I had never thought that this ordinary app could contain so many powerful hidden features. As shown below, editing your videos with the Microsoft Photos app is relatively easy.
Getting Around the Photos App
You wouldn’t have any trouble locating the Photos app at all as you just have to type “photos” in the search box. Unlike other video-editing tools, this app will load in an instant.
The best thing about the Photos app is that it is very lightweight. Even while working on a two-hour long video project, I could ignore the file size. Certainly, that is a capability missing in many of the well-known video editing tools.
Creating Your First Video
Click “Create” on the right of the Homepage window to start working on your first video edit. Initially, you can create an automatic video by importing photos and videos into the collection. In the automatic mode you can’t do any editing. This is still helpful if you simply want to convert your vacation snaps into a video.
From automatic videos you can go to the next step where you can tag people in your list. Moreover, you can also import videos directly from your OneDrive storage in “Folders.”
If you want to create a video from scratch, you will have to select “Custom video.” Now you are in a project window where you can “add photos and videos” from your PC or collection. Before starting work, give the project a name.
The project will be saved automatically. The next time you open the “Photos” app, you can view it on its homepage. I clearly remember that with Movie Maker one had to allocate a folder in the PC and save the project as a “.MSWMM” file. With the Photos app, it is no longer the case. In case you were wondering, Ctrl + Z works just fine in the project.
Essential Video-Editing Functions in the Photos App
Next, after adding photos and videos to the project, you will have to move them to the storyboard. From there you can edit the videos using a right-click or by clicking one of the icons in the storyboard: “trim,” “resize,” etc. The Resize tool removes black bars from the videos.
Trimming the Video
Trimming the videos is easier with the Photos app than with the Movie Maker. You only have to drag the slider and pause at the place where you want to trim the video. Unlike Movie Maker, the entire project window does not saturate with hundreds of mini clips. After you click “done,” save a copy. The Photos app will save the the trimmed version in the same folder.
Adding Text Effects
One of the complaints about Movie Maker was its poor text interface. This gap has now been addressed with a “Text” feature in Photos app. You can have a variety of cool animated text styles with their corresponding layouts.
Choose Themes
Photos app has a useful “themes” feature which can be applied in YouTube videos. No matter your script, you can give your video a robust theme with filters, music and text styles.
Motion and 3D Effects
With the Photos app, you can have a variety of motion and 3D effects to give the video a classy edge. In fact, some of these effects include “breaking news,” “explosion,” “live,” “live sports” and themes for every occasion.
Exporting Your Video
Exporting your video is very easy from the homepage. You can choose a file size and create your video which will take an instant.
Conclusion
Based on my own experience, once you learn the Photos app, you might not miss Movie Maker that much. Having said this, some of its nuances, such as timeline edits and split tool, are missing. However, the quality of your final video will more than make up for these deficiencies. I recommend the Photos app as a good quality, free video-editing tool. Do let us know in the comments if you like it as well.
