Many PCs come with video editors that you can use to edit your videos for free. The built-in video editor on the PC usually have limited features but it is sufficient for use in making basic edits. The following are 3 ways on how you can edit a video on a PC.
Built-in Video Editor in Windows
If you are on Windows 7 or older, you can use the Windows Movie Maker to edit your videos. Windows Movie Maker is the old fashioned video editor for Windows computer but at least it includes a timeline. In the timeline, there are 3 tracks including video, audio, and title overlay.
On your left, you can see the imported media. There is a preview screen above the timeline for previewing the video you are editing. To create a storyboard, you simply drag the media from the imported media section onto the timeline. You can add finishing touches like transitions, voiceover, and titles to the video.
Windows Movie Maker is no longer available. However, if you run Windows 10, you can use the hidden editor to edit your video. The hidden video editor is the Photos app which you can access by right-clicking on the video and selecting Open with > Photos. When the video is opened, you must click on Edit & Create drop-down menu to edit it. In the drop-down menu, you will see several tool options including trim, add slo-mo, draw, create a video with text, and add 3D effects.
For example, if you want to trim your video, you simply click on the trim button and adjust the two handles. The draw tool allows you to use different types of drawing tools such as ballpoint pen, pencil, and calligraphy pen draw on the video. The drawing will fade out after displaying on the video for a few seconds. If you want to combine clips, you go to Create < Custom Video with Music. Next, you drag the clips or photos from the project library to the storyboard.
Online Video Editor
You can upload your video to the free online video editor to edit it. The best part is that it offers the same range of basic features as the full version of a desktop video editor. Since the video editor is based on flash, it will take some time to load so you must be patient.
Additionally, it also may have some requirements to fulfil before you can use, for example, you need to download Chrome, you must allow flash to run in your browser, and you must sign up for an account. Online video editor is generous on the size of the video file you can upload. Usually, the video file size limit is set to 100 MB. If your video file size is bigger, you simply need to compress it or divide it into small clips for editing online.
Some video editors allow you to save changes the clips and access them later on your account. There is also another video editor that requires you to download the edited clip immediately onto your hard drive. If not, your edited clip will be deleted. You need to have fast internet to edit the video smoothly in the online video editor. Other than that, there is no need to install any software.
Some will display ads; they can be distracting when you are adjusting the settings to edit the video. If you have adblocker software, you will have to temporarily disable it so that you can access the video editing tool. Some online video editor has free ready video template that you can use to create your video quickly. The templates are available in many designs to fit your business.
Handbrake
Handbrake is a free open source desktop video editor that you can use to edit your video. A handbrake is a cross-platform software that can run on Mac OS and Windows 32 bit/64 bit. Handbrake has a complex user interface that provides lots of advanced options for users. The first step is to click on the Source button and select the video files/folder/DVD/DVD images. After you have opened the video file, you can go to the Title drop-down menu and select the clip you want to edit.
In the Pre-sets menu on the right, you can select various conversion pre-sets according to your device including iPad, iPhone, and Android. If you want to convert your video for viewing on PC or TV, you can select either normal or high profile under Regular. You should choose M4V as the destination format for the output file if you use an Apple device or want to watch it on QuickTime.
In the Video tab, you can adjust the video codec and bitrate. If you want to trim the video, select the video track in Title under Source. Next, choose Chapters and then enter the start/end time of the video. Finally, click on Start Encode to trim the video. The audio tab allows you to add/remove tracks to your video. Adding the audio tracks can increase the size of the video. If you want to crop a video, you can go to the Pictures tab to adjust the width and height. The subtitles tab allows you to upload subtitle data for your video. Just like the audio tracks, adding subtitles tracks can also increase the video file size.