How To Edit YouTube Videos Faster With AI

Having a streamlined editing flow enables content creators of all types to grow their audience, profits, and cross-platform brand recognition quickly. Unfortunately, editing can take excessive amounts of time and money, with many finding that it often takes about an hour to 1.5 hours to edit a video. 

This means that you could be leaving money on the table the longer that each video sits in your queue. 

To avoid this trap, you have two options: Hire a video editor for YouTube or teach yourself how to edit YouTube videos.

Option #2 isn’t as daunting as you might think — and it’s a vital skill both for independent creators and video editors who don’t wish to hire a secondary video editor. For many, this begins with mastering video editing basics, which you can pursue on your own schedule. Then, they generally search for tutorials and resources that teach them how to edit YouTube videos faster. At this point, AI video editing for YouTube comes in handy and is considered in the learning process,  boosting productivity and the channel’s posting cadence with little to no effort from the creator. 

Learning how to edit videos with AI to address your most basic editing needs allows you to analyze, change, and arrange your footage much more efficiently, saving you time and money in the long run. 

Here’s what you need to know about editing videos with AI. 

Considerations for Editing YouTube Videos

Every piece of video content requires a unique approach tailored to your industry's and target audience's needs and expectations. No matter what you’re editing, however, one thing remains true — AI can help. Whether you’re ideating on editing methods or working to execute, editing YouTube videos with AI tools saves you time and money with each use. 

Here are a few ways that AI can help you learn how to edit YouTube videos faster: 

• De-fluffing your content: Trimming out your videos' “ums” and “ahs” can be time-consuming and difficult. Tools that offer AI video editing for YouTube can do this in a more streamlined, sometimes automatic way, removing some of the monotony. Using AI tools for this style of editing also creates more engaging content, drawing your viewer in right away with gripping, engaging content. 
• Creating compelling thumbnails: Visuals are one of the best tools in your engagement arsenal, prompting your viewer to click and watch your video from the search menu. An AI that allows for commercial use can help you create these thumbnails in seconds, enhancing content and creating images that attempt to “capture the click.” 
• Sourcing imagery: Creating visuals isn’t the only area of content creation that AI can help with. AI tools can also help source royalty-free imagery for visuals used, saving content creators time and any assumed legal risk. 
• Polishing your transitions: Transitions can make the difference between flawless social content and content that falls victim to #cringe on social platforms. AI can make this process quicker than ever, helping you to identify key transition points, insert them, and perfect the ones you already have. 
• Regulating audio: AI tools are helpful when it comes to equalizing your audio. You can also use AI tools (such as the optimized audio ducking feature in PicPlayPost to enhance your content). You can also make your content more appealing by adding royalty-free trending noises or songs. 
• Adding filters and effects: AI can identify and apply features and effects that create eye-popping visuals for your viewers, captivating them from the first encounter. 

It’s clear that AI can be incredibly helpful for those editing YouTube videos. The best part? You can use these tools simultaneously as you learn how to edit videos with AI — resulting in a flawless final cut. 

AI Video Editing Features For Editing YouTube Videos Faster

Learning AI video editing for YouTube is a great way to personalize your content — and many choose to do so with music, voice over, and personalized graphics or logos. If you’re looking to take your YouTube videos to the next level, however, it’s time to consider PicPlayPost. 

PicPlayPost streamlines your video editing process and helps you to: 

• Analyze footage for optimal storytelling
• Build out a project using templates
• Add video transitions between clips or photos
• Implement automatic audio ducking 
• Insert eye-popping thumbnails 
• Apply AI video effects like filters, stickers, and transitions

How to Edit Videos With AI For YouTube

If you’re considering using an AI video editor app, PicPlayPost should be at the top of your list. The comprehensive and user-friendly nature of the app streamlines your process and allows creators like you to produce high-quality content at a faster cadence, which can instantly enhance your brand awareness and authority. 

Here’s how to get started with AI video editing for YouTube using PicPlayPost. 

1. Let AI Analyze Footage for Optimal Storytelling

The art of storytelling is difficult and subjective — and it’s also essential to master as you learn how to edit YouTube videos. PicPlayPost’s sophisticated AI shortens the learning curve and helps you analyze your content for the best overall video flow. Creators can save hours off the editing process, working with the tool to choose the best elements from a series of clips — keeping the continuity of the story throughout. 

PicPlayPost offers automated templates that give you a foundational basis for engaging content. While these templates can seem like a “given” in some apps, they can make the difference between 100 views and 1,000 views. With YouTube Shorts generating 50 billion daily views and other platforms like TikTok having a 25% higher watch-through rate on average for vertical video, different template ratios give you options for creating engaging media or promoting your existing videos.

You can choose to use these templates and end products to inspire your final edit for a short-form video, or you can use them as they come. The choice is yours. 

2. Use AI To Analyze Footage & Create Project Templates

Templates are incredibly helpful as you learn how to edit videos for YouTube and can shave hours off of your editing process. PicPlayPost offers you instant, automatic access to several different types, which you can use for all types of video content. 

PicPlayPost also analyzes and organizes your content into automated templates using AI, which is great if you’re trying to figure out how to edit YouTube videos faster. It’s also helpful if you’re not sure about the flow of your project, as the app allows you several different formats or flows to try in a matter of seconds. 

To access templates, enter the PicPlayPost app and tap on New Project, down at the bottom of your display. You’’ll be directed to a sub-menu that allows you to create a video or slideshow using the native editor, create a collage, or choose from a library of automated templates. Tap on the template option at the bottom of the menu. 

You’ll be directed to the library of included templates in PicPlayPost’s native editor, allowing you to seamlessly edit and post from the app. 

3. Add Video Transitions Between Clips or Photos

Transitions used to be a time-consuming process for those learning how to edit YouTube videos before the creation of PicPlayPost. However, the app makes it simple to keep your visuals engaging. It allows creators to leverage default, automatic transitions between media files to give you a starting point; and is coupled with an intuitive user interface that doesn’t require any training to master. 

This means you’ll be able to hit the ground running with your transition insertions, optimizing them with just a few taps of your finger. Turn off, edit, or change transition selections however you see fit — insert them in your own independent flow or in any of PicPlayPost’s pre-created templates.  

4. Implement Automatic Audio Ducking

Manual audio ducking can take hours — however, it’s a critical component of audio equalization that can’t be missed. PicPlayPost offers an extensive music library that creators can use to add music and sounds to their content. It then goes further than other editing apps, applying automatic, smart audio ducking support to maintain your sound quality.* 

If you have iOS 15 or later, you can access the audio ducking feature in the PicPlayPost app. To begin, add music from the Music tab to your project. You can access audio options in the right hand area of the white scroll bar in-app, under music. 

Then, go to the green “+” button in the left area of your display. You’ll be shown a green soundbar icon to the right of the display, which you’ll click to access the audio ducking sub-menu. 

You can then toggle the audio ducking settings until you perfect your content, at which point you’ll be prompted to save and share the project directly from the PicPlayPost app. 

*Audio ducking is a practice that equalizes different audio content in your content. It also lowers background music automatically when there’s someone speaking, with the user being able to determine how low it goes. As a result, viewers enjoy a smoother final product and don’t feel jarred by sudden audio changes. 

5. Insert Eye-Popping Thumbnails

Tools like Canva give creators a great start for their thumbnails — but its AI generator only works from a text prompt, losing out on the value a thumbnail gets from using real footage, people, or imagery related to your video.

A great app for creating eye-catching thumbnails using AI when video editing is PicPlayPost— the only AI video editor that allows you to “crossover” to another video without any editing steps. Creators can use PicPlayPost’s convenient crossover functions to give you the most engaging imagery yet, leaving you with a personalized, unique, and scroll-stopping thumbnail in seconds. 

6. Use AI To Add Video Effects

PicPlayPost continues to update its wide library of text, stickers, filters, and transition options in-app. Additionally, you use “Split Screen”  to create a mirror effect in your video, or include crossover clips from MixOver. Creators can streamline their video editing process by consistently using PicPlayPost, as the app has everything creators need in a single place.

YouTube continues to roll out new editing tools in-platform, supporting millions of creators around the globe. Be sure to check out our YouTube Shorts creation tools guide, highlighting all of the best tools released over 2023. 

Additional YouTube Creator Resources

Up-leveling your content creation strategy can be as simple as consuming the right resources. Here are other expert guides you’ll find helpful as you continue to create content — all of which have been designed to maximize your media’s performance. 

• Using AI Content Creation Tools to Streamline Production
• How to Keep Video Production Cost Low as a Content Creator
• Choosing the Best Video Format for YouTube
• Choosing the Best Microphones for YouTube Videos
• How to Promote YouTube Videos
• Video Accessibility Checklist for Content Creators