Have you ever scrolled through your photo library and wanted to put those memories together in a fun video? Are you looking for a quick and easy way to edit videos, but don't have the time to try third-party apps? The solution could be right at your fingertips with Apple's native app, Clips.
Clips is a great app for simple video editing, and it’s free and doesn't put watermarks on your videos. While it should already be installed on your iPhone, you can also download Clips from the App Store.
With Clips installed, follow these tips to start using it.
Start a New Project
To get started, you’ll need to create a new project. By default, Clips opens up the last project you were working on.
To start a new project, tap the square Library button and then tap on New Project. Just like that, a new project has been created. Tap on the Aspect Ratio icon to set the aspect ratio. You can make 16:9, 4:3, and Square videos.
Record a Video
If you want to record video in Clips itself, point your camera towards whatever you want to film and press and hold on the red rectangular button, then let go to finish recording.
You can also swipe up to lock the recording button in place if you’re taking a longer video and don’t want to keep your thumb on the button the whole time.
Add Live Subtitles
You can add auto-generated captions to your videos, as long as they’re being recorded in Clips. To do this, tap on the Effects button, shaped like a star, and select the Live Titles option.
From there, you can choose the subtitle style you want and change the language. After selecting the style of captions you want, go back onto the video to return to the recording screen. Make sure you can see the indicator that the live captioning is on.
Now, as you record, live captions generate at the bottom of the video.
Add Videos and Photos From Your Camera Roll
If you already have videos you've recorded with the regular Camera, or downloaded from YouTube, you can also import this media from your iPhone's gallery into Clips. This is perfect for when you want to make a video from content you already have.
Tap on the Gallery icon at the bottom of the screen and choose the Photos option. You can now choose from the photos and videos in your camera roll. Pick the video or photo you want and it will show up on the main screen.
To properly add in a video or photo, you’ll need to press the Record button for the duration that you want to include. If you’re adding a photo, press and hold the Record button for as long as you want to photo to last.
If you’re adding a video, drag the progress bar to when you want to start adding the video. To start from the beginning, just ignore the progress bar. Press and hold the Record button. You won’t hear any sound while it’s recording, but you will be able to see a sound indicator if the video has sound. After the video has been added, you’ll be able to hear the sound.
Edit Video Clips
Now that you have your video clips lined up in the timeline, you can edit them. Tap on the thumbnail of the video clip you want to edit and you’ll see a couple of options pop up. You’ll be able to add effects, mute the audio, delete the clip, and perform a few basic edits.
To trim a video, the process is very similar to how you would trim a video when you’re editing a video in Photos. Tap on the Trim button and drag the sliders towards where you want the video to begin and end. Then tap Trim. You will now only have the parts of the video that were selected.
To split a video in half, tap on the Split button and slide the white bar to where you want the video to be cut. Tap Split and you’ll see the video split into two with a second thumbnail appearing on the timeline.
Add Voice-Over
Clips also lets you add voice-over to pre-existing photos and videos. When you’re pressing record to add photos and videos from your gallery, you can simply narrate over them at the same time and your voice will also be recorded.
You can then go back and edit the clip to mute the audio from the original video or the recorded audio.
Add Music
After you’ve finished crafting your video, it’s time to add some music to it. Clips has a library of soundtracks you can use that are categorized by genre. Tap on the Music icon and then select Soundtracks. Pick a song from the library to download and tap it again to preview it.
Select the music you want by tapping on it, making a checkmark appear on the select track. Go back to preview your video with the soundtrack. Once you’re happy, hit Done to add it.
You also have the option of adding your own music. And if you change your mind and no longer want any background music, just tap None.
Share Your New Video
After you finish making your new and awesome video, it’s time to share it. Hit the Share icon to send it to your friends, post it onto social media, or save it to your photo library. You can preview it one more time before you hit send.
After exporting the video, your project will still be available in your Clips project library. You can access it later in case you want to add anything else. You can tap and hold on entire projects to share them, rename them, or delete them.
Extra Tips to Have Some Fun
Add a little bit of fun to your videos with the effects available. As we showed you earlier, you can find live captioning options under the Effects button. You can also add filters, custom titles, text, stickers, shapes, and emoji. Take your time exploring the galleries available to make full use of the Clips app.
What Will You Make?
Now that you know about Apple’s little-known video-editing gem, what kind of videos will you make? Whether it’s a quick little travel vlog, a birthday message to a friend, or your way of capturing a family memory, the possibilities are endless.
