Speed-Filled Guide to Double Exposure Methods

The world of video-making owes much of its magic to small leaps of innovation. One of these leaps is the use of the chroma key background, which most people know by the more colloquial term—green screen.

Chroma key, also known as green screen or blue screen, is a cool hack for seamless visual storytelling, allowing content creators to replace backgrounds with any image or video they want. This technique is widely embraced in film, television, and online content, and has opened the door to limitless creative possibilities. Aside from its ability to maximize creativity, it is also cheap to employ and convenient to set up, which has made it a staple for everyone who works with visuals.

In this simple guide, we’ll delve into the fundamentals of the chroma key effect, how it is used for video making, and how to leverage that as you perfect your visual content.

YouTube Video Background Creating realistic video scenes at your will is easy to complete with Filmora green screen removal.

Create Video Backgrounds Create Video Backgrounds Learn Green Screen

How Does Chroma Key Work?

Chroma Keying is done by singling out a specific color (usually green or blue) from the foreground, removing it, and replacing it with a different background (for example, a sunset). This process typically follows a series of steps:

• Background Selection:

A solid, single-color background, often green or blue, that contrasts well with the subject must be used. The color chosen should not be present in the subject or any props in the camera field to avoid unintentional transparency.

• Color Keying:

This requires the use of specialized visual effects software to key out the chosen color. The green or blue background is designated as transparent, making everything of that color see-through. The software distinguishes between the keyed color and the subject, creating a mask for the transparent areas.

• Foreground Filming:

This involves filming the subject against the live chroma key background. During filming, the chosen background color (green or blue) won’t appear in the final result due to its transparency. The subject is captured as if separately from the isolated background.

• Post-Processing:

In post-production processing, the editor takes the keyed-out color and replaces it with the new background of their choice. This step creates the illusion that the subject is in a different setting or environment. The transparent areas become filled with the chosen background which, if done right, results in a cohesive and visually appealing composition.

Why Green?

Theoretically, the chroma key background can be any solid color. However, the most commonly used colors are studio blue and bright green, with the latter far more common.

The choice of background color depends on the specific requirements of the production and the colors present in the scenes being filmed.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Contrast

The less similar your chosen background color is to natural skin tones, the easier to isolate and replace in your footage. Bright green provides a strong contrast to most human skin tones and is less likely to be present in costumes or natural surroundings, making it easier to isolate subjects during the color separation.

Luminance

The color green emits light with greater intensity than blue, allowing for far more effective isolation by cameras during filming. This also means that blue screens demand increased lighting for proper exposure compared to green. This situation may be less than ideal if you lack powerful lighting or you don’t have the big bucks for them.

Digital Sensors

Many digital cameras and sensors are more sensitive to green wavelengths, resulting in cleaner and more accurate color keying during post-processing. Modern technology has also evolved to optimize for a green background, making it a more practical choice for the chroma key effect.

Wardrobe and Set Design

Bright green occurs less naturally in costumes and set designs than other colors, making green the optimal choice for reducing the likelihood of color spill and keying issues. However, if you know your scene will have lots of green, it is probably best to film with a blue screen, so there’s less risk of color spill and less post-production work.

Setting up Your Own Chroma Key Studio

Setting up your chroma key is convenient and straightforward, but there are some key factors to consider while setting up to ensure maximal performance.

Choosing the Right Background Color

The first step in the chroma key setup is selecting the right background color to be keyed out. This choice determines your effective color separation and ensures a smooth keying process during editing. Choosing a chroma-key background color that contrasts distinctly with the subject’s colors is essential for effective color separation. This prevents unintentional transparency, color spill, and ensures a polished final result.

Lighting Considerations

Lighting is an important part of the chroma-keying process. Bold, uniform, and consistent lighting on both the subject and the background makes it easy to delineate one from the other fully. This minimizes shadows and variations in color, creating a smooth and seamless keying process. Multiple diffuse lights from different angles are often used to illuminate the green screen evenly.

Positioning/Camera

Proper subject and camera placement are necessary to ensure an even color-keying process during post-production. To prevent shadow interference, the green screen should be smooth, tense, and without wrinkles or shadows.

High-quality cameras are essential every time, especially for chroma keying. Images with better definition are easier to key, so camera quality significantly affects the outcome. Even if your camera isn’t the best, merely shooting well can ensure a clean color-keying process during editing, resulting in professional-looking visuals.

Recording Tips for Chroma Key

• Proper Lighting

Maintaining uniform and well-defined lighting during recording is essential for a successful chroma-keying process. This consistency ensures a seamless keying process during post-production.

• Keep Distance from the Green Screen

The optimal distance between the subject and the green screen minimizes color spill and allows for natural movements. Proper distance between subject and background allows for easier isolation of the background and much smoother post-editing. A recommended starting point for the issue is around 6 to 10 feet from the background.

• Subjects and Clothing

As mentioned before, the choice of costume for Selecting appropriate clothing that doesn’t match the chroma key color prevents transparency issues. Subjects also have to be positioned in such a way that there is minimal light interference and reflection. These contribute to a flawless chroma key outcome.

3 Basic Troubleshooting Strategies

• Color Spill

Sometimes, reflected light from your green background can be cast on your subject and may remain so when the background light is keyed out. This phenomenon is known as a color spill. It is usually because of uneven lighting or shooting around reflecting surfaces. Avoiding spill can differentiate between good and lousy chroma key aftereffects.

Human hair is one area where color spill can show up unsuspectingly. Due to the translucency of hair, it is common for some unintended light to seep through. This allows some background visibility, which you do not want with a chroma key. This is especially notable with lighter hair colors like blond hair.

There are ways to account for this. Many video-editing software have features such as spill suppression and screen matte adjustments that can enhance the final footage. Specialized plugins also go a long way in ensuring minimizing spill. Addressing spill correction tackles unwanted green artifacts and ensures a clean keying process.

• Poor Lighting

Suboptimal green screen lighting can lead to inconsistencies in keying and editing, undermining your product. One way to avoid this is to light the screen and subject separately. Another tip, although expensive, is using multiple diffuse light sources and trying to maintain even lighting across every square foot of your scene. Super bright or dark spots can ruin your output, so it’s worth the extra effort if you don’t want to deal with problematic post-production.

• Poorly Refined Edges

Chroma keying should leave your videos with crisp, defined, natural-looking edges. But post-production editing can make all the difference if it doesn’t come out to your taste. Softening and refining edges make a smoother transition between the foreground object and the new background. Light adjustments to edge thickness and screen matte settings can also help enhance overall visual quality and add finesse to your work.

Conclusion

Green screen photography produces excellent results, and its ease of use makes it indispensable for videographers of all levels. In this guide, we’ve discussed chroma key technology, its role in the industry, and how to apply it to your craft to elevate visual content.

Chroma key, also known as green screen or blue screen, is a cool hack for seamless visual storytelling, allowing content creators to replace backgrounds with any image or video they want. This technique is widely embraced in film, television, and online content, and has opened the door to limitless creative possibilities. Aside from its ability to maximize creativity, it is also cheap to employ and convenient to set up, which has made it a staple for everyone who works with visuals.

In this simple guide, we’ll delve into the fundamentals of the chroma key effect, how it is used for video making, and how to leverage that as you perfect your visual content.

YouTube Video Background Creating realistic video scenes at your will is easy to complete with Filmora green screen removal.

Create Video Backgrounds Create Video Backgrounds Learn Green Screen

How Does Chroma Key Work?

Chroma Keying is done by singling out a specific color (usually green or blue) from the foreground, removing it, and replacing it with a different background (for example, a sunset). This process typically follows a series of steps:

• Background Selection:

A solid, single-color background, often green or blue, that contrasts well with the subject must be used. The color chosen should not be present in the subject or any props in the camera field to avoid unintentional transparency.

• Color Keying:

This requires the use of specialized visual effects software to key out the chosen color. The green or blue background is designated as transparent, making everything of that color see-through. The software distinguishes between the keyed color and the subject, creating a mask for the transparent areas.

• Foreground Filming:

This involves filming the subject against the live chroma key background. During filming, the chosen background color (green or blue) won’t appear in the final result due to its transparency. The subject is captured as if separately from the isolated background.

• Post-Processing:

In post-production processing, the editor takes the keyed-out color and replaces it with the new background of their choice. This step creates the illusion that the subject is in a different setting or environment. The transparent areas become filled with the chosen background which, if done right, results in a cohesive and visually appealing composition.

Why Green?

Theoretically, the chroma key background can be any solid color. However, the most commonly used colors are studio blue and bright green, with the latter far more common.

The choice of background color depends on the specific requirements of the production and the colors present in the scenes being filmed.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Contrast

The less similar your chosen background color is to natural skin tones, the easier to isolate and replace in your footage. Bright green provides a strong contrast to most human skin tones and is less likely to be present in costumes or natural surroundings, making it easier to isolate subjects during the color separation.

Luminance

The color green emits light with greater intensity than blue, allowing for far more effective isolation by cameras during filming. This also means that blue screens demand increased lighting for proper exposure compared to green. This situation may be less than ideal if you lack powerful lighting or you don’t have the big bucks for them.

Digital Sensors

Many digital cameras and sensors are more sensitive to green wavelengths, resulting in cleaner and more accurate color keying during post-processing. Modern technology has also evolved to optimize for a green background, making it a more practical choice for the chroma key effect.

Wardrobe and Set Design

Bright green occurs less naturally in costumes and set designs than other colors, making green the optimal choice for reducing the likelihood of color spill and keying issues. However, if you know your scene will have lots of green, it is probably best to film with a blue screen, so there’s less risk of color spill and less post-production work.

Setting up Your Own Chroma Key Studio

Setting up your chroma key is convenient and straightforward, but there are some key factors to consider while setting up to ensure maximal performance.

Choosing the Right Background Color

The first step in the chroma key setup is selecting the right background color to be keyed out. This choice determines your effective color separation and ensures a smooth keying process during editing. Choosing a chroma-key background color that contrasts distinctly with the subject’s colors is essential for effective color separation. This prevents unintentional transparency, color spill, and ensures a polished final result.

Lighting Considerations

Lighting is an important part of the chroma-keying process. Bold, uniform, and consistent lighting on both the subject and the background makes it easy to delineate one from the other fully. This minimizes shadows and variations in color, creating a smooth and seamless keying process. Multiple diffuse lights from different angles are often used to illuminate the green screen evenly.

Positioning/Camera

Proper subject and camera placement are necessary to ensure an even color-keying process during post-production. To prevent shadow interference, the green screen should be smooth, tense, and without wrinkles or shadows.

High-quality cameras are essential every time, especially for chroma keying. Images with better definition are easier to key, so camera quality significantly affects the outcome. Even if your camera isn’t the best, merely shooting well can ensure a clean color-keying process during editing, resulting in professional-looking visuals.

Recording Tips for Chroma Key

• Proper Lighting

Maintaining uniform and well-defined lighting during recording is essential for a successful chroma-keying process. This consistency ensures a seamless keying process during post-production.

• Keep Distance from the Green Screen

The optimal distance between the subject and the green screen minimizes color spill and allows for natural movements. Proper distance between subject and background allows for easier isolation of the background and much smoother post-editing. A recommended starting point for the issue is around 6 to 10 feet from the background.

• Subjects and Clothing

As mentioned before, the choice of costume for Selecting appropriate clothing that doesn’t match the chroma key color prevents transparency issues. Subjects also have to be positioned in such a way that there is minimal light interference and reflection. These contribute to a flawless chroma key outcome.

3 Basic Troubleshooting Strategies

• Color Spill

Sometimes, reflected light from your green background can be cast on your subject and may remain so when the background light is keyed out. This phenomenon is known as a color spill. It is usually because of uneven lighting or shooting around reflecting surfaces. Avoiding spill can differentiate between good and lousy chroma key aftereffects.

Human hair is one area where color spill can show up unsuspectingly. Due to the translucency of hair, it is common for some unintended light to seep through. This allows some background visibility, which you do not want with a chroma key. This is especially notable with lighter hair colors like blond hair.

There are ways to account for this. Many video-editing software have features such as spill suppression and screen matte adjustments that can enhance the final footage. Specialized plugins also go a long way in ensuring minimizing spill. Addressing spill correction tackles unwanted green artifacts and ensures a clean keying process.

• Poor Lighting

Suboptimal green screen lighting can lead to inconsistencies in keying and editing, undermining your product. One way to avoid this is to light the screen and subject separately. Another tip, although expensive, is using multiple diffuse light sources and trying to maintain even lighting across every square foot of your scene. Super bright or dark spots can ruin your output, so it’s worth the extra effort if you don’t want to deal with problematic post-production.

• Poorly Refined Edges

Chroma keying should leave your videos with crisp, defined, natural-looking edges. But post-production editing can make all the difference if it doesn’t come out to your taste. Softening and refining edges make a smoother transition between the foreground object and the new background. Light adjustments to edge thickness and screen matte settings can also help enhance overall visual quality and add finesse to your work.

Conclusion

Green screen photography produces excellent results, and its ease of use makes it indispensable for videographers of all levels. In this guide, we’ve discussed chroma key technology, its role in the industry, and how to apply it to your craft to elevate visual content.

Reel It In: Pro-Level Techniques for YouTube Video Editors

How to Edit Youtube Videos by the YouTube Video Editor

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Note: From 20th September 2017 users will no longer be able to use the complimentary editing suite. Check the best YouTube video editor alternatives from this complete guide. Now, it is back again.

Video editing usually requires a fair amount of technical knowledge and professional software. But YouTube has introduced its new YouTube Video Editor. It’s deceptively simple compared to the traditional desktop editing programs.

If you haven’t tried the YouTube editor , it’s time to get started.

It’s easy to learn and the guide below will give you an introduction for editing videos on YouTube.

You May Also Like:
Royalty free music for YouTube Videos >>
Best Screen Recorders for YouTube >>
YouTube Video Dimensions/Size: Guide for Upload Settings >>
The Best Video Editors for YouTube >>

---

How to edit a YouTube video with Filmora

If you want to have more controls on editing YouTube video, here we recommend using Filmora .

You can use it to trim/cut/split YouTube videos with handy tools. It also offer more than 50 royal free music to use. Various video filters and effects are available to make your videos amazing. The best part is you can apply animated text/titles to videos like a pro. After editing, you can directly upload videos to YouTube.

Now, download it now to have a try!

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

---

How to Use YouTube Video Editor to Edit Video on YouTube

Step 1. Get access to YouTube Video Editor

Sign in to your YouTube (or Google) account. To get access to YouTube Video Editor, you can go directly to YouTube studio (video editor) . Or click avatar icon in your YouTube site > YouTube Studio.

Learn more about Upload MP3 to YouTube

Step 2. Add your videos to the timeline

After getting to the editor, all your YouTube videos will appear. If you want to add a clip from the pool of videos into the project, simply drag it onto the timeline or hit the plus icon in the top right hand corner of each clip. You can also add any YouTube videos that were uploaded with a “Creative Commons” license.

To do this, go to the CC tab, find a video and drag it to the timeline.

Looking for best YouTube video editor alternatives? Check this complete guide here >>

Step 3. Edit the videos as you like

With the YouTube video editor, you can quick fix your videos, add audio track of your video, add texts, use various filters and more. Below is a detailed guide on how to use YouTube video Editor.

• Trim/Cut/Split video

• Change video settings

• Add filters

• Add text to video

• Add music to video

• Add transitions to video

#1 Trim/Cut/Split video

To cut or split your video, hover over the target clip and hit the scissor icon to cut the clip into pieces. You can also cursor over the edge of your video in the timeline and drag the handle to shorten or trim your video.

#2 Change video settings

YouTube Video Editor also provides the “Quick fixes” function which does a quick analysis of the video and tweaks its color, brightness, and contrast settings automatically.

You can just double click the video to enter the “Quick fixes” tab and easily change brightness and contrast, add slow motion and pan zoom effect, and stabilize, audio fix or rotate video.

#3 Add filters

You can also add stunning video filters provided by this editor. To get access this function, double click the video and switch to the “Filter” tab.

#4 Add text to video

To add text to video, go to the “Text” tab, tick “Enable text” and enter the text to the text column. Then customize the font, size, color, position of the text as you like.

#5 Add music to video

YouTube also allows you to swap out the audio with one of its licensed tracks. To do this, go back to the main interface of the editor and click the Audio tab. Then select a song from the library and either drag it to the soundtrack timeline or press the plus sign to the right of each title.

Note: You should note that some are songs are subject to licensing agreements, which means YouTube will automatically add advertisements to the video clip.

Another short coming is that you can’t edit the audio track at all. If a song is longer than your video, you can do nothing but let it play from the beginning until your video stops.

#6 Add transitions to video

If several video clips have been added to the timeline, you need transition to make the whole project smoother. To add transition, go to the Transition tab and choose from 16 transition effects.

YouTube Video Editor is really easy to use, but it only provides some basic video editing functions and is really easy to crash when dealing with large file. If you want to make your video more professional, try Wondershare Filmora .

This desktop video editing tool can help you easily complete video editing tasks.

Download it now to have a try!

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Note: From 20th September 2017 users will no longer be able to use the complimentary editing suite. Check the best YouTube video editor alternatives from this complete guide. Now, it is back again.

Video editing usually requires a fair amount of technical knowledge and professional software. But YouTube has introduced its new YouTube Video Editor. It’s deceptively simple compared to the traditional desktop editing programs.

If you haven’t tried the YouTube editor , it’s time to get started.

It’s easy to learn and the guide below will give you an introduction for editing videos on YouTube.

You May Also Like:
Royalty free music for YouTube Videos >>
Best Screen Recorders for YouTube >>
YouTube Video Dimensions/Size: Guide for Upload Settings >>
The Best Video Editors for YouTube >>

---

How to edit a YouTube video with Filmora

If you want to have more controls on editing YouTube video, here we recommend using Filmora .

You can use it to trim/cut/split YouTube videos with handy tools. It also offer more than 50 royal free music to use. Various video filters and effects are available to make your videos amazing. The best part is you can apply animated text/titles to videos like a pro. After editing, you can directly upload videos to YouTube.

Now, download it now to have a try!

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

---

How to Use YouTube Video Editor to Edit Video on YouTube

Step 1. Get access to YouTube Video Editor

Sign in to your YouTube (or Google) account. To get access to YouTube Video Editor, you can go directly to YouTube studio (video editor) . Or click avatar icon in your YouTube site > YouTube Studio.

Learn more about Upload MP3 to YouTube

Step 2. Add your videos to the timeline

After getting to the editor, all your YouTube videos will appear. If you want to add a clip from the pool of videos into the project, simply drag it onto the timeline or hit the plus icon in the top right hand corner of each clip. You can also add any YouTube videos that were uploaded with a “Creative Commons” license.

To do this, go to the CC tab, find a video and drag it to the timeline.

Looking for best YouTube video editor alternatives? Check this complete guide here >>

Step 3. Edit the videos as you like

With the YouTube video editor, you can quick fix your videos, add audio track of your video, add texts, use various filters and more. Below is a detailed guide on how to use YouTube video Editor.

• Trim/Cut/Split video

• Change video settings

• Add filters

• Add text to video

• Add music to video

• Add transitions to video

#1 Trim/Cut/Split video

To cut or split your video, hover over the target clip and hit the scissor icon to cut the clip into pieces. You can also cursor over the edge of your video in the timeline and drag the handle to shorten or trim your video.

#2 Change video settings

YouTube Video Editor also provides the “Quick fixes” function which does a quick analysis of the video and tweaks its color, brightness, and contrast settings automatically.

You can just double click the video to enter the “Quick fixes” tab and easily change brightness and contrast, add slow motion and pan zoom effect, and stabilize, audio fix or rotate video.

#3 Add filters

You can also add stunning video filters provided by this editor. To get access this function, double click the video and switch to the “Filter” tab.

#4 Add text to video

To add text to video, go to the “Text” tab, tick “Enable text” and enter the text to the text column. Then customize the font, size, color, position of the text as you like.

#5 Add music to video

YouTube also allows you to swap out the audio with one of its licensed tracks. To do this, go back to the main interface of the editor and click the Audio tab. Then select a song from the library and either drag it to the soundtrack timeline or press the plus sign to the right of each title.

Note: You should note that some are songs are subject to licensing agreements, which means YouTube will automatically add advertisements to the video clip.

Another short coming is that you can’t edit the audio track at all. If a song is longer than your video, you can do nothing but let it play from the beginning until your video stops.

#6 Add transitions to video

If several video clips have been added to the timeline, you need transition to make the whole project smoother. To add transition, go to the Transition tab and choose from 16 transition effects.

YouTube Video Editor is really easy to use, but it only provides some basic video editing functions and is really easy to crash when dealing with large file. If you want to make your video more professional, try Wondershare Filmora .

This desktop video editing tool can help you easily complete video editing tasks.

Download it now to have a try!

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Note: From 20th September 2017 users will no longer be able to use the complimentary editing suite. Check the best YouTube video editor alternatives from this complete guide. Now, it is back again.

Video editing usually requires a fair amount of technical knowledge and professional software. But YouTube has introduced its new YouTube Video Editor. It’s deceptively simple compared to the traditional desktop editing programs.

If you haven’t tried the YouTube editor , it’s time to get started.

It’s easy to learn and the guide below will give you an introduction for editing videos on YouTube.

You May Also Like:
Royalty free music for YouTube Videos >>
Best Screen Recorders for YouTube >>
YouTube Video Dimensions/Size: Guide for Upload Settings >>
The Best Video Editors for YouTube >>

---

How to edit a YouTube video with Filmora

If you want to have more controls on editing YouTube video, here we recommend using Filmora .

You can use it to trim/cut/split YouTube videos with handy tools. It also offer more than 50 royal free music to use. Various video filters and effects are available to make your videos amazing. The best part is you can apply animated text/titles to videos like a pro. After editing, you can directly upload videos to YouTube.

Now, download it now to have a try!

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

---

How to Use YouTube Video Editor to Edit Video on YouTube

Step 1. Get access to YouTube Video Editor

Sign in to your YouTube (or Google) account. To get access to YouTube Video Editor, you can go directly to YouTube studio (video editor) . Or click avatar icon in your YouTube site > YouTube Studio.

Learn more about Upload MP3 to YouTube

Step 2. Add your videos to the timeline

After getting to the editor, all your YouTube videos will appear. If you want to add a clip from the pool of videos into the project, simply drag it onto the timeline or hit the plus icon in the top right hand corner of each clip. You can also add any YouTube videos that were uploaded with a “Creative Commons” license.

To do this, go to the CC tab, find a video and drag it to the timeline.

Looking for best YouTube video editor alternatives? Check this complete guide here >>

Step 3. Edit the videos as you like

With the YouTube video editor, you can quick fix your videos, add audio track of your video, add texts, use various filters and more. Below is a detailed guide on how to use YouTube video Editor.

• Trim/Cut/Split video

• Change video settings

• Add filters

• Add text to video

• Add music to video

• Add transitions to video

#1 Trim/Cut/Split video

To cut or split your video, hover over the target clip and hit the scissor icon to cut the clip into pieces. You can also cursor over the edge of your video in the timeline and drag the handle to shorten or trim your video.

#2 Change video settings

YouTube Video Editor also provides the “Quick fixes” function which does a quick analysis of the video and tweaks its color, brightness, and contrast settings automatically.

You can just double click the video to enter the “Quick fixes” tab and easily change brightness and contrast, add slow motion and pan zoom effect, and stabilize, audio fix or rotate video.

#3 Add filters

You can also add stunning video filters provided by this editor. To get access this function, double click the video and switch to the “Filter” tab.

#4 Add text to video

To add text to video, go to the “Text” tab, tick “Enable text” and enter the text to the text column. Then customize the font, size, color, position of the text as you like.

#5 Add music to video

YouTube also allows you to swap out the audio with one of its licensed tracks. To do this, go back to the main interface of the editor and click the Audio tab. Then select a song from the library and either drag it to the soundtrack timeline or press the plus sign to the right of each title.

Note: You should note that some are songs are subject to licensing agreements, which means YouTube will automatically add advertisements to the video clip.

Another short coming is that you can’t edit the audio track at all. If a song is longer than your video, you can do nothing but let it play from the beginning until your video stops.

#6 Add transitions to video

If several video clips have been added to the timeline, you need transition to make the whole project smoother. To add transition, go to the Transition tab and choose from 16 transition effects.

YouTube Video Editor is really easy to use, but it only provides some basic video editing functions and is really easy to crash when dealing with large file. If you want to make your video more professional, try Wondershare Filmora .

This desktop video editing tool can help you easily complete video editing tasks.

Download it now to have a try!

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Note: From 20th September 2017 users will no longer be able to use the complimentary editing suite. Check the best YouTube video editor alternatives from this complete guide. Now, it is back again.

Video editing usually requires a fair amount of technical knowledge and professional software. But YouTube has introduced its new YouTube Video Editor. It’s deceptively simple compared to the traditional desktop editing programs.

If you haven’t tried the YouTube editor , it’s time to get started.

It’s easy to learn and the guide below will give you an introduction for editing videos on YouTube.

You May Also Like:
Royalty free music for YouTube Videos >>
Best Screen Recorders for YouTube >>
YouTube Video Dimensions/Size: Guide for Upload Settings >>
The Best Video Editors for YouTube >>

---

How to edit a YouTube video with Filmora

If you want to have more controls on editing YouTube video, here we recommend using Filmora .

You can use it to trim/cut/split YouTube videos with handy tools. It also offer more than 50 royal free music to use. Various video filters and effects are available to make your videos amazing. The best part is you can apply animated text/titles to videos like a pro. After editing, you can directly upload videos to YouTube.

Now, download it now to have a try!

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

---

How to Use YouTube Video Editor to Edit Video on YouTube

Step 1. Get access to YouTube Video Editor

Sign in to your YouTube (or Google) account. To get access to YouTube Video Editor, you can go directly to YouTube studio (video editor) . Or click avatar icon in your YouTube site > YouTube Studio.

Learn more about Upload MP3 to YouTube

Step 2. Add your videos to the timeline

After getting to the editor, all your YouTube videos will appear. If you want to add a clip from the pool of videos into the project, simply drag it onto the timeline or hit the plus icon in the top right hand corner of each clip. You can also add any YouTube videos that were uploaded with a “Creative Commons” license.

To do this, go to the CC tab, find a video and drag it to the timeline.

Looking for best YouTube video editor alternatives? Check this complete guide here >>

Step 3. Edit the videos as you like

With the YouTube video editor, you can quick fix your videos, add audio track of your video, add texts, use various filters and more. Below is a detailed guide on how to use YouTube video Editor.

• Trim/Cut/Split video

• Change video settings

• Add filters

• Add text to video

• Add music to video

• Add transitions to video

#1 Trim/Cut/Split video

To cut or split your video, hover over the target clip and hit the scissor icon to cut the clip into pieces. You can also cursor over the edge of your video in the timeline and drag the handle to shorten or trim your video.

#2 Change video settings

YouTube Video Editor also provides the “Quick fixes” function which does a quick analysis of the video and tweaks its color, brightness, and contrast settings automatically.

You can just double click the video to enter the “Quick fixes” tab and easily change brightness and contrast, add slow motion and pan zoom effect, and stabilize, audio fix or rotate video.

#3 Add filters

You can also add stunning video filters provided by this editor. To get access this function, double click the video and switch to the “Filter” tab.

#4 Add text to video

To add text to video, go to the “Text” tab, tick “Enable text” and enter the text to the text column. Then customize the font, size, color, position of the text as you like.

#5 Add music to video

YouTube also allows you to swap out the audio with one of its licensed tracks. To do this, go back to the main interface of the editor and click the Audio tab. Then select a song from the library and either drag it to the soundtrack timeline or press the plus sign to the right of each title.

Note: You should note that some are songs are subject to licensing agreements, which means YouTube will automatically add advertisements to the video clip.

Another short coming is that you can’t edit the audio track at all. If a song is longer than your video, you can do nothing but let it play from the beginning until your video stops.

#6 Add transitions to video

If several video clips have been added to the timeline, you need transition to make the whole project smoother. To add transition, go to the Transition tab and choose from 16 transition effects.

YouTube Video Editor is really easy to use, but it only provides some basic video editing functions and is really easy to crash when dealing with large file. If you want to make your video more professional, try Wondershare Filmora .

This desktop video editing tool can help you easily complete video editing tasks.

Download it now to have a try!

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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