How to edit videos on iPhone with Photos and iMovie

Are you planning to take your iPhone videography to the next level this year? If so, you’ll be pleased to know that you already have the necessary tools on your iPhone to edit your videos quickly and easily.

With the help of the iOS Photos app and iMovie, you can effortlessly rotate, crop, trim, merge, add music, and incorporate special effects into your videos. You may be surprised to learn that these all-inclusive tools are not only ideal for beginners but also quite useful for experienced videographers.

How to edit videos on your iPhone or iPad using Photos

Photos on your iPhone offers a range of basic editing tools that can help you quickly and easily enhance your videos. You can easily rotate your clip, change its orientation, trim it, and perform basic retouching using the app’s intuitive interface. These tools are perfect for beginners and may also be useful for experienced videographers, making Photos a great option to try before investing in a more advanced editing app.

How to rotate or straighten a video

1. Open the Photos app and tap on the video you want to rotate or straighten.
2. Select Edit.
3. Tap the crop icon in the lower right corner of the screen.
4. To rotate your photo, tap the rotate icon, which looks like a square with an arrow over it.
5. To straighten your video, tap on the circle below your video and drag your finger across the slider until your video appears straight.

How to crop a video on iPhone or iPad

1. Open the Photos app and tap on the video that you want to crop.
2. Select Edit.
3. Tap the crop icon at the bottom-right corner of the screen.
4. Drag the perimeter borders of your video to crop.
5. Tap Done.

How to trim or shorten a video on iPhone

1. Open photos and choose the video that you want to trim.
2. Select Edit.
3. Tap the video camera icon below your video.
4. You will see a timeline under your video. You can press play to start the clip and pause to stop it. Watching your video will give you a better idea of where you should trim it.
5. To trim your video, drag the arrows that appear on either side of the video timeline. You can trim from either end of your clip in Photos, but you can’t cut out footage from the middle.
6. When you are finished trimming your video clip, tap Done.

How to change the brightness, contrast, and saturation of a video

1. Open Photos and tap the video you want to edit.
2. Select Edit.
3. Tap the edit icon (a circular white dial with small dots around it).
4. Below your video, several icons will appear. Scroll through them to see your choices:
   • Auto
   • Exposure
   • Highlights
   • Shadows
   • Contrast
   • Brightness
   • Black Point
   • Saturation
   • Vibrance
   • Warmth
   • Tiny
   • Sharpness
   • Definition
   • Noise Reduction
   • Vignette
5. To edit your photo, tap one of the icons listed above, and then use the slider to adjust the intensity of your edit.
6. As you make adjustments, a yellow outline will appear around the icon that you used, making it easy to return to it and readjust until you are happy with the results.
7. To erase your edits, tap Cancel.
8. When you are finished, tap Done.

iPhone and iPad video editing with iMovie

The most basic edits are easily accomplished with the Photos app, but if you want to make more advanced edits, like combining multiple video clips together or cutting out parts from the middle of a scene, you’ll have to use iMovie. iMovie is included with most iPhones, but if yours doesn’t have it, you can download it for free from the App Store.

How to speed up or slow down a video on iPhone

1. Open iMovie on your iPhone and choose the video you want to edit. If your video hasn’t been imported into iMovie, tap + and choose one or more videos from your Photos library and create a movie.
2. Select Edit.
3. Tap on the timeline below your video.
4. Press the clock icon at the bottom of the screen.
5. You’ll now see a slider above the clock that you can drag your finger across to choose the speed of your clip. You can choose a range between 1/8 original speed and 2x original speed.

How to merge videos on iPhone

1. Open iMovie on your iPhone.
2. Tap +.
3. Choose Movie.
4. Choose the video clips and photos you want to add to your movie.
5. Tap Create Movie at the bottom of the screen. Your video clips will be added to your movie in the order that you selected them.
6. Press play to watch your video.
7. Tap the timeline to make more edits.
8. When you are finished, tap Done.

How to cut out a part of your video

You’ve already learned how to trim the ends of your video using Photos. This tutorial will show you how to cut out part of a video clip in the middle:

1. Open iMovie on your iPhone and tap on the movie that you want to edit.
2. Select Edit.
3. Tap on the timeline below your video and scroll through until you come to the beginning of the scene that you want to cut out. There will be a vertical white line bisecting your timeline in this spot.
4. Press the scissors icon and then choose Split. This will cut one end of your clip.
5. Press play. When you get to the end of the area that you want to cut out, tap Split again.
6. In your timeline, you will see that a new clip has been formed, with two gaps on either side.
7. Tap the clip to highlight it in yellow, then tap Delete.
8. Select Done to complete the process.

How to add music to a video on iPhone

1. Open iMovie on your iPhone and choose the video you want to add music to.
2. Select Edit to open the editing tools.
3. Tap + in the lower-left corner, right below the screen.
4. Choose Audio.
5. Choose Soundtracks or My Music. Soundtracks options consist of royalty-free music that you can add to your video, while My Music will let you choose from songs that are in your iTunes library.
6. Tap + next to the song you want to use.
7. You’ll be directed back to your movie, where you can view the video and music together.
8. The music will appear on the timeline as a green line. You can tap on it to change it from background to foreground, duplicate it in other parts of your movie, or delete it.

A solid understanding of Photos and iMovie will make editing your videos a breeze. Now is the perfect time to play around with these native apps and learn to create stunning videos on your iPhone.