YouTube Announces Longer 3-Minute Duration for Shorts, Templates and More Features

Creators will now be able to create YouTube Shorts with a duration of up to three minutes, the company announced on Thursday. This change is part of a wider feature rollout which includes templates, the ability to mix YouTube videos to Shorts directly, a video-generation model powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and new ways to discover trending content on YouTube. The video-streaming platform says these additions give creators more tools to express themselves better.

YouTube Shorts Gets New Features

In a blog post, YouTube announced that it is extending the duration of Shorts to up to three minutes starting October 15. This change will apply to videos created in square or taller aspect ratios, but won’t affect existing Shorts. The company noted it was a “top requested feature” by creators.

Creators will also be able to keep up with the latest trends by creating familiar content with the addition of a template feature. They can match their clips to the trending sounds and then customise them further. Shorts can be recreated by tapping the Remix option next to Shorts and then selecting Use this template. Over the next few months, YouTube will also be rolling out the ability to access its videos in the Shorts camera. This is claimed to make creating remixes easier. Shorts creators will also be able to pull clips directly from YouTube videos to use in their content.

The video-streaming platform also re-emphasized that it will be rolling out Google DeepMind’s Veo video-generation AI model in the coming months, bringing more video backgrounds and standalone video clips. YouTube says is making it easier for viewers to catch up on the latest trends with a new Shorts trends page on mobile. Comments will also be previewed in the Shorts feed, allowing creators to get a sneak peek of what their audience is saying.

However, if Shorts are not preferred by the YouTube user, they can now customise their recommendations by selecting the Show fewer Shorts option.