Content Repurposing Planner
This content repurposing calculator turns one source video into a full multi-platform plan — clip counts, aspect ratios, durations, and a copy-ready reformat brief for every channel you post to.
Toggle the platforms you publish to. Each one gets its own ratio, length, and reformat brief below.
To feed this cadence you need roughly 1.33 source video(s) per week (~6 over 4 weeks). One source video fans out into 10 derivative cuts across your selected platforms.
| Platform | Ratio | Clip length | Per source | Per week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TikTok | 9:16 | 15-60s (ideal 27s) | 4 | 4 |
| Instagram Reels | 9:16 | 15-90s (ideal 30s) | 3 | 4 |
| YouTube Shorts | 9:16 | 20-60s (ideal 35s) | 3 | 4 |
TikTok
9:164 clip(s) per source · 27s ideal · 4/week
- Crop & framing
- Vertical 9:16. Keep the subject centered — the right ~22% and bottom ~22% are covered by the action rail and caption UI.
- Captions
- Burned-in captions on. Hook text in the safe center, never the lower third.
- Hook & pacing
- First 1.5s must show the payoff or a pattern interrupt. Cut dead air ruthlessly.
Instagram Reels
9:163 clip(s) per source · 30s ideal · 4/week
- Crop & framing
- Vertical 9:16. Leave the bottom ~20% and right ~18% clear of key visuals for caption + buttons.
- Captions
- Captions on. Use 1 line of on-screen text per beat; keep it inside the center safe zone.
- Hook & pacing
- Lead with motion and a clear value promise in the first 3s. Loop-friendly endings help.
YouTube Shorts
9:163 clip(s) per source · 35s ideal · 4/week
- Crop & framing
- Vertical 9:16, hard 60s cap. Keep titles out of the top ~7% and bottom ~18%.
- Captions
- Captions on. A spoken hook + a one-line title overlay reads best on Shorts.
- Hook & pacing
- State the topic in the first 2s; Shorts rewards a clear question or claim up front.
Reformat brief
Copy the full plan, or download it as Markdown to drop into your production doc.
# Content Repurposing Plan Source: 1 video, 8 min (8m) — your source video Cadence: Steady (4 posts/platform/week) over 4 week(s) Platforms: TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts ## Campaign math - Derivatives from ONE source (all platforms): 10 - Assets published per week: 12 - Assets over 4 week(s): 48 - Source videos to produce per week: ~1.33 - Source videos over 4 week(s): 6 ## Per-platform reformat briefs ### TikTok — 9:16 - Clips per source: 4 · Target length: 15-60s (ideal 27s) - Cadence: 4/week · Source videos needed: ~1/week - Crop & framing: Vertical 9:16. Keep the subject centered — the right ~22% and bottom ~22% are covered by the action rail and caption UI. - Captions: Burned-in captions on. Hook text in the safe center, never the lower third. - Hook & pacing: First 1.5s must show the payoff or a pattern interrupt. Cut dead air ruthlessly. ### Instagram Reels — 9:16 - Clips per source: 3 · Target length: 15-90s (ideal 30s) - Cadence: 4/week · Source videos needed: ~1.33/week - Crop & framing: Vertical 9:16. Leave the bottom ~20% and right ~18% clear of key visuals for caption + buttons. - Captions: Captions on. Use 1 line of on-screen text per beat; keep it inside the center safe zone. - Hook & pacing: Lead with motion and a clear value promise in the first 3s. Loop-friendly endings help. ### YouTube Shorts — 9:16 - Clips per source: 3 · Target length: 20-60s (ideal 35s) - Cadence: 4/week · Source videos needed: ~1.33/week - Crop & framing: Vertical 9:16, hard 60s cap. Keep titles out of the top ~7% and bottom ~18%. - Captions: Captions on. A spoken hook + a one-line title overlay reads best on Shorts. - Hook & pacing: State the topic in the first 2s; Shorts rewards a clear question or claim up front. --- Platform specs approximate, as of 2026-05. Verify lengths and safe zones on device. Plan generated by the Playcut Content Repurposing Planner — a deterministic scaffold, not a live model.
Platform length & ratio specs as of .
How the content repurposing calculator works
The planner is deterministic arithmetic over a dated platform table — no model calls, no uploads, nothing leaves your browser. You give it three inputs: a source length, a weekly posting cadence, and the platforms you publish to. It returns the per-platform breakdown plus a campaign total.
The clip-count math is simple and visible. For each platform it reserves about 15% of the source for trims and dead air, divides the rest by that platform's ideal clip length, then caps the result at a sensible ceiling so you don't over-slice a short source.
Long-form YouTube is handled differently. Instead of slicing, the planner treats the whole source as a single 16:9 spine to extend with an intro, chapters, and an outro. Every other platform gets vertical or square cuts sized to its feed.
The campaign total multiplies your cadence by the number of weeks, then works backward to the number of source videos you actually need to shoot or generate. One source video fans out into several derivative clips, so the source count is usually far lower than the asset count.
Why repurpose one video into many assets
Producing a fresh video for every platform every day is the fastest way to burn out. Repurposing flips the economics: you invest in one strong source, then reformat it into platform-native cuts that each feel built for their feed.
The catch is that "post it everywhere" rarely works. A 16:9 talking head cropped to 9:16 with the subject off to one side reads as lazy. Each platform has its own ratio, length window, and safe zone, and the reformat brief in this tool spells those out per channel.
That is where the planner pays for itself. Instead of guessing how many clips a recording can yield or which ratio TikTok wants this month, you get a concrete number and a checklist before you open your editor.
A typical weekly workflow
Record one anchor asset — a product demo, a founder interview, a tutorial. Run it through the calculator to see how many cuts each platform supports. Cut the verticals first, since TikTok, Reels, and Shorts share a 9:16 frame and similar pacing.
Then reframe for square and horizontal placements where you publish to LinkedIn or X. Finally, assemble the long-form spine for YouTube. The reformat brief travels with each clip so whoever edits knows the crop, caption, and hook rules without a separate spec.
Repurposing cost reality and where Playcut fits
Repurposing is cheap when you already have a source; the cost shows up when you need net-new footage — more b-roll, an extra hook variant, or a vertical reshoot a crop can't fix. That is the gap the Playcut UGC ads workflow closes.
Inside Playcut you generate the missing pieces instead of re-shooting: new hook openers, alternate aspect ratios, and AI-actor variants that match your existing source. Plans start at Hobby $9/mo (500 credits), Pro $29/mo (2,000 credits), Studio $79/mo (6,000 credits, 4 seats), and Agency $149/seat/mo (10,000 credits per seat), as of 2026-05.
Credit packs that never expire cover spiky months: 600 credits for $9, 2,500 for $35, or 5,000 for $65. The planner stays free and client-side — it tells you how many assets to make, and the studio is where you make the ones you can't cut from the source.
Content repurposing calculator FAQ
What is a content repurposing calculator?
A content repurposing calculator turns one source video into a per-platform plan. You enter the source length, a weekly posting cadence, and your target platforms, and it returns how many derivative clips fit, the right aspect ratio and duration for each platform, and a reformat brief. It is deterministic arithmetic over a dated platform table, not a live AI model.
How many clips can I get from one video?
It depends on the source length and each platform's ideal clip length. The planner reserves about 15% of the source for trims and dead air, divides the rest by the platform's ideal clip length, then caps the result at a sensible per-platform ceiling. A 10-minute interview commonly yields 3-4 TikToks, 3 Reels, and 3 Shorts plus one long-form cut.
Does this tool edit or generate the videos?
No. The planner outputs the math and a copy-ready reformat brief — clip counts, ratios, durations, crop notes, caption rules, and hook guidance. You then cut the clips in your editor or generate net-new variants in the Playcut studio. It is a planning scaffold and a starting point, not an editor or a renderer.
Which platforms does the repurposing planner cover?
TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, YouTube long-form, Instagram feed, LinkedIn, and X (Twitter). Each carries its own aspect ratio, recommended clip-length window, and reformat brief. Toggle the platforms you actually publish to so the campaign totals reflect your real distribution.
Are the platform lengths and ratios up to date?
The length windows, aspect ratios, and safe-zone notes come from a bundled table date-stamped as of 2026-05. Platform limits and UI shift over time, so treat the numbers as approximate starting points and verify the current caps on device before you publish.
Turn the plan into finished clips
The calculator tells you how many assets to ship. Generate the hooks, aspect-ratio variants, and AI-actor cuts your source can't cover with the Playcut UGC ads studio, or jump straight in and start producing.