Filmora - Quick Video Editing Guide for Beginners

This is a concise user guide to understand Filmora video editor. It is helpful, if you want to learn Filmora in a quick time.

On Filmora welcome window, select aspect ratio, for example 16:9 for YouTube landscape video and 9:16 ratio for vertical videos for YouTube Shorts, as well as story and reels on Facebook and Instagram.

→ Watch Video Tutorial Below.

Click to open New Project or double click to open any recent project. )

In Filmora video editor, on bottom is timeline area, on top right is preview or player area, and on right side is side panel for editing options, we will call it Editor Window in this article. The cursor in timeline is called playhead, having attached the split tool.

To make the Player preview field larger, bring the cursor over border, when it changes the shape, then drag it to set player size. Similarly, you can also change the size of timeline area where suitable to you.

Click File and select ‘Save Project as’ for the first time but after that you will only select Save Project each time after some edits.

To add video or image in Filmora, select Media tab and click Import button, then click ‘Import Media Files’ option. Here select and open the video file from computer.

To edit the video, you need to bring it into the timeline. Just click on it and drag into timeline. Alternatively, just hover over the image or video and click + icon to bring it into Filmora timeline.

To split video, bring the playhead over preferred location and click on split tool attached to the playhead. Alternatively you can use the scissors tool in toolbar.

You can also click the Blade tool to activate Quick split. It is only useful to make several cuts in video at once. Click the icon again to deactivate it.

To remove a part of video from the middle of clip, make two cuts, then select the cut-out part and click Delete button in toolbar.

To crop a video clip in Filmora, select it and move the handles outwards to zoom it. The video will be automatically cropped. Alternatively, click the Crop tool and in new window, select the portion of video to keep by dragging the handles. Select the aspect ratio as Custom if you do not want to maintain the original width and height of the video or photo.

The Speed and Duration tools are available in timeline toolbar and work in connection. For example, if you decrease video duration, it will automatically increase the speed of video clip.

You can insert text over video either through Titles tab or this Text tool. Form Text tool in toolbar, you can take beautiful 3D text design.

Click on the text and on the right panel, you can enter your own text. Here you can select a different font. You can scroll down the slider to select from other available 3D text styles.

I do not want animated effect on the 3D text, so I will click 3D Animation tab and select None.

I will select text, then under Title panel, click Animation to apply my preferred animation effect to the text. Here you can select your favorite animation.

You can resize text either through handles in player or through the scale slider in side panel.

Similarly, to change the position of the text, either move position sliders or click on text in preview and move it around.

To smoothen the playback movement on split point, click on Transitions, download it and drag the transition effect over timeline and drop it preferably at the middle of two clips. Playback to review it.

Click on Stock Media to add a stock photo or video to the project. Check Mine for your saved media. You can drag the stock image over your video timeline. Bring cursor over the side and then hold and move it to set the duration of image.

Select image, and bring cursor over X or Y scale value, then hold and drag it to change size of image. You can do the same with image handles.

To apply mask to the image, select Mask tab and click your favorite shape. Resize the mask. To move the mask, click on the corner of masked portion and drag it around.

Similarly, you can also add Watermark or Logo image to your video. Move slider to set the opacity of image.

To add a Subscribe animation to your video, click Stickers tab, search then download your favorite element and then drag it over video and set its duration, position and size. Playback to preview it.

Through the slider on right and bottom of timeline, you can view media layers in timeline.

Right click on the video and select Detach Audio. It helps to edit the audio and video separately and independently. To cut the audio, select it in timeline and use the split tool on playhead. Select any audio clip and click Delete in toolbar to delete it.

To the left of media file in timeline, select the buttons to lock the background layer as well as mute or unmute sound of clip.

Keep the preview quality low for smoother playback while editing. Don’t worry about the blurry playback, because it will not affect the final quality of the video after exporting it.

To save an image from your video, select the full playback quality under the preview (player) window. Now click on the camera button to take screenshot.

To change the project aspect ratio while editing, click File, then Project Settings. Here select your desired aspect ratio.

Use Undo and Redo buttons to revert or restore any change.

Drag this slider in timeline (under Player window) to zoom-in or zoom-out the video clip in timeline. Zooming in helps you to better see and adjust the position of elements in the timeline.

Use the button under Player window to preview changes in full screen. To exit Full Screen mode, hover mouse towards bottom of screen and select restore button.

To record your computer screen or your own voice, select Media tab and click Record button.

For AI voiceover, first take a quick text box, paste your own text. Now click on the text-to-speech tool in the toolbar. There, select your favorite AI voice. Hit the button and AI voiceover is ready to download.

Finally, to export only specific video clips, select them in timeline, then right-click and select ‘Export Selected Clips’ option.

To export everything in timeline including video, audio, images, text and effects, click Export button.

In video export settings, keep the Video Resolution, Frame Rate, and Bitrate values the same as those in your original video. I highly recommend you read the detailed section in this to learn about the best Filmora export settings.

Explore more helpful articles about Filmora video editor or visit Home page.