AI-Generated Stock Footage, a Clip for Every Scene

AI video is billed by the second of clip: 6.25 credits a second at Normal quality, or 18.75 at High, which paid plans can switch on (trials stay on Normal). Scenes are split so no clip runs past 9 seconds, and a shorter scene is still billed as 5. Each clip is billed for its own length rounded up to a whole second, at least 5. With 1 credit per scene image and the video charge of 0.4 credits a second, which covers captions and rendering, a 50-second video with nine scenes comes to about 370 credits. A minute of stock-footage video costs about 24 and a minute in an art style about 37, while Starter's 2,000 monthly credits cover about five 50-second AI-clip videos.

So spend clips where nothing else works: scenes no camera recorded, from the ancient world to what-ifs and the future. For real places, products and events, licensed footage is cheaper and truer; the Documentary style uses it in every scene, and Mixed adds AI images only where footage doesn't fit. If you like an art style and want motion, Animate b-rolls turns its pictures into clips at the same price per second.

YouTube requires disclosure of AI content that 'seems realistic', and lists 'AI generated extra footage of a real place, like a video of a surfer in Maui for a promotional travel video' among its examples; it doesn't ask for 'non-realistic content that's made with AI'. You disclose it with the 'AI use' setting in YouTube Studio. TikTok requires a label on 'all AI-generated content that contains realistic images, audio, and video' (both checked 24 October 2026). ShortFast sets no AI label when it posts, so turn the labels on yourself whenever a clip could pass for real footage.

A generated clip is an illustration, not evidence. Use it for what was never filmed, say so when it stands in for something real, and never pass a generated clip off as footage of a real event or a real person.

The US Copyright Office's January 2025 report concludes that 'the outputs of generative AI can be protected by copyright only where a human author has determined sufficient expressive elements', which can include 'creative arrangements or modifications of the output, but not the mere provision of prompts', and that 'the inclusion of AI-generated material in a larger human-generated work does not bar copyrightability' (checked 24 October 2026). A clip made from a prompt may not be protectable on its own; your script, your narration and the way the scenes are put together are where your authorship sits. Not legal advice.

Monetization works the same way. Under 'Generic or Repetitive Content', YouTube's monetization policies list 'AI-generated content made with generic or unoriginal templates giving the impression of mass production without adding the creator's original, authentic insights or perspective' among what's not allowed to monetize (checked 24 October 2026). The clips don't make a video original; the script does, so give every video its own idea and vary the topics in a series.