How To Use YouTube’s Built-In Video Editor

[[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR]

Split clips, adjust brightness, and add filters with ease

We’ve covered some of the best free video editing software available for the PC, but sometimes all you need is a quick brightness tweak or audio adjustment, and YouTube’s built-in video editor is more than capable. It’s not the most complicated software, but we’ll run you through the basics in case you wanted to use something in a pinch.


Unlike most video editing solutions, YouTube’s editor doesn’t work with local media. Every single clip, video, and still image has to be uploaded to YouTube before it can be added to the editing timeline. There’s also the fact that YouTube doesn’t accept uploaded audio files. Fortunately there’s a huge library of royalty-free music available through the editor, but if you want to use your own audio, this isn't the editor for you.

Editing individual videos is easy and even includes a side-by-side effects preview.

There are two separate editors. One for single video manipulation—for fairly simple editing, for uses such as lightening a video that's just a bit too dark—and one with a full-on timeline view with support for multiple clips. The former offers rudimentary control over videos with “Quick fixes,” “Filters,” and “Special effects.” YouTube even includes an “Auto-fix” option that’s surprisingly good at taking care of obvious problems. There’s also some simple stabilization, clip trimming, and a “Blur All Faces” option that does its best to blur the faces of everyone in your video. Head to your YouTube Video Manager and click the edit button to get started.
If you’re looking to actually edit separate clips together, the YouTube Video Editor is what you’ll want to work with. All of the videos you’ve uploaded to YouTube—unlisted, private, and public—should be visible in the videos tab. Click and drag videos to the timeline to insert them into your project. The timeline is magnetic, so videos will automatically split and snap when you drag them around. There’s no way to insert gaps (unless your source footage has some) so don’t worry about accidentally inserting flash frames. Click the camera icon to upload still images—this is useful if you're creating a slideshow or montage.

Splitting clips is a cinch.

Click anywhere along the timeline or the video progress bar to move your cursor. Tapping the scissor icon will split the current clip at the indicated point. Select videos by clicking on their thumbnails in the timeline to access the individual video editing controls that we talked about before. The YouTube Video Editor actually offers fine control over stabilization, brightness, contrast, and even audio settings like pan, bass, and treble. The editor also includes rudimentary transitions that are entirely drag-and-drop. Stick a crossfade or wipe between clips if you’re not comfortable with standard cuts.

Enter Text Here! Just don’t try to do anything too complicated.

The biggest problem with the YouTube Video Editor is how it handles text. It’s easy enough to add a title. Just click the “Text” tab, drag your text animation of choice to the front of your timeline, and tweak it to fit your needs. It gets a lot more complicated when you want to add text to specific sections of videos. There’s no separate layer for text, so the only way to overlay text is to tie it directly to a clip. It’s a lot of work, but by splitting a video into multiple clips you can add text to individual sections. Of course, you can always use annotations to make things easier, but some people disable them.
When you’re satisfied with the results, give your video a name and click the “Create Video” button to publish the finished product on YouTube. It’ll take a while for it to process, but once it’s done you’ve got a fully edited video, ready for sharing.
There’s not really all that much else to the editor. It’s not the most beautiful piece of software, but it gets the job done and works perfectly fine on nearly any machine since none of the source material is stored locally. Use this for quick editing projects like stringing together vacation footage, but stick to dedicated software for serious projects.
Already a YouTube Editor master? Drop some tips in the comments below!


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