Repurpose a Podcast Episode into 10 Social Clips Automatically

Originally published at ffmpeg-micro.com

Podcast clipping SaaS tools like Opus Clip, Riverside, Podcastle, and Descript charge between $19 and $500 per month. If you're a solo creator, an agency, or an automation builder, there's a cheaper way: FFmpeg.

The Pipeline

1. Start with one full podcast episode
2. Trim clips with -ss and -t
3. Resize for each platform (9:16 vertical, 1:1 square, 16:9 landscape)
4. Add text overlays for muted autoplay
5. Batch all 10 clips through a script or API

Trim a Clip

ffmpeg -i podcast.mp4 -ss 00:12:30 -t 00:00:45 -c copy clip1.mp4

Or via the FFmpeg Micro API:

{
  "inputs": [{"url": "https://storage.example.com/podcast-ep42.mp4"}],
  "outputFormat": "mp4",
  "options": [
    {"option": "-ss", "argument": "00:12:30"},
    {"option": "-t", "argument": "00:00:45"},
    {"option": "-c:v", "argument": "libx264"},
    {"option": "-crf", "argument": "23"}
  ]
}

Resize for Vertical (9:16)

ffmpeg -i clip1.mp4 -vf "scale=1080:1920:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=1080:1920:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2" vertical-clip1.mp4

Cost Comparison

Tool	Monthly Cost
Opus Clip	$19-$39/mo
Riverside	$24/mo+
Descript	$24-$33/mo
FFmpeg Micro	Pay-per-minute, free tier

A 1-hour podcast split into 10 clips costs pennies with FFmpeg Micro. Not $24. Pennies.

Common Pitfalls

• -c copy cuts on keyframes only (may start early)
• Re-encode audio too (-c:a aac) to avoid drift
• Add -pix_fmt yuv420p for social platform compatibility
• Keep CRF at 23 or lower for mobile viewing

Read the full guide at ffmpeg-micro.com/blog/repurpose-podcast-social-clips-ffmpeg