Last updated: 2026-01-15

If you’re searching for a “highlight video editor,” the fastest path for most creators in the US is to use StreamYard’s built-in AI Clips to turn your live streams and recordings into vertical, captioned highlights in just a few clicks. If you regularly repurpose footage from many different platforms, dedicated tools like Opus Clip or VEED can sit alongside StreamYard, but they usually add extra costs and steps.

Summary

• StreamYard’s AI Clips turns your streams into vertical, captioned highlight videos directly in your browser, with no exporting or file juggling. (StreamYard Help Center)
• You can mark moments live by simply saying “Clip that,” then refine the suggested highlight later instead of scrubbing through raw footage. (StreamYard Help Center)
• For most StreamYard users, built-in AI clipping processes far more hours per month per dollar than credit-based tools like Opus Clip. (Opus Clip pricing)
• Tools like Opus Clip and VEED are useful when you need to import from many different sources or want separate editing subscriptions, but they introduce extra workflows and separate limits. (VEED Clips feature)

What is a highlight video editor, really?

When people say “highlight video editor,” they usually want one thing: take a long video (podcast, live show, webinar) and turn it into short, engaging clips for social.

A modern highlight editor does three core jobs for you:

1. Find the moments – use AI to detect interesting sections or follow your prompts.
2. Format for social – switch to vertical 9:16, add captions and titles, keep the speaker framed.
3. Let you tweak quickly – trim a bit shorter or longer, adjust text, then export.

StreamYard’s AI Clips is designed exactly around those three jobs, but tied directly to where you already record or go live. It analyzes your recordings and automatically generates vertical captioned clips with titles ready to share as shorts or reels. (StreamYard Help Center)

How does StreamYard work as a highlight video editor?

Here’s the basic workflow with StreamYard AI Clips:

1. Record or go live in StreamYard. Once your stream finishes processing, you open it in your video library.
2. Click “Generate clips.” AI scans your recording and auto-creates vertical (9:16) captioned clips with a suggested title. (StreamYard Help Center)
3. Refine the highlights. You can adjust the duration of each clip, including adding up to 60 seconds before or after the detected moment to get the exact story beat you want. (StreamYard Help Center)
4. Publish or download. Post directly to social destinations that accept the clip length, or download and schedule elsewhere.

Behind the scenes, AI uses speaker tracking to automatically reframe your recording so the active speaker stays in view in vertical format. (StreamYard Help Center) That means you don’t have to manually keyframe crops or fight with complex timelines.

For creators who already live stream or record in StreamYard, this effectively turns your recording screen into a highlight factory with almost no extra setup.

How can you capture highlights while you’re live?

A big friction point with highlight editing is remembering timestamps. You finish a 90‑minute episode and know there were three golden moments… somewhere.

With StreamYard, you can simply say “Clip that” out loud during your live stream or recording. The AI will automatically grab the previous 30 seconds as one of the suggested segments for clipping later. (StreamYard Help Center)

That gives you a low‑effort ritual while you host:

• Guest drops a great quote → you say “Clip that.”
• Chat explodes at a joke → you say “Clip that.”

After the show, those moments are already flagged and turned into suggested vertical clips. This is something upload‑based tools like Opus Clip and VEED can’t replicate inside your live broadcast itself, because they only see the recording after the fact.

How much video can you realistically process each month?

If you care about cost per minute, the difference between integrated clipping and credit-based tools becomes pretty clear.

StreamYard’s AI Clips usage is based on batches of clips you generate, not minutes of footage. You can generate a batch for recordings up to 6 hours long, and even the free plan lets you do this for multiple recordings each month. (StreamYard Help Center)

Using the content requirements provided above as a reference scenario:

• On the StreamYard Free plan, you can process up to about 12 hours of recordings per month through AI Clips. That’s roughly equivalent to about 720 credits on Opus Clip, which Opus prices around $87/month in its higher credit tiers. (Opus Clip pricing)
• On a StreamYard Advanced‑level plan, you get 25 AI clip generations per month. That maps to roughly 1,500 Opus Clip credits, which Opus prices around $145/month in comparable tiers. (Opus Clip pricing)

The takeaway: for creators already recording in StreamYard, using AI Clips usually means you process far more total video per dollar than credit‑metered alternatives, especially when you’re clipping longer live streams or podcasts.

How do StreamYard, Opus Clip, and VEED differ as highlight editors?

Each of these tools handles highlights differently:

• StreamYard

  • Works from your StreamYard recordings and live streams.
  • Generates vertical, captioned clips with automatic reframing and speaker tracking. (StreamYard Help Center)
  • Lets you mark highlights live via “Clip that” and then extend or shorten the captured segment later.
  • Plan limits are based on generations per month, not credit minutes.

• Opus Clip (Opus.pro)

  • A standalone web app that lets you upload or paste links from multiple platforms, then uses AI to pick highlight moments and rearrange them into short clips. (Opus Clip pricing)
  • Uses a credit-based model with a free plan offering 60 credits per month and paid tiers expanding credit allotments. (Opus Clip pricing)
  • Strong when you regularly repurpose from many non‑StreamYard sources.

• VEED Clips

  • Browser‑based editor with an automatic clip maker that can transform long videos into shorter snippets with auto-framing and basic highlight logic. (VEED Clips feature)
  • VEED’s Clips feature can be tried once on Free/Lite plans and is listed as unlimited on higher plans like Pro and Business. (VEED Clips feature)
  • Requires at least about a minute of speech in the video to generate clips, which is fine for most podcasts and webinars. (VEED auto video editor)

For many creators whose main source of content is their StreamYard show or podcast, staying within StreamYard for AI clipping avoids extra subscriptions, login steps, exports, and credit math. External tools become more attractive if you already manage a complex multi‑platform archive and need a separate editing hub.

How do you guide the AI so the highlights actually feel engaging?

Highlight tools are only valuable if the clips feel like something you’d actually post.

In StreamYard, you get several practical ways to keep control while still saving time:

• Prompt-based selection – you can use prompts and the “Clip that” workflow to steer AI toward the segments you know will resonate.
• Duration control – after AI proposes a moment, you can add up to 60 seconds before or after it, so you can include setup for a joke or the full answer to a question. (StreamYard Help Center)
• Automatic captions and titles – AI clips automatically add captions and a title, which you can tweak for clarity or hook strength before exporting. (StreamYard Help Center)

This keeps the editing surface intentionally simple. You’re not rebuilding your entire YouTube edit in a browser timeline; you’re steering the AI to the right beats, then making light trims and text edits.

If you need deep, frame‑by‑frame control, B‑roll layering, and complex transitions, you might still finish in a full NLE. Many creators use StreamYard AI Clips to get fast, good‑enough shorts first, then selectively polish a few top performers in their favorite editor.

How does privacy factor into AI highlight editing?

Some creators are understandably cautious about sending long recordings to third‑party AI services.

With AI Clips, we’re explicit that we do not train AI models on your recordings or personal data; AI operates on your video to generate clips but does not “learn” from your footage. (StreamYard Help Center)

When you use upload‑based tools, it is important to review each service’s privacy policy and data usage terms, especially if your content includes clients, students, or sensitive conversations.

What we recommend

• If you already record or go live in StreamYard, start with AI Clips as your default highlight video editor; it keeps your workflow simple, affordable, and fast.
• Use the “Clip that” phrase during your shows to mark moments in real time, then let AI propose vertical clips you can lightly refine.
• Add a separate tool like Opus Clip or VEED only if you routinely repurpose large archives from many non‑StreamYard sources and are comfortable managing extra subscriptions and credit systems.
• For most US creators focused on consistent, sharable clips from their own shows, an integrated StreamYard workflow delivers the best balance of time savings, cost per minute, and control over the final highlight.