Windows 11 Has a Free Video Editor Again (and It's Pretty Good)
Connect with the hidden Nolan or Gerwig inside us all.
Once upon a time, Windows came with a rather capable video editor called Movie Maker, but it was discontinued back in 2017. After something of a delay, Clipchamp arrived to serve as the new default video editor in Microsoft's operating system, and it comes with a variety of useful features that can help you put together impressive-looking footage.
If you want to get started with Clipchamp for the first time, or dig deeper into what it offers, I've put together some tips for getting the most out of it. It's suitable for any kind of basic movie making—from collecting your family vacation highlights package, to creating your first short film—and it's not difficult to get a handle on.
Unfortunately, unlike Movie Maker, Clipchamp isn't completely free. A lot of the basic features can be used without paying, but you need to pay to export videos in 4K and without a watermark, and a premium subscription gets you loads more filters, effects, and stock content too. The premium package is $12 a month, or $99 a year.
Get started with templates
As friendly as Clipchamp is, jumping into a blank timeline can be a bit daunting—and a better way to get started could be to load up one of the templates (like TikTok or Birthday) that you can get to from the Templates tab on the front screen.
Once you've selected and loaded a template, you'll be taken to the editing screen, where the timeline is filled up with sample content. Any of these elements can be tweaked or replaced as needed—in the case of text boxes, for example, just double-click them on the timeline to enter your own text.
Up in the top-left corner you've got the Import media option for loading in images, videos, and audio, and you can see everything that's already been imported too. Hover over an item here to get the options to delete it or to add it to the timeline.
Managing the timeline
Once you've got an element down on the timeline—you can drag and drop it from the media panel, or click the + (plus) button on it—you'll see handles at either end when you hover over it. Drag these in either direction to have the element show up in your video for a longer or shorter period of time.
You can't extend video and audio clips longer than their actual length, or course, but you can trim them at either end. Static elements like images and text boxes, meanwhile, can be visible for as long as you like.
To reposition something, simply drag it around. Right-click on an element, and you get options to Duplicate, Copy, Paste, or Delete it, and to Split it—handy if you want to get an audio or video clip separated into several chunks.
Adding fades, filters, and more
When you've got the basic building blocks of your project in place, you can start to get a bit more creative. Select an element in the timeline, and Fade in and Fade out options should appear on the right—these do exactly what you would expect, and can work on audio as well as video and static images.
Further to the right you've got options for Filters and Effects: This is where you can change up the colors and the style of what's in your timeline. Under Effects, for example, you've got options such as Blur, Slow zoom, and VHS (for making something look a bit old-school)—there are lots of options to play around with.
Underneath those icons you've also got Adjust colors (a more basic version of Filters), and Speed, where you can speed up or slow down video or audio. As you tweak the speed of an element, its length on the timeline will shrink or grow accordingly.
Dropping in text and transitions
Over on the left of the edit screen you've got your Transitions panel, which gives you a whole host of options for creating a smoother link between clips and other elements: You can pick from wipes, slides, spins, and plenty more. Just click and drag a transition to a border between two elements to apply it.
Just above Transitions is Text, which is where you can drop in your title cards and your text overlays. Again, you've got a lot of different sizes and styles to pick from: Click the + (plus) button to add a text element into the timeline, or drag it into place.
With a text element selected on the timeline, you can then switch to the Text tab on the right to change the font style, size, and color, as well as the actual text itself. The handles that show up inside the preview window let you change the size and the position of your text box too (just drag around using the mouse).
Exporting your work
That all gives you a quick introduction to the world of Clipchamp and what it's capable of, but there's more to explore: Like the Content library tab (on the left of the edit screen) that gives you a choice of stock elements), or the Create a video with AI option (on the front screen) that can quickly make a movie out of your choice of clips and images.
When you've got something that you think is good enough to share with the wider world, click Export in the top right corner of the edit screen, then choose your export resolution (4K won't be available unless you're a premium subscriber).
The next screen lets you choose where your exported video file goes: You can save it directly to various cloud service lockers (like OneDrive and Google Drive), or upload it straight to YouTube or TikTok. You also have the option to save it to a local folder, via Save to your computer.