7. Editing Video in Windows Video Editor
- Fraser Denholm (Unlicensed)
- Ailsa McCaffery (Unlicensed)
This guide is intended to show you the steps involved in doing basic edits of your videos in the Video Editor in Windows 10.
To find Video Editor, type in 'Video Editor' into the search bar in the toolbar at the bottom of your screen.
When you open up windows video editor you arrive at the page below. Click on the box which says ‘New Video Project’
After you have clicked on 'New Video Project' the software will open up and first of all it will ask you to name your video. It's a good idea to give your video a unique name, including your class code, so you can organise your videos once they have been edited.
The Editor Window
Once you have names your video, you need to familiarise yourself with the format of software window. For those who have used video editing software before, this should be pretty straightforward, for those who haven't this is a very basic setup so wont be too difficult to get to grips with.
A. Project Library
This is where all the clips are stored which will be used in the project. At the moment it should just contain the clip you have just imported in the previous step. From here these clips can be used to build up your project
B. Storyboard
In professional video editing, this area is generally called a 'Timeline' however windows video editor calls it a storyboard. In here all the different elements of your video are place and ordered or re-ordered to create your edit.
C. Viewer Window.
The largest window in the software, this is where the video is played back. This window has a timeline and a play button underneath and will play through the clips that have been arranged in the storyboard.
D. Tools
Video editor has a few basic tools to help with the editing process. The majority of the tools will only become visible once there is a clip in the Storyboard.
Add title card - This tool allows you to add a title card to your video
Trim - This tool allows you to cut your clips down by trimming the beginning and end from a clip.
Split - This tool allows you to split your video clip into two separate clips
Motion - Allows you to animate your video around the screen
3D Effects - Applies rudimentary 3D graphics to your video.
Filters - Applies different colour/tonal filters to your clip
Speed - Allows you to change the speed of the selected video clip
Importing your Video
Now you are familiar with the software interface. You will want to import your video files. Video editor can accept most types of video file, whether you are using video you've recorded yourself on your webcam or mobile phone, or videos exported from
To do this, in the Project LIbrary you should click the Add button in the top left corner and then select From this PC.
Once you have clicked on this button, a explorer window will appear allowing you to navigate to where your video is saved. When you find your video file. Select it and then click on Open.
Your video clip should now be in the Project Libray as pictured below. You can repeat this process if you need to add additional files to your video. For example if you want to edit together two video clips into one.
Trimming your clip
Once you have your video clip added to the Project. The first thing you will want to do is trim off the start and end so to cut out any extra footage you don't want to see in the video. For example, if there is a bit of video of you turning the camera on or walking into shot at the beginning, or the opposite at the end.
Firstly we need to drag our clip from the Project Library to the Storyboard as pictured below.
With the correct click selected (With a coloured line underneath) click on Trim from the Toolbar.
This will launch the trim window where your clip will take up the majority of the screen.
Use the red handles at either end of the timeline to trim your clip, if you pull the left handle to the right this will trip the beginning of your clip.
If you pull the right handle to the left this will trim the end of your clip.
Now if you play back your clip it will exclude the grey areas on the timeline. Once you are happy with where your trim marks are click on Done, and you will be returned to the main project page with a newly trimmed clip.
Splitting a clip
You might find that you don't want to just trim a clip, but split a clip in two. For instance you might have a single video you want to split into two invididual videos for different classes or different parts of clips.
Firstly, as with Trim, make sure you have the appropriate clip selected and then click on Split.
A new window will open up with your clip. Either use the play button or move the playhead (The line with the circle above it) to the point in the clip where you wish to Split. And click Done.
After clicking done, you will see two clips in the timeline, one from before the split point, one from after.
If you wish to remove one of the clips, make sure you select the appropriate clip (With the line underneath) and click on the Trash icon, (Pictured below)
Adding a Title and Outro
One thing we might want to do before exporting, is to give our videos a little bit of polish before exporting. You might find you want to include a title for your video before it starts.
We've provided a couple of files you can use to 'Top and Tail' your videos. Namely an intro and outro graphics card with the University of Strathclyde logo on them.
Both video files are .mp4 files. One is called GA Intro, and the other is University of Strathclyde. GA Intro is an intro title for the start of your video, University of Strathclyde is an outro.
You can import these files in the same way as you imported your video clip in the earlier step.
When you've imported the title files, drag the GA Intro file into the Storyboard before your video clip, as pictured below.
Now with the title file selected choose Text from the toolbar. (Make sure not to select 'Add Title Card)
This will open the text editor window as pictured below. And you will enter your title text into the text box in the top right hand of the screen. Once you have entered a title you will see that the text appears over the top of the footage and a thick bar appears on the timeline with the title text inside it.
By default, the title appears at the bottom of the screen, but you can use the Layout area in the bottom right to change where abouts on the screen the title appears. It's recommended to have your text centred.
If you use the Play button to play through the title, you will notice that your title will probably clash with the University logo in the first few seconds of the video.
To fix this, play through the video or drag the playhead to the point where the Strathclyde logo shrinks away (pictured below)
Just like when you were trimming your video, drag the handle attatched to the thick bar along to meet the playhead, this will mean the title will not start until this point. When you are happy the title isn't clashing with the animated logo, click Done.
Now we can drag the second video file, the one titled University of Strathclyde down onto the Storyboard after your video clip to give your video an outro animation.
Exporting your Video
Once you have edited your video and are happy with it, you will need to export it from Video Editor so you can upload to MS Stream.
In order to begin the export process, click on the Finish Video button located in the top right hand corner of the software.
After clicking Finish Video you will get a popup window asking to Finish your video. It will ask for you to set the Video Quality. We want to export our videos at the best quality possible so make sure to select High 1080p and click Export.
Following clicking Export a Windows Explorer Save Dialogue will appear. Select where you want to the video to be saved to and click Export to finish the process.
