How to turn a long-form video into clips

This is the core creator workflow: upload one long video, let AI find the moments worth keeping, and approve them into standalone clips — no timeline, no editor.

1. Upload your video

1. Open Videos in your dashboard.
2. Click Choose File (or drag a file onto the upload area) and pick your video. MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, and WEBM are supported, up to 5GB.
3. Wait for the transfer to finish. The video appears in your list with the status uploaded.

2. Run AI detection

1. Open the video's menu and click Detect clips.
2. The first time, you will be asked to allow transcription — your audio is sent to our transcription provider so the AI can read and rank the best moments. No one else sees your video. Decline and detection is skipped.
3. The status moves uploaded → processing → segmented. If detection can't complete — for example the transcription service is temporarily rate-limited — the video is marked Detection failed with the reason, and you can retry it from the card. ClipAd never substitutes unranked filler clips for a real result.

3. Approve the clips you want

1. Open Segments and pick the video. Each suggested clip shows a thumbnail, its time range, and — for AI-ranked clips — a score. (Higher scores are stronger ad-ready moments; see Understanding segment scores.)
2. Click Approve on the clips worth keeping, and Reject the rest.
3. Approving cuts a standalone clip file. Its status runs queued → cutting → ready — the page refreshes itself while it works.

What you can do with a ready clip

Once a clip is ready, use Place ad to put a brand on it. If a cut fails, use Retry clip. Running Re-detect clips later keeps every clip you have already approved. Clips stay on ClipAd — you preview them here and publish the finished video from here, rather than downloading files. Next: How to place a brand's ad on your clip.