Getting started with WeVideo

• Get to know the WeVideo editor
• What can I make with WeVideo?
• How do I make a video with WeVideo?
• Video editing basics
• Popular features explained

New to video editing? Start here!

If you’re new to video editing, welcome! You don’t need any prior experience or fancy equipment to make great videos with WeVideo. We created this guide to help you get familiar with WeVideo and the basics of video editing.

You’re on your way to making awesome videos for social media, your business, friends and family, or just for fun. Let’s get started!

What is timeline editing?

If you’ve never used a video editor before, it’s good to get familiar with timeline editing mode. In WeVideo, the timeline is the bread and butter of your video. Essentially, it is your video. Drag and drop your media here, add music and sound, transitions and more. You can shorten or lengthen the time of your clips here, too. The timeline is where your video lives as you create and edit it.

Get to know WeVideo’s timeline editor

Let’s take a closer look at the editor.

1. Timeline

The timeline is a horizontal layout where you’ll drag your images, video clips and songs to. Your video will play from left to right, with clips displayed on the left playing first. You’ll see a vertical line, or marker, move across the clip as it plays. You’ll also notice it’s time-stamped, which will come in handy later when you’re editing.

2. Media

This is where you can view your media before dragging it to the timeline. Choose a media source at the top (Ex: Stock media, My media, Audio) then search or browse for the perfect clip for your story. Click to select a single clip here to preview it in the preview window (#3) before deciding whether to add it to your video.

3. Preview window

The preview window is where you can see a preview of a media clip, including backgrounds, text and transitions, before adding it to your video. It’s also where you can preview your video in progress as you edit.

Note: You can’t edit your video here beyond trimming a clip or changing the format (also known as aspect ratio). Other than those two things, the preview window is just that - and the timeline is where all the editing magic happens!

4. Tracks

The timeline consists of several different tracks. They basically look like horizontal lines. These tracks are where you’ll drag your media to. You might be wondering why there are multiple tracks versus just one. Think of each track as a layer of a cake. Just like a cake has different layers to make the masterpiece complete, the same is true for your video project.

You’ll need one track for photos and videos, another track for sound effects and music and maybe another track to add text or motion titles. In the timeline, each track is a different layer serving a slightly different purpose.

Important:

Whatever you want to display on top of everything else should be the top layer.

For example, let’s say you’re making a video slideshow of your puppy. Add your text to the top layer track, video and images to the middle track, and music on the bottom audio track. It’s important that you place each element (text, video/images, audio) on the appropriate track. Otherwise, your adorable puppy slideshow won’t display correctly, and that would be tragic!

Storyboard editing mode

In addition to timeline editing, WeVideo also offers storyboard editing mode, which is a simple way to edit but with far less editing options. Drag and drop your clips in any order and then apply a theme that already has transitions, effects, music, text styles and a title slide. Storyboard editing doesn’t give you as many editing options as timeline editing, but it’s a good place to start if you’re new to video editing. You can always switch between editing modes!

Learn more about editing modes in WeVideo.

What can I make with WeVideo?

When you subscribe to WeVideo, of course you can create all kinds of videos, but that’s just the beginning. Here’s a rundown of all the media types you can create when you log into your WeVideo account and click Create New. Where will your creative journey take you?

Video

Explainer videos, vlogs, demos, videos for YouTube, slideshows for family and friends, holiday video cards, and the list goes on! Yes, you can create ANY kind of video for any purpose with our cloud-based editing platform. To get started, log in to your WeVideo account, click Create new and select Video.

Want more inspiration for what types of videos you can make? Head over to our blog for ideas, step-by-step instructions and video marketing tips.

Recording

Record your screen, webcam, or both at the same time. Click Create new and choose Recording then follow the on-screen prompts (be sure to grant WeVideo permission to access your audio and camera). Then, edit your recording and use it for trainings, instructional videos and more. Best of all, recordings are easy to repurpose for all your marketing, business or education needs.

GIF

So. Fun. Making GIFs is not only a solid move to level up your social media game, but they can be used to add a little pizzazz to school projects and presentations. To make a GIF, click Create new and select GIF.

How do I make a video with WeVideo?

Here are the basic steps to make a video with WeVideo.

1. Log in and click Create New.
2. Choose what you want to create (video, recording, etc.) and a format.
3. Give your edit a name - you can always change it later!
4. Start from scratch or choose a template.
5. Upload your media or search the Stock media library.
6.  Drag your images and videos to the Video 1 track.
7. Add some text if you want. Add a transition.
8. Select music and drag it to the Audio track.
9. Make any other edits and preview your video one last time.
10. All done? Click Finish to export, download and share your video!

Video editing basics

You’ve drag-and-dropped your clips to the timeline. Now what? Here’s how to edit individual clips to make them look and sound exactly the way you want.

Adjust audio

Go to your audio clip and click it. You’ll see a blue horizontal line appear across the entire track. To lower the volume, drag the line down. To increase the volume, drag the line up. To add additional keyframes for a fade in or fade out effect, click anywhere on the line and a dot will appear. Drag up or down to adjust the volume.

Want a quick demo? Watch this 1-minute clip to see how to adjust your audio.

Adjust opacity

You can adjust the opacity, or transparency level, of any image or video clip, including a watermark if you’re using one. Click on the clip, then click the opacity icon . Drag and drop the line to set your desired opacity. You can also create a fade in and out effect by dragging either the start or end point of the line.

Trim clip

Click the clip you want to trim, then drag the edge of the clip from either end to shorten it. You can also trim a clip from the preview window in the same manner.

Delete clip

To remove a clip from the timeline, select the clip you want to delete and click the trash can icon.

Rotate/ flip clip

To rotate or flip a clip or text, double-click on the clip and then select the Transform icon . Next to Rotation and Flip, click the arrows.

Crop clip

Cropping a clip lets you focus on the part of the image or video that matters most. To crop a clip, double-click on the clip then click the Crop icon . Use the sliders to adjust the horizontal and vertical crop lines.

Animation

You can apply animation to still images by creating a pan-and-zoom effect. If you’re making a video slideshow, for example, you’ll probably want to apply animation (also known as the Ken Burns effect) to all still images in your video. You can also adjust the animation of each individual clip. Besides animating still images, you can also apply animation to text to emphasize titles or captions in your video.

Start by selecting two or more still images from either the stock media folder or your imports. Then, drag them to your timeline. A pop-up will ask if you’d like to apply the Ken Burns effect. You can then adjust the number of seconds for each image as you please.

If you’d like to adjust the animation more precisely, you can do so by double-clicking the image and selecting the Animation icon . From here, you can tweak the size and position of the image animation.

Want a quick overview? Watch this Academy video to see how it works.

Adjust color

You can adjust the brightness, contrast and other color options of your clips. To do this and see all color editing options available, double-click your clip then select . Drag the sliders until the color of your clip is set to your liking.

Adjust clip speed

Looking to add a slo-mo or superspeed effect in your video? It’s easy to adjust the speed of any video clip on the timeline. Double-click your clip and click the speed icon . Drag the sliders to set when you want the effect to start and stop, as well as how fast or slow you want it to be.

Our most popular features, explained

Templates

If you don’t have time to create your video from scratch, try starting with a template. Templates are pre-made videos with stock footage, music, text and transitions already built in that you can easily customize to suit your needs.

WeVideo offers templates for holidays, celebrations, business promotions and more. To use a template, just click Templates. Click on a category to browse or scroll down the page to view them all. Hover over any template to preview it.

Stock media library

WeVideo has a royalty-free stock media library available in Professional, Business and Schools plans. Search and use as many images, video clips and sound clips as you want to help tell your story and give it a professional look and feel.

Start a new edit by clicking Create new, then click Stock media and enter a few keywords to search the library.

Music

Choosing the right music for your video can set the tone for your story. There are two places to find and add music and sound effects. You can search the Essentials stock media library mentioned above, or search the music library by clicking Audio from your project. The audio library offers free music, sound effects and premium music.

Screen and webcam recording

With WeVideo you can record your screen, your webcam, or both simultaneously. This feature is especially helpful for creating presentations, tutorials, instructional videos, product demos and more.

Start a new edit by clicking Create new → Recording. Follow the prompts and click Start Recording.

If you’re a teacher using WeVideo for Schools, you can also record from your browser quickly and easily by downloading our Quick Recorder for Chrome extension in the Chrome Web store.

Green screen

Green screen, also known as chroma key, is a special effect that’s often used in Hollywood. But WeVideo makes it easy to bring a little movie magic to any video you create. See how it works in this quick Academy video.

To play with color keying on any clip, double click on the clip and select the color keying icon .

We also have specific green screen tips for businesses and education. Check out our Green screen for business guide and our green screen tips for the classroom.