A YouTube Short is not finished when the edit exports. Publishing also requires a valid file, accurate metadata, audience and rights decisions, a deliberate visibility state, and verification after YouTube processes the upload.
Current BlendDuck publishing contract
BlendDuck currently publishes one square or portrait Short up to three minutes. The accepted upload contract includes common video formats such as MOV, MP4, MPEG, AVI, and WebM, with a maximum file size of 10 GB. A video is required and image-only publishing is not supported for this destination.
The title is required and limited to 100 characters. The description field supports up to 5,000 characters. Publishers also choose a category and public, private, or unlisted visibility. Additional controls include the YouTube license, subscriber notifications, embedding, made-for-kids status, realistic altered or synthetic media disclosure, optional tags, and an optional remote thumbnail URL.
Build the Short around one viewer promise
Define what a viewer should understand, feel, or do after watching. The opening should make that promise legible before asking for attention. Useful patterns include showing the result first, naming a costly mistake, presenting a concrete question, or starting inside the demonstration.
Do not confuse speed with random cutting. Keep the subject readable, preserve enough time for captions, and remove any segment that does not advance the promise. A 20-second explanation can be stronger than a three-minute edit when it resolves the question completely.
Frame essential text and faces away from interface overlays. Review the actual square or portrait export on a phone, with sound on and off. Captions should reflect the spoken meaning rather than blindly reproducing transcription errors.
Write metadata as part of the content
The title should identify the subject and payoff without repeating empty hype from the opening. Put the most meaningful words early. Use the description to add context, sources, credits, links, disclosures, or a next step that the video cannot carry cleanly.
Choose the category deliberately and use tags only when they improve classification. Select visibility before upload: private or unlisted can support review, while public is appropriate only after rights, factual, audience, and brand checks are complete.
Decide whether subscriber notifications fit the release. Verify embedding and license choices. Mark made-for-kids status from the intended audience and applicable rules, not from whether children might incidentally see the video. Disclose realistic altered or synthetic media when required.
Rights, review, and delivery
Record the source and license for footage, music, voice, graphics, screenshots, and quoted material. Platform availability of an audio track does not automatically grant every commercial use outside its stated terms.
Approve the export checksum or stable version alongside the title and settings. A new music track, crop, claim, link, thumbnail, or disclosure can invalidate a prior decision. Confirm the exact channel identity before scheduling.
After upload, keep processing separate from published. Verify the final orientation, duration, title, description, captions, audio, visibility, audience setting, disclosure, and public URL. Investigate a failed or unknown result before retrying.
Measure the promise, not only the views
Views describe distribution, not whether the Short completed its job. Pair them with retention, meaningful comments, qualified clicks, subscriptions, or downstream actions depending on the objective. Compare Shorts with similar duration, topic, audience, and distribution window.
Keep a small experiment log: opening pattern, first visible result, duration, caption density, title pattern, audience context, outcome, and next change. Change one meaningful variable at a time when possible.
YouTube Shorts checklist
- One square or portrait video, no longer than three minutes
- File type and size accepted by the publishing contract
- Title within 100 characters and description within 5,000
- Category, visibility, license, notification, and embedding reviewed
- Made-for-kids and synthetic-media decisions recorded
- Footage, music, voice, graphics, and quotation rights verified
- Approved video version matches metadata and schedule
- Processed result and public URL verified
Current product limits were verified on 2026-08-23 against BlendDuck's YouTube platform contract. YouTube policies and channel eligibility can change; confirm sensitive requirements in current official documentation.
