How to Generate Video Shorts with Simple Captions using Swiftia API

This guide outlines the workflow for using the Swiftia API to automatically generate shorts from a long video and then render them with simple captions.

Prerequisites #

• API Key: You need a Swiftia API key.
• Authentication: All requests must include the header: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY.

---

Step 1: Create a Generation Job #

First, you need to submit a video to be analyzed. Swiftia will process the video and identify engaging clips (“shorts”).

Endpoint: POST https://app.swiftia.io/api/jobs

Payload:

• functionName: Must be set to "VideoShorts".
• youtubeVideoId: The ID of the YouTube video you want to process (e.g., for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ, the ID is dQw4w9WgXcQ).

Request Example (curl):

curl -X POST https://app.swiftia.io/api/jobs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "functionName": "VideoShorts",
    "youtubeVideoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  }'

Response:
The API will return a JSON object containing a jobId. Save this ID for the next step.

{
  "jobId": "abc-123-job-id",
  "status": "PROCESSING"
}

---

Step 2: Poll for Job Completion #

Video processing takes time. You need to check the status of the job periodically until it is complete.

Endpoint: GET https://app.swiftia.io/api/jobs/{jobId}

Request Example:

curl -X GET https://app.swiftia.io/api/jobs/abc-123-job-id \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response:
When the job is finished, the status will be COMPLETED and the response will include a shorts array. Each item in this array represents a generated short and has a unique id.

{
  "id": "abc-123-job-id",
  "status": "COMPLETED",
  "shorts": [
    {
      "id": "short-id-1",
      "title": "Viral Moment 1",
      "start": 10.5,
      "end": 45.0
    },
    {
      "id": "short-id-2",
      "title": "Funny Clip",
      "start": 120.0,
      "end": 150.0
    }
  ]
}

Select the id of the short you want to render (e.g., "short-id-1") for the next step.

---

Step 3: Render the Short (with Simple Captions) #

Now you will create a rendering job. This creates the final MP4 file. To apply “simple captions,” we will define a basic style in the options object.

Endpoint: POST https://app.swiftia.io/api/render

Payload:

• id: The jobId from Step 1.
• target: The short-id from Step 2.
• options: Configuration for captions and layout. We will set a simple white color style.

Request Example:

curl -X POST https://app.swiftia.io/api/render \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "id": "abc-123-job-id",
    "target": "short-id-1",
    "size": {
        "width": 1080,
        "height": 1920,
        "name": "9:16"
    },
    "options": {
      "maxWordsInPage": 5,
      "style": [
        {
          "property": "color",
          "value": "#FFFFFF", 
          "active": {
             "value": "#FFFF00"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }'

Note: In the style example above, the text is white (#FFFFFF) and turns yellow (#FFFF00) when active (spoken).

Response:
The API will return a renderId.

{
  "renderId": "xyz-789-render-id"
}

---

Step 4: Get the Final Video #

Poll the render endpoint to get the final video URL.

Endpoint: GET https://app.swiftia.io/api/render/{renderId}

Request Example:

curl -X GET https://app.swiftia.io/api/render/xyz-789-render-id \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response:
When the rendering is finished, the type will be done and the url field will contain the link to your final video.

{
  "type": "done",
  "url": "https://storage.swiftia.io/renders/final_video.mp4"
}