TikTok is the app right now, and it’s not hard to see why. Offering a curated feed of user-created videos ranging from the informative to the funny and, let’s be honest, the outright weird at times, it’s an engaging platform that gives those with a flair for video a platform to showcase their work. TikTok knows this, including a range of basic editing tools and filters to give your videos a unique look, but as the platform grows and viewership increases, it’s likely that you’ll want to look beyond the basic in-app editing tools – but what are you to do in that situation?
While you could download one of a plethora of third-party editing apps on your smartphone, the best solution is to move to a desktop to create and edit your videos – aside from being more capable than mobile alternatives, you’ll also be able to record videos using your phone’s main camera app, allowing you to use any rear-facing and, if you’ve got an Android, video quality will be greatly improved too. You’ll also get much more screen space to work with, enabling you to better visualise your TikTok videos.
With so many benefits, the jump from mobile to desktop is a smart one. But where do you start when it comes to desktop editing software?
Movavi’s Video Editor Plus is the perfect program for those looking to make the transition from mobile editor to desktop editor without having to learn how to use complex software, offering an intuitive interface, capable tools, informative tutorials and a range of professionally-created effects and graphics at your fingertips.
Once you’ve shot and transferred your videos to your Mac, it’s as easy as dragging-and-dropping the footage into the Movavi interface to import it. Within seconds it’ll be processed, ready to be dropped onto the timeline and precisely trimmed – you can trim it on a per-frame basis, giving much finer control over your cuts than you’ll find on TikTok, and that can help make your transitions between shots look much cleaner.
Once you’ve got the basic layout of your TikTok nailed, it’s time to start getting creative with some of the more advanced tools available within Movavi Video Editor Plus. The effects tab on the left provides you with a handy overview of the different categories available, from basic colour correction effects to old VHS-style interference, and it’s as simple as dragging the effect onto the clip you’d like to apply it to – no settings to change or parameters to set – and it’s just as quick to remove the effect if it isn’t what you’re after.
One of the most popular effects on TikTok is the greenscreen, also known as chromakeying, providing the ability to remove your background and replace it with an image or video, but the TikTok filter is basic, and the effects are sometimes messy.
However, if you’ve got a plain background to shoot on – though preferably green or blue, other colours should work too – then you can take it to the next level using Movavi. Using the Chromakey colour picker tool you can remove a specific colour from your video, and you’ve got access to more advanced settings to perfect the greenscreen effect if necessary.
Creating closed captions, a move to make TikTok videos more accessible, is also much quicker and easier with Movavi’s suite of text-based tools.
There’s also a wide selection of stickers that you can drop onto your videos, a range of transitions unavailable on the TikTok app to bring added flair to your videos, advanced pan effects, split-screen capabilities for better reaction videos and much, much more. Plus, if you really want the professional finish, you’ve got the option of paying for professionally created themes, effects and transitions from the Movavi Effects Store.
Once you’ve perfected your video and trimmed it down to the maximum 60 seconds allowed by TikTok, it’s as simple as hitting the Export button, changing the dimensions to 1080 x 1920 (for 16:9 portrait video) and waiting for your video to export – a process that shouldn’t take more than a few seconds. It’s then ready to be transferred back to your phone and uploaded to TikTok, ready to be watched and enjoyed by people around the world.
Your imagination really is the limit with Movavi Video Editor Plus – it’s a capable bit of kit designed to be easy to use for those new to the world of editing, providing a solid start point for creating more engaging, professional-level videos. You can download Movavi Video Editor Plus from Movavi for free with a free 7-day trial, and if you like the user-friendly experience and advanced tools on offer, you can pick up a macOS license for as little as £55.95 a year.