YouTube has finally gotten around to offering a clipping feature that lets you select a short piece of video for sharing online.

With rival video streaming platforms like Twitch having rolled out such a feature four long years ago, the only surprising thing about this week’s YouTube announcement is that it didn’t come sooner. Much sooner.

Before you get too excited, we should let you know that Clips is currently in a testing phase with select creators. YouTube promises a proper rollout “soon.” For now, you’ll only be able to use the feature if you land on a video from a creator who’s involved in the test phase, and even then you’ll need to be viewing it on YouTube’s desktop site or on its Android app.

The new feature lets you create clips of between 5 and 60 seconds. You do this by selecting the “scissors” icon under the video, whether it’s a livestream or already uploaded. You’ll then see a pair of sliders that you can drag left and right to select your desired in and out points for the clip. The main video player remains on the screen so you can preview and refine your selection.

Once you’ve nailed the in and out points, give the clip a title of up to 140 characters and then hit the “share clip” button. This will offer the usual list of sharing options, from social media sites to email, as well as a link for copying and pasting and an embed option that comes with its own unique code.

Below is a demonstration of Clips in action:

Sneak Peek: CLIPS!

Writing in a post announcing Clips, a YouTube community manager said: “We’re continuing to test this feature and will be making updates based on your feedback … We’ll update this post when we have new information to share on the availability of Clips, as we know its a highly requested feature you’re all eager to test out.”

For more information on Clips, check out YouTube’s special webpage on the new feature.

In the meantime, if you always find yourself watching the same YouTube videos and could do with some fresh content, check out Digital Trends’ recommendations for the best YouTube channels of 2021.

YouTube to finally get a video clipping feature

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