## Instructions - Win or lose in the first 0-2 seconds: start mid-action with the payoff on screen (text overlay + spoken claim), never logos, greetings, or "in this video". Pattern-interrupt with a visual cut + caption change at second 0. - Write hooks as payoff-first formulas: "Stop [mistake] — do [fix] in 20s", "I tested X so you don't have to", numbered promises ("3 settings that..."). Pair every hook with burned-in captions word one visible at frame one. - Retention-edit everything: hard cut or zoom every 1-3 seconds, kill every pause over 0.4s, b-roll or graphic on every new clause, captions styled with 2-4 words per card, keyword highlighted in brand color. - Design for silent + looped viewing: full captions required, punchline/loop cut that replays cleanly (end frame matches start energy), on-screen progress cue ("Step 2/3") to hold through the end. - Build series formats, not one-offs: episodic titles ("Fix My Setup Ep. 4"), recurring intro sting under 1s, pinned comment linking parts 1/prev, playlist per series so autoplay binges. - Post with cadence you can sustain 90 days: 1 Short/day for 30 days to test, then keep winners' format at 4-7/week. Post when your analytics audience tab is peaking (typically 12-3pm + 7-10pm local), 1-2 hours before peak. - Optimize per platform without re-shooting: YouTube Shorts max 3 min (best under 59s), TikTok 5s-10min (best 21-34s), Reels 3s-3min (best 7-15s). Always upload 1080x1920, 30/60fps, safe margins for UI overlays. - Repurpose long to short systematically: pull 3-5 clips per long video (hook moment, best demo, hottest take), reframe to 9:16, add new hook text, never just crop-and-dump without re-edit. - Use platform-native signals: original audio + trending sound where it fits, 3-5 specific hashtags (#shorts + niche tags), reply to comments with a follow-up short within 24h. - Read short-form analytics weekly: average view duration % (kill formats under 35%), swipe-away vs watched, 3-second vs full views, follows/subs per 1k views. Iterate hooks first, editing second, topic last. - Avoid growth killers: watermarked re-uploads (TikTok logo on Shorts gets suppressed), static talking-head over 5s without a cut, clickbait text that the video doesn't pay off in 10s, deleting underperformers before 7 days. - Funnel short viewers to depth: pinned comment to the full video, related-video link, channel trailer that matches your best series, community post roundup of the week's shorts. ## Examples - Weak hook: "Hey guys, welcome back, today I want to talk about..." Strong hook: on-screen "Fix muddy audio in 20s" + immediate EQ move with before/after playback. - Weak edit: 40s static webcam, no captions. Strong edit: same script with 14 cuts, zooms on each step, captions + progress bar, loop back to before/after. - Good series: "One Premiere Trick Daily" Ep. 1-30 with numbered thumbnails. Bad: 30 unrelated one-off shorts with no through-line. ## Workflows 1. Ideate: mine comments + top 10 niche shorts, write 10 hooks, pick 3 with clearest payoff. 2. Produce: record vertical-first (or crop master), edit to cuts-every-2s, caption + overlay, 5s test watch with sound off. 3. Publish: title with keyword + hook, 3-5 hashtags, pinned comment funnel, reply-comments-as-shorts for 48h. 4. Review: at day 7 rank by avg-view-% and subs-per-1k, keep top 20% format, rewrite bottom hooks. ## Templates - ffmpeg vertical crop commands: - `ffmpeg -i long.mp4 -vf "crop=ih*9/16:ih,scale=1080:1920" -c:a copy short_9x16.mp4` - Center-face smart crop: `ffmpeg -i long.mp4 -vf "crop=608:1080:(in_w-608)/2:0,scale=1080:1920" -crf 18 -preset medium short_center.mp4` - Blur-background vertical fill: `ffmpeg -i long.mp4 -filter_complex "[0:v]split[a][b];[a]scale=1080:1920,crop=1080:1920,gblur=sigma=40[bg];[b]scale=1080:-2[fg];[bg][fg]overlay=(W-w)/2:(H-h)/2" short_blurbg.mp4` - Caption hook overlay line: `drawtext=text='FIX MUDDY AUDIO IN 20s':fontsize=72:fontcolor=white:borderw=3:x=(w-text_w)/2:y=180` - Posting checklist: 9:16 verified, captions burned in, hook text frame 1, hashtags set, pinned funnel comment drafted, sound-on + sound-off test done. ## Tools - ffmpeg for crop/reframe/scale, CapCut or Premiere auto-captions for fast caption passes. - YouTube Studio + TikTok Analytics + Instagram Insights for avg-view-% and follower-per-view tracking. - SARAH file tools for hook banks, series trackers, and repurpose queues. ## Advanced - A/B hooks natively: upload same clip with 3 different first-frames/titles 6 hours apart, keep winner, delete or unlist losers after 72h. - Build a clip-mining pipeline: transcript long video, flag high-energy sentences, auto-generate 5 vertical drafts with chapter markers before manual polish. - Cross-post timing ladder: TikTok first (fastest test), winner to Reels 24h later, winner to Shorts 48h later with platform-tuned title. - Hook swipe-file system: save top 50 niche hooks with view counts, tag by formula (mistake/promise/proof), rotate one formula per week to avoid fatigue. - Retention graph surgery: find the exact second of biggest drop, re-edit only that 3s window (new visual + caption), re-upload as v2 and compare. - Comment-seeding playbook: pin "Which step failed for you — 1, 2 or 3?", heart 10 early comments, turn best reply into next short within 24h. - Batch-shoot verticals: one 2-hour session = 10 shorts (same light/camera), outfit change per 3 to fake variety, teleprompter hooks only. - Music strategy: trending sound under 15% volume beneath original VO for discovery boost without muting your message when trend dies. - Thumbnail-frame control: set custom Shorts thumbnail via YouTube mobile app frame picker — smiling/result frame, never blurry mid-motion. - De-duplication guard: vary first 2s + on-screen text per platform so cross-posts are not flagged as unoriginal by any single algorithm. - 90-day format bet: commit to ONE series + ONE hook style for 90 days before judging; switching weekly guarantees zero compounding. ## Quick Reference - Hook in 0-2s: payoff on screen + spoken, captions from frame one, cut/zoom at second 0. - Edit density: hard cut or zoom every 1-3s, kill pauses over 0.4s, 2-4 words per caption card. - Specs: 1080x1920, Shorts <59s best, TikTok 21-34s, Reels 7-15s; safe margins for UI. - Cadence: 1/day for 30 days to test, then 4-7/week winners; post 1-2h before audience peak. - Repurpose: 3-5 clips per long video, new hook text each, never raw crop-and-dump. - Kill formats under 35% avg-view-%; iterate hooks first, editing second, topic last. - Funnel: pinned comment to full video + reply-comments-as-shorts within 24h. ## Documentation - YouTube Shorts creation basics (support.google.com/youtube/answer/6078139). - TikTok Creative Center trends + best practices (ads.tiktok.com/business/creativecenter). - Instagram Reels best practices (creators.instagram.com/blog). - Later/Metricool short-form benchmark reports for avg-view-% targets.