Opus Clips gets a C+, but will get better

Opus Clips is an inexpensive AI-powered video editor that promises several valuable functions.   Like Loom, it will record a video or ingest the raw video and use AI to divide it into clips of the requested length, with captions.

Just upload a video link – it supports Youtube, Google Drive, and Vimeo – select the range of seconds each clip should be, and the software does the rest: Splitting the clips,  transcribing into text, looking for points that have the most interest, and placing the captions on each clip.  The user can then edit the transcribed text, and ask the AI to remove “uhmms” and filler words. 

 Our tiny team at NichePublisher.Biz, which has no affiliate sales or other relationship with this company, wanted to reduce video editing hours, which looked like a good possibility.

The AI also rates the clips – the “best” one shows first –  with a score of 1 to 100 and an analysis of what goes into the score. The user can also customize what they want the AI to flag as necessary by inputting a keyword.

The top video we created  – an explanation of Video Clips, of course – got a score of 90 with these AI-generated suggestions:

The video’s straightforward introduction may not immediately grab viewers’ attention. However, it provides valuable insights on utilizing AI technology for video editing and content creation. The topic flows logically but frequently used filler words like “ums” can distract from the message. The video lacks a conclusive ending or call-to-action, which could improve its completeness. Overall, it discusses a relevant and exciting trend but could benefit from a stronger personal connection and emotional impact.

 There were some other excellent functions.

Our favorite feature is the removal of conversational “uhms” and filler words. After editing dozens of Zoom videos into content for YouTube videos, just making people sound better by doing this was a task that would have saved hours.

The viewer can also decide to remove “auto-captions”  that run across the top or bottom of the video (your choice),  scroll over the words to edit, change the color or the length  –  1, 2, or 3 lines but 0ne line is typically too fast to read. 

If you shoot in the wrong format and need a reel, it is easy to add a background color.

One catch is that the videos need to be conversation-driven, so if there is no conversational voiceover, it will not work. Opus claims 30 words must be present for the AI editor to engage correctly. 

Then, we dumped a more significant video clip from a webinar to see if it could break it into shorter, useable parts.  It was, well, useless. The transcripts were garbled, the cuts would not work, and the captions were unneeded.

Niche media can use Opus Clips in several ways and stay within the 90-minute free limit for first-time users, and 60 minutes per month free after that.

For publishers who go over, the cost is negligible – $119 a year if you go over, or $19 a month – far less than hiring an editor, even on contract overseas.

Here are a few ways we think that Opus or something like it could be used: 

Educational videos 

For promotions of certification courses and new employee education, you want captions over video.

Social media 

The platform is best for the type of clips that work on social media. It lists a range of clip times, such as 30 to 60 seconds,  about right for a YouTube short, or 60 to 90 seconds, which is perfect for TicToc. 

Content promotion

Any long video, say of a reporter covering a weather event or a webinar with an industry leader, can be edited in a few minutes for promotional purposes. 

Advertising page messages and product descriptions

You can always use Loom, right? This tool turns it into captions, but we’re not sure that is a better experience. 

In the range of user experience, I’d give this platform a solid C. It is still a new company. Live support is also available on Discord.