Find three B-roll shots for a promotional video

You are making a short promotional video about a creative workspace. You need three supporting shots: a view that establishes the setting, a person doing something, and a close detail. This exercise takes you from that brief to three reviewed video clips you can use in your edit.

The example searches describe a hypothetical project. Use footage you are authorized to process, and adapt the descriptions to what you actually filmed. The estimated time covers the exercise once AI understanding is complete.

1. Prepare a small project collection

Choose a collection containing the relevant project videos. If they are new to ShotAI, follow Import and AI understanding first. Wait for the shots to finish AI understanding before relying on semantic search. Import completion alone does not mean they are searchable by visual meaning.

Keep the original files available at their imported locations. Review data and privacy before processing confidential footage.

2. Turn the brief into three searches

Write one visible requirement for each role in the sequence:

• Setting: “wide view of a bright creative studio.”
• Action: “person writing in a notebook at a desk.”
• Detail: “close-up of hands arranging materials on a table.”

Run these searches separately within the project collection. A phrase such as “inspiring brand story” gives you little to verify in a frame. A subject, action, and setting make it easier to judge whether a result serves the brief. These examples are starting points; they do not guarantee that suitable footage exists in your library.

3. Review the whole shot

Open promising results and watch the returned shot. Check the subject and action, the usable duration, the background, and whether the framing fits your intended output. Read the AI description as a guide, then confirm the details in the footage.

Choose one shot for each role. Search ranking helps you find candidates; a higher relevance score does not prove that a clip meets every requirement. If a result contains the right moment within a longer detected shot, plan to trim it later in your editor.

4. Check the set, then export

Add the three whole shots to the current selection. Open Selected Shots and check the source names and start/end ranges. Remove alternatives so the selection contains exactly the three candidates you intend to deliver.

Follow Review and export to export video files. Check the export settings against your delivery needs, including frame rate and dimensions, rather than assuming a preset preserves every source property. Open the resulting files and check picture, duration, and any expected audio.

5. Finish the sequence in your editor

Arrange the setting, action, and detail clips in your editing software. Trim their final durations there. The current ShotAI selection uses complete detected shots, so a chosen shot can be longer than its eventual place in the sequence.

You are finished when all three exported clips open correctly and each fills a specific role in the brief. If the candidates feel too broad, use Search better to refine one requirement at a time.