3. How to Clips the Media

Each media file you add to the Free Video Editor & Movie maker timeline is called a clip, and is visualized by a dark, rounded rectangle (as seen in the screenshot below). A clip has a large number of properties, which affects how the clip is rendered and composited, such as scale, location, rotation, and alpha. These properties can also be animated over time, and when combined together, can create some amazing effects.


Overview

Cutting & Slicing

Free Video Editor & Movie maker has many easy ways to adjust the start and end positions of a clip (otherwise known as cutting). The most common method is simply grabbing the left (or right) edge of the clip and dragging. Here is a list of methods for cutting clips in Free Video Editor & Movie maker:

Keep in mind that the above cutting methods also have Keyboard Shortcuts, to save even more time.

Preset Menu

Free Video Editor & Movie maker has tons of great preset animations and clip properties, such as fading, sliding, zooming, etc… These presets can be accessed by right clicking on a clip.

Transform

To quickly adjust the location and scale of a clip, select a clip on the timeline, right click and choose Transform. Grab any of the small blue handles to adjust scale, and grab the middle circle to move the image. Note: Pay close attention to where the play-head (i.e. red playback line) is. Key frames are automatically created at the current playback position, to help create animations.

Effects

In addition to the many clip properties which can be animated and adjusted, you can also drop an effect directly onto a clip. Each effect is represented by a small letter icon. Clicking the effect icon will populate the properties of that effect, and allow you to edit (and animate) them.

Properties

Below is a list of clip properties which can be edited, and in most cases, animated over time. To view a clip’s properties, right click and choose Properties. The property editor will appear, where you can change these properties. Note: Pay close attention to where the play-head (i.e. red playback line) is. Key frames are automatically created at the current playback position, to help create animations.