Shorts bring new people to your channel. Longer videos keep them watching, and watch time is what YouTube pays on. ShowMaker Studio lets one person write, cast, voice and render a full film, then cut Shorts from it that send viewers back to the film.
Full film · 16:9
Short 1
Short 2
Short 3Write a 10 to 40 minute story in 16:9. Cut it down in the Screenplay editor and watch it as a free animatic before you pay for any video.
Pick five to eight strong moments from the film. Each one should end on a question the film answers.
Pin a comment, set the related video and add an end screen. A Short that leads nowhere gets views and no watch time.
Each view of the film adds minutes to the watch hours YouTube counts. Shorts views do not count toward them.
YouTube Partner Program requirements as YouTube publishes them. They can change, so check YouTube's help page.
The Screenplay editor shows your script as real pages with a scene list beside it. Select a line and ask for a rewrite, or ask the assistant a question about the story. Every change waits in a draft until you apply it, and old versions can be restored.
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Each character gets a character sheet, wardrobe and one voice. Every shot sends those references to the video model, so a 30 minute film keeps its people and its rooms.
A close up from the film crops cleanly to 9:16. For the wide moments, make a 9:16 version of the project that shares the same lines, voices and cast, and frame those shots for a phone.
Turn your film into Shorts →Short 1Short 2Short 3Make the show in Spanish, Portuguese, Korean or another language, and read each line in your own language while you write. Captions can add a second line in any language.
Make shows in any language →
Connect your channel in the Post tab and upload the finished film or a Short as private, unlisted or public.
Start from an idea, a drama trope or your own script. Get the story right in the Screenplay editor while changes are still free.
Cast it once, break scenes into shots, watch the free animatic, then render only the shots that need to move.
Upload the long video first. Then post Shorts from it over the next days, each one pointing back to the film.
YouTube shares ad money with channels in its Partner Program. To join, a channel needs 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 hours of watch time on long videos in the last 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days. Those are YouTube's own published rules, and they can change, so check YouTube's help page before you plan around them.
For a new channel the watch hour path is the realistic one. A Short is watched for a few seconds. A 20 minute film that holds a viewer for eight minutes gives you as much watch time as hundreds of Short views, and Shorts views do not count toward the 4,000 hours at all.
Long videos also earn more once you are in. A video of eight minutes or more can carry ads in the middle, and long videos usually pay much more per view than Shorts do.
Shorts are the best way to be found. YouTube shows them to people who have never heard of you, and a good one can bring in new subscribers within days. That is their job in this plan: they are trailers.
So every Short should come from the film and lead back to it. Use your strongest moments, such as a slap or a reveal, and end before the answer. Then pin a comment with the film's link, set the film as the Short's related video, and say in the title or caption that the full story is on the channel.
Many channels that make money never show their owner. Story channels are a good fit for that, because viewers come for the characters. With ShowMaker the actors, voices, sets and music are all made in the studio, so you can run the channel without a camera, a cast or a location.
What viewers still need is a good story. YouTube's monetization rules turn down channels that post mass produced or repetitive videos, and it asks creators to label realistic AI content when they upload. A film you wrote, cast and directed yourself is original work, and that is what the program is built to pay for.
Most of the cost of an AI film is video rendering, and most wasted money is rendering a scene you later cut. That is why this plan puts the script first. Trimming a film in the Screenplay editor costs nothing, and the free animatic lets you watch the whole thing with stills and voices before you render a single shot.
When you do render, you choose the model and resolution per shot, and you only render the shots that need motion. Our cost guide walks through real numbers per minute.
Yes, if the channel is original and made with care. YouTube's Partner Program turns down channels that post mass produced or repetitive videos, and YouTube asks creators to label realistic AI content when they upload. A story you wrote and directed, with a fixed cast and a real plot, is the kind of work the program pays for.
YouTube's published rule is 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 hours of long video watch time in the last 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days. There is also a smaller tier at 500 subscribers that opens memberships and viewer tips but not ad money. Check YouTube's help page, since the rules can change.
No. Only watch time on long videos counts toward the 4,000 hours. Shorts help in a different way: they bring in subscribers who then watch your long videos.
Somewhere between 10 and 40 minutes works well for a story channel. Anything over eight minutes can carry ads in the middle. Longer is only better if people keep watching, so cut slow scenes before you render them.
No. The characters, voices, music and sets are all made in ShowMaker Studio. You can run the whole channel without appearing on camera.
Yes. Connect your YouTube channel in the Post tab and upload a finished video or a Short as private, unlisted or public. You can also download the MP4 and upload it yourself.
Start with 200 free credits and watch your story as a narrated animatic. No credit card.