Turn your podcast episodes to short-form videos with AI
Repurpose your podcast episodes and make them ready for TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels in minutes
Opus, meaning “work” in latin, is an AI tool created to avoid just that. Founded in 2022, Opus is a tool that helps content creators, mainly podcasters, turn their long episodes into short-form videos with the help of AI. Since 2022 new tools have shown up and improved upon Opus’ model - one such tool is Framedrop. The podcast sector keeps reaching new heights and some companies like Spotify are finding ways to become profitable. Having just introduced Opus Clip 3.0, there is no better time to review it than today.
Opus Clip - Free Features
Opus’ value proposition is simple - 1 long video, 10 shorts. The free plan is limited to 1 hour of content per month which falls short of Framedrop’s 8 hours a month of uploaded content but it does pack some interesting features - although with limited usage. Through AI detection they find interesting moments but that’s not the only thing they use AI on. Here’s a run down of Opus Clip’s free features:
AI Detection
Opus Clip uses AI to analyze video and get its highlights. It is however somewhat limited with some variable success on content like general YouTube videos. That being said, it is fairly successful with podcasting content and will find interesting conversational moments as well as inform you of the clips content. If you’re also looking to find funny moments in your content or gaming plays (in addition to very good highlight detection on podcast content), Framedrop will offer that. Other than that, Opus’ AI detection main issue is that the time that it takes to get your clips with it, oftentimes takes longer than the duration of the video itself - especially for podcasts around the 1 hour mark.
and it has since started being adopted by other platforms as a form of helping users curate their content.
AI Captions
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Just like Framedrop, Opus offers AI generated subtitles. It will automatically detect the language spoken in the video and create captions for it. It then adds Karaoke mode, highlighting the words being said. This is an essential feature however I’ve found that at times they leave the frame and can add punctuation where it shouldn’t exist. These are also not editable in Opus’ free plan.
AI Dynamic Layout
Opus’s AI is capable of dynamically changing the video layout between its own templates to what it thinks better suits the current scene. Paired with active speaker detection, something Framedrop also features, it is incredibly helpful at saving time. This feature is very interesting and although sometimes it becomes a little chaotic, there is some cool technology here. Just like the subtitles though, these cannot be edited in Opus’ free plan.
This is what you can have access to as an Opus Clip free user. Clips presented to you will already be edited and to make any sort of change you will have to subscribe. So, let’s get into the paid features.
Turn your podcast episodes to short-form videos with AI
Repurpose your podcast episodes and make them ready for TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels in minutes
Opus Clip - Paid Only Features
Opus Clips’ offers a Starter plan (for $9/month) and a Pro plan (for $19/month). I will be tagging each feature as Starter, Pro or both according to if it makes part of each plan or not. So, here’s what you get with Opus’ paid plans:
Editor (Starter/Pro)
This caught me off guard when trying Opus as I couldn’t even change the duration of my clips with the free plan. Most of the features mentioned in this blog post are changed here and you won’t have access to them unless you are part of the Starter or Pro plans. Yes, this is where you can change the AI captions, the layout as well as cut your videos (although not perfect, as I will mention further ahead).
AI Virality Score (Starter/Pro)
Opus’ virality score model has been trained on thousands of viral videos. It then uses this score in how it presents the clips it has found to you - from worst to best. There is some degree of variability here and I’ve often found that clips in the 70-80 score range were at times better than clips higher up in the hierarchy. This can make users lose trust on what is being presented to them and, the way these clips are shown is not practical for professional users looking to do more bulk exporting. It also doesn’t really score it accurately on what I’d consider “virality” but rather on how well structured a conversation is. That being said, this is an interesting feature
Brand Templates (Starter/Pro)
For branded content Opus has you covered with their brand templates. You are allowed to create presets with brand colors, caption customization as well as a custom overlay. One thing lacking here is the fact that Opus does not show the in-app overlays for platforms like TikTok and Reels so that there is no overlap. Starter plan users can have 1 brand template and Pro plan users have access to 5. Multiple other platforms like Kapwing offer this feature.
Social Media Posting (Starter/Pro)
This feature is quite convenient but it requires you to authorize Opus Clip’s access to every social media in which you plan to use this feature. Alternatively, with Framedrop, you simply have to scan a QR code and the clip will show on your social media’s dashboard.
Social Media Scheduler (Pro)
Just like social media posting, this requires having your social media accounts connected to Opus. Then, under each clip, you can click on the share button and post or schedule a post for the future which is quite convenient if you have a content plan and for some peace of mind. Sadly, individual creators do not have access to this feature.
Team Workspace (Pro)
First of the Pro-only features is the team workspace. Limited to 2 users, this is essentially to allow for collaboration and with it your team members can submit projects using the credits under your account, view and edit your projects, edit brand templates and auto post.
Export To Premiere Pro (Pro)
Editors, rejoice… kind of. Exporting to Premiere can be great if you’re looking to create clip compilations but it seems like an unnecessary extra step. With Framedrop you can simply select multiple clips, edit each one separately and export them together as a compilation - for free. This is especially useful if you lack Premiere Pro experience.
Various Aspect Ratios (Pro)
Another feature Opus has in its Pro plan that Framedrop has available for free users is allowing you to export in different aspect ratios (9:16, 16:9 and 1:1). Opus’ Starter plan users can’t choose various aspect ratios which I find odd since it is aimed at individual creators. They are instead forced to export in 9:16. This feature is pretty self-explanatory and is useful so that you can repurpose your content for varied platforms such as TikTok (I've made a guide on how to blow up on TikTok), YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram which can be super important in multiplying your reach (that often uses 1:1 on their normal posts but 9:16 on Reels).
Framedrop as an Alternative in 2024
Framedrop also leverages AI to find clips in all kinds of content. Other than what has already been mentioned in comparison to Opus’ features, it differentiates itself from Opus on quite a few important points which are:
More Robust Detection
Opus has in their dashboard that they support the following types of content:
Framedrop supports all content, from podcasts to gaming, vlogs, stand-up comedy and much, much more. There are no limits to what clips you can find with Framedrop.
The Fastest Detection
Framedrop currently offers the fastest detection of any tool out there. The objective of these tools is to save creators’ time and what better way to do this than being fast. The good news? It keeps getting even faster.
Clean, Easy to Use UI
A clean UI is key for a clean mind. Offering a super low barrier of entry anyone can get their clips looking how they want in very few clicks. No more button-mania and overwhelming dropdown menus. Keep it simple, keep it easy.
Better Trimming
Sometimes Opus’ clips are good, however start late and are missing context. Well, tough luck - once a video is chosen you can’t alter that. With Framedrop you can easily alter its start and end timestamp so that nothing is missing.
AI Browser Extension
When viewing a video on YouTube or Twitch, simply click on the extension and Framedrop will instantly start processing the video you are watching so that by the time you are done watching, Framedrop is done processing.
You Can Use All For Free
That’s right. Framedrop’s free plan lets you use all of these features while still generously giving you access to 8 hours of uploaded content. If you upgrade you get 40 hours of uploaded content per month (vs Opus’ 5 hours), priority queue as well as multi-processing so that you find the best moments in multiple episodes in one go.
To Opus or Not to Opus
Creators are in a constant struggle with the algorithm (and with how many shorts they should post a day). It can be hard to spend much time on repurposing content when content creation already sucks a huge chunk of one’s time. That is why tools like Opus and Framedrop exist. And yes, if you are looking to save time by getting AI highlights skipping tedious processes like manually skimming through VODs or adding subtitles then both will work just fine. But, if you are looking to save the most time, Framedrop still comes out ahead with its browser extension, clean UI and by having the fastest detection letting you go from video to TikTok, Shorts and Reels in a couple of minutes. Get started with Framedrop today!
Turn your podcast episodes to short-form videos with AI
Repurpose your podcast episodes and make them ready for TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels in minutes
FAQ
Opus Clip is a very robust and capable tool that makes creators’ lives easier and helps save their time. Its biggest downsides are the slow AI highlight detection and not allowing free users to edit their clips. Contemporary tools like Framedrop do not have these problems and as such are a better recommendation in 2024.
The best Opus Clip alternative on the market right now is Framedrop. It offers better and faster AI highlight detection while offering a cleaner UI and strong editor. Framedrop also offers more hours of uploaded content to their users and as such, better value.
Framedrop is a similar tool to Opus Clip that offers robust features for creators of all types of content, but with faster AI highlight detection, a cleaner UI, and more hours of uploaded content on all plans.
Whether you should use Opus Clip depends on your specific needs and preferences. If you value faster AI highlight detection and a cleaner UI as well as access to all editing features as a free user, Framedrop may be a better option for you.