How to Edit MP4 Video Files?

How to Edit an MP4 Video - 7 Ways to Make It Better

MP4 (MPEG-4) is a popular video format compatible with almost any device. You can use it to store video files, images, subtitles, and simple animation. What makes MP4 so popular is that it preserves high quality while being pretty small in size. That makes this format perfect for both saving on your computer and sharing online. But before you get to that, you might want to edit your MP4 videos a little. This leads to a question: what’s the best way to do so?

In this guide, we will explore how to edit an MP4 file step-by-step: enhance, trim, and stabilize it; change its speed and resolution; improve the video’s audio; embellish it. You will see all of that done in a free automatic video editor called Clipify. We will also show you alternative ways to edit your files on Mac, your smartphone, and online.

After you have learned how to edit an MP4 file, you will be fully ready to move on to editing, even if it’s your first time in video post-production. So don’t hesitate and get started with the quick Clipify tutorial below!

Way 1. Edit MP4 Video Files Automatically

Clipify has a cool feature called Auto Enhancement. In just a single click, it improves your video’s lighting and contrast, enriches its tones, and makes the overall video look a lot better, even if you recorded it with your smartphone camera. Let’s move on to see how this feature works.

1. Run Clipify. Get the free video editor installed on your PC and start it.
2. Open your video within the program. Stay on the Files tab and hit Add Video and Photos to open your MP4 in the software. Alternatively, you can drag a video file from a folder on your PC and drop it to the timeline.
3. Apply the Auto Enhancement feature. Click Edit on the toolbar above the timeline. Go to the Enhancement tab and click the Auto Enhancement checkbox.

Way 2. Cut and Stitch Your MP4 Video

If you want to edit your MP4 file’s length, remove some scenes from it, or add pieces of other footage, you can easily do that in Clipify. Splitting your video into parts will also allow you to apply effects and transitions to specific moments. Apart from this, the free video editor will help you remove black bars from your video or crop it to catch a better frame. Let’s have a look at the tutorial to get a closer look at the process.

1. Trim your video. Select the clip you want to cut and click Edit on the toolbar. On the General tab, choose the Cut and Set Duration feature. Use the blue markers to mark the part of your video you want to keep and hit the Apply button to remove the footage outside your selection.
2. Split parts of your clip. Return to the timeline. To split your video into separate fragments, drag the playhead to the needed moment of your clip and use the Split tool to separate your footage into pieces. To delete a particular scene, select it on the timeline and click the trash bin icon on the toolbar.
3. Crop your video. Choose the video piece you want to crop and click the Crop tool on the toolbar. Pick the Fill Frame option to remove black bars or crop your video manually to a custom size.

Way 3. Edit the Sound of Your MP4

Clipify’s handy sound editor will help you fix the sound of your video: adjust its volume, add audio points, or mute it. Make your video silent if you have changed its speed or added extra footage. Then, you can complete your clip with one of the program’s 200+ free soundtracks. Find out how to do that below.

1. Adjust the original sound of your video. Click the video in which you want to edit the sound. Choose Edit on the toolbar and stay on the General tab to adjust the Sound Volume slider.
2. Mute your MP4 video. If you want to make your video silent, select the Mute option from the same menu.
3. Accompany your video clip with music. Switch to the Files tab and choose Open Music Collection. Here, pick the song according to the mood of your clip and hit Add to Project. Otherwise, go to Add Audio Files and import songs from your PC’s library.
4. Edit your MP4 video soundtrack. Right-click your song to adjust its settings: cut it, add fade-in and fade-out effects, change volume, etc.

Way 4. Stabilize Your Footage

Quivering footage is a common problem if you shoot outdoors or without a camera stabilizer. However, don’t get discouraged if you face such a problem yourself. Clipify will help you stabilize any video in a single click. How is such a thing possible? See below.

1. Import your shaky MP4 video. Like before, drag and drop your clip to the timeline or open it using the Add Videos and Photos button on the Files tab.
2. Apply image stabilization. Switch to the Enhancement tab and click the Image Stabilization checkbox. Done!

Way 5. Change the MP4 Resolution

You would be surprised, but you can even improve the resolution of your video if you use Clipify. This means that you can make a video of an average quality look like you recorded it with a professional video camera. In a moment, you will see how exactly you can do that.

1. Generate your movie. When you finish editing your clip, and every part of it looks perfect, hit the Create Video button on the toolbar.
2. Improve the resolution of your video. Choose Create Other Types of Video option, switch to the HD Video tab, and select the HD MP4 format. Find the Frame Size Slider. It controls the resolution of your video. Now, make sure it’s in the right corner. Hit Create Video.

Way 6. Edit MP4 Video Speed

If you are recording a long-term process like the sunset, your video will make a stronger impression on the viewer if it's faster. In other cases, moments captured on camera would look more breathtaking in slow-mo. With Clipify, you can change the speed of your video both ways, and you don’t have to get into any trouble for that. Let’s see how to speed up parts of a video or slow them down in the tutorial below.

1. Separate the video fragment. If you don’t want to change the speed of the whole video at once, isolate the needed fragment from the rest of the footage. To do that, drag the playhead to the start of the fragment and choose the Split option on the toolbar.
2. Edit the speed of our video clip. Select the video piece that needs editing and choose the Edit option on the toolbar. Go to the Video Speed tab. Here, you switch the speed of your clip either using presets from the drop-down menu or with a slider.

Way 7. Add Embellishments to Your Video

After editing and enhancing your video, you might still feel that something is missing. If so, Clipify’s embellishments will come to your rescue. The program has a diverse collection of 200+ decorations: text styles, stickers, cliparts, etc. Let’s have a closer look at how to use them.

1. Add captions to your video. Switch to the Text tab and choose the text style that speaks to you the most. Drag it to the timeline. In the new window, type in your caption. Add fade-in and fade-out animation. Adjust the duration of your caption on the timeline.
2. Decorate your captions with stickers. Go to the Clipart tab and stay in the Stickers section. Here, choose the sticker that would serve as the background for your caption. Drag your sticker to the timeline and make its duration the same as your caption’s.
3. Embellish the video with some cliparts. Now, switch to the Clipart section. Choose themed clipart from the software’s collection or upload a picture from your PC’s library. Drag it to the timeline and adjust its duration. Set the size and position of each element in the preview window.

Now you know 7 ways of how to edit an MP4 video on Windows with Clipify. There is much more the program can help you do, however. It has features from fundamental ones like slider-based color correction to proficient level ones like Curves and Chroma Key. What’s more, this free video editor has tons of transitions, visual effects, title cards, and stock footage for making your clip epic. For people who respect their time and can’t afford to spend too much of it on editing, the program has many video templates. You only have to add your media to them to get a ready-to-share movie with transitions, music, and effects.

Alternative Ways to Edit MP4 Videos

Clipify is compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11. But if somehow you still assume that it isn’t the best option for you, here are a few more editors we recommend you to try. The first one is Adobe Premiere Pro, a program highly admired by professional videographers. It is also commonly used in the movie industry, so you will appreciate it if you have a background in video post-production. The editor has a mobile version called Adobe Premiere Rush if you like being efficient even while traveling.

Next comes software that will be useful to Mac users - iMovie. Most people know about it since it comes as a pre-installed application with MacOS. However, it never occurs to some that this program is pretty powerful and has every instrument for making a perfect MP4 clip for socials and personal archive: picture enhancement features, sound tools, filters, effects, etc. There is also a version of iMovie for iPad and iPhone. If you are an Android user who would like to edit with a similarly intuitive video app, try InShot. It’s one of the best mobile applications in the field that even a beginner can figure out.

Finally, if you are a casual user wondering how to edit MP4 videos on a PC without installing extra programs, go with the online Veed.io. It’s pretty well-rounded in terms of video post-production. You can use it to crop, rotate, enhance, embellish your video, and accompany it with a soundtrack. Veed.io will be especially enjoyed by small businesses because it allows making cool promotional clips and adding branding logos. Check out the links to the official pages above to learn how to edit MP4 video files with the help of the editors we have suggested.

Conclusion

By now, as promised, you know how to edit MP4 videos on Windows 10 and earlier versions, on Mac, online, and with your mobile device, whether it’s an iPhone or not. Choose the way that suits your preferences and skills the best and jump into the creative process. If you are still deciding, we recommend you give Clipify a chance. This is a reliable editor that comes for free. Besides, it offers powerful editing tools and infinite creative freedom. We hope this article has helped you and wish you luck with your video editing.