Step 2 of 5
Scaling output
Find viral moments in a long recording — 2 minutes end-to-end
From 60-minute podcast to 5 ranked clips with hooks, captions, and a ready-to-post MP4.
What this guide covers
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When Viral Moments beats Clip Finder alone
Clip Finder scores every clip-worthy segment in your transcript and gives you a list. Viral Moments is the same detection engine plus a full render pipeline — one click produces a 9:16 MP4 with karaoke captions, a hook overlay in the first 2.5 seconds, and optional direct-publish to TikTok / Reels / Shorts / LinkedIn via your Upload-Post key.
Use Viral Moments when you want clips you can actually post today. Use Clip Finder standalone when you only need to research what IS in the recording, without committing render credits.
Step 1 — Import a long-form recording
Viral Moments needs a transcript. The content item has to be in the `ready` state with a transcript of at least 200 characters. Any of the four import methods work — YouTube URL, direct upload, podcast RSS, or paste-a-script.
Open Step 1 (Import)
Click + New content top-left, or click step 1 on the workflow stepper. Either lands you on the Smart-Import box.
Paste or drop the source
Smart-Import auto-detects what you give it: YouTube link, MP4/MP3 upload, podcast RSS, or pasted script. Skip text-only if you want to render.
Wait for Ready
Status badge flips from Processing to Ready once Whisper finishes. Usually 30–120 seconds depending on length.
Open the content detail page
The Highlights button lives in the Tools tab and on the workspace home for any item already in the Ready state.
Step 2 — Run "Find viral moments"
From the content page, open the Tools tab and click the Viral Moments card — or hit the CTA directly from the workspace home. The detection runs for 10–30 seconds, then drops 3–8 ranked clips in the Highlights view.
Each card shows: a virality score (0–100, color-coded — green ≥80, amber ≥60, grey below), the time range, a punchy hook line, and a one-sentence reason. The scoring prompt weighs four things, in this order:
- Hook strength (40%) — the first 2 seconds pulling the next 58
- Emotional peak (30%) — is there a moment worth remembering?
- Quotability (20%) — can the line stand alone as a caption?
- Pacing (10%) — does it end clean, not mid-thought?
- The score is NOT a view-count prediction — no AI can do that honestly
- Do not treat it as absolute — a 68 on your channel might outperform an 89 on mine
- Do not render every clip blindly — triage first, render second
Step 3 — Preview and adjust before rendering
Click "Preview & adjust" on any draft card. This opens the source video in a modal with four controls:
Timeline handles
Drag the start / end handles on the scrubber to tune the clip bounds. The preview plays the new range instantly.
Crop guide
The lime-bordered 9:16 window overlays the 16:9 source. Drag it horizontally when the speaker sits off-center.
Hook overlay
The first 2.5 seconds of the rendered clip burn in this text. Edit it directly in the modal before rendering.
Caption style
Pick one of four styles: TikTok Bold, Minimal, Neon Yellow, or White Bar. Each renders instantly on preview.
Step 4 — Render (single or batch)
Click "Render clip" on any card. The status flips to "Rendering" and polls every 8 seconds. Typical render is 30–90 seconds end-to-end. Once ready, the card shows the MP4 inline (with its poster thumbnail) and a Download link.
Have 5+ drafts? A "Render all" banner shows at the top — one click submits every draft sequentially. Studio plan users get priority queue through Shotstack automatically.
Step 5 — Post directly (optional)
Each ready card has a Post button. Click it, the platform-picker opens — by default TikTok / Instagram / YouTube are checked. Edit the caption (defaults to the hook text), pick platforms, hit Post now. Upload-Post handles the per-platform OAuth — you only hold their key.
Alternatively: download the MP4 and post manually if you want human-in-the-loop before going live. Both flows work from the same card.
Try this workflow on your next recording.
Free tier, no credit card. Your first draft lands in about two minutes.
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