In Video production
? Olive Video Editor: Beginners Tutorial - read the full article about video editing software, Video production and In motion from ? Eduard Stinga (VideoPlasty.com) on Qualified.One
Youtube Blogger
Olive is a free and open-source video editing software that’s been growing in popularity lately. It’s still under development, currently on the 0.1 version with the 0.2 still in beta. However, it’s fully functional and stable and for a free video editing software it does pretty much anything you would need from it and I like it quite a lot.
And in this 10 minute tutorial, I’ll show you everything you need to know to get started.
I’m Eduard Stinga, from VideoPlasty.com - the only platform online where you can get amazing stock animation or animated GIF images for commercial purposes.
Let’s get started with the tutorial! Olive is a free video editing software and you can easily download it from their website at olivevideoeditor.org It’s available for Windows, Mac and Linux which is very nice.
Currently the 0.1 version is the stable version recommended to use, with the 0.2 version still under development. I suggest you go with 0.1 for now so you don’t run into bugs or crashes, but depending on when you watch this tutorial, the 0.2 version or later might be available and be more stable.
The user interface is pretty standard, like many video editing software out there. On the top left we have the project panel, where we can import files; In the middle we have the Media Viewer and Effects panel, where you can add effects and control properties.
On the top right we have the Sequence Viewer where you can preview your edit; And on the bottom we have the timeline, which is the heart of any video editing software where all the magic happens.
You can move the windows around to organise the space however you want to fit your style. Because of this, Olive can also be easily used for editing using multiple monitors.
To reset the layout, go to Window -> Reset to Default Layout.
Let’s import some media assets into our projects. You can right click in the project panel and browse for the files on your computer.
Alternatively, what most people actually do; you can have a folder with the files open, select all the files and drag and drop them into your project.
You can view the items in Tree View, Icon View or List View.
If you have a lot of items, you can also use the search functionality to find the one you need.
To organise your files better, you can right click and create folders. Keeping your media bin tidy will help productivity on larger projects.
Inside each project, you need to create at least a sequence on the timeline. Right click in the Project Panel and then select the settings that you prefer. Use any of the presets or input them manually, depending on your needs or footage.
Think of each sequence as a scene. For smaller videos, you will likely have only one sequence in each project. Sequences can also be added inside other sequences.
Now we can start adding items to the timeline. You can do that by drag and dropping video or audio files at any position on the timeline.
The timeline starts at 0 seconds on the top left and keeps moving forward in time.
To adjust the timeline scale, you can use the magnifying glass icons to zoom in and have a more granular view of your edit; or to zoom out and a more high level view of your project.
The red line here is called a playhead. If you grab it on top, you can move it around the timeline at various points in time and you can see the timeline preview on the top right changing.
If you hit the play button on the preview window or the spacebar, it will start playing the timeline from where the playhead is positioned.
These two buttons will move the playhead on the timeline forward or backwards by one single frame every time you press them.
While these two will move your playhead all the way to the end or at the start of your sequence.
As keyboard shortcuts, you can use the up and down arrow key to go to the next or the previous cut.
Or the left and right arrow keys to move the playhead by one frame.
To trim a clip, all you have to do is grab it at the end and move your mouse, then release. Keep in mind, this will remove that part of the media file from your timeline edit.
You can use the Razor Tool on the left to click anywhere on a clip. This will cut it in two. Now if you go back to the Pointer tool, you can select any of them and move them around at other points in time. Or just right click and delete the clip from the timeline.
This will keep all other clips in the exact same position.
To go back and undo a change, you can use CMD + Z or CTRL + Z on the keyboard.
Alternatively, you can also right click and select what is called Ripple Delete. This will move all to following clips closer and it doesn’t create any empty space on the timeline.
Another useful tool on the timeline is Record Audio. You can make a selection of how long you want to record for and once you click play or spacebar, it will start recording using your microphone.
The video and the audio are linked together when moved around. You can right click and Unlink, to be able to work on them separately or remove one, if you prefer.
The timeline uses multiple tracks and separates the video tracks on top with the audio tracks on bottom, as you can see from the waveforms.
The track order is also important to keep in mind for video files. The video or image that is on the track above will always show first. If it doesn’t fill up the entire screen, it will reveal what’s on the track underneath it and so on.
For audio tracks, the order doesn’t matter as the audio will just get mixed together so you will hear both tracks.
To make some more advanced edits, let’s look at the Effects panel. To see the properties available to edit, you need to have a video or audio file selected.
For audio for example, you can adjust the volume to make it more quiet or louder.
With a video selected, you can change things like the position, scale, rotation or opacity. In the case of this 4K clip, it’s a bit too large for our 1080p sequence so we need to adjust it.
To change a property you hold click and drag left or right on it. You could also just click and input a value directly.
Now let’s look at adding some transitions. You can add one with the Transition Tool on the timeline.
Cross Dissolve is for Videos, while the others are for Audio.
Let’s select the Linear Fade which will create a nice fade in or fade out. You need to click and drag it either at the beginning or end of an audio file. Feel free to try out the Exponential and Logarithmic fade as well to see which one you prefer.
Now let’s add a transition to videos. You can add a Cross Dissolve the same way to the end or beginning of a clip.
To add a cross dissolve from one clip to another, they need to be a bit trimmed, to allow time for the transition from one to another.
You can also add Effects to your clips on the Effects panel. There are a couple of different ones, so feel free to explore and see what is available, as we don’t have time to go through all of them. Once you add an effect, it shows here with its respective properties that you can adjust. To remove an effect, right click on the title and Delete.
Now let’s add some titles or some text. To do so, we need to use this button right here and click and drag where we want to add it.
You can select it and make edits in the Effects panel. Click Edit text to go to the text editor where we can replace the text; adjust the font size; change the color; or change the font type for example.
Then we can move it around or use properties the exact same way we would do with a video.
Keyframes are a bit advanced, but super useful. So far, if we changed any of the properties, it was for the entirety of the clip.
But with keyframes, we can control the value of each property and how they change over time.
Let’s try and animate this title and have it appear from outside the frame.
So for that, we will add some keyframes here in the beginning by using this button to enable them.
And a few more in the final position with this button in the middle.
So a keyframe means that at this point in time, this will be the value of that specific property.
By using the left arrow here I can move to the previous keyframe for that property. Let’s make a few changes.
Now, if we play it back, you will see how all 3 of these properties change over time.
You can add keyframes to any property in the Effects panel.
When you finish editing, it’s time to export your video. By default, it will export all of your timeline. But sometimes, you might want to export just a specific portion. Can select that portion by using the keyboard shortcut I for In Point, and O for Out Point.
Then go to File -> Export.
Here you can select the Format; The Range, which right now is In/Out as we selected or you can change it back to Entire Sequence; And a bunch of other more advanced settings, but I suggest you leave everything as it is by default and export to an MP4 file, which is very popular and compatible with any device or platform.
The only one I would change is the Quality, which in this case a lower number means higher quality.
Then click export and select a location and filename.
Depending on the complexity of your project, duration and the computer you’re on, this can take a while to fully process everything and export your project as a video file.
Alright, this was our Olive Video Editor complete tutorial for beginners. I hope you liked it and I hope now you’ll go and make your own amazing videos and share them with the world.
For more incredibly helpful video assets, such as stock animation that will help you produce professionally looking animated videos directly in Olive Video Editor with drag & drop simplicity, make sure to visit VideoPlasty.com Thank you so much for watching all the way to the end, really appreciate it. If you enjoyed this video, it would be great if you could gently tap the like button and leave a comment, it really helps with the YouTube algorithm.
And for more useful content in the world of video editing, video animation and starting and growing a YouTube channel, make sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell, so you dont miss out! I’m Eduard Stinga, from VideoPlasty.com. Follow me on Instagram as well at Eduard Stinga, to keep up with what I’m doing and say hi! I hope you enjoyed this video and until next time, stay creative!
? Eduard Stinga (VideoPlasty.com): ? Olive Video Editor: Beginners Tutorial - Video production