How to Use CapCut App
Step 1. Install CapCut app and open it.
Note: CapCut also has a desktop version so that you can edit videos on a
bigger screen more easily.
Step 2. Tap the "New Project" icon to create a project.
Step 3. Tap to select one or multiple video clips and hit Add.
Step 4. Start editing on the timeline.
Tips:
1. CapCut will save the project draft automatically. You can pause and resume
editing anytime.
2. For automatic quick editing, you can also use the ShortCut feature to
create videos in 1-click.
Introducing the CapCut Interface
• Preview Window: You can playback video, or pinch, drag, rotate and
interact with the clips directly in side the preview window.
• Timeline: You can assemble, arrange, and apply edits to video, audio,
overlay, effects, and text tracks.
• Main Toolbar: All the tools you need can be found here. The Main
Toolbar shows up when there is no clip selected on the timeline.
• Sub Toolbar: They are toolbars dedicated for different tracks and
clips on the timeline. For instance, there are sub toolbars for videos
clips, text, audio, overlays and so on.
You can also watch the video tutorial below.
How to Trim Videos in CapCut
After adding videos to the
timeline, follow these steps to trim
videos in CapCut:
1. Tap the video clip, you shall
see white frames around it.
2. Tap and hold on the white
edge, and drag it to trim the
video.
3. You can also drag the opposite position to retrieve trimmed parts.
When you are trimming videos by dragging the edges, the adjacent clips will
move along. In this way, there won't be gaps (and hence black screens) in
your project.
If you want to trim out a section in the middle, you need to split the
footage, and delete the clip in the middle. Read below.
How to Split Clips in CapCut
To split a video clip in CapCut, follow
these steps:
1. Tap the video clip to make sure
it is selected.
2. Hit the Split icon at the bottom
of CapCut.
By splitting the video, you can
perform the following edits:
• Add transitions in between after creating the split;
• Remove unwanted parts by tapping the split clip, and hit the Delete icon
at the bottom of the screen;
• Insert new clips in between two video clips.
How to Resize Videos in CapCut
When you are trying to share videos to certain social platforms, the original
video you created for another platform may not fit. Resizing videos in
CapCut can make your video best fit the social media, and offer better
viewing experiences for your followers.
To resize videos in CapCut, follow these steps:
1. Tap the video clip that you want to change size.
2. Tap the Format icon at the bottom of the editor.
3. Choose a different as aspect ratio.
When resizing the video, it is
inevitable that some parts may be
cropped, or are surrounded by black
bars. In such a case, you can use
the Canvas feature to polish the video.
1. After change format, tap
the Canvas icon on the toolbar at
the bottom screen.
2. Tap the Color icon to change
background color.
3. Use the Background feature to
add pictures as the video
background.
.
How to Mirror Video in CapCut
Mirror a video is a way to flip the video horizontally, or to create an
interesting effect when two videos are put together side by side, while each
one is mirrored to the other on the horizontal axis.
To mirror a video horizontally in CapCut, follow these steps:
1. After importing the video clips into CapCut.
2. You shall see the toolbar pop up at the bottom, tap the Edit menu.
3. Here will be another Edit option right between the Extract Audio and
Filters tool, tap it.
4. Hit the Mirror tool inside the Edit option.
How to Rotate Video in CapCut
In CapCut, you can rotate the video to fix wrong orientations, or create the
trendy rotation effects that features video zooming and rotating in
animation.
Rotate Video in CapCut to Change Orientation
1. Create a new project, add video clips from your camera roll, and Hit
the Add button.
2. Hit the first Edit button to go inside the video editing toolbar.
3. Tap the second Edit button, and hit Rotate.
Note:
If you want to rotate part of the video instead of the entire video clip, tap
on the footage and split it before using the rotate function.
Rotate Video in CapCut Using Keyframes to Create Motion Effects
If you are trying to create video rotating effects, like those trendy videos
that rotate videos and selfies photos, follow the steps below:
1. Import video clips or pictures to CapCut.
2. Tap on the clip, and tap the Keyframe icon to add a Keyframe. The
Keyframe icon sits under the preview window (see screenshots above),
next to the Play button.
3. Tap on the clip and swipe to the right to move to a new position, tap
the Keyframe button again to add another Keyframe.
4. While staying on the second Keyframe, put two fingers in the preview
window to pinch and rotate the clip.
5. Repeat step 3 to move forward and create the third Keyframe, and
repeat step 4 to pinch and rotate the clip. You can rotate it to 360
degree, 180 degreen or any angle that you like.
Playback and you shall see the clip rotating in motion. You can also make
adjustment accordingly until you are happy with the result.
A little explanation here if you are curious about how the Keyframe works:
for the first Keyframe, it keeps the original state of the clip, without
another rotation or zoom-in, then in the second Keyframe, we rotate the
clip. Therefore, from Keyframe 1 to Keyframe 2, the video starts to animate
from the original state to another state with different rotation angle and
scale, thus resulting in animation.
How to Change Speed in CapCut
CapCut offers two modes to change speed: Normal or Curve.
The Normal option allows you to speed up or slow down the video at a
constant speed, such as 2x, 4x, 8x, etc.; the Curve option opens up to more
editing possibilities, with the speed changing non-linearly to create impactful
speed ramping effects.
To use the constant speed modifier in CapCut, follow these steps:
1. Tap the video clip on the timeline, and hit the Speed icon.
2. Hit the Normal option to change the speed at the constant rate.
3. Drag the slider the slow down video to 0.1x or speed up to 100x.
4. You can toggle the Pitch option to decide whether to alter audio pitch
when the video speed is changed.
To use the speed curves in CapCut, you can read the detailed guide to
make velocity effects, including auto velocity effects.
To ease the speed when creating transitions, 3D zoom effects, or using
keyframes, you can use the graphs feature in CapCut.
With the speed modifier in CapCut, you can make interesting Slomo
video (Slow motion) to highlight a key moment, such as creating the bullet
time effects.
How to Reverse a Video in CapCut
Reversing a video can create interesting effects, such as broken glasses
restored or torn paper merged into one.
1. Add video to the project in CapCut.
2. Tap on the video clip, and swipe the toolbar at the bottom.
3. Swipe all the way to the right until you see the Reverse icon.
4. Tap on it to Reverse the Video.
How to Replace a Clip in CapCut
Replacing videos or pictures in CapCut is a handy feature. With it, you don't
need to go through the hassle of trimming and adjusting the length of the
newly add video clip to make it fit in, or re-apply effects again. The replaced
video clip shares the same duration and effects of the original clip.
1. Tap on the video clip that you want to replace. If you prefer to replace
part of the footage, you can use the Split tool to cut up the footage,
and tap the segment to swap.
2. Tap and swipe the toolbar at the bottom, all the way to the right until
you see the Replace icon.
3. Tap Replace and find the video clip that you want to add.
Note:
The duration is set to be the same length to fill in the slot, still you can
swipe the footage back and forth to make sure the parts you want are
included in that settled duration.
How to Add Video Transitions in CapCut
Many trendy transitions in TikTok are 1-click templates in CapCut Video
Editor. With these templates, you can create cool transitions without editing
experience.
• Import two or more videos into CapCut project, or split a long video into
two parts.
• Click the icon between two clips to enter the transition panel.
• Apply transition templates and playback to find one you love.
Note: you can tap the transition icon again to adjust or delete transitions.
• Drag the slider to adjust the transition timing.
• Tap the forbidden icon to stop applying any transition preset.
How to Use Trendy Templates in CapCut for Quick Editing
Using template in CapCut is easy, you simply open the template link, and
replace the content with your own content. But where do you find the
template links? Don't worry, we have a roundup of the trendy CapCut
templates.
How to Use Overlays in CapCut
Using the overlay feature in CapCut, you can add videos, pictures and text on
top of the main clip, thus creating Picture in Picture effect, special title
effects, or use it in combination with green screen effects and more.
How to Add and Edit Overlays in CapCut
To add overlays to CapCut, follow these steps
1. Import video or picture into the project as the main clip.
2. Click the Overlay icon in the toolbar. If you cannot find the Overlay
icon, make sure not to tap the main video clip.
3. In the new window, Tap Add overlay.
4. Browse the video or picture files and select one to add.
Note:You can repeat the steps to add more overlays on the timeline.
To edit overlays in CapCut, follow these steps:
1. Tap on the Overlay track, and you shall see the editing tools. You can
split, trim, change volume, and so on in the same way you edit the main
clip.
2. Tap the double arrow icon once you finish editing the Overlay clip. It
will take you back to the main timeline.
3. To revisit the Overlay editing panel, click the waterdrop-shaped
thumbnail.
Tips
• If your overlay is longer than the main clip, the rest the video will show
black screens with only the overlays.
• You can tap the overlay clip and split or trim it.
• To change the position of the overlay clip on the timeline, you can tap
and keep pressing on the overlay clip to move it.
How to Put Two Videos Side by Side in CapCut (or Create Split Screen
Effect)
When you add two or more clips on different tracks in the timeline, and
make they aligned on the timeline, these clips will show up in the preview
window simultaneously in the same screen.
You can crop or use the split screen features to decide the parts to show
and hide, or change the shapes of the split screen.
The video tutorial below is easy to follow.
To get started, add main video to the timeline, and tap Overlay to add
overlay video.
1. Tap the Mask icon at the bottom panel.
2. Tap the Split icon, and move the split line in the preview window.
3. You can also add more videos side by side by repeat steps above.
4. Besides using the Split template, you can also use the Filmstrip
template and so on.
How to Use Green Screen in CapCut
CapCut offers the Chroma Key feature to remove colors such as green
screen.
1. Import the main video to the project, and add overlays on top of the
video.
2. Find the Chroma Key icon in the overlay video's editing toolbar.
3. Use the color picker to identify the color to remove.
You can read detailed tutorial on how to use Chroma Key in CapCut>>
How to Add/ Edit Text in CapCut
Adding text is easy and quick in CapCut:
1. Create a New Project and import video, audio, pictures when needed.
2. Tap the Text icon at the bottom toolbar.
3. Type in the text as you like, and adjust its color, fonts, shadow, etc.
4. After adding text to the timeline, you can drag its edge to make it
longer or shorter, depending on how long you prefer it the stay on the
screen.
Next to the Style tab for text, you can also apply Effects, Bubble, and
Animation to the Text. Since they are presets, you don't need advanced
editing skills to deal with the settings.
How to Make Text Transparent in CapCut
After adding text to the video in CapCut, you can adjust its transparency to
create nice styles. For instance, it can be used as a way to add watermarks
to the videos in CapCut.
1. Tap Text icon, type in the text as you like, and hit the confirm button.
2. In the style tab, drag the Opacity slider to change the transparency of
the text and titles.
How to Use Text Tracking in CapCut
The text tracking feature in CapCut can automatically animate the text, in a
way that the text follows an moving object in the video designated by you.
1. Import video into CapCut project, and tap the Text icon.
2. Add text to the video, and tap on that text clip.
3. Swipe at the bottom toolbar until you see Tracking.
4. Narrow down the area to track the object by dragging the arrow, and
place the anchor on the central part of the moving object.
5. Tap the green Tracking button to start auto-tracking.
When it's done, you shall see the text move along with the chosen object.
Note: You can ease out and ease in the tracking motion by applying the
graphs feature.
How to Create the Text Behind Person Effect
When combining text editing with other features in CapCut, you can create
trendy text effects as other creators. Placing the text behind a person is
such an example.
1. Add text to the video as you normally do, and export that video clip.
2. Create a new project, and import that video as the main video track.
3. Tap overlay to import the raw video (one without text) as the overlay
track.
4. Use the Move background feature to remove the background, and it's
done.
For detailed guide, you can watch the video tutorial by Luka, shown below.
How to Add/Edit Audio in CapCut
You can add background music, sound effects and other audio to the video by
using the stock audio library in CapCut. These stock media files are royalty
free, meaning you can upload the video to YouTube and other social
platforms without copyright infringement.
Besides using stock music, you can also use CapCut to extract music from
your favorite videos. With this method, you might not be able to share the
video to the public, but only for personal sharing.
1. Add the footage to a new project, and tap the Audio icon at the
toolbar.
2. Hit Sounds to open up the stock library, and pick your favorite track to
add.
3. You can tap on the added audio clip to trim, split or change its speed.
How to Change Audio Volume in CapCut
To make video louder or mute it, you can use the volume option in audio
editing.
1. For background music and environment sound inside the video, you can
tap on the video track, and hit the Volume icon to change the loudness.
2. You can also tap on the video, hit Extract to separate that audio onto
the dedicated audiotrack. Then you can tap the audio clip and use
the Volume tool on it.
How to Use Auto Caption in CapCut
If you love the speech to text feature in TikTok, chances are you will also be
needing the speech to text feature. Using CapCut, you can turn video sound
to captions automatically, thus saving time as you won't need to manually add
captions.
1. Create a new project and add the video.
2. Hit the Text icon from the toolbar. Do not tap on the video, otherwise,
you will be directed to the video editing toolbar, where you won't see
the Text icon.
3. Hit Auto Captions. It sits in between the Text template and Stickers
features.
4. Choose to create auto captions from the original sound in the video,
voiceover, or both.
5. Wait for the app to finish analyzing and adding the text as captions.
You can playback and check if the caption is accurate. If you prefer to make
adjustments, tap the Batch Edit icon to callout the keyboard, and correct
the word when needed.
How to Apply Advanced Editing in CapCut
How to Add Effects in CapCut
CapCut has many ready-to-use effects to enhance your video easily. It
includes both video effects to add enchanting FX and body effects to polish
your skin, figure, and so on.
1. Tap on a video clip and hit the star-shaped Effects icon.
2. Tap Video Effects or Body Effects.
3. Use the presets to polish the video clip. The effects will be shown as a
purple clip underneath the main video.
Note: Once you go back to the main timeline, you won't see the purple clip,
there is instead a colored line about the video clip, indicating that segment
has effects applied. You can always revisit and edit or remove the effects by
tapping the Star-shape Effects icon again.
How to Make a Picture Move in CapCut
To make a picture move in CapCut, you need to use the Keyframe features.
You can keyframe the position, scale, rotation angle, crop percentage and
many other parameters in CapCut, so that the clip will transform from status
1 in Keyframe 1 to status 2 in Keyframe 2, thus creating the desired motion.
1. After adding the picture as overlays on top of the video, tap on the
picture clip.
2. Swipe the clip to place the playhead at the point where you want the
picture to start move.
3. Hit the Keyframe icon under the preview window to add the first
Keyframe.
4. Move the picture to another position in the preview window, and hit the
Keyframe icon again to add the second keyframe.
Playback the video, you shall see the picture move from position 1 to position
2.
Once you get the hang of CapCut editing, you can also up your game and
learn how to add 3D Zoom in effects in CapCut. For quick editing and keep up
with the trend, you can also use CapCut templates to have fun.
Will I Lose Everything If I Delete CapCut?
Yes, your projects and drafts will be deleted along with the app. If you are
on iOS, you can choose to "offload" the app, which will delete the application
itself, while keeping the documents and data inside it. However, it is not
guaranteed that everything will be intact.
Tips and Tricks to Edit Faster in TikTok
Once you are familiar with the basic editing skills, you can take a look at
these tricks that can greatly enhance your workflow.
00:38 Remove Background easily in TikTok
02:00 Use the Auto Caption feature to dub your footage
02:27 Go with Bilingual Captions to repurpose your content quickly
02:43 Remove filler words for a clean voice over.
03:47 Text-based Video Editing in CapCut
04:34 Enhance your voice in CapCut
05:29 Keep or isolate voice
How to Export the Video from CapCut
After finish editing the video, you can click the Export button in the top
right corner.
CapCut support exporting video up to 4K, here are the export settings to
tweak with:
• Resolution: 480p, 720p, 1080p, 2K/4K
• Frame Rate: 24, 25, 30, 50, 60
• Smart HDR: Option to turn video into "smart" HDR video
Bonus Tip: Free CapCut Alternative for Desktop and Laptop
Editing video on-the-go using mobile phones or iPad is flexible, still, in some
cases, we prefer editing on a larger screen. If you love the simple interface
of CapCut, you will love VideoProc Vlogger which runs on Windows and Mac
for beginner editors, content creators, vloggers, and GoPro/DJI owners.
