Author: Phil McMillan – TELT

With video conferencing and video content becoming the new work-from-home educational norm, more people are creating videos to aid learning and teaching. This means that there is the requirement for some basic editing skills and easy to use software, that can perform simple cuts and crops to edit out the mistakes and save time in the long run. If film industry standard editing applications like Premiere Pro is the Home Alone of video software (well loved, inventive and a classic), then Microsoft’s own Video Editor software is 1994’s Baby’s Day Out… cheap, cheerful but lacking any additional polish to make it memorable.  However, in this circumstance the lack of additional options and convoluted menus is exactly what we need, so let’s embrace our inner Baby’s Day Out.

Simply search for Video Editor on your PC (It’s also housed in your Photos application under Video Projects) and you will be greeted with the applications home screen where you can create a new video project or continue a previous one. For this example, let’s choose New Project where you will then be prompted to name the video project and then see the software interface.

Video Editor Interface

1.    Project Library

Here is where you add media such as videos, audio, images and other assets for your video project ready to then edit.

2.    Storyboard

Also known as a timeline, here is where you can piece your project together in order left to right. In this section you can also add a title, add text, create simple motions like zooming in or out and add video filters similar to what you have on your phone. Finally, there is a bin icon to delete parts of your storyboard, just click the clip(s) you don’t want and then click the bin.  

You can add footage from your project library by dragging it down to your storyboard. When you have multiple assets on the storyboard, you can freely move them around each other to get the order you want.

Once footage has been added, you will see additional icons to trim and split the video where the add title card / text / motion / filters buttons are.

3.    Video Monitor

The video monitor visually shows what’s on your storyboard and has simple playback buttons underneath. You can make the video playback full screen if needed by using the two arrows pointing in opposite directions icon.

Quick editing step by step

 1.    Importing

Go to the Project Library section > click the + Add button to find your video(s) images or audio you want to use. Now simply drag the footage down in the order you want to your storyboard.

2.    Simple Cropping

Once the footage is in your storyboard, often you will choose the Trim button to trim the start and end of a video. If you need to cut out sections of your video, choose the Split button to make a cut in your video, turning it now into two separate video files on your storyboard. Here you can then use the trim button to trim away the bit you don’t want in the video.

3.    Adding filters or effects

There are buttons in the Storyboard section to add text, create motion on an asset, apply premade 3D effects, use visual filters to change how it looks and change the speed of the video. They will often show you a preview before you accept it, so have a play around with these features and remember you can always undo or delete if you make any mistakes.

4.    Exporting

In the top right-hand corner of the screen is a Finish Video button click here when you are ready to export your video.

The option below will appear, Video Quality will default to the highest quality it has High 1080p, use this always unless you are having issues with the file size, in that case use Medium 720p. Never use the Low 540p option – its quality is rubbish. Now wait, get the kettle on, have couple of Jammy Dodgers biscuits on the side and relax as your masterpiece is being created.

For more information on Microsoft Video Editor – How to Use the Free Video Editor in Windows 10  Click here.

iMovie (Mac)

For Mac users like myself, the simplest editing software to use is Apple’s iMovie which is free with all new Mac computers. Here is a useful video guide to help you. Please note in this video they export the video at 4k, now unless you have shot the video in 4K, please use 1080p option as its default option on many phones and computer screen recording software.