Chapter 8 Video

You’ve probably heard of iMovie (Mac) and Windows Movie Maker or Microsoft Photos (Windows). These applications are more than sufficient for many purposes. You may already have one of them on your computer, and if not, Movie Maker/Microsoft Photos are free to download. (iMovie is affordable, too.)

But I want to focus on some resources that maybe you haven’t heard of. In some cases, I’ll also include links to tutorials.

8.1 YouTube Creator’s Studio

The YouTube Creator’s Studio doesn’t offer a ton of functionality, but you can trim and combine multiple videos, add transitions, and more. Best of all, you can easily incorporate clips from a large (I would assume the largest of its kind) selection of free, Creative Commons-licensed music and videos. For many projects, that’s all you need. And the process is shockingly easy.

8.3 iMovie

If you have a Mac, you may already have iMovie. This application will best suit beginners. You can find tutorials via lynda.vt.edu.

8.4 Movie Maker or Microsoft Photos

If you have an older version of Windows, you may have Movie Maker. Windows 10 users likely have Microsoft Photos. Either application offers beginner-level video editing. You can find tutorials via lynda.vt.edu.

8.5 OpenShot Video Editor

If you don’t already have iMovie and don’t want to pay for it, OpenShot may be a good alternative. I’ve had some problems with crashing, but if you save often, you can still produce a simple video without Blender’s learning curve. The basic interface is similar to iMovie’s or Movie Maker’s, but you may run into trouble with plugins and other scary computer issues. Google if you need help! In the meantime, here’s a good introduction.

8.6 DaVinci Resolve

If you’ve already used iMovie or Movie Maker/Microsoft Photos, try DaVinci Resolve for a more advanced option. Best of all, you can download Resolve for free (scroll to the bottom of the page for download link). You can find tutorials via lynda.vt.edu.

8.7 Blender

This program is for power users. If you’ve already tried iMovie or Movie Maker and need something more powerful — well, you could shell out hundreds of dollars for Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere, or you could use Blender for free.

Blender is primarily for 3D modeling, but its video sequencer offers more power and control than any reasonable person should expect to get for free. You can fine-tune your zooms, pans, crossfades — pretty much anything you’d want to do. The downside: It is hard to learn. Luckily, you can find good tutorials online. Oliver Villar offers a crash course in Blender basics, while YouTube user Mikeycal Meyers offers hours of instruction. Both options are good, but I’d recommend the latter.

Expect a steep learning curve, but also great results.

8.8 Clip Converter

Clip Converter allows you to download videos from YouTube, Vimeo, and more. All you need is the target video’s URL. Extremely useful if you need to insert a small clip of another video into your own. Just be sure to follow fair use guidelines or rely on Creative Commons-licensed videos.