Make YouTube Shorts with Free AI Tools: A Guide to Flow, Gemini and CapCut

YouTube Shorts are short vertical videos that appear in the Shorts feed on mobile. Today, many AI tools are available for free or with limited free use, and with them you can create ideas, scripts, images, short video clips and captions for your Shorts. In this article you will learn how to create ideas and scripts with Gemini, how video clips are made with Google Flow and Veo, how to do 9:16 editing and add captions in CapCut, how to place a hook in the first few seconds, and which settings matter at upload time.

One important point at the start: the free quotas, credits and features of AI tools change often, and not every feature is available in every country. Do not treat any limit mentioned in this article as permanent; always check the current information on the tool's own help page.

The Basics of Shorts

• Size and shape: Shorts are vertical (9:16) or square videos. A size of 1080x1920 pixels usually works well.
• Length: According to the YouTube Help Center, Shorts can now be up to three minutes long. But a short, focused Short often works better, so make it only as long as the topic needs.
• Purpose: One message per Short. One tip, one fact, or one short story.

Step 1: Ideas and Script with Gemini

You can get ideas and short scripts for Shorts from Gemini (gemini.google.com) or ChatGPT. For example, this prompt:

Give me 10 YouTube Shorts ideas for a Pakistani Urdu channel about [mobile phone tips]. Each idea should teach one useful thing in under 40 seconds. Avoid clickbait.

Then pick one idea and use:

Write a 35-second Shorts script in simple Urdu script for the idea "[idea]". Start with a strong hook in the first sentence, then 3 short steps, then one closing line. Add visual cues in brackets.

Check every piece of information the AI gives you yourself, especially the names of settings and any numbers. For the complete method of improving your script, see Writing YouTube Scripts with AI.

Step 2: Video Clips with Google Flow and Veo

Google Flow (labs.google/flow) is an AI filmmaking tool that uses Veo, Google's video model. In it you can create short video clips by typing a description (text-to-video) or by giving it an image (image-to-video).

About free use: Work in Flow runs on credits. At the time this article was prepared, according to Flow's help page, some free credits were given daily without a subscription; these do not carry over to the next day, and each model and quality level costs a different number of credits. These numbers and terms can change, so check your credits inside Flow and the "Manage your Google Flow credits" help page. Fewer credits means you will have to plan every clip carefully.

How to write a good video prompt

Write these things clearly in a video prompt:

1. Scene and character: Who is there, where they are, and what they are doing.
2. Camera: close-up, wide shot, slow zoom in, and so on.
3. Light and style: evening light, cinematic, cartoon style.
4. Shape (aspect ratio): For Shorts, choose vertical 9:16 if the tool has that option.

Example:

Vertical 9:16 video. A young student in a simple Pakistani home study room, warm evening light, close-up of hands writing in a notebook, slow camera push-in, calm realistic style.

Keeping the same character across clips

If you want the same character in several clips, write the same description of them in every prompt (clothes, hair, age), or first create an image and then use it for image-to-video. The method for creating images is in the AI Image Generation Guide.

Using it responsibly

• Do not make a video of a real person that makes viewers think they actually did that thing or said those words.
• Do not create fake "footage" of a news story or an event.
• If an AI video looks realistic, disclose it as altered or synthetic content when you upload.

Step 3: 9:16 Editing in CapCut

CapCut runs on both mobile and computer. For Shorts:

1. Create a new project and choose 9:16 under Ratio.
2. Arrange your clips, screen recordings or images in order.
3. Record your own voice or add an AI voice. See the voice options in the Free AI Voiceover Guide.
4. Change the scene or angle every few seconds so the video does not feel static.
5. Keep the important content in the middle of the screen. In the Shorts player, buttons and the title appear at the bottom and on the right side, so do not put text there.
6. In Export, choose 1080p resolution.

Some CapCut features, filters or music may be paid, and the app's terms change over time. Before using music from CapCut's library on YouTube, check whether it is permitted. The safe option is the Audio Library in YouTube Studio.

Step 4: Captions

Many people watch Shorts with the sound off, so captions are essential:

• In CapCut, Text → Auto captions can create captions automatically. Support differs for each language, so check the result carefully for Urdu, and type the captions yourself if needed.
• Use a large, clean font and white text with a dark background or border.
• Show only a few words at a time.
• Always fix spelling mistakes; they affect the channel's reputation.

Step 5: The Hook in the First Seconds

In the Shorts feed, a viewer decides within seconds whether to stop or swipe. Ways to make a good hook:

• Make the very first sentence the main point: "This one phone setting can save your battery."
• Make the first scene interesting: Show the result first and the method later.
• Start with a question: "Did you know WhatsApp has this option too?"
• Skip the introduction: "Hello friends, welcome to my channel" wastes the valuable time of a Short.
• Do not make false promises: The hook should say only what is really in the video.

After uploading, the "viewed vs swiped away" data for Shorts in YouTube Studio tells you how many people stopped; use it to improve your hooks.

Step 6: Upload Settings

Upload your Short using the (+) button in the YouTube app, or on a computer through Create → Upload videos in YouTube Studio, then:

1. Title: Short, clear and honest, containing the word for the main topic.
2. Description: One or two lines and relevant hashtags. Writing #Shorts is not required; a vertical video within the set length is counted as a Short automatically.
3. Audience: State whether or not the video is made for kids.
4. Altered content: If it contains realistic AI content, select "Yes".
5. Related video: If this option is available, link your related long video so viewers can go there.
6. Visibility: Make it Public right away or Schedule it.

More detail on titles and descriptions is in the YouTube SEO Guide.

Common Mistakes

• Making dozens of similar Shorts every day from the same AI template. YouTube may treat such mass-produced, low-effort content as inauthentic content.
• Making a Short by taking clips from other people's videos or from films.
• Using up your free credits in a single day on unnecessary experiments. Prepare your script and prompts on paper first, then create the clips.
• Ignoring the quality of your captions and audio.

Summary

Making Shorts with free AI tools is possible: ideas and scripts from Gemini, short clips from Google Flow and Veo, and 9:16 editing and captions in CapCut. The hook in the first seconds, clear audio and correct captions make the biggest difference. Free credits and features keep changing, so keep checking each tool's help page, and use AI responsibly: no fake videos of real people, and always disclose realistic content.