Hello everyone and welcome to this video! In this video, we'll see how
to use the most important features of Lightworks 14!
Leave comments in the video description to improve our future video
guides for this software!
Lightworks is a video editing software, available in two versions: the
free version and the PRO (professional) version, which is on payment.
In this video we will use the free version, but the basic features we
see do not change with the version you use.
When you open Lightworks, the Project Browser opens, consolidating all
your Lightworks projects made. You can open one by double-clicking on it,
or create a new one by going to Create a new project.. in the top left
corner. Then, type a project name, choose its Frame rate, which is the
number of frames per second (or fps) that the video must have when
exported, and then go to Create.
Shortly after, the main interface opens. This is divided in four main
workspaces, all listed on top: LOG, EDIT, VFX, and AUDIO. The LOG
workspace is used to check your own media files and metadata in detail;
EDIT is used to create your customized video; and VFX and AUDIO are
used to implement video effects and audio corrections. In this beginner
tutorial, we will see the EDIT workspace only, to start as a beginner.
The EDIT workspace is composed of several parts: on top you have the
Navigation panel and the Video Preview panels, and at the bottom of the
main timeline, is where you edit and work with your media.
To start working, you have to import all necessary media, such as videos,
pictures and photos, and sound files.
On top of the Navigation panel you have several tabs. Choose Local Files
to browse for your own media files, shown with their thumbnail, name,
format, date and size. Double-click on a file to import it into your
project, as the Imported note says. All imported media are listed under
Project Contents.
Remember that you may not import videos where frame rate is too low to
be matched with the project one.
You can also preview a media file imported by double-clicking on it.
This will be shown in the central Video Preview, complete with a simple
Player below. You can playback videos and sound, but also pictures, which
are shown as static videos that last one minute.
Once media files are imported, just drag and drop these on the timeline
below. These are shown as colored rectangles called clips, showing their
filename and sound waveform. To check these in detail, you can zoom in
and out around the red playhead by using your mouse wheel while holding
CTRL down.
Depending on the kind of media content, these clips are collected inside
different tracks. By default, you have one Video Track, indicated with a
V letter plus a number, that lists all visual media, such as video
frames, images and text; and one pair of Audio Tracks, that collect
everything regarding sound, music and speech, indicated by an A letter
plus a number. These are used in couples, since it dedicates one
Audio Track per each stereo channel.
You can add other Audio and Video Tracks by right-clicking on them,
going to Sequence Commands, Tracks and then to Add video or Add audio.
To rename tracks, right-click on a track, and then to Rename.. under
Track Commands. To delete tracks, right-click, and go to Delete.. under
Tracks, selecting all the tracks to be removed.
It is very important to preview your project while making it. The
central Video Preview is used to check your clips imported, the other
is used to check the content of your project timeline, in particular
where the red playhead is placed. This is also indicated by a red
rhombus below the Video preview. So you can click on the timeline to
check a particular frame, or click and drag the playhead to check motion
frame by frame.
If you need to playback audio as well, you have to use the Player right
below the Video Preview.
Let's now see how to work with your clips inside the timeline.
You can move a clip in time by clicking and dragging it. You can move
within the same track, or in another track. If you have videos with
sound, both of these are moved together. If you want to make video frames
and audio independent, just click on the Video or the Audio track name
on the left and move. When you click on a Video or an Audio track name,
you will lock it, and this can't be edited until you unlock it.
Remember to use CTRL+Z to undo any action if you make a mistake.
Pay attention when you overlap clips. If you do so on the same track, the
new one will replace part of the older one. If clips are overlapped on
different Video Tracks, the clip on the upper Track is shown first in
order.
By default, the timeline lasts five minutes, but you can extend it by
moving a clip over it.
To split a clip, just place the playhead where you want to split, and
press the X key.
When you right-click on a clip, you have several options to edit your
clip as you need. You can use Remove and Delete to remove a clip. As the
icon suggests, Remove simply removes the clip, whereas Delete removes
both the clip and the time gap it leaves. All the other options, from
Slip to Trim, are made by working with the clips edges. Let's take a
look!
When you hover over any clip edge, some white marks appear on it, which
can be directed towards the clip (internal) or outside it (external).
Each of these represent a particular editing to be applied on the clip
when it is moved. You can enable an edge by clicking on it, and this will
be highlighted in yellow. To disable it, click on it once again.
Let's take for example the beginning edge of the clip. If you enable it
on the internal side, you will be able to stretch or shorten the clip
by keeping the time gap from the previous clips. Whereas, if you enable
the edge externally, you will regulate the time gap only, without
touching the clip. If you enable both the internal and the external edge,
you will stretch the clip by changing the time gap.
If you edit the clip by using the ending edge, this works in the same
way, and will act on the time gap with respect to the following clips in
time.
You can also enable both the edges to edit the clip in other ways. For
example, if you enable both the internal ones, you will save the
previous and the following time gap, so you will time-shift the content
of the clip when you move it. If you enable both the external ones, you
will stretch both the time gaps, and move the clip without overlapping
others.
Remember that you can stretch or shorten all clips as you like, but, if
you shorten video and sound clips, you will cut part of their content.
Whereas, if you stretch them over their original duration, simple black
video frames with no sound are added. If you want to stretch and shorten
clips without editing its content, but by acting on its playback speed,
you can right-click on it and go to Speed... So, you will shorten the
clip by playing it faster, and extend it in time by playing it slower.
This is the very basic editing you can make with Lightworks 14. If you
want to get to know how to apply text, video effects with VFX and how to
adjust audio with the AUDIO workspace, check out the next video in this
guide!
The timeline you see shows the content of a single Sequence. A Sequence
is a group of clips placed in time and adjusted as you like. By default,
a new Lightworks project is always composed by a single Sequence, called
Sequence #1, as you can see on top of the main Video Preview. Click on it
and rename it, and apply with the Enter key.
A Lightworks project can be composed by multiple Sequences, each with its
own set of clips edited and placed in time.
If you go to Sequences, which is right next to the Navigation panel, you
can check all the Sequences inside your project. If you right-click on a
vacant space, and go to Empty sequence under Make, you will create a new
empty sequence. Double-click on it to open it on the timeline below, and
start editing! The main Video Preview will refer to the new Sequence.
You can double-click on another sequence to open and edit it from the
Navigation panel.
Sequences are very useful: on one hand, they can be used to group edited
clips together; on the other hand they can be imported inside other
sequences, as simple clips. Remember that, once imported, these clips
become completely independent from the original sequence.
Your Lightworks project is saved anytime. When you finish working with
it, you can come back to the Project Browser by using the button in the
top left corner.
Let's see how to extract your final video from your project!
First of all, open the right sequence to export. Then, just right-click
on an empty space, go to Export, and choose how to export. Let's see
for example how to export a YouTube video.
On the Export dialog box choose the Frame rate, the video resolution
under Size, where to save it under Folder, and the video name under Name.
Then just click on Start below! The whole Sequence will be rendered in
the background, from the beginning of the first clip to the end of the
last clip inside the timeline.
Thanks for watching this video! Leave feedback and suggestions in the
video description and check out our next video guide to increase your
knowledge!