How to Import YouTube Clips into Synthesia in 2025 (Plus 4 Better AI Workflows)

We’ve just built the most complete FREE resource to leverage AI avatars in your business. We’ve centralized 50 use cases across 4 categories (Personal Branding, Marketing and Sales, Internal and Enterprise, and Educational and side-hustles). You can access it here NOW. Enjoy :)

There are many reasons to import a YouTube clip into Synthesia. You may be repurposing or localizing existing video content, using it as a basis for your own analysis or reaction, or adding clips to a video essay.

With the recent surge in AI-assisted video creation and the growing popularity of tools like Synthesia, Opus AI, and Google’s Veo 3, there is an increasing demand for quick and scalable video repurposing. With the right tools, you can build an automated workflow that removes 80% of manual video production work and maximizes the value of your content.

Synthesia is a commonly used video generation tool, particularly popular with businesses and marketing teams. However, it may not be the best platform for handling user-imported clips. In this article, we’ll show you how to import a YouTube clip into Synthesia, as well as some alternative workflows using Argil and Opus AI.

How to Import YouTube Clips Into Synthesia in 5 Steps

It’s worth noting before we get started that importing your own YouTube content is a brilliant way to repurpose and localize existing content, but importing someone else’s content requires proper licensing and permission from content owners.

You cannot directly import a YouTube clip into Synthesia due to copyright and file support restrictions. However, you can use a workaround with a tool like 4K Video Downloader or YT5s by converting your video file into an MP4. You’ll also need a Synthesis Studio account.

Before proceeding, make sure you have proper licensing rights for the video or permission from the original content creator.

Step 1: Copy the YouTube Video URL

First, navigate to the YouTube video you want to import into Synthesia, making sure it is set to the exact timestamp range you need. Then copy the URL from your browser’s address bar.

Step 2: Download and Convert the Video

Next, launch your 4K Video Downloader application and click ‘Paste Link’. Here, you can input your copied YouTube URL. You should then set your video quality and choose the MP4 format in the download settings. If you only need a specific clip or segment, set a custom time range – and then hit ‘Download’.

Step 3: Prepare and Optimize the File

Before you import a YouTube clip into Synthesia, it’s important to ensure the technical requirements are correct. As mentioned, your video should be in MP4 format (H.264 codec preferred) with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 or 1280 x 720. Frame rates should be set to 24, 25, or 30fps, and you should keep files under 1GB in size for optimal performance.

Step 4: Upload to Synthesia

When your video is ready, log in to your Synthesia Studio account and navigate to the ‘Media’ or ‘Assets’ section and select ‘Custom Media upload’. You’ll need to upload or drag and drop your MP4 file and then wait for it to process. Once it’s ready, you can add a file name and descriptive tags, then integrate it into a new video project.

Step 5: Integrate with AI Avatar Content

Start a new video project in Synthesia, then find your uploaded YouTube clip and drag and drop it into your video timeline. You can position it where you want in line with your avatar – for example, you could use the imported video as a background and have your AI clone or avatar speak over the top, or use a side-by-side layout or sequential presentation.

The Limitations of Synthesia for Imported Video Clips

There are multiple workarounds to import a YouTube clip into Synthesia, but it’s not the most effective way to repurpose content. For starters, there’s a lot of manual effort involved in the workflow above – it will take you several hours to get it right, and even then, you may find that the output isn’t as high quality as you expected.

You may also find that Synthesia doesn’t support your imported clip – for instance, if it’s too long or there are ownership issues. Synthesia also doesn’t provide multi-language support for imported clips, so you won’t be able to create video variants in multiple languages or cater to global audiences.

So what’s the alternative? AI-assisted workflows using tools like Argil and Opus AI will much of the heavy lifting for you and provide you with a much better end product.

AI-Driven Alternatives to Import a YouTube Clip into Synthesia

Argil: Direct YouTube Imports with Avatars

Argil specializes in creating AI-powered short videos using AI avatars in just a few minutes. Unlike when you import a YouTube clip into Synthesia, with Argil, you can import YouTube videos directly into the platform and add avatars to your clips.

Step 1: Create Your AI Avatar

Simply upload a two-minute video of yourself speaking (filmed on your phone) and Argil will analyze your facial expressions, voice patterns and body language to create a hyper-realistic AI clone to appear in your video.

Step 2: Add YouTube URL Directly

With Argil, there is no need to download a YouTube video manually or convert the file into an MP4. Instead, you can paste in the video link directly and select specific timestamps you want to respond to. Using our text-to-video converter, you can also easily repurpose transcripts, blogs and social media posts into short videos starring your avatar.

Step 3: Generate Your Video Using AI

Write your script responding to or commenting on the YouTube content, then Argil will handle the rest – we’ll add automatic B-roll, visual transitions, animated captions and music to bring your video to life. Our avatars are trained to have contextual understanding, so they’ll respond to emotional cues in your script and speak like a human. You can make tweaks to their appearance, tone and expressions in our easy editing interface.

Step 4: Publish Automatically

Publish your video without manual file handling. Argil will automatically download your video or publish it to your platform of choice. If you integrate with Make.com, you can build your own custom workflow that also integrates with scheduling tools or email software.

Opus AI: YouTube Integration without Avatars

Opus AI also supports direct YouTube imports and offers AI content analysis to help you identify viral moments. Like Argil, the process is simple – you just paste in your video URL, and Opus will let you edit using automatic B-roll, intelligent trimming, auto-generated captions and dynamic zoom and pan effects.

The main downside of Opus AI is that it’s primarily a tool for clipping down and repurposing longer video content, and it doesn’t let you add AI avatars. If you want to add commentary or adopt a more personalized approach, you’ll need to use Argil.

Repurpose YouTube Videos with Argil Today

There are workarounds if you want to import a YouTube clip into Synthesia, but this isn’t necessarily the best way to repurpose your video content.

As mentioned, you cannot import videos directly into Synthesia, so the process requires a lot of manual work and file handling. With Argil and Opus AI, you can upload YouTube videos directly – and with Argil, you can add lifelike AI avatars to react to or comment on your original video clip. Sign up today to get started.

‍