Generate Short-form Clips from YouTube Videos with GPT-4o, Grok & Airtable

This n8n template demonstrates how to automate YouTube content repurposing using AI. Upload a video to Google Drive and automatically generate transcriptions, A/B testable titles, AI thumbnails, short-form clips with captions, and YouTube descriptions with chapter timestamps.

Use cases include: Content creators who publish 1-2 long-form videos per week and need to extract 5-10 short-form clips, YouTube agencies managing multiple channels, or automation consultants building content systems for clients.

Good to know

• Processing time is approximately 10-15 minutes per video depending on length
• Cost per video is roughly $1.00 (transcription $0.65, AI generation $0.35)
• YouTube captions take 10-60 minutes to generate after upload - the workflow includes automatic polling to check when captions are ready
• Manual steps still required: video clipping (using provided timestamps), social media posting, and YouTube A/B test setup

How it works

• When a video is uploaded to Google Drive, the workflow automatically triggers and creates an Airtable record
• The video URL is sent to AssemblyAI (via Apify) for transcription with H:MM:SS.mmm timestamps
• GPT-4o-mini analyzes the transcript and generates 3 title variations optimized for A/B testing
• When you click "Generate thumbnail" in Airtable, your prompt is optimized and sent to Kie.ai's Nano Banana Pro model with 2 reference images for consistent branding
• After uploading to YouTube, the workflow polls YouTube's API every 5 minutes to check if auto-generated captions are ready
• Once captions are available, click "Generate clips" and Grok 4.1 Fast analyzes the transcript to identify 3-8 elite clips (45+ seconds each) with proper start/end boundaries and action-oriented captions
• GPT-4o-mini generates a YouTube description with chapter timestamps based on the transcript
• All outputs are saved to Airtable: titles, thumbnail, clip timestamps with captions, and description

How to use

• Duplicate the provided Airtable base template and connect it to your n8n instance
• Create a Google Drive folder for uploading edited videos
• After activating the workflow, copy webhook URLs and paste them into Airtable button formulas and automations
• Upload your edited video to the designated Google Drive folder to trigger the system
• The workflow automatically generates titles and begins transcription
• Add your thumbnail prompt and 2 reference images to Airtable, then click "Generate thumbnail"
• Upload the video to YouTube as unlisted, paste the video ID into Airtable, and check the box to trigger clip generation
• Use the provided timestamps to manually clip videos in your editor
• Copy titles, thumbnail, clips, and description from Airtable to publish across platforms

Requirements

• Airtable account (Pro plan recommended for automations)
• Google Drive for video upload monitoring
• Apify account for video transcription via AssemblyAI actor
• OpenAI API key for title and description generation (GPT-4o-mini)
• OpenRouter API key for clip identification (Grok 4.1 Fast)
• Kie.ai account for AI thumbnail generation (Nano Banana Pro model)
• YouTube Data API credentials for caption polling

Customising this workflow

• Tailor the system prompts to your content niche by asking Claude to adjust them without changing the core structure
• Modify the clip identification criteria (length, caption style, number of clips) in the Grok prompt
• Adjust thumbnail generation style by updating the image prompt optimizer
• Add custom fields to Airtable for tracking performance metrics or additional metadata
• Integrate with additional platforms like TikTok or Instagram APIs for automated posting