Use case

Your YouTube videos, posted as TikToks.

Paste the link to one of your YouTube videos and MakeRoll finds the moments that stand on their own, cuts them vertical with captions, shows you exactly where TikTok’s buttons will sit, and posts them to your TikTok account, now or on a schedule. The free plan lets you try the whole thing on your own video before paying.

The job, in plain words

You already did the hard part: a video that works on YouTube. What you want now is the three or four moments in it that make sense to someone who never saw the original, cut vertical, captioned, and live on TikTok, without spending an evening in an editor or downloading and re-uploading files between apps.

It is not quite the same job as making YouTube Shorts from the same footage. TikTok is usually a different audience, its interface sits over the right edge and the bottom of the video, and an app that posts for you has to follow TikTok’s own rules about who can see the video and what it discloses. This page covers those differences; the Shorts version of the workflow has its own page.

How it works

Paste the YouTube link
Drop the video’s link into the import bar. MakeRoll downloads it, transcribes every word, detects scene changes and the people in frame, and reads the transcript for clips, in the background, so you can close the tab. If a link cannot be imported (a members-only or age-restricted video, for instance), upload the original file instead: everything after that is identical.
Keep the right moments and frame them for TikTok
Play through the suggestions one after another and like the ones worth posting. Open a clip in the editor to adjust where it starts and ends by editing the transcript, check the 9:16 framing, and turn on the TikTok overlay: it draws TikTok’s buttons and caption area over your clip, so a face, a caption or a hook headline never ends up hidden behind them.
Post to TikTok, now or later
Connect your TikTok account once in Settings, then press Publish. TikTok asks every app that posts for you to show its own choices each time: who can view the video, whether comments, duets and stitches are allowed, and whether the post promotes a brand. Pick them, write the caption, and post now or schedule it. On the free plan, export the file and upload it in the TikTok app.

Example: one 18-minute cooking video, three TikToks

Imagine a YouTube video called “Why your sauce splits, and how to save it”. Three moments in it work on TikTok without the rest of the video:

The rescue, about 50 seconds: the sauce splits on camera, the cook says what went wrong, whisks in a spoon of cold water, and it comes back together. Setup, problem, fix, result: a whole story in under a minute.
The one-line rule, about 25 seconds: “never let it boil once the butter is in”, followed by the reason. Short, but complete, because the reason is in the cut.
The side-by-side, about 40 seconds: a split sauce next to a smooth one, and how to tell them apart before it is too late. It needs the picture, so the framing has to keep both pans in view.

This example is illustrative: it shows how to plan the cuts, not the output of a real MakeRoll run. In the app, each suggested clip comes with a score from 60 to 96, and opening it shows the line it is built on and why it should hold attention.

What makes a YouTube moment work on TikTok

Start on the point, not the greeting

A YouTube video can afford an intro; a TikTok cannot. Start the clip on the line that makes someone stop, and cut the “hey everyone” and the recap of last week.

Keep the action out of TikTok’s way

TikTok’s buttons sit on the right and its caption text at the bottom. Keep faces, captions and hook headlines in the clear area; the overlay in the editor shows you where it is.

Captions for the sound-off scroll

Many people watch the first seconds without sound. Word-by-word captions make the clip readable from the first frame; fix any name or number the transcript got wrong before you post.

One idea, kept whole

A clip that ends before the payoff loses people at the end. Keep the whole moment, even if it runs past a minute: MakeRoll suggests whole stories only, at the length the story needs.

What you end up with

Clips framed for TikTok’s screen

A real 9:16 framing that follows the speaker, with TikTok’s interface drawn on top while you edit, not a centred crop through someone’s ear.

Posted from where you cut

No download and re-upload: the clip goes from the editor to your TikTok account, with TikTok’s required choices in the same dialog.

One upload, several weeks of posts

Schedule the clips you liked across the calendar, and the source video is charged once, however many TikToks come out of it.

What this does not do

You need the rights to what you post: this is built for your own channel and for footage you are licensed to reuse. MakeRoll does not add music from TikTok’s sound library and does not track how your TikToks perform. Direct posting is on paid plans, for up to 3 TikTok, Instagram or YouTube accounts on Creator and 10 on Pro.

Questions people ask

Can MakeRoll post straight to TikTok?

Yes, on paid plans. Connect your TikTok account in Settings and publish from a clip or from the calendar, now or at a time you choose. Creator connects up to 3 accounts across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, Pro up to 10. On the free plan, export the clip and upload it in the TikTok app.

Why do I choose who can see the video every time?

Because TikTok requires it from every app that posts on your behalf: no visibility is picked for you, comments, duets and stitches stay off until you turn them on, and you say whether the post promotes a brand. MakeRoll shows those choices exactly as TikTok asks.

How long should a TikTok cut from a YouTube video be?

As long as the moment needs to make sense, and no longer. When you publish, MakeRoll shows the longest video your TikTok account is allowed to post and stops you before a clip goes over it.

Will my TikTok have a watermark?

No. On the free plan, exports are 720p and open with a short MakeRoll intro. Every paid plan exports clean, in 1080p on Creator and 4K on Pro.

Can I turn someone else’s YouTube video into TikToks?

Only if you have the rights to it. MakeRoll is built for your own videos and for footage you are licensed to reuse; reposting other people’s videos is not what it is for.

Credits are source minutes: a 60-minute video costs 60 credits, however many clips come out of it. Editing and exporting are free and unlimited. Pricing

Try it on your own footage.

An hour of source video free every month: full pipeline, full editor, no watermark, no card.