🎬 All-in-One Shorts and Reels Workflow: ChatGPT + ElevenLabs + Opus Clip + Submagic
A step-by-step guide to chaining four tools for script, voice, clip extraction and captions so that vertical videos for Shorts, Reels and TikTok follow one repeatable process.
The biggest bottleneck in posting Shorts and Reels consistently is rarely editing skill. It is the time spent repeating the same sequence by hand: writing a script, adding a voice, finding the good moments in a long video, and captioning the result. When each of those four jobs is handed to a dedicated tool, a single video takes noticeably less time. This guide explains how to connect ChatGPT, ElevenLabs, Opus Clip and Submagic.
There are two routes. The first starts from long footage you already have, such as a lecture, an interview or a live stream, and cuts it into short clips. The second builds a new video from scratch with a written script and an AI voice. Both routes end with the same step, adding captions and exporting in a vertical format, so once you learn the sequence you can alternate between the routes easily.
Tools used in this combo
1. ChatGPT: lock the hook and a scene-by-scene script first
A short video that does not hold the viewer in its first few seconds is lost no matter how good the rest is, so the script and the hook should be settled before anything is recorded. Give ChatGPT the topic, target length, audience and tone in one message and ask for about five opening lines. Asking for different styles, such as a question, a result-first statement and a claim that challenges common belief, makes the choice much easier.
Once the script is chosen, ask for it as a table with the scene number, what appears on screen, the sentence to be read and a shortened caption line. That table can be copied directly into the voice and caption steps. Check every number, name and rule yourself. If a generated sentence is wrong and goes out as video, the mistake is permanent.
2. ElevenLabs: turn the script into natural speech
If recording your own voice is difficult or your channel is faceless, ElevenLabs is a strong option. Paste only the sentences to be read, pick a voice, and adjust speed and intonation while listening to short previews. Generating sentence by sentence instead of one long block lets you redo only the awkward parts. Foreign words and numbers are easy to mispronounce, so spell them the way they should sound when needed.
Two cautions apply. Never imitate or clone another person's voice without their consent. And check the policy of each platform you upload to, because many ask creators to disclose synthetic or AI-generated audio; a note in the description is a good habit. Download the finished audio and lay it over your background footage in the editing step.
3. Opus Clip: pull candidate moments out of long footage
Opus Clip takes a long video, proposes short clips around the segments that look like highlights, and reframes landscape footage for a vertical screen. If you already have lectures, interviews or live streams, you can get many short-form candidates without filming anything new. Where the tool lets you specify a topic keyword or a preferred clip length, use it to steer the results.
Treat the automatic selection as a list of candidates, not a final cut. Play each one and check that it does not start or end mid-sentence, that it makes sense without context and that the first line grabs attention. If few candidates are usable, the original may simply not be spoken in a short-form style; in the next recording, practice stating one topic in short, self-contained passages.
4. Submagic: finish with captions and a consistent style
Many people watch short videos with the sound off, which makes captions effectively the main text. Submagic recognizes the speech, generates captions and applies a style template with highlighted words and fonts. Automatic captions often misspell proper nouns and technical terms, so read them through once before exporting. Numbers and names matter most, because an error there damages trust immediately.
To build a recognizable channel, keep the same font, colors and caption position on every video. When you find a style you like, save it and apply it to everything. Also check that captions do not sit under the platform buttons or the description area. For titles and descriptions, ask ChatGPT again and work in the words people actually search for.
The sequence at a glance
- Route A, reuse long footage: upload the original to Opus Clip, receive clip candidates, keep only the good ones, add captions and style in Submagic, then polish the title and description for each platform with ChatGPT and upload.
- Route B, build from scratch: settle the hook and a scene-by-scene script with ChatGPT, generate the voice in ElevenLabs, lay it over prepared visuals in your editor, and export with captions from Submagic.
- Both routes: keep a record of audience retention after the first 24 hours and after one week, and adjust the hook and length accordingly. The same material can be posted to Shorts, Reels and TikTok with small changes to length and title, so one production serves several platforms.
Practical tips
- The first three seconds decide everything. Skip greetings and channel intros and open with the result, a question or a surprising fact.
- Give each video one message. The more information you add, the more retention tends to fall.
- Plans, monthly limits and features change often. Check the current terms on each tool's official site before signing up.
Things to watch out for
- Using other people's video, music or images without permission can create copyright problems. Confirm that your sources are cleared for commercial use.
- If you used AI voices or AI-generated scenes, label them in the way the platform requires.
- Automation reduces repetitive work; it does not replace review. Watch the whole video once yourself before publishing.
More practical guides
※ Note: Some links in this guide are official partnership (referral) links. They support the independent operation of this site at no additional cost to readers. Each tool's plans and features follow the latest terms on its official site.