Here’s how to use Vimeo’s online editor to perfect your videos.
You create videos for your organization and need a way to edit them. A variety of different editors are available, both paid and free, but one option worth considering is: Vimeo. Vimeo’s cloud-based editor allows you to enhance your videos and then download them or publish them online.
Vimeo offers a free plan that allows you to save and publish videos with very limited editing capabilities. For that reason, you’d probably want to sign up for one of the paid plans, all of which offer a free trial so you can try before you buy. Once you have an account, simply upload your video to the Vimeo website for editing right in your browser. This is how it works.
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First go to the Vimeo website. Click the Become a Free Member button and create a username and password. After you join, go to the Video Manager page. Here you can watch existing videos that people have shared if you want to get some inspiration (Image A).
Image A
Click the Upgrade button to view the different paid plans. The next screen shows the four core paid plans: Plus, Pro, Business, and Premium, along with the annual and monthly costs for each. Find the plan best suited for your business and click the Start Free Trial link (Figure B).
Figure B
Return to the Video Manager page. If you have an existing video that you want to edit, click the New Video button and select Upload.
On the next screen, drag and drop the video clips you want to edit or click the Choose File button and select them from your computer (Figure C).
Figure C
Return to the Video Manager page where you should see the clip or clips you have uploaded. Click the clip you want to edit, then click the Edit & Trim icon.
You can choose from two different tools. Choose the Trimmer if you want to trim your video only at the beginning and/or end. Choose Video Editor if you want to perform more extensive editing.
Let’s try the Trimmer first, so click the Trim button (Figure D).
Figure D
You can now play the video to decide where to crop it. Move the left slider to the area where you want the clip to begin and the right slider to where you want the clip to end. Then click on Save (Digits E).
Digits E
You will be returned to the previous screen where you can play your revised video. To use the full video editor instead, click the Edit & Crop icon and click the Edit button for Video Editor.
In the video editor, click the Timeline button. You can now play the video and move the left and right sliders to trim the video. To split the video into two or more clips, move the stylus and click Split (Figure F).
Figure F
To add one or more clips to this video, click the plus icon to the left of the timeline and select Media Scene. Select My Media and then choose a clip you’ve already uploaded or click the Upload button to grab one from your computer. Select additional clips if desired, then click the Add button (Figure G).
Figure G
You can now move the clips in the desired order by dragging and dropping them. Click the Timeline button if you want to make further cuts or crops.
Besides simply editing your video, you can add other elements to spice it up. In the left pane, click the Text button and type a title or other text you want to add to a clip. You can position the text, change the color, adjust the alignment, add a drop shadow, and set a duration to determine how long the text should be displayed (figure H).
figure H
Then click the Sticker button to add a sticker to the video. Click the Styles button to apply a filter to the video. Click the Music button if you want to add music to the video. You can choose from all of Vimeo’s licensed songs or upload your own music (Figure I).
Figure I
When you’re done, click the Preview button to see your video with the changes you’ve made and the elements you’ve added. When you’re happy with the results, click Save.
You can now decide what to do with your finished video. Click the ellipsis icon in the top right corner. Select Publish to Social if you want to publish it to Facebook, YouTube, or another service. Select Download to download the video in MP4 format to your computer. Select Make a copy if you want to make a duplicate of the video (figure J).
figure J
