YouTube is working on a cut-off feature that will allow creators and viewers to sniff out short sections of videos and live streams to share on the Internet, the company announced Thursday.
YouTube is currently testing tracks in a “limited alpha” phase, the company said on its support website, and made the feature available to a small group of creators as it receives user feedback, according to Jensen, community manager at YouTube. At the moment, it is only possible to create extracts via the YouTube Android app or on the desktop website, although Jensen said support for the iOS app will be available soon.
Although currently limited, clippings operate fairly seamlessly. Viewers can select a “pinch” button – represented by a scissors icon – next to the thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons below a given video. Players can then scroll through a video to select a section and refine their track via a panel to the right of the video. Clips can be up to five seconds or as long as 60, and the version will run endlessly. Hopeful YouTube clippers can use the announcement video as a test for all their clipping skills.
The most obvious uses of the feature come into play for game content. But Ryan Wyatt, head of gambling and commerce at YouTube, said Polygon that ‘eventually all products are made available to all people’, so excerpts are not limited to game streams or videos.
After creating their clip, viewers or creators can then share it on various social sites or with a direct link. This feature comes extremely late for YouTube compared to the biggest competition, Twitch, which in July 2016 launched clips for all users. Even Mixer, which launched in 2016 and closed last summer, has enabled users to make clips in 2018.