How to Use Submagic to Turn a Podcast Into Captioned Shorts

The short answer: build a brand kit, send the episode to Magic Clips by YouTube link or file, shortlist the clips that answer one question each, trim them, correct every caption against the speaker's real words, add a hook title, check the aspect ratio, export and save a preset, then let Claude start the next episode through Submagic's MCP server while a person corrects the transcript before anything renders.

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A podcast episode is thirty to sixty minutes of your guest's sharpest lines with nothing pointing at them. Submagic's Magic Clips finds the moments, cuts them to vertical, and captions them (Magic Clips guide). What it cannot do is know which claim your guest would want quoted. For plans and prices, see the Submagic glossary entry.

Settle three things first:

1. Match the plan to the episode length. Uploads may run 2 minutes on Starter, 5 on Pro and 30 on Business (length limits article). A full episode therefore goes through Magic Clips, an add-on at $19 a month for 10 video uploads (cost article). For example, a weekly show is 4 or 5 episodes a month, inside the 10, and Pro at $39 a month on monthly billing (pricing page, checked on 26 October 2026) adds the brand kit and silence removal: $58 a month for the pair.
2. Use the recording you publish anyway. The YouTube upload of the episode is the easiest source; a file upload or a public Google Drive link also works.
3. Agree what a good clip earns. Pro adds publishing and analytics for social accounts. Pick the number that matters to you, such as profile visits or episode plays, before the first clip goes out, so the virality score does not become the goal.

The free trial lets you upload and edit 3 short videos, enough to try steps 4 to 7; downloads without a watermark need a subscription (trial article).

Step 1: Make the brand kit

In the left sidebar of the dashboard, click Brand Kits, then + Create brand kit, name it and add logos, brand colours, background elements and overlays (brand kit guide). Make one per show if a client or co-host has their own look.

Step 2: Send the episode to Magic Clips

On the project page, choose Get Magic Clips. If it is not active yet, click Upgrade Plan or go to My Account and add Magic Clips. Paste the YouTube URL, upload the file, or paste a Google Drive link set to public, then wait: processing takes 10 to 25 minutes depending on length (Magic Clips guide).

Step 3: Shortlist on substance, not score

You get 20+ clips, each with a preview, a transcript and a virality score. Read the transcripts first. A clip worth posting answers one question completely and makes sense to someone who never heard the episode. A high score on a clip that starts mid-sentence is still a clip that starts mid-sentence. The score is Submagic's guess at engagement, and a guess at engagement is what a clipping tool is built to maximise; your shortlist is built for the listeners you want.

Step 4: Trim to the answer

Open a clip in the editor and trim on the timeline, or remove lines from its transcript. For uploads you caption directly, the Trim step also offers Remove Silences and Remove Bad Takes on Pro and Business (step-by-step guide).

Step 5: Correct the captions

Choose a caption template, or create a custom one on Pro or Business, and set colour, font, weight and size. Then click Edit Captions and read every line against the audio: fix transcription errors, highlight the word that carries the point, and add or remove emojis (step-by-step guide). Product names, guest names and numbers are where automatic captions go wrong. Business adds a custom words dictionary so recurring names come out right the first time (pricing page).

Step 6: Hook, audio, b-roll

Click Generate Hook Title for the opening line and edit its text, font and duration. Use Clean Audio on a noisy room, add music if the platform needs it, and add Magic B-roll, transitions and zooms; swap any b-roll with Change Media (step-by-step guide). B-roll that illustrates a different product than yours is worse than none.

Step 7: Check the shape, export, save the preset

Below the preview player, pick 9:16, 16:9, 1:1 or 4:5; Submagic crops automatically, and you can reposition the frame (aspect ratio guide). Click Export and choose the quality your plan allows, from 1080p up to 4K at 60 fps on Business. In the same Export window, Save Preset keeps the theme, audio, logo and b-roll for the next episode (preset article).

Step 8: Start the next episode from Claude, with a transcript check

Submagic runs an MCP server at https://api.submagic.co/mcp. Add it in Claude through the connector on the MCP server page, or in Claude Code with your API key from account settings:

claude mcp add --transport http submagic https://api.submagic.co/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $SUBMAGIC_API_KEY"

Then ask, in the documentation's own words, "Turn this YouTube video into Submagic Magic Clips." Clips made this way use your Magic Clips credits, one per project, and need the add-on (Magic Clips endpoint). Review the shortlist in the dashboard as in step 3.

For a single short, add the human check before the render. Ask the agent to create the project with autoRender: false: Submagic downloads and transcribes the video but does not render it. A person reads the words, fixes names and numbers, and only then is Export Project called (transcript guide). The guide notes this flow does not apply to Magic Clips, which follow their own pipeline. Calls share the API's rate limits and credit pool.

Mistakes the help centre flags

• A private Drive link. Magic Clips needs the Google Drive link set to public (Magic Clips guide).
• An upload longer than the plan allows. The cap applies to both upload and export (length limits article).
• Rounding on the API. Each processed video costs at least 1 credit and partial minutes round up, so 61 seconds costs 2 (API credits article).

FAQ

Can Submagic publish the clips for me?

Yes, on Pro and Business: pick a date and platforms and it publishes from the editor, with 1 publishing profile per platform on Pro and 3 on Business (pricing page).

Can I translate a clip for another market?

Yes. Submagic documents a translation workflow in its translation guide, and its homepage lists captions in 123 languages.

What file size can I upload?

Up to 3,000 MB per video, whatever the plan, per the length limits article.