The State of AI Short-Form Video Editing

Executive summary

The demand for short-form video is increasing, and as such, the number of available AI tools for short form video editing is also increasing.

This benchmarking report evaluates the current landscape of AI short-form video editors for creators and small businesses. It focuses specifically on tools which use AI to turn long videos (e.g. podcasts and webinars) into multiple short videos (e.g. TikToks) for marketing purposes.

This report assesses popular tools against user needs and highlights critical factors for selecting an AI short-form video editor. The analysis includes a thorough comparison of each provider's advantages and disadvantages, to empower creators and businesses to make well-informed decisions that align with their unique requirements.

To begin with, this report assesses and compares Choppity.com and Opus.pro. Other tools will be assessed and added to this report soon.

This report is regularly updated as this is a fast-moving and dynamic space.

What are users looking for in AI short-form video editors?

We’ve interviewed hundreds of creators, small business owners, social media managers and marketing agencies and here’s what they’re looking for in an AI short-form video editor:

• AI clips: Automatic selection of high-quality clips from long videos.
• Editing: Basic and user-friendly editing features.
• Secondary media and audio: Ability to add b-roll, images, text, music, and sound effects.
• Customizability: Support for brand-specific logos, colors, and fonts.
• Face tracking: Accurate tracking of moving subjects in cropped videos.
• Analysis speed: Quick analysis for efficient content creation.
• Pricing: Affordable options for creators and small businesses.

Testing methodology

This benchmark compares 2 popular AI short-form video editors, Choppity and Opus.

We tested each tool on the following parameters:

• Time taken to analyze a video
• AI reframing
• AI tracking
• AI “virality” score
• Customization and basic editing
• Smooth video editor playback
• Time taken to trim a video
• Time taken to add a video section
• Languages supported

You can skip to a specific test using the "Contents" window on the left hand side of this page.

We used this 57.5 minute long video for testing. It is a multi-cam podcast recorded in-person - courtesy of the Big Risk Energy podcast hosted by Roei Samuel.

We paid for premium plans for each tool. This ensured that we tested the highest-quality version available for each tool.

Analysis time

We tested how long it took each tool to analyze the 57.5 minute long test video. The less time taken to analyze a video the better, as users will spend less time waiting for the AI. The results and proof of these tests is below.

Proof videos: Choppity, Opus

AI reframing

When turning a landscape video into a portrait one, it is important to crop and reframe it. For example, if there were 2 people side by side in the original landscape video, in order to frame it correctly for a portrait video, the 2 people will often be stacked on top of each other.

Simple input example

In videos with clear distinct speakers on plain backgrounds, all of the tools tested detect faces and reframe in a logical way.

Complex input example

However, in videos with multiple faces in an audience, Opus splits the frame into 4 sections and fails to capture the primary subject.

AI tracking

If a person is giving a talk on stage, or simply moving a lot in their chair, then they may move outside of a static crop. It is important to track the person to ensure that they remain visible in a portrait cropped video. Opus tracks people by making cuts and changing the crop area's position. Choppity tracks people by smoothly moving the crop area.

Choppity smooth tracking video

Opus jump cut tracking video

AI “virality” score

Many tools will assign a virality score to the clips that they select. This score is meant to be a predictor of how likely the video is to go viral.

To test the virality scores of the tools, we uploaded a 2.75 minute long video where the spoken content consists of entirely random words. Note, Choppity does not have a virality score as the company believes that the calculation of such scores are not grounded in true research and science.

Opus created 2 clips with scores of 84/100 and 75/100, stating that “Viral Scores” are “The likelihood that this video will go viral on Shorts/TikTok/Reels”.

Customization and basic editing

Creators and businesses often have a specific brand identity which may include a logo, brand color, brand font.

It is important to ensure that the short-form videos adhere to this brand identity. In addition, users may want to customize videos to improve the production value and to avoid looking like cookie-cutter cloned videos which just have basic captions edited on top.

In the table below, we list the customization features for each tool.

	Choppity	Opus
Multiple b-roll videos	Yes	Yes
Multiple image overlays	Yes	No
AI-generated b-roll videos	No	Yes
AI-generated b-roll images	No	Yes
Custom font upload	Yes	No
Sound effects upload	Yes	No
Music upload	Yes	No
B-roll upload	Yes	No
Text overlays	Yes	No
Animations	Yes	No
Zooms	Yes	No
Sound effects	Yes	No

Smooth video editor playback

To edit videos, it is important to be able to preview what the final video will look like. It is important that audio and video stay synced and that there is no glitching, stuttering or slowdowns in the video playback otherwise it becomes difficult to know what edits to make and what the final output will look like.

Below, we play a video in Opus’ editor and then in Choppity’s editor back-to-back.

Video trimming

We tested how long it took each tool to trim a video. Trimming a video refers to making the video either shorter or longer.

This is a basic and very common video editing step which users will likely perform multiple times while editing a single video.

Proof videos: Choppity, Opus

Video section adding

We tested how long it took each tool to add a section of a video. This is a common video editing step because often, a user may wish to add another section of the video to add more context or simply to make the video longer.

Proof videos: Choppity, Opus

Languages

Most of the tested tools support widely spoken western languages like English, Spanish and German.

Proof videos: Choppity, Opus

Summary

This comprehensive guide offers an in-depth analysis of the leading AI short form video editors available on the market today, namely Choppity and Opus. This benchmarking report should result in readers developing a thorough understanding of each tool's strengths and weaknesses so that they can make informed decisions when choosing a solution.