Short-form content has rapidly taken over the entertainment scene. The popularity of platforms like TikTok has prompted other traditional video hosting services to create avenues for short videos, like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels.
With such high marketability, it’s easy to understand why creators want to get into the habit of making short-form videos. Fortunately, TikTok has empowered creators to produce high-quality content with the introduction of CapCut. Here’s how you may use it to create short videos—note that we are using the desktop version for this demonstration.
1. Importing Your Video
The recording stage precedes editing. This could involve sitting in front of multiple cameras orusing screen recording programs to recorda walkthrough on your device. As long as your video is in vertical orientation—so either portrait or square.
There are three windows on the top half of the CapCut editor. The first one will prompt you to add materials to your current session. Clicking onImportwill open a standard file explorer window. From here, you can browse your computer files and locate the specific video footage you’d like to work with. It’s best to encode your footage to MP4 for easy editing, but CapCut also supports most video formats, except for MKV.
Once imported, you may drag the whole file onto your timeline or take snippets from it to have bite-sized footage that is easier to edit. You can also revisit the file location by right-clicking on the video in case you forget where you got it from.
2. Editing the Audio
Audio and visuals must harmonize to make an excellent, captivating video. There is also an emphasis on background sounds and music in short-form content. The CapCutAudiotab offers a large selection of songs creators can search through and choose from, and each downloaded song can be used immediately in the editing process.
It is worth noting that the songs on this list may be copyright-protected. While there is some leniency in copyright claims for short-form videos, it never hurts to be careful. As such, look atsites where you can download copyright-free music and sounds.
CapCut allows you to take things one step further with theCopyright Checkerfeature. Be sure to use it on any sound before adding it to your video. CapCut also supports audio extraction from videos; this can be incredibly useful if you want to use the audio from specific footage.
Furthermore, the Audio tab offers a fine selection ofSound Effectsto breathe some life into your video. The sound effects are organized into themed categories that communicate the effect you want a particular scene to have, but you can also use the search function to find something specific.
3. Captioning Your Shorts
The secret to maximum viewer retention is incorporating attention-holding visual elements into your videos. Stunning captions are one medium through which this can be done. Naturally, an entire section in CapCut is dedicated to building custom captions, which you will find in theTexttab.
Some tools make the process seamless and easy, like theAuto Captionfeature. Once selected, the tool scans your video on the timeline and inserts text boxes synched to whatever is said. It’s reasonably accurate and works best when the words are enunciated.
The feature is not infallible, but you can edit the captions if something is mistranslated or misrepresented. This is more convenient than learninghow to add auto-captions to your TikTok videosafter the fact because you can correct any mistakes you notice before posting.
4. Adding Stickers for Emphasis
CapCut also offers a beefy selection of static and animated stickers you can add to your videos for that extra wow factor. Stickers work hand-in-hand with captions to further emphasize the point you are trying to make.
Fortunately, you can browse theStickerswindow by category and match the sticker you select to the tone of any point in your video. Some animated stickers are goofy and fun—excellent for lightening the mood.
Ultimately, learning to match stickers and captions to your videos will significantly elevate the quality of your content.
5. Adding Effects
Effect processing is an essential stage in video editing. With CapCut, it’s as simple as downloading your desired effect in theEffectstab and dragging it onto the clip you wish to apply it to. you may apply effects to video snippets and other visual assets, like custom PNG art and lettering.
Less is more when using visual effects. As such, you should stick to effects that complement the video instead of going for flashy, over-the-top selections. However, this may fit the tone of your video as well. What works for one creator may not work for another, and you may need to try many effects to find what works for you.
Ensure you save your implemented effects as you work on your video to avoid losing progress. It also helps to keep track of what you apply to elements of your video if you intend to use these effects again in a different project.
6. Adding Transitions
Smaller clips from a short video can be easier to work with and edit. However, depending on how you cut the clips, you may be left with hard jumps from one scene to another. While this video style could work depending on your content, some may require a softer transition.
Fortunately, there is an entireTransitionssection in CapCut dedicated to this. They are sorted by the effect they have during the transition. The industry standard overlay and blur transitions are available, along with other unique types, like those in theMotion Graphicscategory.
Each transition window shows a preview of how the transition works, so you may get a better idea of how they will add or subtract from your project.
7. Using Video Filters
Lighting plays an integral role in videography. Your video lighting sets the tone for your video and significantly affects how viewers feel while they watch. Fortunately, you can adjust the lighting in your videos thanks to the available filters CapCut offers.
Filtersis the section to be in if you want your videos to feel warmer or colder. Preview what these filters do before applying them to your video for the best results.
8. Final Adjustments
CapCut allows users to create adjustment layers and fine-tune each setting as precisely as they wish. This feature is incredibly useful for creators transitioning from different editing software, as the values are largely the same.
An adjustment layer can change the temperature, hue, saturation, brightness, and contrast of any graphic element it is placed over. More experienced creators typically have these values memorized or written down for their videos. you’re able to manually put them in and breathe a sigh of relief, knowing you don’t have to come up with these values from scratch.
TheAdjustmenttab is also great when you may’t find the filter you are looking for. You can create the desired effect by playing around with the different adjustments in a layer and seeing what works.
9. Exporting Your Video
Once you finish editing your work, you’ll need to export it before you can post it on social media. There are a few options to consider when exporting your video. First, you’ll need to name it appropriately and choose the folder it exports to.
After this, set the resolution to match the resolution of the source footage for the best result. Most mobile videos are recorded at either 1080p or 2K. However, if you use a professional camera, you can set it to 1080p by default for a clean look.
You can also set your videos to a higher bit rate for better quality, but this can strain your viewers’ internet connections. That being said, it’s best to leave this at the default setting,Recommended. In addition, leave the encoding as H.264 because it provides good quality at a low bandwidth.
Only clickExportafter confirming all the options in this window. Once you do this, CapCut will render your video and save it in the specified folder. Then, you’re able to immediately post it on your social media page.
Short-Form Video Content Made Easy With CapCut
CapCut was designed to simplify the short-form video editing process. It is very handy and convenient, but it may take some getting used to.
However, once mastered, CapCut can optimize the editing process and make it less strenuous, allowing you to pump out more high-quality content you can be proud of.
