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In 2024, The Ultimate Guide to Adding Titles in Final Cut Pro X
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The Ultimate Guide to Adding Titles in Final Cut Pro X
How to Add Titles in Final Cut Pro X
Benjamin Arango
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
We add text titles to our projects to tell the audience something they can’t figure out on their own, such as the title of our program, the name of the person speaking, or technical details about a subject.
This is a basic tutorial about Apple Final Cut Pro X, professional video editing software. However, if video editing is new to you, consider Wondershare Filmora for Mac . This is a powerful but easy-to-use tool for users just starting out. Download the free trial version below.
Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )
Final Cut Pro X has almost 200 different text effects that we can add, but the process of adding titles is essentially the same. Adding titles is what this article is about.
DEFINITIONS
Just to keep us all on the same page, here are my definitions of key terms related to text:
- Text or titles. Words placed on the screen. I use these terms interchangeably.
- Superimpose. Text displayed on the the screen with other video below it. These are also called “supers” or “keys.”
- Full-screen. Text which occupies the entire screen.
- Lower-third. Text which fits below a person talking; in the “lower-third” of the screen.
- Info-graphics. Full-screen text which is superimposed on a graphic, generally used to convey technical information. Typical uses are sports statistics or other information which is easier to convey using text than having someone read the words.
JUST THE BASICS
I’d like to introduce “Yertle,” he’s a sea turtle and the star of this article. (Footage courtesy of Jim Walker and Lobsters Gone Wild Productions.)
At its simplest, we use titles to display his (its?) name.
In the Timeline, put the playhead where you want a title to appear and type Shift+Control+T. This inserts the default lower-third title at the position of the playhead. The title, like almost all titles, has a default duration of 10:00 seconds.
Look at the Browser and see the results of your work. A lower-third title is superimposed over the video in the lower left corner. (I’ll talk about formatting the text in a few paragraphs.)
NOTE: The big limitation of this lower-third title is that it can only be positioned in the left corner. Moving it to the center or right corner requires manual adjustment.
You position or trim a title the same as any video clip: drag the clip to a different location, or drag an edge to change its duration.
Select that title and delete it by pressing the Delete key.
This time, type Control+T and the default full-screen title appears in the center of the screen. Again, this has a default duration of 10 seconds.
If you look right in the center of the screen, you’ll see the word “Title.” Yes, its darn near invisible. And, yes, it looks, um, ugly. However, we have a TON of formatting control to make this look however we want.
Select and delete that full-screen title.
There’s one more way to apply a title: dragging from the Titles Browser.
Click the Title icon in the Toolbar. This displays the contents of the Title Browser. The column on the left displays title categories, the icons on the right indicate individual titles, the search box at the bottom allows you to search for specific titles by name, while the number in the lower right indicates the number of titles currently displayed. (Your number may not match mine because I’ve added a few custom titles to my system.)
Let’s add a totally ridiculous title to our turtle - drag Clouds from the Title Browser and place it above the clip at the point where you want a title to appear.
NOTE: I’m using a marker in the Timeline to help me find the same place in a clip so my screen shots are consistent. Markers are not needed in any way for titles.
Um, yeah. So, some titles look more professional than others… You can delete this title now.
So, we:
- Add titles using keyboard shortcuts
- Drag titles from the Title Browser
- Change position by dragging the title
- Change duration by dragging the edge of the clip
- Delete a title by selecting it and pressing the Delete key
CHANGING TEXT
Add a new full-screen title (type Control+T) to the Timeline. To change the text in a title, double-click it in the Viewer. Here, I’ve changed my title to “An Undersea Adventure.”
NOTE: We can also change the text using the Inspector. I’ll show you how in a few paragraphs. Pick whichever method is easiest for you.
All text, in any title, can be changed by double-clicking it in the Viewer to select it, then typing the new text you want to use.
FORMATTING TEXT
You can format any text that you can select. This means that you can format entire phrases, words, or individual letters differently. For this article, I will format everything the same, because once you know how this works, you can experiment on your own.
Here, I selected my entire title and opened the Inspector (shortcut Cmd+4). Click the Text tab at the top. This section of the Inspector allows you to format the text.
NOTE: The text box near the top of the panel is the second place you can select text for formatting.
If you want a fast way to format text, click the word “Normal” at the top. This displays a menu filled with different text formats. Some of these formats look pretty dreadful; the rest look worse.
NOTE: You can create your own text styles. Refer to the Help for information on how.
The Basic section of the Inspector allows you to change fonts, size, alignment… all the standard font settings we see in other programs. Here, I’ve changed the font to Hobo Std, at 167 points.
While many of these settings you already know there are a few you may not:
- Line spacing. Adjusts the vertical distance between lines within the same paragraph.
- Tracking. Adjusts the horizontal spacing between letters.
- Baseline. Adjusts the vertical spacing of text compared to the horizontal line running thru the center of the white circle in the Viewer.
The Face section allows us to change font color, opacity and blue. Outline and Glow allows us to add, not surprisingly, outlines and glows. You can adjust these as you see fit - I tend not to add outlines or glows.
However, I STRONGLY recommend adding drop shadows to all text that you want viewers to read. Video, even HD video, is low resolution compared to print. Drop shadows make your text much easier to read. These are the settings I recommend for drop shadows.
After making a few changes in the Inspector, here’s the final result. Very cool - and very different from where we started!
ACTION SAFE/TITLE SAFE ZONES
Since television was first invented, we needed to compensate for the differences in TV sets by designing graphics to stay within Action Safe and Title Safe boundaries.
While much of today’s video is designed for the web, your titles will look the best if you follow the same guidelines.
Titles015
Go to the Switch in the Viewer and select “Show Action Safe/Title Safe Zones.”
This displays two pale rectangles in the frame. The outer rectangle is called “Action Safe,” the inner one is called “Title Safe.” Action Safe is 5% in from all edges; Title Safe is 10% in from all edges.
When designing text and graphics for the web, keep all essential elements inside the outer rectangle. When designing graphics and text for broadcast or cable, keep all essential elements inside the inner rectangle.
Here, for example, notice that my title is fully contained within Action Safe.
SUMMARY
Titles give our programs character and personality, plus they explain what’s going on to the audience. Final Cut Pro X provides a wealth of formatting options to make our text look great.
Benjamin Arango
Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Benjamin Arango
Benjamin Arango
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
We add text titles to our projects to tell the audience something they can’t figure out on their own, such as the title of our program, the name of the person speaking, or technical details about a subject.
This is a basic tutorial about Apple Final Cut Pro X, professional video editing software. However, if video editing is new to you, consider Wondershare Filmora for Mac . This is a powerful but easy-to-use tool for users just starting out. Download the free trial version below.
Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )
Final Cut Pro X has almost 200 different text effects that we can add, but the process of adding titles is essentially the same. Adding titles is what this article is about.
DEFINITIONS
Just to keep us all on the same page, here are my definitions of key terms related to text:
- Text or titles. Words placed on the screen. I use these terms interchangeably.
- Superimpose. Text displayed on the the screen with other video below it. These are also called “supers” or “keys.”
- Full-screen. Text which occupies the entire screen.
- Lower-third. Text which fits below a person talking; in the “lower-third” of the screen.
- Info-graphics. Full-screen text which is superimposed on a graphic, generally used to convey technical information. Typical uses are sports statistics or other information which is easier to convey using text than having someone read the words.
JUST THE BASICS
I’d like to introduce “Yertle,” he’s a sea turtle and the star of this article. (Footage courtesy of Jim Walker and Lobsters Gone Wild Productions.)
At its simplest, we use titles to display his (its?) name.
In the Timeline, put the playhead where you want a title to appear and type Shift+Control+T. This inserts the default lower-third title at the position of the playhead. The title, like almost all titles, has a default duration of 10:00 seconds.
Look at the Browser and see the results of your work. A lower-third title is superimposed over the video in the lower left corner. (I’ll talk about formatting the text in a few paragraphs.)
NOTE: The big limitation of this lower-third title is that it can only be positioned in the left corner. Moving it to the center or right corner requires manual adjustment.
You position or trim a title the same as any video clip: drag the clip to a different location, or drag an edge to change its duration.
Select that title and delete it by pressing the Delete key.
This time, type Control+T and the default full-screen title appears in the center of the screen. Again, this has a default duration of 10 seconds.
If you look right in the center of the screen, you’ll see the word “Title.” Yes, its darn near invisible. And, yes, it looks, um, ugly. However, we have a TON of formatting control to make this look however we want.
Select and delete that full-screen title.
There’s one more way to apply a title: dragging from the Titles Browser.
Click the Title icon in the Toolbar. This displays the contents of the Title Browser. The column on the left displays title categories, the icons on the right indicate individual titles, the search box at the bottom allows you to search for specific titles by name, while the number in the lower right indicates the number of titles currently displayed. (Your number may not match mine because I’ve added a few custom titles to my system.)
Let’s add a totally ridiculous title to our turtle - drag Clouds from the Title Browser and place it above the clip at the point where you want a title to appear.
NOTE: I’m using a marker in the Timeline to help me find the same place in a clip so my screen shots are consistent. Markers are not needed in any way for titles.
Um, yeah. So, some titles look more professional than others… You can delete this title now.
So, we:
- Add titles using keyboard shortcuts
- Drag titles from the Title Browser
- Change position by dragging the title
- Change duration by dragging the edge of the clip
- Delete a title by selecting it and pressing the Delete key
CHANGING TEXT
Add a new full-screen title (type Control+T) to the Timeline. To change the text in a title, double-click it in the Viewer. Here, I’ve changed my title to “An Undersea Adventure.”
NOTE: We can also change the text using the Inspector. I’ll show you how in a few paragraphs. Pick whichever method is easiest for you.
All text, in any title, can be changed by double-clicking it in the Viewer to select it, then typing the new text you want to use.
FORMATTING TEXT
You can format any text that you can select. This means that you can format entire phrases, words, or individual letters differently. For this article, I will format everything the same, because once you know how this works, you can experiment on your own.
Here, I selected my entire title and opened the Inspector (shortcut Cmd+4). Click the Text tab at the top. This section of the Inspector allows you to format the text.
NOTE: The text box near the top of the panel is the second place you can select text for formatting.
If you want a fast way to format text, click the word “Normal” at the top. This displays a menu filled with different text formats. Some of these formats look pretty dreadful; the rest look worse.
NOTE: You can create your own text styles. Refer to the Help for information on how.
The Basic section of the Inspector allows you to change fonts, size, alignment… all the standard font settings we see in other programs. Here, I’ve changed the font to Hobo Std, at 167 points.
While many of these settings you already know there are a few you may not:
- Line spacing. Adjusts the vertical distance between lines within the same paragraph.
- Tracking. Adjusts the horizontal spacing between letters.
- Baseline. Adjusts the vertical spacing of text compared to the horizontal line running thru the center of the white circle in the Viewer.
The Face section allows us to change font color, opacity and blue. Outline and Glow allows us to add, not surprisingly, outlines and glows. You can adjust these as you see fit - I tend not to add outlines or glows.
However, I STRONGLY recommend adding drop shadows to all text that you want viewers to read. Video, even HD video, is low resolution compared to print. Drop shadows make your text much easier to read. These are the settings I recommend for drop shadows.
After making a few changes in the Inspector, here’s the final result. Very cool - and very different from where we started!
ACTION SAFE/TITLE SAFE ZONES
Since television was first invented, we needed to compensate for the differences in TV sets by designing graphics to stay within Action Safe and Title Safe boundaries.
While much of today’s video is designed for the web, your titles will look the best if you follow the same guidelines.
Titles015
Go to the Switch in the Viewer and select “Show Action Safe/Title Safe Zones.”
This displays two pale rectangles in the frame. The outer rectangle is called “Action Safe,” the inner one is called “Title Safe.” Action Safe is 5% in from all edges; Title Safe is 10% in from all edges.
When designing text and graphics for the web, keep all essential elements inside the outer rectangle. When designing graphics and text for broadcast or cable, keep all essential elements inside the inner rectangle.
Here, for example, notice that my title is fully contained within Action Safe.
SUMMARY
Titles give our programs character and personality, plus they explain what’s going on to the audience. Final Cut Pro X provides a wealth of formatting options to make our text look great.
Benjamin Arango
Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Benjamin Arango
Benjamin Arango
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
We add text titles to our projects to tell the audience something they can’t figure out on their own, such as the title of our program, the name of the person speaking, or technical details about a subject.
This is a basic tutorial about Apple Final Cut Pro X, professional video editing software. However, if video editing is new to you, consider Wondershare Filmora for Mac . This is a powerful but easy-to-use tool for users just starting out. Download the free trial version below.
Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )
Final Cut Pro X has almost 200 different text effects that we can add, but the process of adding titles is essentially the same. Adding titles is what this article is about.
DEFINITIONS
Just to keep us all on the same page, here are my definitions of key terms related to text:
- Text or titles. Words placed on the screen. I use these terms interchangeably.
- Superimpose. Text displayed on the the screen with other video below it. These are also called “supers” or “keys.”
- Full-screen. Text which occupies the entire screen.
- Lower-third. Text which fits below a person talking; in the “lower-third” of the screen.
- Info-graphics. Full-screen text which is superimposed on a graphic, generally used to convey technical information. Typical uses are sports statistics or other information which is easier to convey using text than having someone read the words.
JUST THE BASICS
I’d like to introduce “Yertle,” he’s a sea turtle and the star of this article. (Footage courtesy of Jim Walker and Lobsters Gone Wild Productions.)
At its simplest, we use titles to display his (its?) name.
In the Timeline, put the playhead where you want a title to appear and type Shift+Control+T. This inserts the default lower-third title at the position of the playhead. The title, like almost all titles, has a default duration of 10:00 seconds.
Look at the Browser and see the results of your work. A lower-third title is superimposed over the video in the lower left corner. (I’ll talk about formatting the text in a few paragraphs.)
NOTE: The big limitation of this lower-third title is that it can only be positioned in the left corner. Moving it to the center or right corner requires manual adjustment.
You position or trim a title the same as any video clip: drag the clip to a different location, or drag an edge to change its duration.
Select that title and delete it by pressing the Delete key.
This time, type Control+T and the default full-screen title appears in the center of the screen. Again, this has a default duration of 10 seconds.
If you look right in the center of the screen, you’ll see the word “Title.” Yes, its darn near invisible. And, yes, it looks, um, ugly. However, we have a TON of formatting control to make this look however we want.
Select and delete that full-screen title.
There’s one more way to apply a title: dragging from the Titles Browser.
Click the Title icon in the Toolbar. This displays the contents of the Title Browser. The column on the left displays title categories, the icons on the right indicate individual titles, the search box at the bottom allows you to search for specific titles by name, while the number in the lower right indicates the number of titles currently displayed. (Your number may not match mine because I’ve added a few custom titles to my system.)
Let’s add a totally ridiculous title to our turtle - drag Clouds from the Title Browser and place it above the clip at the point where you want a title to appear.
NOTE: I’m using a marker in the Timeline to help me find the same place in a clip so my screen shots are consistent. Markers are not needed in any way for titles.
Um, yeah. So, some titles look more professional than others… You can delete this title now.
So, we:
- Add titles using keyboard shortcuts
- Drag titles from the Title Browser
- Change position by dragging the title
- Change duration by dragging the edge of the clip
- Delete a title by selecting it and pressing the Delete key
CHANGING TEXT
Add a new full-screen title (type Control+T) to the Timeline. To change the text in a title, double-click it in the Viewer. Here, I’ve changed my title to “An Undersea Adventure.”
NOTE: We can also change the text using the Inspector. I’ll show you how in a few paragraphs. Pick whichever method is easiest for you.
All text, in any title, can be changed by double-clicking it in the Viewer to select it, then typing the new text you want to use.
FORMATTING TEXT
You can format any text that you can select. This means that you can format entire phrases, words, or individual letters differently. For this article, I will format everything the same, because once you know how this works, you can experiment on your own.
Here, I selected my entire title and opened the Inspector (shortcut Cmd+4). Click the Text tab at the top. This section of the Inspector allows you to format the text.
NOTE: The text box near the top of the panel is the second place you can select text for formatting.
If you want a fast way to format text, click the word “Normal” at the top. This displays a menu filled with different text formats. Some of these formats look pretty dreadful; the rest look worse.
NOTE: You can create your own text styles. Refer to the Help for information on how.
The Basic section of the Inspector allows you to change fonts, size, alignment… all the standard font settings we see in other programs. Here, I’ve changed the font to Hobo Std, at 167 points.
While many of these settings you already know there are a few you may not:
- Line spacing. Adjusts the vertical distance between lines within the same paragraph.
- Tracking. Adjusts the horizontal spacing between letters.
- Baseline. Adjusts the vertical spacing of text compared to the horizontal line running thru the center of the white circle in the Viewer.
The Face section allows us to change font color, opacity and blue. Outline and Glow allows us to add, not surprisingly, outlines and glows. You can adjust these as you see fit - I tend not to add outlines or glows.
However, I STRONGLY recommend adding drop shadows to all text that you want viewers to read. Video, even HD video, is low resolution compared to print. Drop shadows make your text much easier to read. These are the settings I recommend for drop shadows.
After making a few changes in the Inspector, here’s the final result. Very cool - and very different from where we started!
ACTION SAFE/TITLE SAFE ZONES
Since television was first invented, we needed to compensate for the differences in TV sets by designing graphics to stay within Action Safe and Title Safe boundaries.
While much of today’s video is designed for the web, your titles will look the best if you follow the same guidelines.
Titles015
Go to the Switch in the Viewer and select “Show Action Safe/Title Safe Zones.”
This displays two pale rectangles in the frame. The outer rectangle is called “Action Safe,” the inner one is called “Title Safe.” Action Safe is 5% in from all edges; Title Safe is 10% in from all edges.
When designing text and graphics for the web, keep all essential elements inside the outer rectangle. When designing graphics and text for broadcast or cable, keep all essential elements inside the inner rectangle.
Here, for example, notice that my title is fully contained within Action Safe.
SUMMARY
Titles give our programs character and personality, plus they explain what’s going on to the audience. Final Cut Pro X provides a wealth of formatting options to make our text look great.
Benjamin Arango
Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Benjamin Arango
Benjamin Arango
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
We add text titles to our projects to tell the audience something they can’t figure out on their own, such as the title of our program, the name of the person speaking, or technical details about a subject.
This is a basic tutorial about Apple Final Cut Pro X, professional video editing software. However, if video editing is new to you, consider Wondershare Filmora for Mac . This is a powerful but easy-to-use tool for users just starting out. Download the free trial version below.
Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )
Final Cut Pro X has almost 200 different text effects that we can add, but the process of adding titles is essentially the same. Adding titles is what this article is about.
DEFINITIONS
Just to keep us all on the same page, here are my definitions of key terms related to text:
- Text or titles. Words placed on the screen. I use these terms interchangeably.
- Superimpose. Text displayed on the the screen with other video below it. These are also called “supers” or “keys.”
- Full-screen. Text which occupies the entire screen.
- Lower-third. Text which fits below a person talking; in the “lower-third” of the screen.
- Info-graphics. Full-screen text which is superimposed on a graphic, generally used to convey technical information. Typical uses are sports statistics or other information which is easier to convey using text than having someone read the words.
JUST THE BASICS
I’d like to introduce “Yertle,” he’s a sea turtle and the star of this article. (Footage courtesy of Jim Walker and Lobsters Gone Wild Productions.)
At its simplest, we use titles to display his (its?) name.
In the Timeline, put the playhead where you want a title to appear and type Shift+Control+T. This inserts the default lower-third title at the position of the playhead. The title, like almost all titles, has a default duration of 10:00 seconds.
Look at the Browser and see the results of your work. A lower-third title is superimposed over the video in the lower left corner. (I’ll talk about formatting the text in a few paragraphs.)
NOTE: The big limitation of this lower-third title is that it can only be positioned in the left corner. Moving it to the center or right corner requires manual adjustment.
You position or trim a title the same as any video clip: drag the clip to a different location, or drag an edge to change its duration.
Select that title and delete it by pressing the Delete key.
This time, type Control+T and the default full-screen title appears in the center of the screen. Again, this has a default duration of 10 seconds.
If you look right in the center of the screen, you’ll see the word “Title.” Yes, its darn near invisible. And, yes, it looks, um, ugly. However, we have a TON of formatting control to make this look however we want.
Select and delete that full-screen title.
There’s one more way to apply a title: dragging from the Titles Browser.
Click the Title icon in the Toolbar. This displays the contents of the Title Browser. The column on the left displays title categories, the icons on the right indicate individual titles, the search box at the bottom allows you to search for specific titles by name, while the number in the lower right indicates the number of titles currently displayed. (Your number may not match mine because I’ve added a few custom titles to my system.)
Let’s add a totally ridiculous title to our turtle - drag Clouds from the Title Browser and place it above the clip at the point where you want a title to appear.
NOTE: I’m using a marker in the Timeline to help me find the same place in a clip so my screen shots are consistent. Markers are not needed in any way for titles.
Um, yeah. So, some titles look more professional than others… You can delete this title now.
So, we:
- Add titles using keyboard shortcuts
- Drag titles from the Title Browser
- Change position by dragging the title
- Change duration by dragging the edge of the clip
- Delete a title by selecting it and pressing the Delete key
CHANGING TEXT
Add a new full-screen title (type Control+T) to the Timeline. To change the text in a title, double-click it in the Viewer. Here, I’ve changed my title to “An Undersea Adventure.”
NOTE: We can also change the text using the Inspector. I’ll show you how in a few paragraphs. Pick whichever method is easiest for you.
All text, in any title, can be changed by double-clicking it in the Viewer to select it, then typing the new text you want to use.
FORMATTING TEXT
You can format any text that you can select. This means that you can format entire phrases, words, or individual letters differently. For this article, I will format everything the same, because once you know how this works, you can experiment on your own.
Here, I selected my entire title and opened the Inspector (shortcut Cmd+4). Click the Text tab at the top. This section of the Inspector allows you to format the text.
NOTE: The text box near the top of the panel is the second place you can select text for formatting.
If you want a fast way to format text, click the word “Normal” at the top. This displays a menu filled with different text formats. Some of these formats look pretty dreadful; the rest look worse.
NOTE: You can create your own text styles. Refer to the Help for information on how.
The Basic section of the Inspector allows you to change fonts, size, alignment… all the standard font settings we see in other programs. Here, I’ve changed the font to Hobo Std, at 167 points.
While many of these settings you already know there are a few you may not:
- Line spacing. Adjusts the vertical distance between lines within the same paragraph.
- Tracking. Adjusts the horizontal spacing between letters.
- Baseline. Adjusts the vertical spacing of text compared to the horizontal line running thru the center of the white circle in the Viewer.
The Face section allows us to change font color, opacity and blue. Outline and Glow allows us to add, not surprisingly, outlines and glows. You can adjust these as you see fit - I tend not to add outlines or glows.
However, I STRONGLY recommend adding drop shadows to all text that you want viewers to read. Video, even HD video, is low resolution compared to print. Drop shadows make your text much easier to read. These are the settings I recommend for drop shadows.
After making a few changes in the Inspector, here’s the final result. Very cool - and very different from where we started!
ACTION SAFE/TITLE SAFE ZONES
Since television was first invented, we needed to compensate for the differences in TV sets by designing graphics to stay within Action Safe and Title Safe boundaries.
While much of today’s video is designed for the web, your titles will look the best if you follow the same guidelines.
Titles015
Go to the Switch in the Viewer and select “Show Action Safe/Title Safe Zones.”
This displays two pale rectangles in the frame. The outer rectangle is called “Action Safe,” the inner one is called “Title Safe.” Action Safe is 5% in from all edges; Title Safe is 10% in from all edges.
When designing text and graphics for the web, keep all essential elements inside the outer rectangle. When designing graphics and text for broadcast or cable, keep all essential elements inside the inner rectangle.
Here, for example, notice that my title is fully contained within Action Safe.
SUMMARY
Titles give our programs character and personality, plus they explain what’s going on to the audience. Final Cut Pro X provides a wealth of formatting options to make our text look great.
Benjamin Arango
Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Benjamin Arango
From Footage to Film: Mastering the Art of Cinematic Video Editing
Full Guide on Making a Big-budget Cinematic Look Video with Final Cut Pro X
Caroline Laurent
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
Do you enjoy the view of movies? Do you find your videos dull and unexciting? How about giving a cinematic look to your videos?
I bet a lot of editors have been there. However, it won’t take you long to find out that movies are quite different from the video you recorded and edited.
No worries, this article explains why there are differences between self-made videos and movies, as well as simple yet detailed steps to make cinematic look videos with FCPX.
Part 1: Difference between a Cinematic Look and a Normal Video?
The term cinematic is often referred to the black bars or wide-screen frame ratios. Photographers and filmmakers use the term cinematic to describe the look of movies and pictures shot on film.
However, the term has changed its meaning with the advent of digital video and the invention of high-tech devices. With the evolution of the internet across the globe, YouTubers, videographers, and social media influencers have started using this term to describe anything related to cinema and film. In other words, a cinematic look is an unconventional, film-look, and professional appearance of a video that makes a normal clip look elegant and worth watching. See the top 10 movies made by FCPX here.
So, here we draw a line between a normal video and the one with a cinematic look. In the latter, you adjust everything that is directly or indirectly linked to the quality of a video, including but not limited to colors, appearance, light, motion, frame rate, composition, and camera movements.
Resolution refers to the horizontal pixel count such as 2K (2.2 megapixels) or 4K (8.8 megapixels). Similarly, the frame rate defines the number of individual images or frames being displayed on the TV screen per second. The universally accepted film frame rate is 24 FPS, which is used to make high-definition videos. However, most TV broadcasts and shows are recorded at 30fps. See more about FPS here .
Thanks to the advanced video editing tools and applications that have made it easier to capture a cinematic look or make HD cinematic look videos with basic camera setups. If you want to get your desired cinematic look, read the following section.
Part 2: How to Make a Cinematic Look Film Video with FCPX?
The latest features and user-friendly dashboard of Final Cut Pro X allow users (even beginners) to add effects and increase the aesthetics of their videos. Follow these four simple steps to make a cinematic look high-resolution video with Final Cut Pro X.
Step 1: 4K Resolution and Low Frame Rate
To achieve ideal cinematic aesthetics, you need high-quality 4K resolution videos, awesome exposure, the right codec, and lighting. Hence, to start with, capture a high-quality 4K Canon RAW shot with the latest high-tech Canon Log 2 camera. You can also use other devices and choose different codecs and color profiles to get the best color grade.
Step 2: Color Grading and Color Correction
After importing your footage, get ready for color corrections to address issues like conversions for LOG formats through white balance adjustments. Color corrections normalize the color of HD videos into a standard format. Here’s how you can do this:
- Go to the Inspector Panel and select the Extended Function
- Select the C-Log 2 conversion LUT
- Make minor exposure and white balance adjustments as per your scope
- Select the Color Wheels and Color Mask features to custom select specific areas and colors
- Adjust your color grade according to your requirements
- Use Color Masking to improve the shadow’s appearance and warm-up mid-tones
- You will get a strong color contrast in your footage.
Step 3: Use Slow Motion at the Right Timing
Final Cut Pro X allows its users to make both constant and variable speed changes without disturbing the audio’s pitch. By using slow-motion effects at the right timing, you can make your videos adorable and give them a cinematic look.
- Select your video and click on the Retiming button
- Tap on the Slow section
- You will see multiple options to slow down the speed of your clip
- The smaller number will slow down your footage
- To apply custom retiming amounts, again click on the Retiming button and select the Custom option
- Custom the speed of your clip over 100% or less than 100% as you want
- After selecting a value, your selected clip will become longer on the timeline.
Step 4: Adopt Film Grain to Make Film-look Videos
Film grain overlays give your videos vintage and cinematic look. Follow these steps to use these film grains in Final Cut Pro X:
- Import your footage and film grains downloaded from the internet and layer them into your timeline
- Place the film grain on top of your clip
- Select the clip and go to the FCPX blend mode dropdown menu located on the top-right of your screen
- Click on the Overlay and adjust the opacity of the film grain overlay as required.
Part 3: What Other Factors Contribute to Film-Look Videos
While making cinematic-look videos, also considering the following factors:
Framing
While filming, one must be aware of the emotion to be captured in the frame. For this purpose, follow the “Rule of Thirds,” which means to divide your short into three horizontal and vertical sections and select the third shot to produce some effect.
Tilt Shift
Instead of shooting your clips with a UHD camera, you can add cinematic effect with the Tilt-shift feature by setting the focus of your video. For this purpose, right-click on the video, select Power Tool and check the box with the option Apply Tilt-shift to the clip. Use the slider to adjust the focus.
Background Music
Cinematic clips without background music seem to be unexciting and boring. Adding melodious background music makes your videos look more professional and enjoyable. You can add default music or your favorite music downloaded from the internet by clicking on the Music tab.
Titles and Subtitles
Adding subtitles to your videos can make them understandable for viewers who speak a different language. Click on Text/Credit in Filmora and select Subtitles to add subtitles to your video.
Part 4: How to Add Cinematic Look to Your Footage in Easy Ways
Filmora is an advanced video editing tool developed by Wondershare. Its user-friendly and easy-to-understand interface makes it popular among beginners as well as professionals. And the best thing about Filmora is that the editor provides rich options of presets, effects, and filters to add a film look to your video.
Here’s how you can add a cinematic look to your footage with Filmora.
1, choose Effect
2, search for “cinematic” or “film”
3, drag the effect you like to the timeline
4, done!
Simple steps, right? For more stunning effects and film-look packages, try filmstock !
Conclusion
Get rid of unexciting and dull videos with no animations or effects. It’s time to add a cinematic look to your videos to make them look more professional and elegant.
A variety of tools and applications are available to make cinematic look videos such as Final Cut Pro X and Filmora. Both these software offers advanced video editing features and allow you to make high-resolution cinematic-look videos. You can adjust various aspects of your video such as colors, aesthetics, resolution, motion, frame rate, composition, and camera movements with these two applications.
Caroline Laurent
Caroline Laurent is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Caroline Laurent
Caroline Laurent
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
Do you enjoy the view of movies? Do you find your videos dull and unexciting? How about giving a cinematic look to your videos?
I bet a lot of editors have been there. However, it won’t take you long to find out that movies are quite different from the video you recorded and edited.
No worries, this article explains why there are differences between self-made videos and movies, as well as simple yet detailed steps to make cinematic look videos with FCPX.
Part 1: Difference between a Cinematic Look and a Normal Video?
The term cinematic is often referred to the black bars or wide-screen frame ratios. Photographers and filmmakers use the term cinematic to describe the look of movies and pictures shot on film.
However, the term has changed its meaning with the advent of digital video and the invention of high-tech devices. With the evolution of the internet across the globe, YouTubers, videographers, and social media influencers have started using this term to describe anything related to cinema and film. In other words, a cinematic look is an unconventional, film-look, and professional appearance of a video that makes a normal clip look elegant and worth watching. See the top 10 movies made by FCPX here.
So, here we draw a line between a normal video and the one with a cinematic look. In the latter, you adjust everything that is directly or indirectly linked to the quality of a video, including but not limited to colors, appearance, light, motion, frame rate, composition, and camera movements.
Resolution refers to the horizontal pixel count such as 2K (2.2 megapixels) or 4K (8.8 megapixels). Similarly, the frame rate defines the number of individual images or frames being displayed on the TV screen per second. The universally accepted film frame rate is 24 FPS, which is used to make high-definition videos. However, most TV broadcasts and shows are recorded at 30fps. See more about FPS here .
Thanks to the advanced video editing tools and applications that have made it easier to capture a cinematic look or make HD cinematic look videos with basic camera setups. If you want to get your desired cinematic look, read the following section.
Part 2: How to Make a Cinematic Look Film Video with FCPX?
The latest features and user-friendly dashboard of Final Cut Pro X allow users (even beginners) to add effects and increase the aesthetics of their videos. Follow these four simple steps to make a cinematic look high-resolution video with Final Cut Pro X.
Step 1: 4K Resolution and Low Frame Rate
To achieve ideal cinematic aesthetics, you need high-quality 4K resolution videos, awesome exposure, the right codec, and lighting. Hence, to start with, capture a high-quality 4K Canon RAW shot with the latest high-tech Canon Log 2 camera. You can also use other devices and choose different codecs and color profiles to get the best color grade.
Step 2: Color Grading and Color Correction
After importing your footage, get ready for color corrections to address issues like conversions for LOG formats through white balance adjustments. Color corrections normalize the color of HD videos into a standard format. Here’s how you can do this:
- Go to the Inspector Panel and select the Extended Function
- Select the C-Log 2 conversion LUT
- Make minor exposure and white balance adjustments as per your scope
- Select the Color Wheels and Color Mask features to custom select specific areas and colors
- Adjust your color grade according to your requirements
- Use Color Masking to improve the shadow’s appearance and warm-up mid-tones
- You will get a strong color contrast in your footage.
Step 3: Use Slow Motion at the Right Timing
Final Cut Pro X allows its users to make both constant and variable speed changes without disturbing the audio’s pitch. By using slow-motion effects at the right timing, you can make your videos adorable and give them a cinematic look.
- Select your video and click on the Retiming button
- Tap on the Slow section
- You will see multiple options to slow down the speed of your clip
- The smaller number will slow down your footage
- To apply custom retiming amounts, again click on the Retiming button and select the Custom option
- Custom the speed of your clip over 100% or less than 100% as you want
- After selecting a value, your selected clip will become longer on the timeline.
Step 4: Adopt Film Grain to Make Film-look Videos
Film grain overlays give your videos vintage and cinematic look. Follow these steps to use these film grains in Final Cut Pro X:
- Import your footage and film grains downloaded from the internet and layer them into your timeline
- Place the film grain on top of your clip
- Select the clip and go to the FCPX blend mode dropdown menu located on the top-right of your screen
- Click on the Overlay and adjust the opacity of the film grain overlay as required.
Part 3: What Other Factors Contribute to Film-Look Videos
While making cinematic-look videos, also considering the following factors:
Framing
While filming, one must be aware of the emotion to be captured in the frame. For this purpose, follow the “Rule of Thirds,” which means to divide your short into three horizontal and vertical sections and select the third shot to produce some effect.
Tilt Shift
Instead of shooting your clips with a UHD camera, you can add cinematic effect with the Tilt-shift feature by setting the focus of your video. For this purpose, right-click on the video, select Power Tool and check the box with the option Apply Tilt-shift to the clip. Use the slider to adjust the focus.
Background Music
Cinematic clips without background music seem to be unexciting and boring. Adding melodious background music makes your videos look more professional and enjoyable. You can add default music or your favorite music downloaded from the internet by clicking on the Music tab.
Titles and Subtitles
Adding subtitles to your videos can make them understandable for viewers who speak a different language. Click on Text/Credit in Filmora and select Subtitles to add subtitles to your video.
Part 4: How to Add Cinematic Look to Your Footage in Easy Ways
Filmora is an advanced video editing tool developed by Wondershare. Its user-friendly and easy-to-understand interface makes it popular among beginners as well as professionals. And the best thing about Filmora is that the editor provides rich options of presets, effects, and filters to add a film look to your video.
Here’s how you can add a cinematic look to your footage with Filmora.
1, choose Effect
2, search for “cinematic” or “film”
3, drag the effect you like to the timeline
4, done!
Simple steps, right? For more stunning effects and film-look packages, try filmstock !
Conclusion
Get rid of unexciting and dull videos with no animations or effects. It’s time to add a cinematic look to your videos to make them look more professional and elegant.
A variety of tools and applications are available to make cinematic look videos such as Final Cut Pro X and Filmora. Both these software offers advanced video editing features and allow you to make high-resolution cinematic-look videos. You can adjust various aspects of your video such as colors, aesthetics, resolution, motion, frame rate, composition, and camera movements with these two applications.
Caroline Laurent
Caroline Laurent is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Caroline Laurent
Caroline Laurent
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
Do you enjoy the view of movies? Do you find your videos dull and unexciting? How about giving a cinematic look to your videos?
I bet a lot of editors have been there. However, it won’t take you long to find out that movies are quite different from the video you recorded and edited.
No worries, this article explains why there are differences between self-made videos and movies, as well as simple yet detailed steps to make cinematic look videos with FCPX.
Part 1: Difference between a Cinematic Look and a Normal Video?
The term cinematic is often referred to the black bars or wide-screen frame ratios. Photographers and filmmakers use the term cinematic to describe the look of movies and pictures shot on film.
However, the term has changed its meaning with the advent of digital video and the invention of high-tech devices. With the evolution of the internet across the globe, YouTubers, videographers, and social media influencers have started using this term to describe anything related to cinema and film. In other words, a cinematic look is an unconventional, film-look, and professional appearance of a video that makes a normal clip look elegant and worth watching. See the top 10 movies made by FCPX here.
So, here we draw a line between a normal video and the one with a cinematic look. In the latter, you adjust everything that is directly or indirectly linked to the quality of a video, including but not limited to colors, appearance, light, motion, frame rate, composition, and camera movements.
Resolution refers to the horizontal pixel count such as 2K (2.2 megapixels) or 4K (8.8 megapixels). Similarly, the frame rate defines the number of individual images or frames being displayed on the TV screen per second. The universally accepted film frame rate is 24 FPS, which is used to make high-definition videos. However, most TV broadcasts and shows are recorded at 30fps. See more about FPS here .
Thanks to the advanced video editing tools and applications that have made it easier to capture a cinematic look or make HD cinematic look videos with basic camera setups. If you want to get your desired cinematic look, read the following section.
Part 2: How to Make a Cinematic Look Film Video with FCPX?
The latest features and user-friendly dashboard of Final Cut Pro X allow users (even beginners) to add effects and increase the aesthetics of their videos. Follow these four simple steps to make a cinematic look high-resolution video with Final Cut Pro X.
Step 1: 4K Resolution and Low Frame Rate
To achieve ideal cinematic aesthetics, you need high-quality 4K resolution videos, awesome exposure, the right codec, and lighting. Hence, to start with, capture a high-quality 4K Canon RAW shot with the latest high-tech Canon Log 2 camera. You can also use other devices and choose different codecs and color profiles to get the best color grade.
Step 2: Color Grading and Color Correction
After importing your footage, get ready for color corrections to address issues like conversions for LOG formats through white balance adjustments. Color corrections normalize the color of HD videos into a standard format. Here’s how you can do this:
- Go to the Inspector Panel and select the Extended Function
- Select the C-Log 2 conversion LUT
- Make minor exposure and white balance adjustments as per your scope
- Select the Color Wheels and Color Mask features to custom select specific areas and colors
- Adjust your color grade according to your requirements
- Use Color Masking to improve the shadow’s appearance and warm-up mid-tones
- You will get a strong color contrast in your footage.
Step 3: Use Slow Motion at the Right Timing
Final Cut Pro X allows its users to make both constant and variable speed changes without disturbing the audio’s pitch. By using slow-motion effects at the right timing, you can make your videos adorable and give them a cinematic look.
- Select your video and click on the Retiming button
- Tap on the Slow section
- You will see multiple options to slow down the speed of your clip
- The smaller number will slow down your footage
- To apply custom retiming amounts, again click on the Retiming button and select the Custom option
- Custom the speed of your clip over 100% or less than 100% as you want
- After selecting a value, your selected clip will become longer on the timeline.
Step 4: Adopt Film Grain to Make Film-look Videos
Film grain overlays give your videos vintage and cinematic look. Follow these steps to use these film grains in Final Cut Pro X:
- Import your footage and film grains downloaded from the internet and layer them into your timeline
- Place the film grain on top of your clip
- Select the clip and go to the FCPX blend mode dropdown menu located on the top-right of your screen
- Click on the Overlay and adjust the opacity of the film grain overlay as required.
Part 3: What Other Factors Contribute to Film-Look Videos
While making cinematic-look videos, also considering the following factors:
Framing
While filming, one must be aware of the emotion to be captured in the frame. For this purpose, follow the “Rule of Thirds,” which means to divide your short into three horizontal and vertical sections and select the third shot to produce some effect.
Tilt Shift
Instead of shooting your clips with a UHD camera, you can add cinematic effect with the Tilt-shift feature by setting the focus of your video. For this purpose, right-click on the video, select Power Tool and check the box with the option Apply Tilt-shift to the clip. Use the slider to adjust the focus.
Background Music
Cinematic clips without background music seem to be unexciting and boring. Adding melodious background music makes your videos look more professional and enjoyable. You can add default music or your favorite music downloaded from the internet by clicking on the Music tab.
Titles and Subtitles
Adding subtitles to your videos can make them understandable for viewers who speak a different language. Click on Text/Credit in Filmora and select Subtitles to add subtitles to your video.
Part 4: How to Add Cinematic Look to Your Footage in Easy Ways
Filmora is an advanced video editing tool developed by Wondershare. Its user-friendly and easy-to-understand interface makes it popular among beginners as well as professionals. And the best thing about Filmora is that the editor provides rich options of presets, effects, and filters to add a film look to your video.
Here’s how you can add a cinematic look to your footage with Filmora.
1, choose Effect
2, search for “cinematic” or “film”
3, drag the effect you like to the timeline
4, done!
Simple steps, right? For more stunning effects and film-look packages, try filmstock !
Conclusion
Get rid of unexciting and dull videos with no animations or effects. It’s time to add a cinematic look to your videos to make them look more professional and elegant.
A variety of tools and applications are available to make cinematic look videos such as Final Cut Pro X and Filmora. Both these software offers advanced video editing features and allow you to make high-resolution cinematic-look videos. You can adjust various aspects of your video such as colors, aesthetics, resolution, motion, frame rate, composition, and camera movements with these two applications.
Caroline Laurent
Caroline Laurent is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Caroline Laurent
Caroline Laurent
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
Do you enjoy the view of movies? Do you find your videos dull and unexciting? How about giving a cinematic look to your videos?
I bet a lot of editors have been there. However, it won’t take you long to find out that movies are quite different from the video you recorded and edited.
No worries, this article explains why there are differences between self-made videos and movies, as well as simple yet detailed steps to make cinematic look videos with FCPX.
Part 1: Difference between a Cinematic Look and a Normal Video?
The term cinematic is often referred to the black bars or wide-screen frame ratios. Photographers and filmmakers use the term cinematic to describe the look of movies and pictures shot on film.
However, the term has changed its meaning with the advent of digital video and the invention of high-tech devices. With the evolution of the internet across the globe, YouTubers, videographers, and social media influencers have started using this term to describe anything related to cinema and film. In other words, a cinematic look is an unconventional, film-look, and professional appearance of a video that makes a normal clip look elegant and worth watching. See the top 10 movies made by FCPX here.
So, here we draw a line between a normal video and the one with a cinematic look. In the latter, you adjust everything that is directly or indirectly linked to the quality of a video, including but not limited to colors, appearance, light, motion, frame rate, composition, and camera movements.
Resolution refers to the horizontal pixel count such as 2K (2.2 megapixels) or 4K (8.8 megapixels). Similarly, the frame rate defines the number of individual images or frames being displayed on the TV screen per second. The universally accepted film frame rate is 24 FPS, which is used to make high-definition videos. However, most TV broadcasts and shows are recorded at 30fps. See more about FPS here .
Thanks to the advanced video editing tools and applications that have made it easier to capture a cinematic look or make HD cinematic look videos with basic camera setups. If you want to get your desired cinematic look, read the following section.
Part 2: How to Make a Cinematic Look Film Video with FCPX?
The latest features and user-friendly dashboard of Final Cut Pro X allow users (even beginners) to add effects and increase the aesthetics of their videos. Follow these four simple steps to make a cinematic look high-resolution video with Final Cut Pro X.
Step 1: 4K Resolution and Low Frame Rate
To achieve ideal cinematic aesthetics, you need high-quality 4K resolution videos, awesome exposure, the right codec, and lighting. Hence, to start with, capture a high-quality 4K Canon RAW shot with the latest high-tech Canon Log 2 camera. You can also use other devices and choose different codecs and color profiles to get the best color grade.
Step 2: Color Grading and Color Correction
After importing your footage, get ready for color corrections to address issues like conversions for LOG formats through white balance adjustments. Color corrections normalize the color of HD videos into a standard format. Here’s how you can do this:
- Go to the Inspector Panel and select the Extended Function
- Select the C-Log 2 conversion LUT
- Make minor exposure and white balance adjustments as per your scope
- Select the Color Wheels and Color Mask features to custom select specific areas and colors
- Adjust your color grade according to your requirements
- Use Color Masking to improve the shadow’s appearance and warm-up mid-tones
- You will get a strong color contrast in your footage.
Step 3: Use Slow Motion at the Right Timing
Final Cut Pro X allows its users to make both constant and variable speed changes without disturbing the audio’s pitch. By using slow-motion effects at the right timing, you can make your videos adorable and give them a cinematic look.
- Select your video and click on the Retiming button
- Tap on the Slow section
- You will see multiple options to slow down the speed of your clip
- The smaller number will slow down your footage
- To apply custom retiming amounts, again click on the Retiming button and select the Custom option
- Custom the speed of your clip over 100% or less than 100% as you want
- After selecting a value, your selected clip will become longer on the timeline.
Step 4: Adopt Film Grain to Make Film-look Videos
Film grain overlays give your videos vintage and cinematic look. Follow these steps to use these film grains in Final Cut Pro X:
- Import your footage and film grains downloaded from the internet and layer them into your timeline
- Place the film grain on top of your clip
- Select the clip and go to the FCPX blend mode dropdown menu located on the top-right of your screen
- Click on the Overlay and adjust the opacity of the film grain overlay as required.
Part 3: What Other Factors Contribute to Film-Look Videos
While making cinematic-look videos, also considering the following factors:
Framing
While filming, one must be aware of the emotion to be captured in the frame. For this purpose, follow the “Rule of Thirds,” which means to divide your short into three horizontal and vertical sections and select the third shot to produce some effect.
Tilt Shift
Instead of shooting your clips with a UHD camera, you can add cinematic effect with the Tilt-shift feature by setting the focus of your video. For this purpose, right-click on the video, select Power Tool and check the box with the option Apply Tilt-shift to the clip. Use the slider to adjust the focus.
Background Music
Cinematic clips without background music seem to be unexciting and boring. Adding melodious background music makes your videos look more professional and enjoyable. You can add default music or your favorite music downloaded from the internet by clicking on the Music tab.
Titles and Subtitles
Adding subtitles to your videos can make them understandable for viewers who speak a different language. Click on Text/Credit in Filmora and select Subtitles to add subtitles to your video.
Part 4: How to Add Cinematic Look to Your Footage in Easy Ways
Filmora is an advanced video editing tool developed by Wondershare. Its user-friendly and easy-to-understand interface makes it popular among beginners as well as professionals. And the best thing about Filmora is that the editor provides rich options of presets, effects, and filters to add a film look to your video.
Here’s how you can add a cinematic look to your footage with Filmora.
1, choose Effect
2, search for “cinematic” or “film”
3, drag the effect you like to the timeline
4, done!
Simple steps, right? For more stunning effects and film-look packages, try filmstock !
Conclusion
Get rid of unexciting and dull videos with no animations or effects. It’s time to add a cinematic look to your videos to make them look more professional and elegant.
A variety of tools and applications are available to make cinematic look videos such as Final Cut Pro X and Filmora. Both these software offers advanced video editing features and allow you to make high-resolution cinematic-look videos. You can adjust various aspects of your video such as colors, aesthetics, resolution, motion, frame rate, composition, and camera movements with these two applications.
Caroline Laurent
Caroline Laurent is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Caroline Laurent
Beginner’s Luck: Top Free Video Editing Tools
Best Video Editor for Beginners on Windows and Mac
Wondershare Filmora is one of the most popular video editing software among YouTubers , download and have a try.
Video content creation is becoming the trend because it retains human attention longer than images or writings do. As a beginner who is not so familiar with video editors, getting free video editing software for beginners might prove difficult.
In this article, you will learn the best free video editing software for beginners, its features, and its pros and cons. Also, you’ll learn some extra tips that will make your video editing seamless.
In this article
01 Best Free Desktop Video Editing Software for Beginners in 2024
02 Best Free Online Video Editors for Beginners in 2024
03 Best Free Video Editing Apps for Beginners on iPhone and Android
04 What to Look for in Choosing the Best Video editors As Beginners
Part 1: Best Free Desktop Video Editing Software for Beginners in 2024
1. Apple iMovie
Apple iMovie is a free video editing software for beginners; it comes pre-installed on Mac devices. It is known for having a simple interface that makes it user-friendly.
Supported on: Mac
Apple iMovie Main Features are:
- Chromakeying: With iMovie, you can change the background of a video from blue/ green to an image of your favorite place.
- Sound Integration: iMovie lets you record voiceovers, add music from iTunes and add special sound effects.
- Video tools: Add filters, titles, animations, and photos to the video.
- Speed control: fast track and add slow-mo effects to the video.
Pros
- It supports 4K videos.
- Professional standards.
- Chromakeying feature.
Cons
- It does not support Multicam and 360 video editing.
- Exported files take up a lot of space.
- Available for Mac and iOS users only.
2. Microsoft Photo App
Microsoft Photos app is a free photo and video editor for beginners. It was created to replace the Windows movie maker. Many might not know about the existence of the app and its ability to edit videos and photos.
Go to the search bar and type photos, and then select the Photos app to bring a menu where you can create albums, edit photos and videos. To edit videos, click on video projects to create a video from scratch or create video automatically.
Supported on: Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11
Microsoft Photos app main features for video editing are;
- Motion graphics, 3D effects, and animations.
- It allows the addition of background music or audio from the computer.
- It allows the addition of title cards and text backgrounds.
- Change of photo or video durations and speed
Pros
- It is free and readily installed in Windows 8 and above
- Easy to use
- Face detection
- Album collection and arrangement
Cons
- No essential video editing tools like transitioning and layering
- You can’t use it professionally.
- Does not allow video preview before exporting
3. VSDC Free Video Editor
VSDC is a free video editing software for beginners that can edit 4K UHD, 3D, and VR 360 videos. VSDC is one of the best video editors for beginners to edit complex videos. VSDC has a busy interface, making it less user-friendly than the other free video editing software for beginners.
Supported on: Windows
VSDC’s video editor has;
- Non-linear video editing tools
- Social media support features; VSDC has Instagram-like filters and lets you share edited videos directly to your social media.
- Audio Effects; The 360 editor has many audio effects like equalizer, audio delay, and volume correction.
- Video editing tools; VSDC has color-correction tools and tools to hide and replace unwanted elements. You can also transform videos with their subpixel resolution.
- Numerous 3D templates you can choose from.
Pros
- It supports many audio and video formats.
- 4K and HD exports
Cons
- Reduces video quality after editing
- Professional tools like stabilization, beat syncing, and motion graphics are only available in the pro version.
Part 2: Best Free Online Video Editors for Beginners in 2024
1. Clipchamp
Clipchamp is an online free video editor for beginners. Clipchamp can create social media videos, ads videos, presentations, and other short videos. It has a unique feature that allows teams to collaborate and edit videos projects.
Clipchamp has basic video editing features like:
- Text-to-speech feature; This feature allows you to add text that will become voiceovers in the video. You can choose the gender and nationality of the voice.
- Thousand of templates to choose from
- Video transitioning and layering.
Pros
- It allows auto-captioning capabilities on the mobile app.
- Video compression
- Allows Screen recording
- It can convert videos to WMV, which you can use in PowerPoint presentations.
Cons
- Not available on Android devices
- It uses selective browsers like Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
- It is not optimized for touchpad screens.
- The best quality video requires registration for the premium version.
2. Hippo Video
Hippo Video is one of the best video editors for beginners free online. You can use it on Mac, Windows, Android, iPhones, and iPads. Hippo is an all-in-one platform to create, record, edit, and share videos across different social media platforms.
Hippo video can;
- Create GIFs from videos.
- Trim, cut, and add emojis and tags to a video.
- Hide or blur unwanted objects in the video.
Pros
- It has other marketing features like email marketing, campaign management, and social media sharing.
- It can be added as a chrome extension to be used for screen capturing and recording.
Cons
- Watermarked in free version
- Limited video quality download in free version
- Long load time for video in between uploads.
3. Kapwing
Kapwing is an online free video editing software for beginners. The video editor is made for creators to create, edit and subtitle video content. Kapwing can convert MP4 videos to any file format as well as save the edited file in the cloud.
Primary Features
- It supports text overlay and drag-and-drop function
- Cut, resize, merge, split and trim videos.
- Supports HD resolution
- Lots of editable social media templates
- Convert video to any form (GIF, JPG, MP4)
Pros
- It does not add its watermark; instead, you can add your logo to create the video. Kapwingis
- Auto-generated subtitles.
- Background removal function
- It backs up videos on the cloud.
Cons
- It cannot export a video longer than 60 minutes
- On-site technical glitches
- To export files above 250MB or 7 minutes, you have to upgrade to the premium version.
- Only available online
4. Online Video Cutter/ 123 apps video editor
Online Video Cutter is an online-based video editor used to edit videos. It is used primarily for trimming videos to desirable sizes. Online video cutter is one of 123 apps to edit and convert different file formats. The video editor can trim, crop, rotate and resize videos.
With Online Video Cutter, you can;
- Frame the video or change the frame proportions of the videos.
- Change the angle of a video up to 270 degrees; this comes in handy when you want to change a video’s view from landscape to portrait.
- Flip, resize, change volume and add texts and images to your video.
- Trim, equalize, and record sounds to be added to the video.
Pros
- Supports all video format
- Privacy is guaranteed as you are the only one with access to the video.
- It works well in most browsers.
- It does not require sign up before use
- Converts files to any format
- Can upload files larger than 4GB in size
Cons
- It takes up a lot of time to upload files
- Decreases the video quality
- Cannot upload a file of more than 700MB in the free version
5. FlexClip
Flexclip is an online video creator and editor with essential editing tools. Flexclip has numerous templates and presets that let you create videos in a short time. You can create your video from scratch, templates, and previously saved videos.
Main Feature
- Audio effects: you can record voices and add background music to the video.
- Video tools: trim, merge, compress and convert videos.
- Customization: you can add your logo or watermark to the video.
- Allows video transition and GIF production
- Allows you to increase video brightness and add filters to video.
Pros
- It has more than 4 million pictures and pictures to add to videos.
- Allows preview of videos before exporting.
- It supports different video resolutions.
- Templates for various events are available.
Cons
- Limited video resolution download in free version
- The free version can only create a 1-minute video and hold 12 projects.
Part 3: Best Free Video Editing Apps for Beginners on iPhone and Android
1. CapCut
Cap C ut is a free video editing software for beginners suitable for TikTok content creators. It was formerly known as Viamaker. Cap cut is easy to use for beginners, and it can create spectacular videos automatically by cutting, reordering, and merging recorded videos.
Supported on: Android and iOS
Cap cut allows you to:
- Split, merge, and reverse videos.
- Control the video speed
- Add filter, special effects, stickers, and texts to videos.
- Overlay and add sounds to the videos
Pros
- You can export directly to Tiktok.
- It has a vast music library, including copyrighted songs.
- Exported videos are of high quality.
Cons
- It does not support Multicam and 360 video editing.
- Effectiveness depends on the phone’s processor and features.
- Limited editing features.
- Video cannot exceed 15 minutes.
- You can only add a music track per video.
2. Quik
Quik is a free video editor for beginners produced by the makers of GoPro. Quik is an auto-video maker that puts together pictures, videos, and music with a few selections.
Supported on: Android and iOS
Main features
- Auto-video: Quik will create a video with transitions and soundtrack when you select several pictures and videos.
- Video editing tools: you can adjust the brightness, add texts and stickers, and add filters to a video.
- Adjust video speed: you can add slo-mo and freeze effects to the video.
- It allows direct sharing to social media pages.
Pros
- Allows HD video download
- Video styles template for new users.
- Unlimited cloud backup.
- Changes video ratio to suit different social media
Cons
- Limited editing features in the free version.
- Not suitable for videos longer than 60 seconds
- Limited font styles
Part 4: What to Look for in Choosing the Best Video editors As Beginners
When trying to choose a video editor as a beginner, you should look out for:
What video editor has the most commonly used editing tools and intuitive interface
Some essential video editing tools should be available in a video editor. These include Video tools (cropping, rotating, merging, cutting, and splitting of videos), effects and animations, audio effects, the addition of texts, and other features necessary to the purpose of the video you are editing.
Templates for different occasions to create videos quickly
As a beginner video editor, you might not be creative enough to edit professional videos. Video editors that have ready-made templates will come in handy when you want to create a video quickly.
Ready-made templates give a guide to a beginner video editor to create professional-looking videos.
Tutorials and Supports
The best video editors for beginners are user-friendly, and they provide free tutorials to guide new users on their video editing journey. Some video editing software targets digital marketers and video content creators, so they release tutorial videos every week to help them improve their skills.
Are you a creator, influencer, or marketer, and you need to join the trend of creating video content that converts. Check out the list to know which free video editing software best suits your niche.
These are beginner-friendly video editing software that you can use to create professional-looking video content. Watch tutorials and get to work. The more videos you edit, the better you get at it.
Video content creation is becoming the trend because it retains human attention longer than images or writings do. As a beginner who is not so familiar with video editors, getting free video editing software for beginners might prove difficult.
In this article, you will learn the best free video editing software for beginners, its features, and its pros and cons. Also, you’ll learn some extra tips that will make your video editing seamless.
In this article
01 Best Free Desktop Video Editing Software for Beginners in 2024
02 Best Free Online Video Editors for Beginners in 2024
03 Best Free Video Editing Apps for Beginners on iPhone and Android
04 What to Look for in Choosing the Best Video editors As Beginners
Part 1: Best Free Desktop Video Editing Software for Beginners in 2024
1. Apple iMovie
Apple iMovie is a free video editing software for beginners; it comes pre-installed on Mac devices. It is known for having a simple interface that makes it user-friendly.
Supported on: Mac
Apple iMovie Main Features are:
- Chromakeying: With iMovie, you can change the background of a video from blue/ green to an image of your favorite place.
- Sound Integration: iMovie lets you record voiceovers, add music from iTunes and add special sound effects.
- Video tools: Add filters, titles, animations, and photos to the video.
- Speed control: fast track and add slow-mo effects to the video.
Pros
- It supports 4K videos.
- Professional standards.
- Chromakeying feature.
Cons
- It does not support Multicam and 360 video editing.
- Exported files take up a lot of space.
- Available for Mac and iOS users only.
2. Microsoft Photo App
Microsoft Photos app is a free photo and video editor for beginners. It was created to replace the Windows movie maker. Many might not know about the existence of the app and its ability to edit videos and photos.
Go to the search bar and type photos, and then select the Photos app to bring a menu where you can create albums, edit photos and videos. To edit videos, click on video projects to create a video from scratch or create video automatically.
Supported on: Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11
Microsoft Photos app main features for video editing are;
- Motion graphics, 3D effects, and animations.
- It allows the addition of background music or audio from the computer.
- It allows the addition of title cards and text backgrounds.
- Change of photo or video durations and speed
Pros
- It is free and readily installed in Windows 8 and above
- Easy to use
- Face detection
- Album collection and arrangement
Cons
- No essential video editing tools like transitioning and layering
- You can’t use it professionally.
- Does not allow video preview before exporting
3. VSDC Free Video Editor
VSDC is a free video editing software for beginners that can edit 4K UHD, 3D, and VR 360 videos. VSDC is one of the best video editors for beginners to edit complex videos. VSDC has a busy interface, making it less user-friendly than the other free video editing software for beginners.
Supported on: Windows
VSDC’s video editor has;
- Non-linear video editing tools
- Social media support features; VSDC has Instagram-like filters and lets you share edited videos directly to your social media.
- Audio Effects; The 360 editor has many audio effects like equalizer, audio delay, and volume correction.
- Video editing tools; VSDC has color-correction tools and tools to hide and replace unwanted elements. You can also transform videos with their subpixel resolution.
- Numerous 3D templates you can choose from.
Pros
- It supports many audio and video formats.
- 4K and HD exports
Cons
- Reduces video quality after editing
- Professional tools like stabilization, beat syncing, and motion graphics are only available in the pro version.
Part 2: Best Free Online Video Editors for Beginners in 2024
1. Clipchamp
Clipchamp is an online free video editor for beginners. Clipchamp can create social media videos, ads videos, presentations, and other short videos. It has a unique feature that allows teams to collaborate and edit videos projects.
Clipchamp has basic video editing features like:
- Text-to-speech feature; This feature allows you to add text that will become voiceovers in the video. You can choose the gender and nationality of the voice.
- Thousand of templates to choose from
- Video transitioning and layering.
Pros
- It allows auto-captioning capabilities on the mobile app.
- Video compression
- Allows Screen recording
- It can convert videos to WMV, which you can use in PowerPoint presentations.
Cons
- Not available on Android devices
- It uses selective browsers like Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
- It is not optimized for touchpad screens.
- The best quality video requires registration for the premium version.
2. Hippo Video
Hippo Video is one of the best video editors for beginners free online. You can use it on Mac, Windows, Android, iPhones, and iPads. Hippo is an all-in-one platform to create, record, edit, and share videos across different social media platforms.
Hippo video can;
- Create GIFs from videos.
- Trim, cut, and add emojis and tags to a video.
- Hide or blur unwanted objects in the video.
Pros
- It has other marketing features like email marketing, campaign management, and social media sharing.
- It can be added as a chrome extension to be used for screen capturing and recording.
Cons
- Watermarked in free version
- Limited video quality download in free version
- Long load time for video in between uploads.
3. Kapwing
Kapwing is an online free video editing software for beginners. The video editor is made for creators to create, edit and subtitle video content. Kapwing can convert MP4 videos to any file format as well as save the edited file in the cloud.
Primary Features
- It supports text overlay and drag-and-drop function
- Cut, resize, merge, split and trim videos.
- Supports HD resolution
- Lots of editable social media templates
- Convert video to any form (GIF, JPG, MP4)
Pros
- It does not add its watermark; instead, you can add your logo to create the video. Kapwingis
- Auto-generated subtitles.
- Background removal function
- It backs up videos on the cloud.
Cons
- It cannot export a video longer than 60 minutes
- On-site technical glitches
- To export files above 250MB or 7 minutes, you have to upgrade to the premium version.
- Only available online
4. Online Video Cutter/ 123 apps video editor
Online Video Cutter is an online-based video editor used to edit videos. It is used primarily for trimming videos to desirable sizes. Online video cutter is one of 123 apps to edit and convert different file formats. The video editor can trim, crop, rotate and resize videos.
With Online Video Cutter, you can;
- Frame the video or change the frame proportions of the videos.
- Change the angle of a video up to 270 degrees; this comes in handy when you want to change a video’s view from landscape to portrait.
- Flip, resize, change volume and add texts and images to your video.
- Trim, equalize, and record sounds to be added to the video.
Pros
- Supports all video format
- Privacy is guaranteed as you are the only one with access to the video.
- It works well in most browsers.
- It does not require sign up before use
- Converts files to any format
- Can upload files larger than 4GB in size
Cons
- It takes up a lot of time to upload files
- Decreases the video quality
- Cannot upload a file of more than 700MB in the free version
5. FlexClip
Flexclip is an online video creator and editor with essential editing tools. Flexclip has numerous templates and presets that let you create videos in a short time. You can create your video from scratch, templates, and previously saved videos.
Main Feature
- Audio effects: you can record voices and add background music to the video.
- Video tools: trim, merge, compress and convert videos.
- Customization: you can add your logo or watermark to the video.
- Allows video transition and GIF production
- Allows you to increase video brightness and add filters to video.
Pros
- It has more than 4 million pictures and pictures to add to videos.
- Allows preview of videos before exporting.
- It supports different video resolutions.
- Templates for various events are available.
Cons
- Limited video resolution download in free version
- The free version can only create a 1-minute video and hold 12 projects.
Part 3: Best Free Video Editing Apps for Beginners on iPhone and Android
1. CapCut
Cap C ut is a free video editing software for beginners suitable for TikTok content creators. It was formerly known as Viamaker. Cap cut is easy to use for beginners, and it can create spectacular videos automatically by cutting, reordering, and merging recorded videos.
Supported on: Android and iOS
Cap cut allows you to:
- Split, merge, and reverse videos.
- Control the video speed
- Add filter, special effects, stickers, and texts to videos.
- Overlay and add sounds to the videos
Pros
- You can export directly to Tiktok.
- It has a vast music library, including copyrighted songs.
- Exported videos are of high quality.
Cons
- It does not support Multicam and 360 video editing.
- Effectiveness depends on the phone’s processor and features.
- Limited editing features.
- Video cannot exceed 15 minutes.
- You can only add a music track per video.
2. Quik
Quik is a free video editor for beginners produced by the makers of GoPro. Quik is an auto-video maker that puts together pictures, videos, and music with a few selections.
Supported on: Android and iOS
Main features
- Auto-video: Quik will create a video with transitions and soundtrack when you select several pictures and videos.
- Video editing tools: you can adjust the brightness, add texts and stickers, and add filters to a video.
- Adjust video speed: you can add slo-mo and freeze effects to the video.
- It allows direct sharing to social media pages.
Pros
- Allows HD video download
- Video styles template for new users.
- Unlimited cloud backup.
- Changes video ratio to suit different social media
Cons
- Limited editing features in the free version.
- Not suitable for videos longer than 60 seconds
- Limited font styles
Part 4: What to Look for in Choosing the Best Video editors As Beginners
When trying to choose a video editor as a beginner, you should look out for:
What video editor has the most commonly used editing tools and intuitive interface
Some essential video editing tools should be available in a video editor. These include Video tools (cropping, rotating, merging, cutting, and splitting of videos), effects and animations, audio effects, the addition of texts, and other features necessary to the purpose of the video you are editing.
Templates for different occasions to create videos quickly
As a beginner video editor, you might not be creative enough to edit professional videos. Video editors that have ready-made templates will come in handy when you want to create a video quickly.
Ready-made templates give a guide to a beginner video editor to create professional-looking videos.
Tutorials and Supports
The best video editors for beginners are user-friendly, and they provide free tutorials to guide new users on their video editing journey. Some video editing software targets digital marketers and video content creators, so they release tutorial videos every week to help them improve their skills.
Are you a creator, influencer, or marketer, and you need to join the trend of creating video content that converts. Check out the list to know which free video editing software best suits your niche.
These are beginner-friendly video editing software that you can use to create professional-looking video content. Watch tutorials and get to work. The more videos you edit, the better you get at it.
Video content creation is becoming the trend because it retains human attention longer than images or writings do. As a beginner who is not so familiar with video editors, getting free video editing software for beginners might prove difficult.
In this article, you will learn the best free video editing software for beginners, its features, and its pros and cons. Also, you’ll learn some extra tips that will make your video editing seamless.
In this article
01 Best Free Desktop Video Editing Software for Beginners in 2024
02 Best Free Online Video Editors for Beginners in 2024
03 Best Free Video Editing Apps for Beginners on iPhone and Android
04 What to Look for in Choosing the Best Video editors As Beginners
Part 1: Best Free Desktop Video Editing Software for Beginners in 2024
1. Apple iMovie
Apple iMovie is a free video editing software for beginners; it comes pre-installed on Mac devices. It is known for having a simple interface that makes it user-friendly.
Supported on: Mac
Apple iMovie Main Features are:
- Chromakeying: With iMovie, you can change the background of a video from blue/ green to an image of your favorite place.
- Sound Integration: iMovie lets you record voiceovers, add music from iTunes and add special sound effects.
- Video tools: Add filters, titles, animations, and photos to the video.
- Speed control: fast track and add slow-mo effects to the video.
Pros
- It supports 4K videos.
- Professional standards.
- Chromakeying feature.
Cons
- It does not support Multicam and 360 video editing.
- Exported files take up a lot of space.
- Available for Mac and iOS users only.
2. Microsoft Photo App
Microsoft Photos app is a free photo and video editor for beginners. It was created to replace the Windows movie maker. Many might not know about the existence of the app and its ability to edit videos and photos.
Go to the search bar and type photos, and then select the Photos app to bring a menu where you can create albums, edit photos and videos. To edit videos, click on video projects to create a video from scratch or create video automatically.
Supported on: Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11
Microsoft Photos app main features for video editing are;
- Motion graphics, 3D effects, and animations.
- It allows the addition of background music or audio from the computer.
- It allows the addition of title cards and text backgrounds.
- Change of photo or video durations and speed
Pros
- It is free and readily installed in Windows 8 and above
- Easy to use
- Face detection
- Album collection and arrangement
Cons
- No essential video editing tools like transitioning and layering
- You can’t use it professionally.
- Does not allow video preview before exporting
3. VSDC Free Video Editor
VSDC is a free video editing software for beginners that can edit 4K UHD, 3D, and VR 360 videos. VSDC is one of the best video editors for beginners to edit complex videos. VSDC has a busy interface, making it less user-friendly than the other free video editing software for beginners.
Supported on: Windows
VSDC’s video editor has;
- Non-linear video editing tools
- Social media support features; VSDC has Instagram-like filters and lets you share edited videos directly to your social media.
- Audio Effects; The 360 editor has many audio effects like equalizer, audio delay, and volume correction.
- Video editing tools; VSDC has color-correction tools and tools to hide and replace unwanted elements. You can also transform videos with their subpixel resolution.
- Numerous 3D templates you can choose from.
Pros
- It supports many audio and video formats.
- 4K and HD exports
Cons
- Reduces video quality after editing
- Professional tools like stabilization, beat syncing, and motion graphics are only available in the pro version.
Part 2: Best Free Online Video Editors for Beginners in 2024
1. Clipchamp
Clipchamp is an online free video editor for beginners. Clipchamp can create social media videos, ads videos, presentations, and other short videos. It has a unique feature that allows teams to collaborate and edit videos projects.
Clipchamp has basic video editing features like:
- Text-to-speech feature; This feature allows you to add text that will become voiceovers in the video. You can choose the gender and nationality of the voice.
- Thousand of templates to choose from
- Video transitioning and layering.
Pros
- It allows auto-captioning capabilities on the mobile app.
- Video compression
- Allows Screen recording
- It can convert videos to WMV, which you can use in PowerPoint presentations.
Cons
- Not available on Android devices
- It uses selective browsers like Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
- It is not optimized for touchpad screens.
- The best quality video requires registration for the premium version.
2. Hippo Video
Hippo Video is one of the best video editors for beginners free online. You can use it on Mac, Windows, Android, iPhones, and iPads. Hippo is an all-in-one platform to create, record, edit, and share videos across different social media platforms.
Hippo video can;
- Create GIFs from videos.
- Trim, cut, and add emojis and tags to a video.
- Hide or blur unwanted objects in the video.
Pros
- It has other marketing features like email marketing, campaign management, and social media sharing.
- It can be added as a chrome extension to be used for screen capturing and recording.
Cons
- Watermarked in free version
- Limited video quality download in free version
- Long load time for video in between uploads.
3. Kapwing
Kapwing is an online free video editing software for beginners. The video editor is made for creators to create, edit and subtitle video content. Kapwing can convert MP4 videos to any file format as well as save the edited file in the cloud.
Primary Features
- It supports text overlay and drag-and-drop function
- Cut, resize, merge, split and trim videos.
- Supports HD resolution
- Lots of editable social media templates
- Convert video to any form (GIF, JPG, MP4)
Pros
- It does not add its watermark; instead, you can add your logo to create the video. Kapwingis
- Auto-generated subtitles.
- Background removal function
- It backs up videos on the cloud.
Cons
- It cannot export a video longer than 60 minutes
- On-site technical glitches
- To export files above 250MB or 7 minutes, you have to upgrade to the premium version.
- Only available online
4. Online Video Cutter/ 123 apps video editor
Online Video Cutter is an online-based video editor used to edit videos. It is used primarily for trimming videos to desirable sizes. Online video cutter is one of 123 apps to edit and convert different file formats. The video editor can trim, crop, rotate and resize videos.
With Online Video Cutter, you can;
- Frame the video or change the frame proportions of the videos.
- Change the angle of a video up to 270 degrees; this comes in handy when you want to change a video’s view from landscape to portrait.
- Flip, resize, change volume and add texts and images to your video.
- Trim, equalize, and record sounds to be added to the video.
Pros
- Supports all video format
- Privacy is guaranteed as you are the only one with access to the video.
- It works well in most browsers.
- It does not require sign up before use
- Converts files to any format
- Can upload files larger than 4GB in size
Cons
- It takes up a lot of time to upload files
- Decreases the video quality
- Cannot upload a file of more than 700MB in the free version
5. FlexClip
Flexclip is an online video creator and editor with essential editing tools. Flexclip has numerous templates and presets that let you create videos in a short time. You can create your video from scratch, templates, and previously saved videos.
Main Feature
- Audio effects: you can record voices and add background music to the video.
- Video tools: trim, merge, compress and convert videos.
- Customization: you can add your logo or watermark to the video.
- Allows video transition and GIF production
- Allows you to increase video brightness and add filters to video.
Pros
- It has more than 4 million pictures and pictures to add to videos.
- Allows preview of videos before exporting.
- It supports different video resolutions.
- Templates for various events are available.
Cons
- Limited video resolution download in free version
- The free version can only create a 1-minute video and hold 12 projects.
Part 3: Best Free Video Editing Apps for Beginners on iPhone and Android
1. CapCut
Cap C ut is a free video editing software for beginners suitable for TikTok content creators. It was formerly known as Viamaker. Cap cut is easy to use for beginners, and it can create spectacular videos automatically by cutting, reordering, and merging recorded videos.
Supported on: Android and iOS
Cap cut allows you to:
- Split, merge, and reverse videos.
- Control the video speed
- Add filter, special effects, stickers, and texts to videos.
- Overlay and add sounds to the videos
Pros
- You can export directly to Tiktok.
- It has a vast music library, including copyrighted songs.
- Exported videos are of high quality.
Cons
- It does not support Multicam and 360 video editing.
- Effectiveness depends on the phone’s processor and features.
- Limited editing features.
- Video cannot exceed 15 minutes.
- You can only add a music track per video.
2. Quik
Quik is a free video editor for beginners produced by the makers of GoPro. Quik is an auto-video maker that puts together pictures, videos, and music with a few selections.
Supported on: Android and iOS
Main features
- Auto-video: Quik will create a video with transitions and soundtrack when you select several pictures and videos.
- Video editing tools: you can adjust the brightness, add texts and stickers, and add filters to a video.
- Adjust video speed: you can add slo-mo and freeze effects to the video.
- It allows direct sharing to social media pages.
Pros
- Allows HD video download
- Video styles template for new users.
- Unlimited cloud backup.
- Changes video ratio to suit different social media
Cons
- Limited editing features in the free version.
- Not suitable for videos longer than 60 seconds
- Limited font styles
Part 4: What to Look for in Choosing the Best Video editors As Beginners
When trying to choose a video editor as a beginner, you should look out for:
What video editor has the most commonly used editing tools and intuitive interface
Some essential video editing tools should be available in a video editor. These include Video tools (cropping, rotating, merging, cutting, and splitting of videos), effects and animations, audio effects, the addition of texts, and other features necessary to the purpose of the video you are editing.
Templates for different occasions to create videos quickly
As a beginner video editor, you might not be creative enough to edit professional videos. Video editors that have ready-made templates will come in handy when you want to create a video quickly.
Ready-made templates give a guide to a beginner video editor to create professional-looking videos.
Tutorials and Supports
The best video editors for beginners are user-friendly, and they provide free tutorials to guide new users on their video editing journey. Some video editing software targets digital marketers and video content creators, so they release tutorial videos every week to help them improve their skills.
Are you a creator, influencer, or marketer, and you need to join the trend of creating video content that converts. Check out the list to know which free video editing software best suits your niche.
These are beginner-friendly video editing software that you can use to create professional-looking video content. Watch tutorials and get to work. The more videos you edit, the better you get at it.
Video content creation is becoming the trend because it retains human attention longer than images or writings do. As a beginner who is not so familiar with video editors, getting free video editing software for beginners might prove difficult.
In this article, you will learn the best free video editing software for beginners, its features, and its pros and cons. Also, you’ll learn some extra tips that will make your video editing seamless.
In this article
01 Best Free Desktop Video Editing Software for Beginners in 2024
02 Best Free Online Video Editors for Beginners in 2024
03 Best Free Video Editing Apps for Beginners on iPhone and Android
04 What to Look for in Choosing the Best Video editors As Beginners
Part 1: Best Free Desktop Video Editing Software for Beginners in 2024
1. Apple iMovie
Apple iMovie is a free video editing software for beginners; it comes pre-installed on Mac devices. It is known for having a simple interface that makes it user-friendly.
Supported on: Mac
Apple iMovie Main Features are:
- Chromakeying: With iMovie, you can change the background of a video from blue/ green to an image of your favorite place.
- Sound Integration: iMovie lets you record voiceovers, add music from iTunes and add special sound effects.
- Video tools: Add filters, titles, animations, and photos to the video.
- Speed control: fast track and add slow-mo effects to the video.
Pros
- It supports 4K videos.
- Professional standards.
- Chromakeying feature.
Cons
- It does not support Multicam and 360 video editing.
- Exported files take up a lot of space.
- Available for Mac and iOS users only.
2. Microsoft Photo App
Microsoft Photos app is a free photo and video editor for beginners. It was created to replace the Windows movie maker. Many might not know about the existence of the app and its ability to edit videos and photos.
Go to the search bar and type photos, and then select the Photos app to bring a menu where you can create albums, edit photos and videos. To edit videos, click on video projects to create a video from scratch or create video automatically.
Supported on: Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11
Microsoft Photos app main features for video editing are;
- Motion graphics, 3D effects, and animations.
- It allows the addition of background music or audio from the computer.
- It allows the addition of title cards and text backgrounds.
- Change of photo or video durations and speed
Pros
- It is free and readily installed in Windows 8 and above
- Easy to use
- Face detection
- Album collection and arrangement
Cons
- No essential video editing tools like transitioning and layering
- You can’t use it professionally.
- Does not allow video preview before exporting
3. VSDC Free Video Editor
VSDC is a free video editing software for beginners that can edit 4K UHD, 3D, and VR 360 videos. VSDC is one of the best video editors for beginners to edit complex videos. VSDC has a busy interface, making it less user-friendly than the other free video editing software for beginners.
Supported on: Windows
VSDC’s video editor has;
- Non-linear video editing tools
- Social media support features; VSDC has Instagram-like filters and lets you share edited videos directly to your social media.
- Audio Effects; The 360 editor has many audio effects like equalizer, audio delay, and volume correction.
- Video editing tools; VSDC has color-correction tools and tools to hide and replace unwanted elements. You can also transform videos with their subpixel resolution.
- Numerous 3D templates you can choose from.
Pros
- It supports many audio and video formats.
- 4K and HD exports
Cons
- Reduces video quality after editing
- Professional tools like stabilization, beat syncing, and motion graphics are only available in the pro version.
Part 2: Best Free Online Video Editors for Beginners in 2024
1. Clipchamp
Clipchamp is an online free video editor for beginners. Clipchamp can create social media videos, ads videos, presentations, and other short videos. It has a unique feature that allows teams to collaborate and edit videos projects.
Clipchamp has basic video editing features like:
- Text-to-speech feature; This feature allows you to add text that will become voiceovers in the video. You can choose the gender and nationality of the voice.
- Thousand of templates to choose from
- Video transitioning and layering.
Pros
- It allows auto-captioning capabilities on the mobile app.
- Video compression
- Allows Screen recording
- It can convert videos to WMV, which you can use in PowerPoint presentations.
Cons
- Not available on Android devices
- It uses selective browsers like Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
- It is not optimized for touchpad screens.
- The best quality video requires registration for the premium version.
2. Hippo Video
Hippo Video is one of the best video editors for beginners free online. You can use it on Mac, Windows, Android, iPhones, and iPads. Hippo is an all-in-one platform to create, record, edit, and share videos across different social media platforms.
Hippo video can;
- Create GIFs from videos.
- Trim, cut, and add emojis and tags to a video.
- Hide or blur unwanted objects in the video.
Pros
- It has other marketing features like email marketing, campaign management, and social media sharing.
- It can be added as a chrome extension to be used for screen capturing and recording.
Cons
- Watermarked in free version
- Limited video quality download in free version
- Long load time for video in between uploads.
3. Kapwing
Kapwing is an online free video editing software for beginners. The video editor is made for creators to create, edit and subtitle video content. Kapwing can convert MP4 videos to any file format as well as save the edited file in the cloud.
Primary Features
- It supports text overlay and drag-and-drop function
- Cut, resize, merge, split and trim videos.
- Supports HD resolution
- Lots of editable social media templates
- Convert video to any form (GIF, JPG, MP4)
Pros
- It does not add its watermark; instead, you can add your logo to create the video. Kapwingis
- Auto-generated subtitles.
- Background removal function
- It backs up videos on the cloud.
Cons
- It cannot export a video longer than 60 minutes
- On-site technical glitches
- To export files above 250MB or 7 minutes, you have to upgrade to the premium version.
- Only available online
4. Online Video Cutter/ 123 apps video editor
Online Video Cutter is an online-based video editor used to edit videos. It is used primarily for trimming videos to desirable sizes. Online video cutter is one of 123 apps to edit and convert different file formats. The video editor can trim, crop, rotate and resize videos.
With Online Video Cutter, you can;
- Frame the video or change the frame proportions of the videos.
- Change the angle of a video up to 270 degrees; this comes in handy when you want to change a video’s view from landscape to portrait.
- Flip, resize, change volume and add texts and images to your video.
- Trim, equalize, and record sounds to be added to the video.
Pros
- Supports all video format
- Privacy is guaranteed as you are the only one with access to the video.
- It works well in most browsers.
- It does not require sign up before use
- Converts files to any format
- Can upload files larger than 4GB in size
Cons
- It takes up a lot of time to upload files
- Decreases the video quality
- Cannot upload a file of more than 700MB in the free version
5. FlexClip
Flexclip is an online video creator and editor with essential editing tools. Flexclip has numerous templates and presets that let you create videos in a short time. You can create your video from scratch, templates, and previously saved videos.
Main Feature
- Audio effects: you can record voices and add background music to the video.
- Video tools: trim, merge, compress and convert videos.
- Customization: you can add your logo or watermark to the video.
- Allows video transition and GIF production
- Allows you to increase video brightness and add filters to video.
Pros
- It has more than 4 million pictures and pictures to add to videos.
- Allows preview of videos before exporting.
- It supports different video resolutions.
- Templates for various events are available.
Cons
- Limited video resolution download in free version
- The free version can only create a 1-minute video and hold 12 projects.
Part 3: Best Free Video Editing Apps for Beginners on iPhone and Android
1. CapCut
Cap C ut is a free video editing software for beginners suitable for TikTok content creators. It was formerly known as Viamaker. Cap cut is easy to use for beginners, and it can create spectacular videos automatically by cutting, reordering, and merging recorded videos.
Supported on: Android and iOS
Cap cut allows you to:
- Split, merge, and reverse videos.
- Control the video speed
- Add filter, special effects, stickers, and texts to videos.
- Overlay and add sounds to the videos
Pros
- You can export directly to Tiktok.
- It has a vast music library, including copyrighted songs.
- Exported videos are of high quality.
Cons
- It does not support Multicam and 360 video editing.
- Effectiveness depends on the phone’s processor and features.
- Limited editing features.
- Video cannot exceed 15 minutes.
- You can only add a music track per video.
2. Quik
Quik is a free video editor for beginners produced by the makers of GoPro. Quik is an auto-video maker that puts together pictures, videos, and music with a few selections.
Supported on: Android and iOS
Main features
- Auto-video: Quik will create a video with transitions and soundtrack when you select several pictures and videos.
- Video editing tools: you can adjust the brightness, add texts and stickers, and add filters to a video.
- Adjust video speed: you can add slo-mo and freeze effects to the video.
- It allows direct sharing to social media pages.
Pros
- Allows HD video download
- Video styles template for new users.
- Unlimited cloud backup.
- Changes video ratio to suit different social media
Cons
- Limited editing features in the free version.
- Not suitable for videos longer than 60 seconds
- Limited font styles
Part 4: What to Look for in Choosing the Best Video editors As Beginners
When trying to choose a video editor as a beginner, you should look out for:
What video editor has the most commonly used editing tools and intuitive interface
Some essential video editing tools should be available in a video editor. These include Video tools (cropping, rotating, merging, cutting, and splitting of videos), effects and animations, audio effects, the addition of texts, and other features necessary to the purpose of the video you are editing.
Templates for different occasions to create videos quickly
As a beginner video editor, you might not be creative enough to edit professional videos. Video editors that have ready-made templates will come in handy when you want to create a video quickly.
Ready-made templates give a guide to a beginner video editor to create professional-looking videos.
Tutorials and Supports
The best video editors for beginners are user-friendly, and they provide free tutorials to guide new users on their video editing journey. Some video editing software targets digital marketers and video content creators, so they release tutorial videos every week to help them improve their skills.
Are you a creator, influencer, or marketer, and you need to join the trend of creating video content that converts. Check out the list to know which free video editing software best suits your niche.
These are beginner-friendly video editing software that you can use to create professional-looking video content. Watch tutorials and get to work. The more videos you edit, the better you get at it.
Mastering VLC: Slow Motion Video Playback Made Easy
While the files of the most common formats like MP4, WAV, etc. may look identical, they might be compiled using varied codecs which may or may not support any random player that you install on your PC. The reason why VLC media player is used by the majority of users worldwide is the versatility in the codecs that it supports natively.
Furthermore, the app is available for almost every platform, i.e., Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android, and is absolutely free to download and use.
With that said, the following sections explain how to manage the playback speed of a video while using VLC media player to add a slow motion effect to video. Here you will learn how to play slow motion on VLC on Windows, Mac, and iOS/Android, and also how to set the default speed for the app so that every time a video is played, the speed remains according to your preference.
In this article
01 How to Play Video in Slow Motion Effects on Windows with VLC?
02 How to Play Slow Motion Effects on Mac with VLC?
03 How to Control Playback Speed in VLC Media Player on Android and iOS?
04 How to Set up the Default Playback Speed on VLC?
Part 1: How to Play Video in Slow Motion Effects on Windows with VLC?
VLC is one of the best media players to play videos in slow motion . You can follow the instructions that are given below to learn how to play a video in slow motion in VLC on a Windows PC:
Step 1: Start Video Playback
Launch VLC on your Windows computer (a Windows 11 PC is used here for illustrations), click Media from the menu bar at the top, click Open File from the menu, and locate and open a video that you want to watch in slow motion. If VLC is your default media player, simply double-clicking the clip automatically opens the file in the app.
Step 2: Reduce the Playback Speed (In Decrements of 0.10x)
Once the playback begins, press the Spacebar on the keyboard to pause the video. Next, go to the Playback menu from the top, go to Speed, and click Slower (fine) once. This will reduce the speed to 0.90x. Clicking Slower (fine) again will further slow down the video to 0.80x speed. You can repeat this process until you reduce the speed to your desired level. Press Spacebar again to resume the playback in slow motion.
Note: The lowest speed that you can go to using this process is 0.03x.
Step 3: Reduce the Playback Speed (In Decrements in Percentage)
Pause the playback and go to Playback > Speed as explained in the previous step. From the list that comes up, click Slower (the last option). This will reduce the speed to 0.67x. Click Slower again and the speed will further go down to 0.50x. You can repeat this process until you reach your desired playback speed. Press Spacebar to resume the playback in slow motion. With this method, you can reduce the speed to as low as 0.02x.
Note: You can click Normal from the Speed submenu to play the video at normal speed.
Step 4: Using the Shortcut Keys (Optional)
You can press the left square bracket ‘[‘ on your keyboard to reduce the speed in decrements of 0.10x. To get back to the normal speed, press the equals to ‘=’ key. Likewise, pressing the right square bracket ‘]’ increases the speed by 0.10x.
Note: As it is with the Slower (fine) and Slower options, you can use Faster (fine) to add 0.10x increments to the speed, and Faster to increase percentage-wise. Also, if Faster (fine) is clicked repeatedly or its shortcut key is used multiple times, the speed can be increased up to 31.25x. On the other hand, by using the Faster option repeatedly, the speed can be increased to more than 100x.
Part 2: How to Play Slow Motion Effects on Mac with VLC?
The process of slowing down the video playback in VLC on a Mac computer is almost identical to that in Windows. You can learn how to get this done by following the steps that are given below:
Step 1: Open and Pause the Video
Locate and right-click the video that you want to play in slow motion, go to Open With from the context menu, and click VLC from the submenu. Once the clip opens, click the Pause button from the bottom as explained in the previous section.
Step 2: Reduce the Playback Speed
Click Playback from the menu bar at the top, and drag the Playback Speed slider to the left to reduce the speed of the video.
Step 3: Resume the Playback
Click anywhere on the screen to close the Playback menu, and then click the Play button from the bottom to resume the video playback in slow motion.
Part 3: How to Control Playback Speed in VLC Media Player on Android and iOS?
Although the playback speed of a video on both Android and iOS devices can be controlled with a slider, the location where the controller is placed on the two platforms varies, and so does the process of reaching there. Both the methods are explained below for your convenience:
Play Video in Slow Motion on Android with VLC
Step 1: Pause the Playback
Launch VLC on your Android phone (Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is used here for illustrations), locate and open the video in VLC, tap anywhere on the screen, and tap the Pause button from the bottom to pause the playback.
Step 2: Set a Slower Playback Speed
Tap the More icon from the bottom-right corner, tap Playback speed from the menu that appears, and drag the slider that is present at the bottom to the left to reduce the speed. Alternatively, you can also repeatedly tap the down arrow that is present at the right of the slider to slow down the speed in the decrements of 0.05x.
Step 3: Resume the Playback
Tap anywhere on the screen, and when the Playback speed slider disappears, tap the screen one more time. Now, tap the Play icon from the bottom to resume the video playback.
Play Video in Slow Motion on iPhone with VLC
Step 1: Pause the Playback
Assuming that you have already added the video to the VLC library by connecting it to iTunes, launch the app on your iOS device (iPhone 13 Pro Max is used here for illustrations). Tap the video that you want to play in slow motion, and then tap the Pause icon from the bottom.
Step 2: Reduce the Playback Speed
Tap anywhere on the screen, and tap the Clock icon from the lower-left corner. Next, drag the Playback speed slider to the left to reduce the playback speed.
Step 3: Resume the Playback
Right after decreasing the speed, tap the Play icon from the bottom to resume the playback. If the controllers disappear, you can tap anywhere on the screen again, and then tap the Play icon.
Part 4: How to Set up the Default Playback Speed on VLC?
The processes of setting up default playback speed on different platforms and devices vary. For your convenience, all of them are explained below:
Set up Default Playback Speed in VLC on Windows
- Go to Tools > Preferences in VLC media player, and then click the All button from the Show settings section at the bottom.
- Select Input / Codecs from the left pane of the Advanced Preferences box, and then specify your preferred speed in the Playback speed field that is present under the Playback control section on the right window
- Click Save to save the changes
Set up Default Playback Speed in VLC on Mac
- Launch VLC, and go to VLC media player from the menu bar, and then click Preferences; and then click Show All from the bottom of the Preferences box to display all preferences setting options;
- Click the Input / Codecs from the left pane, and then define your preferred speed in the Playback speed field under the Playback control section in the right window, and then click Save to save the changes.
How to Change VLC Media Player Default Speed on Android
Note: At the time of this writing, the Android version of VLC doesn’t allow you to set a global default playback speed. However, you can set it on a per video basis. This means that every time that video is played, the playback speed will remain what you set for it. You must do this for each video in your VLC library individually.
- Launch VLC, and then tap More from the bottom-right corner; next, tap SETTINGS from the upper-left area;
- Tap Video from the Extra settings section, and then check the Save Playback Speed box
How to Change VLC Media Player Default Speed on iOS and iPhone
- Tap Settings from the Home screen, and then scroll down and tap VLC
- Tap Default playback speed from the GENERIC section, and then tap to select a playback speed from the available list to set it as the default.
Conclusion
It is pretty convenient to reduce the playback speed in VLC media player regardless of the platform or device you are using. While the processes of getting the job might be different, the principle behind it remains the same. When on Windows, the playback speed can be decreased to 0.02x and can be increased to more than 100x. This facility is not available on Mac, iOS, or Android platforms. Also, if you want, you can set the default playback speed for the videos so that every time a clip is played, the pace remains what you specified as default.
02 How to Play Slow Motion Effects on Mac with VLC?
03 How to Control Playback Speed in VLC Media Player on Android and iOS?
04 How to Set up the Default Playback Speed on VLC?
Part 1: How to Play Video in Slow Motion Effects on Windows with VLC?
VLC is one of the best media players to play videos in slow motion . You can follow the instructions that are given below to learn how to play a video in slow motion in VLC on a Windows PC:
Step 1: Start Video Playback
Launch VLC on your Windows computer (a Windows 11 PC is used here for illustrations), click Media from the menu bar at the top, click Open File from the menu, and locate and open a video that you want to watch in slow motion. If VLC is your default media player, simply double-clicking the clip automatically opens the file in the app.
Step 2: Reduce the Playback Speed (In Decrements of 0.10x)
Once the playback begins, press the Spacebar on the keyboard to pause the video. Next, go to the Playback menu from the top, go to Speed, and click Slower (fine) once. This will reduce the speed to 0.90x. Clicking Slower (fine) again will further slow down the video to 0.80x speed. You can repeat this process until you reduce the speed to your desired level. Press Spacebar again to resume the playback in slow motion.
Note: The lowest speed that you can go to using this process is 0.03x.
Step 3: Reduce the Playback Speed (In Decrements in Percentage)
Pause the playback and go to Playback > Speed as explained in the previous step. From the list that comes up, click Slower (the last option). This will reduce the speed to 0.67x. Click Slower again and the speed will further go down to 0.50x. You can repeat this process until you reach your desired playback speed. Press Spacebar to resume the playback in slow motion. With this method, you can reduce the speed to as low as 0.02x.
Note: You can click Normal from the Speed submenu to play the video at normal speed.
Step 4: Using the Shortcut Keys (Optional)
You can press the left square bracket ‘[‘ on your keyboard to reduce the speed in decrements of 0.10x. To get back to the normal speed, press the equals to ‘=’ key. Likewise, pressing the right square bracket ‘]’ increases the speed by 0.10x.
Note: As it is with the Slower (fine) and Slower options, you can use Faster (fine) to add 0.10x increments to the speed, and Faster to increase percentage-wise. Also, if Faster (fine) is clicked repeatedly or its shortcut key is used multiple times, the speed can be increased up to 31.25x. On the other hand, by using the Faster option repeatedly, the speed can be increased to more than 100x.
Part 2: How to Play Slow Motion Effects on Mac with VLC?
The process of slowing down the video playback in VLC on a Mac computer is almost identical to that in Windows. You can learn how to get this done by following the steps that are given below:
Step 1: Open and Pause the Video
Locate and right-click the video that you want to play in slow motion, go to Open With from the context menu, and click VLC from the submenu. Once the clip opens, click the Pause button from the bottom as explained in the previous section.
Step 2: Reduce the Playback Speed
Click Playback from the menu bar at the top, and drag the Playback Speed slider to the left to reduce the speed of the video.
Step 3: Resume the Playback
Click anywhere on the screen to close the Playback menu, and then click the Play button from the bottom to resume the video playback in slow motion.
Part 3: How to Control Playback Speed in VLC Media Player on Android and iOS?
Although the playback speed of a video on both Android and iOS devices can be controlled with a slider, the location where the controller is placed on the two platforms varies, and so does the process of reaching there. Both the methods are explained below for your convenience:
Play Video in Slow Motion on Android with VLC
Step 1: Pause the Playback
Launch VLC on your Android phone (Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is used here for illustrations), locate and open the video in VLC, tap anywhere on the screen, and tap the Pause button from the bottom to pause the playback.
Step 2: Set a Slower Playback Speed
Tap the More icon from the bottom-right corner, tap Playback speed from the menu that appears, and drag the slider that is present at the bottom to the left to reduce the speed. Alternatively, you can also repeatedly tap the down arrow that is present at the right of the slider to slow down the speed in the decrements of 0.05x.
Step 3: Resume the Playback
Tap anywhere on the screen, and when the Playback speed slider disappears, tap the screen one more time. Now, tap the Play icon from the bottom to resume the video playback.
Play Video in Slow Motion on iPhone with VLC
Step 1: Pause the Playback
Assuming that you have already added the video to the VLC library by connecting it to iTunes, launch the app on your iOS device (iPhone 13 Pro Max is used here for illustrations). Tap the video that you want to play in slow motion, and then tap the Pause icon from the bottom.
Step 2: Reduce the Playback Speed
Tap anywhere on the screen, and tap the Clock icon from the lower-left corner. Next, drag the Playback speed slider to the left to reduce the playback speed.
Step 3: Resume the Playback
Right after decreasing the speed, tap the Play icon from the bottom to resume the playback. If the controllers disappear, you can tap anywhere on the screen again, and then tap the Play icon.
Part 4: How to Set up the Default Playback Speed on VLC?
The processes of setting up default playback speed on different platforms and devices vary. For your convenience, all of them are explained below:
Set up Default Playback Speed in VLC on Windows
- Go to Tools > Preferences in VLC media player, and then click the All button from the Show settings section at the bottom.
- Select Input / Codecs from the left pane of the Advanced Preferences box, and then specify your preferred speed in the Playback speed field that is present under the Playback control section on the right window
- Click Save to save the changes
Set up Default Playback Speed in VLC on Mac
- Launch VLC, and go to VLC media player from the menu bar, and then click Preferences; and then click Show All from the bottom of the Preferences box to display all preferences setting options;
- Click the Input / Codecs from the left pane, and then define your preferred speed in the Playback speed field under the Playback control section in the right window, and then click Save to save the changes.
How to Change VLC Media Player Default Speed on Android
Note: At the time of this writing, the Android version of VLC doesn’t allow you to set a global default playback speed. However, you can set it on a per video basis. This means that every time that video is played, the playback speed will remain what you set for it. You must do this for each video in your VLC library individually.
- Launch VLC, and then tap More from the bottom-right corner; next, tap SETTINGS from the upper-left area;
- Tap Video from the Extra settings section, and then check the Save Playback Speed box
How to Change VLC Media Player Default Speed on iOS and iPhone
- Tap Settings from the Home screen, and then scroll down and tap VLC
- Tap Default playback speed from the GENERIC section, and then tap to select a playback speed from the available list to set it as the default.
Conclusion
It is pretty convenient to reduce the playback speed in VLC media player regardless of the platform or device you are using. While the processes of getting the job might be different, the principle behind it remains the same. When on Windows, the playback speed can be decreased to 0.02x and can be increased to more than 100x. This facility is not available on Mac, iOS, or Android platforms. Also, if you want, you can set the default playback speed for the videos so that every time a clip is played, the pace remains what you specified as default.
02 How to Play Slow Motion Effects on Mac with VLC?
03 How to Control Playback Speed in VLC Media Player on Android and iOS?
04 How to Set up the Default Playback Speed on VLC?
Part 1: How to Play Video in Slow Motion Effects on Windows with VLC?
VLC is one of the best media players to play videos in slow motion . You can follow the instructions that are given below to learn how to play a video in slow motion in VLC on a Windows PC:
Step 1: Start Video Playback
Launch VLC on your Windows computer (a Windows 11 PC is used here for illustrations), click Media from the menu bar at the top, click Open File from the menu, and locate and open a video that you want to watch in slow motion. If VLC is your default media player, simply double-clicking the clip automatically opens the file in the app.
Step 2: Reduce the Playback Speed (In Decrements of 0.10x)
Once the playback begins, press the Spacebar on the keyboard to pause the video. Next, go to the Playback menu from the top, go to Speed, and click Slower (fine) once. This will reduce the speed to 0.90x. Clicking Slower (fine) again will further slow down the video to 0.80x speed. You can repeat this process until you reduce the speed to your desired level. Press Spacebar again to resume the playback in slow motion.
Note: The lowest speed that you can go to using this process is 0.03x.
Step 3: Reduce the Playback Speed (In Decrements in Percentage)
Pause the playback and go to Playback > Speed as explained in the previous step. From the list that comes up, click Slower (the last option). This will reduce the speed to 0.67x. Click Slower again and the speed will further go down to 0.50x. You can repeat this process until you reach your desired playback speed. Press Spacebar to resume the playback in slow motion. With this method, you can reduce the speed to as low as 0.02x.
Note: You can click Normal from the Speed submenu to play the video at normal speed.
Step 4: Using the Shortcut Keys (Optional)
You can press the left square bracket ‘[‘ on your keyboard to reduce the speed in decrements of 0.10x. To get back to the normal speed, press the equals to ‘=’ key. Likewise, pressing the right square bracket ‘]’ increases the speed by 0.10x.
Note: As it is with the Slower (fine) and Slower options, you can use Faster (fine) to add 0.10x increments to the speed, and Faster to increase percentage-wise. Also, if Faster (fine) is clicked repeatedly or its shortcut key is used multiple times, the speed can be increased up to 31.25x. On the other hand, by using the Faster option repeatedly, the speed can be increased to more than 100x.
Part 2: How to Play Slow Motion Effects on Mac with VLC?
The process of slowing down the video playback in VLC on a Mac computer is almost identical to that in Windows. You can learn how to get this done by following the steps that are given below:
Step 1: Open and Pause the Video
Locate and right-click the video that you want to play in slow motion, go to Open With from the context menu, and click VLC from the submenu. Once the clip opens, click the Pause button from the bottom as explained in the previous section.
Step 2: Reduce the Playback Speed
Click Playback from the menu bar at the top, and drag the Playback Speed slider to the left to reduce the speed of the video.
Step 3: Resume the Playback
Click anywhere on the screen to close the Playback menu, and then click the Play button from the bottom to resume the video playback in slow motion.
Part 3: How to Control Playback Speed in VLC Media Player on Android and iOS?
Although the playback speed of a video on both Android and iOS devices can be controlled with a slider, the location where the controller is placed on the two platforms varies, and so does the process of reaching there. Both the methods are explained below for your convenience:
Play Video in Slow Motion on Android with VLC
Step 1: Pause the Playback
Launch VLC on your Android phone (Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is used here for illustrations), locate and open the video in VLC, tap anywhere on the screen, and tap the Pause button from the bottom to pause the playback.
Step 2: Set a Slower Playback Speed
Tap the More icon from the bottom-right corner, tap Playback speed from the menu that appears, and drag the slider that is present at the bottom to the left to reduce the speed. Alternatively, you can also repeatedly tap the down arrow that is present at the right of the slider to slow down the speed in the decrements of 0.05x.
Step 3: Resume the Playback
Tap anywhere on the screen, and when the Playback speed slider disappears, tap the screen one more time. Now, tap the Play icon from the bottom to resume the video playback.
Play Video in Slow Motion on iPhone with VLC
Step 1: Pause the Playback
Assuming that you have already added the video to the VLC library by connecting it to iTunes, launch the app on your iOS device (iPhone 13 Pro Max is used here for illustrations). Tap the video that you want to play in slow motion, and then tap the Pause icon from the bottom.
Step 2: Reduce the Playback Speed
Tap anywhere on the screen, and tap the Clock icon from the lower-left corner. Next, drag the Playback speed slider to the left to reduce the playback speed.
Step 3: Resume the Playback
Right after decreasing the speed, tap the Play icon from the bottom to resume the playback. If the controllers disappear, you can tap anywhere on the screen again, and then tap the Play icon.
Part 4: How to Set up the Default Playback Speed on VLC?
The processes of setting up default playback speed on different platforms and devices vary. For your convenience, all of them are explained below:
Set up Default Playback Speed in VLC on Windows
- Go to Tools > Preferences in VLC media player, and then click the All button from the Show settings section at the bottom.
- Select Input / Codecs from the left pane of the Advanced Preferences box, and then specify your preferred speed in the Playback speed field that is present under the Playback control section on the right window
- Click Save to save the changes
Set up Default Playback Speed in VLC on Mac
- Launch VLC, and go to VLC media player from the menu bar, and then click Preferences; and then click Show All from the bottom of the Preferences box to display all preferences setting options;
- Click the Input / Codecs from the left pane, and then define your preferred speed in the Playback speed field under the Playback control section in the right window, and then click Save to save the changes.
How to Change VLC Media Player Default Speed on Android
Note: At the time of this writing, the Android version of VLC doesn’t allow you to set a global default playback speed. However, you can set it on a per video basis. This means that every time that video is played, the playback speed will remain what you set for it. You must do this for each video in your VLC library individually.
- Launch VLC, and then tap More from the bottom-right corner; next, tap SETTINGS from the upper-left area;
- Tap Video from the Extra settings section, and then check the Save Playback Speed box
How to Change VLC Media Player Default Speed on iOS and iPhone
- Tap Settings from the Home screen, and then scroll down and tap VLC
- Tap Default playback speed from the GENERIC section, and then tap to select a playback speed from the available list to set it as the default.
Conclusion
It is pretty convenient to reduce the playback speed in VLC media player regardless of the platform or device you are using. While the processes of getting the job might be different, the principle behind it remains the same. When on Windows, the playback speed can be decreased to 0.02x and can be increased to more than 100x. This facility is not available on Mac, iOS, or Android platforms. Also, if you want, you can set the default playback speed for the videos so that every time a clip is played, the pace remains what you specified as default.
02 How to Play Slow Motion Effects on Mac with VLC?
03 How to Control Playback Speed in VLC Media Player on Android and iOS?
04 How to Set up the Default Playback Speed on VLC?
Part 1: How to Play Video in Slow Motion Effects on Windows with VLC?
VLC is one of the best media players to play videos in slow motion . You can follow the instructions that are given below to learn how to play a video in slow motion in VLC on a Windows PC:
Step 1: Start Video Playback
Launch VLC on your Windows computer (a Windows 11 PC is used here for illustrations), click Media from the menu bar at the top, click Open File from the menu, and locate and open a video that you want to watch in slow motion. If VLC is your default media player, simply double-clicking the clip automatically opens the file in the app.
Step 2: Reduce the Playback Speed (In Decrements of 0.10x)
Once the playback begins, press the Spacebar on the keyboard to pause the video. Next, go to the Playback menu from the top, go to Speed, and click Slower (fine) once. This will reduce the speed to 0.90x. Clicking Slower (fine) again will further slow down the video to 0.80x speed. You can repeat this process until you reduce the speed to your desired level. Press Spacebar again to resume the playback in slow motion.
Note: The lowest speed that you can go to using this process is 0.03x.
Step 3: Reduce the Playback Speed (In Decrements in Percentage)
Pause the playback and go to Playback > Speed as explained in the previous step. From the list that comes up, click Slower (the last option). This will reduce the speed to 0.67x. Click Slower again and the speed will further go down to 0.50x. You can repeat this process until you reach your desired playback speed. Press Spacebar to resume the playback in slow motion. With this method, you can reduce the speed to as low as 0.02x.
Note: You can click Normal from the Speed submenu to play the video at normal speed.
Step 4: Using the Shortcut Keys (Optional)
You can press the left square bracket ‘[‘ on your keyboard to reduce the speed in decrements of 0.10x. To get back to the normal speed, press the equals to ‘=’ key. Likewise, pressing the right square bracket ‘]’ increases the speed by 0.10x.
Note: As it is with the Slower (fine) and Slower options, you can use Faster (fine) to add 0.10x increments to the speed, and Faster to increase percentage-wise. Also, if Faster (fine) is clicked repeatedly or its shortcut key is used multiple times, the speed can be increased up to 31.25x. On the other hand, by using the Faster option repeatedly, the speed can be increased to more than 100x.
Part 2: How to Play Slow Motion Effects on Mac with VLC?
The process of slowing down the video playback in VLC on a Mac computer is almost identical to that in Windows. You can learn how to get this done by following the steps that are given below:
Step 1: Open and Pause the Video
Locate and right-click the video that you want to play in slow motion, go to Open With from the context menu, and click VLC from the submenu. Once the clip opens, click the Pause button from the bottom as explained in the previous section.
Step 2: Reduce the Playback Speed
Click Playback from the menu bar at the top, and drag the Playback Speed slider to the left to reduce the speed of the video.
Step 3: Resume the Playback
Click anywhere on the screen to close the Playback menu, and then click the Play button from the bottom to resume the video playback in slow motion.
Part 3: How to Control Playback Speed in VLC Media Player on Android and iOS?
Although the playback speed of a video on both Android and iOS devices can be controlled with a slider, the location where the controller is placed on the two platforms varies, and so does the process of reaching there. Both the methods are explained below for your convenience:
Play Video in Slow Motion on Android with VLC
Step 1: Pause the Playback
Launch VLC on your Android phone (Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is used here for illustrations), locate and open the video in VLC, tap anywhere on the screen, and tap the Pause button from the bottom to pause the playback.
Step 2: Set a Slower Playback Speed
Tap the More icon from the bottom-right corner, tap Playback speed from the menu that appears, and drag the slider that is present at the bottom to the left to reduce the speed. Alternatively, you can also repeatedly tap the down arrow that is present at the right of the slider to slow down the speed in the decrements of 0.05x.
Step 3: Resume the Playback
Tap anywhere on the screen, and when the Playback speed slider disappears, tap the screen one more time. Now, tap the Play icon from the bottom to resume the video playback.
Play Video in Slow Motion on iPhone with VLC
Step 1: Pause the Playback
Assuming that you have already added the video to the VLC library by connecting it to iTunes, launch the app on your iOS device (iPhone 13 Pro Max is used here for illustrations). Tap the video that you want to play in slow motion, and then tap the Pause icon from the bottom.
Step 2: Reduce the Playback Speed
Tap anywhere on the screen, and tap the Clock icon from the lower-left corner. Next, drag the Playback speed slider to the left to reduce the playback speed.
Step 3: Resume the Playback
Right after decreasing the speed, tap the Play icon from the bottom to resume the playback. If the controllers disappear, you can tap anywhere on the screen again, and then tap the Play icon.
Part 4: How to Set up the Default Playback Speed on VLC?
The processes of setting up default playback speed on different platforms and devices vary. For your convenience, all of them are explained below:
Set up Default Playback Speed in VLC on Windows
- Go to Tools > Preferences in VLC media player, and then click the All button from the Show settings section at the bottom.
- Select Input / Codecs from the left pane of the Advanced Preferences box, and then specify your preferred speed in the Playback speed field that is present under the Playback control section on the right window
- Click Save to save the changes
Set up Default Playback Speed in VLC on Mac
- Launch VLC, and go to VLC media player from the menu bar, and then click Preferences; and then click Show All from the bottom of the Preferences box to display all preferences setting options;
- Click the Input / Codecs from the left pane, and then define your preferred speed in the Playback speed field under the Playback control section in the right window, and then click Save to save the changes.
How to Change VLC Media Player Default Speed on Android
Note: At the time of this writing, the Android version of VLC doesn’t allow you to set a global default playback speed. However, you can set it on a per video basis. This means that every time that video is played, the playback speed will remain what you set for it. You must do this for each video in your VLC library individually.
- Launch VLC, and then tap More from the bottom-right corner; next, tap SETTINGS from the upper-left area;
- Tap Video from the Extra settings section, and then check the Save Playback Speed box
How to Change VLC Media Player Default Speed on iOS and iPhone
- Tap Settings from the Home screen, and then scroll down and tap VLC
- Tap Default playback speed from the GENERIC section, and then tap to select a playback speed from the available list to set it as the default.
Conclusion
It is pretty convenient to reduce the playback speed in VLC media player regardless of the platform or device you are using. While the processes of getting the job might be different, the principle behind it remains the same. When on Windows, the playback speed can be decreased to 0.02x and can be increased to more than 100x. This facility is not available on Mac, iOS, or Android platforms. Also, if you want, you can set the default playback speed for the videos so that every time a clip is played, the pace remains what you specified as default.
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- Title: In 2024, The Ultimate Guide to Adding Titles in Final Cut Pro X
- Author: Isabella
- Created at : 2024-05-19 13:03:24
- Updated at : 2024-05-20 13:03:24
- Link: https://video-creation-software.techidaily.com/in-2024-the-ultimate-guide-to-adding-titles-in-final-cut-pro-x/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.