Hello, welcome to this tutorial! Let's get in a short time all the most
important features you need to start with HitFilm version 13 by FXHome!
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HitFilm is a professional video-editing software for any purpose, a valid
alternative for Abobe Premiere Pro CC and After Effects CC. You can edit
media, add text and apply effects, transitions and powerful layers, with
workspaces suitable for both beginners and expert users.
HitFilm comes in two main versions: HitFilm Express is the free version of
the product, including the most important features to make home video
editing; whereas HitFilm Pro is the complete version, including loads of
professional visual and audio effects and advanced video compatibility.
In this video we will see the free Express version.
HitFilm opens on its Home workspace, showing the latest official news
and tricks from the internet. On the left you find the list of all your
projects made and several effect packs you can buy. On top, you can use the
New and the Open buttons to start from a new project or an existing one
you browse.
If you start from a new project you have to define its basic video
properties by either choosing a ready Template on top or setting a custom
Width, Height, frames per second on Frame Rate and audio Sample Rate. The
new project opens on the Edit workspace, which is the place where you
import and edit media to build your own video. You can always come back to
Home by going to View and then to Home.
First thing to do to start working is importing videos, images and audio
files by dragging and dropping these on the Media panel on the left,
building the project collection. Then, just move these into the main Editor
panel to edit these on the project timeline.
The Edit workspace is made by other panels that you can close and then
reopen by going to View and then to Panels. You can also use View,
Workspaces to change the interface to use, according to your skills and
purpose. In this video we will just use the default one presented.
All the files imported inside the Editor panel are placed in time as
simple blocks contained inside rows called Tracks. Video frames and images
are placed on Video Tracks, showing thumbnails over a blue background;
audio files are collected inside Audio Tracks, showing audio waveforms over
a green color. Video and Audio Tracks get separated by the central border
that you can click and drag to move.
You can also use your mouse wheel with the CTRL key down to zoom in and out
and the ALT key down to scroll in time.
The Viewer and the Meters are used to preview the visual frames and the
audio volume of the content editor where the white marker is placed in
time. You can use the player to playback in real time, or just click once
on the timeline to place the marker and check a particular frame. You can
also drag it to check frames sequentially with sound.
In case visual events get overlapped, the ones placed on higher Video
Tracks are shown in front of all other events inside lower Tracks in order.
On the left side of the Editor you have several tools to manage and work
with the media objects inside the timeline. With the Selection Tool enabled,
you can click and drag on the media events to move these in time through
the same Track or in another. Just make sure not to overlap these or part
of their content gets cut.
When moving video frames with audio both of these are moved together,
unless you make them independent by right-clicking on these and
using Unlink.
To cut, copy and paste objects, just right-click on these. To undo any bad
action you can either use CTRL+Z or go backward with the History panel on
the left. To remove any media event, just click on it to select it and use
the Delete key.
To adjust the duration of any event, just click and drag from its edges.
In case of videos and audio, this operation can cut part of the original
content if shortened. In this case you can use the Rate Stretch Tool to
change the duration by changing the speed rate, without cutting content: if
you make the event shorter, this is played faster. You can also extend it
more in time, with a slower speed rate.
You can use the Slice Tool to split events in independent pieces by
clicking on these directly.
The events on the timeline also include white envelope lines you can pull
up and down to adjust the transparency level on visual content and volume
on audio content. You can also hold down the CTRL key to add points and
shape the curve in time.
On the left the Controls panel lists several properties you can adjust on
visual and audio events selected from the Editor. On visual content you can
correct placement with Position, size with Scale, inclination with Rotation
and transparency with Opacity; on audio content you can adjust the volume
Level. To check the result of these corrections, make sure to place the
marker on the interested event or playback all directly.
To adjust the visual properties you can also use the Selection Tool on the
Viewer panel directly. Click and drag to move, use the arrows to move
horizontally and vertically and use the blue square to rotate. If you do
not see any of these, make sure to place the marker on the selected event.
You can also use the Audio Mixer panel to balance the volume coming from
each Audio Track, including the overall project volume from the Master
Track. You can adjust the volume level by using the deciBel meter bar and
adjust the left and the right stereo channels with the panning bar at the
bottom.
HitFilm offers several special effects and transitions you can apply to
videos, pictures and audio files inside the Effects panel. Browse for
the interested effect and drag and drop it on the event to apply it. This
will be added within the Controls panel, below the event properties, where
you can adjust the effect appearance while checking the preview or using
the nodes on it.
You can also enable and disable each effect by clicking on the square node.
From the Effects panel you also apply visual and audio transitions, which
are special effects used to introduce and end an event content. You can
add one by dragging and dropping it on the extreme edges of an event.
You can change its length in time to adjust its transition speed and set
its properties by selecting it and using the Controls panel. Whereas to
change the kind of transition, just drag another on it. To remove it, just
select it and use the Delete key.
With HitFilm you can also apply great titles by using the Text Tool on the
left side of the Viewer panel. Click and drag on the preview to create the
basic text contour and then type inside, adjusting all the text properties
like font, style and color from the Text panel in the bottom left corner.
You can also switch to the Selection Tool to move and rotate text.
The piece of text created lasts as much as the text clip is inside the
Editor panel and can be edited just like the other standard clips. Just
make sure to keep it above the other visual clips in order not to get text
covered.
HitFilm also includes solutions for complex projects, such as the Composite
Shots. These are collections of single or multiple objects grouped into
layers, edited first and then included inside the main project timeline as
complex events. This is very useful to divide and simplify your project in
multiple pieces to modify independently. We won't see these in this
beginner tutorial.
Now let's see how to save and export! To save and reopen your project with
all its structure, effects and options go to File and then to Save As.
HitFilm projects are saved as .hfp files.
Whereas to export and upload your project outside HitFilm you have to
switch to Export workspace, by going to View and then to Export. This
workspace lists all videos available, such as the main Editor content and
any Composite Shot created. Next to each, you can go to Export to add the
current video to the Queue at the bottom, ready to be exported.
With In-Out you export the video by following the duration fixed for
the project; with Contents the video will last until the end of the
last event placed on the timeline.
Inside Output set where to save the video and, on Preset, browse for the
template to use to define the video properties, which include best settings
for YouTube, GoPro and socials. You can also build your own custom preset
by going to New Preset on the right, setting file format and then video
size, frame rate, audio rate sample and other advanced options. The saved
preset will appear on the Presets list on each video in queue.
When you are ready, use Start Exporting at the bottom to start rendering!
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