Use case
YouTube creators: reuse your own footage.
Years of videos, a growing pile of B-roll, and a new script that needs “that shot of the sunrise”. Find it.
In short: YouTube creators can add their footage folders to Sift and search them by what’s on screen and what was said, so B-roll and bites from older videos are easy to reuse. It works on Mac and Windows, and in Premiere or Resolve.
No editor needed. Sift works on its own as a desktop app on Mac and Windows: search, preview, build Selects and share footage by link without opening an editor. The editor panels are optional.
The problem.
Solo creators carry a huge library in their heads and it fails. The shot you want exists in a folder from two years ago.
When you don’t need it.
If you reuse little footage and keep one project per video, you don’t need it.
A workflow that fits.
- Add your folders
Footage, B-roll, and old project folders.
- Search while you script
Describe the shot your script calls for.
- Collect in Selects
Save candidates per video.
- Edit as usual
Send the group to your editor.
What helps most.
Searchable without tagging.
Spoken finds lines you said.
One license, one computer at a time.
Nothing is uploaded to search.
Questions
Can it find clips by thumbnail ideas or trends?
No. It finds footage in your folders by what’s on screen and what’s said.
Can it search my published videos on YouTube?
No. It searches video files on your drives.
What does it cost?
$99 a year. Free for 3 days or 25 searches. No card.
Updated 2026-10-22
Keep reading.
Try it on your own footage.
Free for 3 days or 25 searches. No card. Then $99 a year for one computer, Mac or Windows. Everything in Sift, including the optional editor panels and one free link to share footage.