What Can Video Editing Effects Do?

Important Video Editor Effects Anyone Should Try

Making a good video doesn’t end with putting your camera on a tripod and pressing the “Record” button. Neither is simple cutting or cropping enough any longer. Whatever video you are creating, you need to bring the elusive wow factor and to make your content stand out. But how to do that? The answer is simple: add a video effect — one that will be remembered!

From eye-catching transitions to using the green screen, video editing effects can transform your footage into an engaging clip or family movie. In this article, we’ll have a close look at different types of effects and how to use them. So, let’s dive into video editing and discover how to make your videos truly unforgettable!

10 Must-Try Effects for Video Editing

Below, we’ll have a look at the 10 most common types of video effects that can be applied to clips of different genres. Anyone can use them — from a newbie to a pro. And here is a quick tip: before creating the final video, try these effects out.

1. Change the Video Speed

Video speed of a sequence may be changed drastically. For instance, you can speed up a video, so that your audience will observe a process much faster than it takes for it to unwind. A sunset that lasts five minutes could thus be experienced in twenty seconds only. At a yet faster pace, you could even see a seed growing — such is the power of video effects! This technique is known as time lapsing.

Do you wish a basketball player to literally hang in the air? Slow down your video by using slow motion, also known as slo-mo. This method, opposite to time lapsing, is especially useful for dramatic moments, each second of which would be valuable.

2. Stabilize the Shaky Footage

Watching a shaky film is pretty disappointing, isn’t it? And yet, we usually cannot suppress the noticeable shaking of our hands when filming with a hand camera. Be it a sportreel, a travel vlog footage, or any other video capturing life action, the “tremor effect” can come through. How to solve the problem? Simply stabilize what you’ve filmed! Video stabilization is a very helpful instrument for nearly any outdoor video.

3. Pan Your Camera

Imagine that a camera slowly zooms in on the face of a speaker, so that it finally occupies the whole screen. Or the focus moves from left to right, to bring into view the faces of a couple met by an unexpected piece of news. Such camera work can be recreated in editing using keyframes or similar effects. The real camera doesn’t have to move at all!

4. Blur the Background and Objects

Black bars can be blurred if you want to convert your vertical video into a horizontal one without cropping it, and vice versa. This effect also works perfectly when you need to create an atmosphere of mystery in your video. To do all that, you can blur the video background in post production. This is one of the standard video effects for editing.

Imagine that a piece of personal information — a phone number of your friend you were calling when taking your footage and such — comes into frame. It also goes without saying that license plates of somebody else’s cars that accidentally got into your video had better be removed. And what to do with other sensitive objects? Again, the idea to blur them suggests itself. You can censor only a certain area in your video and keep the rest intact.

5. Change the Green Screen Background

Recording a lesson or a video CV in a tiny studio? You may want to shoot your footage in front of a green screen, which then will allow you to change the video background. The same feature works well if you want to change your monotone background into the tropical forest, the sandy beach, or mountains lit by a sunset. (This is known as the Chroma key technique — we bet you’ve already heard of it.)

6. Create a Spectacular Video Montage

Sometimes, when our footage turns out too dull, it might be a good idea to enliven it a bit. For example, put a picture over your video, such as a pop-up object or a chirping bird that seems to interact with the speaker. This works best for educational videos which are in a bad need of visual aids. A talking-head video isn’t always easy to watch, so overlaying new visuals on an existing footage may be a blessing.

You also may wish to overlay video on a video to show the same object from two different angles. This special effect for video editing would also enable you to give a comment in sign language for persons with impaired hearing.

7. Apply Artistic Filters

The old black and white movies have a special look, and the same is true for sepia photos. (The latter are not exactly black-white but rather brownish-white.) All you need is to decolorize your video — and it immediately starts to look vintage.

The cinematic filters allow you to achieve that special look. They would even let you adjust the light, shade, and colors of your video in the style of the Avatar or the House of Flying Daggers.

8. Use Transitions Between Sequences

Making a long one-shot footage is unreasonable more often than not (that is, if we forget about such geniuses as Alfred Hitchcock and their experiments). Even long videos consist of separate parts, and it isn’t always easily possible to connect those parts seamlessly. In such cases you can use transitions between different sequences, using simple, gradient, or dynamic changeovers of all shapes and other cool effects.

9. Change Colors and Brightness

You have certainly seen videos that look way too dark or way too bright. And not just that — sometimes the colors, too, seem strange. To be sure, our camera can let us down. Luckily, all these flaws can be fixed in post-production by applying such visual effects as color correction. Sometimes, the best solution is just to brighten a dark video, though.

10. Add Title and Captions

Each good film needs a title, and so probably does any meaningful part of it. In any case, a clever caption to a specific frame sometimes is exactly what the doctor ordered. Add text to your video to explain a foreign phrase or help the viewer with additional information. (This is especially relevant for video instructions and tutorials.)

However, this simple addition makes even the most awesome effects pale in comparison if we think of how effective it can be. If you’re creating a video memory of a kid’s birthday or another special occasion, a great idea is to add stickers to videos. You also can add a logo to your video to defend your intellectual property, advertise your products, or for any similar purpose.

How to Add Effects to Videos in Clipify

Did you like the effects we’ve just described? Would you love to use them in your own video? If so, we recommend you give Clipify a chance.

The program can produce all the effects for videos we mentioned before — and not just that! Clipify offers several advantages as a free automatic video editor. The program features over 150 effects and filters, has a built-in AI auto enhancement and an auto stabilization tool. It handles HDR videos and footage shot against Chroma Key; it also can boast of other FX. It lets you create videos for PC and DVD, HD video files, clips for smartphones or social media.

Watch a video below to have a glimpse into all features of Clipify! This tutorial also shows a good number of video editing examples.

Adding Special Effects to Videos: Final Thoughts

Now you’ve learned about the top 10 tools to improve your video. Don’t ever hesitate to apply artistic filters, add captions, or use transitions between parts — all this gives your video a touch of professionalism and elegance. To do all that, use Clipify in its special role of a video effects editor. Install it on your PC and try some of the best video effects with it.

Editing a video is a rewarding process. We sincerely wish you to get acquainted with all the joys of it! Create half a dozen projects — and see the growth of your skills.