorts will help you achieve the 1k sub requirement. No, short video views do not count to the 4000 video hours.
So if you’re looking for a “short” cut (pun intended) to getting monetized, creating short videos will help with achieving this goal. However you will need to make proper, longer form content to get monetized on YouTube as you need to achieve the 4000 hour watch time.
What makes a good short?
Shorts that are funny, fast paced, have text and cover a topic quickly that people are searching for work best. Pick a style and be consistent.
Creators who use a proper video editor to add in sub-title text like how I showed you with CapCut are still going to have an edge, as this is an essential feature of keeping people watching a short.
Hopefully YouTube at some point adds in this feature to their mobile app.
Have a Call to Action
A great call to action is to invite the end visitor to “see the full video” on your channel. This simple phrase gets people to get off shorts and to actually explore your channel for full length content.
What’s the best camera for shorts?
Use any modern smartphone or get one of my recommended cameras for vlogging. When uploading a short it will be maxed out at 480P as it’s designed to be views only on mobile, but when you export on your computer make sure it’s as high as quality as you can get it as video quality does seem to be a factor.
With that said, the latest iPhone would be best because you can shoot at a wide angle and edit a few clips together with CapCut. Again these are 1 minute videos so the best approach would be any type of video you would normally post to Tik Tok or as an Instagram/Facebook story.
You can also edit your full length videos and render them in landscape and under a minute so they get detected correctly as a “short” video by the YouTube algorithm. Last you can use old clips but redo the talking head parts in landscape.
How to make money from YouTube shorts
I suggest take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with YouTube Shorts monetization policy. This is the current information regarding ad revenue.
Once you’re accepted into the partner program, you’ll need to accept the shorts monetization policy. This then lets you earn a small amount of money from your short form content.
I would not be making shorts with the goal to make money personally, instead I would be more focused on using shorts to drive attention to my longer videos and then convert traffic in an elegant way.
Create YouTube Shorts – Conclusion
To conclude, CapCut is where it’s at for creating short from content quickly and easily with captions. There is not video editor that even comes close to being able to easily churn out short form content.
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