Editing video can be quite a difficult task for novices, as it requires installing special software, and following often complicated instructions. YouTube has addressed this problem for its users by developing an online video editor that makes basic video editing easier.
When logged in users start the online video editor, they see a collection of their recent videos in a panel on the left. The user can then select a video and add it to the timeline to edit it.
Editing videos on YouTube does not allow users to do anything fancy. The service simply enables combining different videos that have already been uploaded to create a new, longer mashup video, trimming the beginning, middle or end of any video to make it shorter or changing the video’s soundtrack.
Original video soundtrack can be replaced with any audio sample in Google’s Audio Swap library. An advantage of this feature could be that it might prevent users from inadvertantly violating copyright law.
Other minor advantages include giving users the ability to create new videos without bothering about file formats and eliminating the need to install any special software for basic video editing functions.
Windows Movie Maker, a programme that ships for free with most Windows systems, already includes all of these features and a lot more. The problem with Windows Movie Maker is simply that most users don’t know about its existence or its capabilities.
The best thing about YouTube’s video editor is just the fact that it allows editing within the cloud, on the same site, rather than requiring users to modify content offline.
