Video Content is now popular in every niche, let it be the marketing of a product or movie content. YouTube gets 14.3 billion visits per month, and Instagram videos get over 2 times more engagement than Instagram photos. With this growing popularity, editing those video content becomes necessary to bring out the best in the content.
However, it might seem to be immensely tough for beginners to learn how to edit videos. But being a connoisseur of video editing skills can be achieved with patience and practice.
Even though it becomes important to be well-equipped with the best video editing tools as you master the skills, as a neophyte, you can use any of the software that provides good-ish tools for your video editing.
But also, it’s hard to find a video editing app that fits your needs. It’s easy to see why: software designers sometimes seem brawled about if the app is for making home videos or producing Hollywood-quality blockbusters. The result is that some apps lack certain features, while others are too complex for beginners to learn.
However, apps that don’t compel users to choose between “sophisticated” and “user-friendly” can be the best option for amateurs. Instead, these apps focus on offering you tools to make your imagination come to life, and they’re intuitive while making things easy to achieve.
Filmora video editing software satisfies this requirement perfectly. It’s got all the features you need to create a video while being user-friendly for beginners and helps to master the skills further.
About Filmora
Filmora is a video editing software that lets users perform all the fundamental video editing tools and includes advanced video editing features such as Chroma Key Effect, Image Stabilization & Time-lapse. In addition, Filmora offers a rich effects library that is constantly updated and contains more than 300 filters that can be added with just a few clicks.
With over 85 million users all over the globe, Filmora has grown to be the best video editing app in the last few years. It is available for both Windows and Mac users.
Reasons to Choose Filmora:
- Included Video Effects: Filmora allows you to bring creative looks and feels to the video with its effects. You won’t require any other app for this purpose.
- Motion Tracking: This feature allows you to detect the movement in a scene easily and automatically. It allows elements, videos, images, and texts to follow that movement.
It is quite helpful for beginners as it can be added with just a click. - Animation Keyframing: A keyframe is a drawing or shot that specifies the start and endpoints of a smooth transition.
Keyframing can bring still images to life with the help of animations. Keyframing is a crucial skill, but some apps make it cumbersome. But that’s not the case with Filmora. Single-click presets make it easy to add pre-built keyframe setups for easy animation, starting from basic to even complex keyframing. - Color Matching: When shooting with different cameras, the color might be different due to the color settings. So, for consistent color in the video, Filmora includes effortless matching options. It helps to replicate color across scenes for a harmonized look throughout your video project.
This feature also allows you to color-correct clips as a bunch instead of having to edit each separately. - Motion Elements: Easily add these for more straightforward animation techniques.
Features such as transitions can be added between your video clips to improve your video’s flow or make it more interesting. - Green Screen: Green Screen effect is an advanced feature of Overlays. It allows the video clip or image behind the top layer to show through it by making the top layer of the two overlay clips transparent.
It provides simulated backgrounds with less labor than almost any other app out there.
Here we will discuss How to edit videos using Filmora. It will help beginners get a brief walkthrough of the entire process. So if you’re one of the amateurs, this is for you.
Before proceeding, there are a few tips that you, as beginners, should always keep in mind before editing the videos.
A Few Tips To Keep in Mind
- Take several shots of the same scene to have more options while editing.
- Editing surely depends on your system components.
- Learn to step back and observe the project from a fresh viewpoint.
- Arm yourself with patience as video editing can take time, from days to months.
- Keep your materials organized.
- Be ready for any type of challenge, as you can never know the requirements in the editing rooms unless you start that.
Steps To Edit Video using Filmora
1) Start a New Project
After downloading and installing Filmora, it’s time to start with your New Project.
Before this, it is recommended to keep your raw materials organized and transferred into your system.
If that’s done, you can launch your application. There you’ll see an interface where you’d find options to select the Aspect Ratio and start a new project.
Select the Aspect Ratio that’s most suitable for you. For example, you can select 1:1 for the Instagram interface and 16:9 for the classic widescreen format that is mostly compatible with desktop screens and mobiles. Also, many YouTube videos are uploaded in this format.
Click on the New Project to start editing your video when you’re ready.
You can also customize the Aspect Ratio, Resolution, and Frame Rate. As per your need in the next interface. You’d find that option in the lower right corner.
2) Import your Media
On the next interface, in the upper left corner of the video editor, you’ll be able to see the Import button. You can import the media (photos, audio, or videos) by clicking on it.
Select the Import Media Files option and then go to the location on your hard drive where the raw media is stored.
Select the videos, audio, or photos you want to use in your project, and then click on the Import button.
You can also import a whole file if you have everything properly organized.
Once you’ve imported your folder, you’ll see thumbnails for each file in the top half of the application. Double-click on any of the thumbnails to play a preview in Filmora.
You will see the Import with Instant Cutter Tool option in the Import menu. The Instant Cutter Tool is designed to trim 4K and other high-quality videos as fast and easily as possible.
3) Add Clips to the Timeline
After importing the media into the Library, you have to add them to the timeline near the bottom of the app.
Be mindful that your media library is just a view of the available files. To add them to your video, you need to add them to the timeline near the bottom of the app.
In order to do this, all you have to do is drag and drop the media in the timeline.
4) Trim and Adjust your Clips
Raw footage often contains mistakes or parts that simply don’t belong in your video, so if you would like to cut or trim your videos,
Once you’ve got a clip added to your timeline, it’s easy to adjust it. For example, to shorten the clip, click on the left or right edges of the clip on the timeline and drag it.
You can also split a clip. Click on a clip in the app timeline, then click the scissors icon to split it into parts.
Repeat the process of adding clips, trimming them to your preference, and adding more to build out your video project.
You can preview your video after adding the clips so that you can see how your video footage is coming together. Then, just simply click the spacebar on your keyboard to play the video. You can also use the play head to jump to a certain point in the video.
5) Add Video Effects
Now that you have removed all the unwanted parts from your video clips, the next part is to add the video effects.
Video effects, also known as filters or visual effects, create all sorts of crazy visuals with clicks.
Unlike other major editing software in the market that gives a minimal choice of video effects, Filmora offers more than 300 visual effects such as Transitional effects, Intro/Credits, Titles, Sound, Jump Cut, Mosaic, Picture in Picture, and more.
You can find the Effect tab at the top, where you can add the various effects.
Also, remember that the added effect will only be applied to the overlayed video.
The Transition tab allows you to insert Transitions between clips and images. In the transition tab, you will find Favourites, where all your mostly used transitions will be, and Included, where all the pre-existing Transition effects are.
All you have to do is drag a particular Transition effect between your clips.
You can also control the Duration and Transition modes by just double-clicking on the transition.
You can either add a particular transition between all the clips by clicking Apply to All or choose a different transition.
6) Add Text Overlays
After adding the transition, you can also add text overlays to your video.
Click on the Titles tab to open the Text & Title presets. There are already more than 200 Text Effects in Filmora, covering several styles such as Lifestyle, media, seasonal, opener, lower 3rd, and end credits.
To preview it, double-click on the transition. Then, if it seems good for you, you can add it to your clip.
You can do that by placing the Playhead in the position where you want to add the text and then dragging and dropping it to the track above the video in the timeline.
Filmora provides the default duration of the text overlay as 5 seconds. But you can customize the duration based on the needs by just dragging the edge of the text in the timeline to extend it to fit the length of the video.
After you add a text effect to the timeline, make sure that it appears on its own track.
Double-click it to edit it, where you will discover a custom menu where you can type over the text placeholders, adjust size and font, and more.
7) Do the Colour Correction
To make the color of your video look more explicit, Filmora offers you the opportunity to use several hundred filters and overlays effects in your project.
You can do that by clicking on the Effects icon and selecting the filter you’d like to use, and then dragging and dropping it wherever you want on the timeline.
The duration of the filter can be adjusted by simply dragging either end of the filter.
Moreover, Filmora also offers Advanced Colour Correction Tools, which allow you to attune the colors in your video.
When you double-click the video on the timeline, a video editing window will pop up. Choose the Color tab, and you will find various options.
It allows you to play along with the colors by adjusting Contrast, Saturation, White Balance, and 3D LUT.
It is recommended for beginners to start with the given Presets, which will save them much time.
8) Export and Share
After completing the editing process, you can click on the Export button when you are entirely sure that you’d not like to make any more changes to your project further.
You’ll find an option to select the video formats in the Format menu in the interface.
Give the Title (FileName) to your video and select the location where you’d like to save the newly edited video.
By clicking on the Settings button, you will be able to select the resolution of the video, change the frame rate or pick an encoder as per your need.
Moreover, you also get an option to directly share it to various social media platforms such as YouTube, and Facebook, provided you have an account on these channels.
You may also read: Filmora Review
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I open a project made with an older version of Filmora on a New version?
It is not suggested to open a project made with the old version with the newer version, as they will have different software architecture and built-in effects. So it is recommended to finish the project in the older version and export it before creating a new project with later versions.
Why is Filmora Wondershare considered good for Beginners?
Filmora maintains the perfect balance between expert features and ease of use. As a result, it is a good choice for some video editing professionals as well as many beginners.
Filmora offers various tutorials making learning much easier as compared to other more advanced video editing software options. Therefore, it is considered to be the best option for amateurs.
Why does the video quality get poor after being added to the timeline?
Filmora9 allows users to customize playback quality for a smoother editing experience.
With different playback quality options, Filmora9 can create render files for the original videos accordingly.
These render files tend to lose video quality as they contain much lesser data.
If you want to get better quality, take a look at the Playback Quality Setting. There click the Dropbox and select Full.
Play the video again and check if the video quality is better.
How to add a watermark/logo(PIP) to a video?
To add a watermark or logo to your video, you will have to import both your background video as well as your logo image/video to the media library.
Firstly, drag and drop your background video to the timeline.
Then add your logo image/video to the track above the one that places your background video.
You will see the logo over your background video in the preview panel.
Resize your logo accordingly by clicking on the video track and resizing the sides or corners.
You can also drag it to any other place on the screen as you want.
Further, you can customize the duration for which the logo would appear on your video.
Summary
Video Editing is an art that would take years to master. However, after just a few months, you can learn enough about the process to start editing videos on your own.
Beginners might find it overwhelming to start learning with some of the majorly professional video editing tools. What they need is an application that is both easy to use and gives some of the best professional features so that they can learn without much hassle.
Filmora provides that opportunity for novices to learn without worrying about watching hours of YouTube videos just to learn the basics.
Here, we’ve discussed some steps to help beginners walk through the basic editing processes.
While some steps are just basics such as importing, exporting, trimming, etc., at the same time, others, such as adding the right transitions and color enhancements, require practice and patience.
Mastering the color correction process requires time and dedication, after which it is possible to create marvelous videos.
Please SHARE This Article!
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, which can provide compensation to me at no cost to you if you decide to purchase a paid plan. These are products I’ve personally used and stand behind. This site is not intended to provide financial advice and is for entertainment only.
