AI Video Prompt for YouTube Shorts: 12 Vertical Prompts

An AI video prompt for YouTube Shorts should describe one vertical 9:16 clip at a time, repeat the same subject description in every clip, and leave captions for your editor. Since YouTube Shorts can run up to 3 minutes but many AI video tools generate shorter clips per prompt, plan the Short as a series of clips and write a prompt for each. The 12 prompts below work with any text-to-video tool that accepts a written prompt; swap in your clip length and style.

YouTube's monetization policies, including the inauthentic content policy on mass-produced or repetitive videos, apply to AI Shorts. Nothing here promises views or income.

Prompts for planning the Short

1. Beat map from clip length

My Short is [N] seconds and my video tool makes clips up to [M] seconds. Split it into clips with start and end seconds and give each a job: hook, build, payoff, or loop back to the start.

2. Hook clip options

Topic: [topic]. Write 5 hook ideas where the first second is visually clear without any text, each as a one-sentence vertical shot description.

3. Continuity sheet

Write one 25-word description of [subject and setting] that I can paste into every clip prompt so the subject looks the same across clips. Include colors, materials, and the light.

Prompts for vertical clips

4. Single clip prompt

[Continuity sheet]. [Action] while the camera [move]. [Lighting]. Vertical 9:16, [style]. No text, no logos, no people.

5. Macro detail clip

[Continuity sheet]. Extreme macro of [detail] slowly [changing]. Very slow camera slide [direction]. Shallow depth of field. Vertical 9:16.

6. Time-lapse feel

[Continuity sheet]. Static camera while the light changes from [start light] to [end light] and [subject] [changes]. Vertical 9:16.

7. Seamless loop ending

Write the last clip so its final frame matches the first frame of clip 1: [describe clip 1 opening]. Same camera position and light. Vertical 9:16.

Prompts for faceless explainers

8. Object-led explainer

Explain [topic] in [N] clips using only objects and hands with no visible faces. One clip prompt per step, each with a clear action and camera move.

9. Stop-motion style

[Subject] in a stop-motion paper-craft style, [action] across [setting], slightly jerky movement, top-down camera. Vertical 9:16. No text.

Prompts for audio, captions, and publishing

10. Voiceover timed to clips

Here is my beat map: [paste]. Write a voiceover with one or two short sentences per clip that fits its seconds when read at a relaxed pace.

11. Caption plan for the editor

Write 4 short on-screen captions for this Short with the second each one appears. I will add them in my editor, not in the AI video.

12. Pre-upload checklist

Check my Short plan [paste] for real people, logos, copyrighted characters, and length over [N] seconds. Remind me to use YouTube Studio's AI disclosure setting if the footage looks realistic.

Plan a whole Short with the flagship prompt

The AI Video Prompts for YouTube Shorts from Topic and Hook returns a beat map, clip prompts, a continuity sheet, a caption plan, a timed voiceover, and publish checks. Its example turns "This jar doubled while I slept" into four 8-second clips of a sourdough starter rising past a rubber band, for a 32-second Short.

Related prompts

If you film the Short yourself, start with the YouTube Shorts storyboard with beat timings. For tool-specific shot lists, see the Sora camera shot list and the Veo 3.1 shot list compiler, and finish with a title from the ChatGPT prompt for YouTube titles guide.

Related: ChatGPT prompts for YouTube automation.

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