How to Edit YouTube Videos Online by YouTube Video Editor and FlexClip

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How to Edit YouTube Videos Online by YouTube Video Editor and FlexClip

Last Updated: Apr. 06, 2022

No one would post unedited raw footage to YouTube.

Whether you want to share a video tutorial on YouTube or become a YouTube content creator in your niche, editing YouTube video footage to make it engaging is the very first step on the road to YouTube success.

So, if you are new to editing YouTube videos, in this tutorial, we will offer you a highly productive workflow for editing a YouTube video and walk you through how to edit a YouTube video online by YouTube’s built-in video editor and a feature-packed online video editor.

Here is what you will learn：

YouTube Video Editing Workflow Recommended

How to Edit a YouTube Video by YouTube Video Editor

How to Edit a YouTube Video by Online Video Editor FlexClip

YouTube Video Editing Workflow Recommended

Having an organized YouTube video editing workflow is essential to boosting YouTube video editing efficiency and will save you tons of valuable time.

Widely-accepted workflow for editing YouTube videos

Through talks with many YouTube content creators around us, we’ve summed up a highly productive YouTube video editing workflow for you to follow. No matter what video editor you use, the editing process applies to all.

Step 1: Collect and Sort Out all the Video Assets Needed

Create multiple folders on your PC for A roll, B roll, images, audio recordings, BGM, sound effects, GIFs, etc., and put them in different folders respectively. Check top 4 sites for royalty-free YouTube background music.

Step 2: Import Video Assets into Video Editor for the Rough Cut

What you are expected to do is:

Trim, split and merge footage. Leave only the scenes and frames needed on the timeline.

Adjust the sequence of all clips on the timeline.

Do the color correction and recover the white balance, hue, saturation, and exposure of the footage.

Step 3: Preview the YouTube Video

Done with the initial cut, it’s advisable to watch the whole YouTube video as a viewer and ask yourself the following questions:

Is my YouTube videos’ storytelling engaging?

Is the pace of my video too slow or fast?

Are there any scenes that look redundant, or confusing?

Do I need to explain or dramatize certain scenes in detail?

Then, work on fixing the problems found and watch it over till you are satisfied with it.

Step 4: Place a Hook at the Beginning of the Video

A great YouTube video is engaging, helpful, entertaining, informative, and relatable. A proven strategy to grasp viewers’ attention is to edit a hook and place it in the first 20 secs of your youtube video.

A hook can be a snippet of your video's highlights or directly tell viewers what benefits they can have after watching your YouTube videos.

Step 5: Add in B-roll

B-rolls are secondary footage that adds interest and explanations for the storytelling of your main video.

Add B-roll over the A-roll on the timeline

You can place B-roll clips over the A-roll or create a picture-in-picture effect to explain things or tell the story from different perspectives.

Step 6: Add Video Effects Needed

Apart from the great video content and unique storytelling, adding video effects can effectively a professional touch to your YouTube video.

Some of the frequently-used video effects involve:

Color-grade your YouTube video to have a cinematic tone and vibes.

Speed up or slow down the video to add rhythm to the storytelling.

Add video transitions to move from one scene to another.

Freeze a frame, reverse video, or use picture-in-picture effects for an explanation.

Add text animations, and funky elements to help viewers follow the video content.

Mix BGM with sound effects to evoke viewers’ emotional responses, etc.

Step 7: Watch Your Video Again and Check If Everything Is Alright

Check the spelling, transition, audio, etc. Make sure everything is exactly what you want in the video.

Step 8: Export Your YouTube Video

For the best viewing experience on YouTube, export the video with a 16:9 aspect ratio and at least 1080P (FHD) resolution, and 24-60 FPS.

How to Edit a YouTube Video by YouTube Video Editor

If you have a simple video project or you want to edit YouTube videos that have been posted on YouTube, then using YouTube’s native video editor could be the best choice because you don’t need to download it for editing and it’s 100% free.

Edit YouTube video by YouTube video editor

Within the YouTube video editor, you can make 4 main video edits:

Trim and split YouTube video.

Blur faces and parts of YouTube video.

Add music and sound effects for YouTube video.

Add end screen to YouTube video.

Bonus Tips

If you want to edit a recorded live stream YouTube video, you can go to YouTube Studio and click “Content”, and select the “Live” tab to choose the video you want to edit. For YouTube partners, you can even delete or move a specific ad to another place in your YouTube video.

1. Trim and Split YouTube Video

Go to your YouTube channel > find a video you want to edit > click Edit Video > click the Editor on the left menu. This will open the YouTube video editor.

Trim or split a YouTube video by YouTube video editor

Trim YouTube Video: Click the Trim button, you can drag the blue slider to trim the beginning and end of your YouTube video.

Split YouTube Video: If you want to trim the middle of the video, you can move the playhead and click the Split tool. Then your video will be cut into two. Then you can drag the slider to trim it.

2. Blur YouTube Video

Click the “+” button on the Blur tab, you have two options to blur a YouTube video:

Face Blur: YouTube automatically detect all the faces appearing in the video. You can select which face to be blurred or blur them all. A blurry overlay will be added over the original video timeline, you can trim it to control its duration.

Face blur feature in YouTube video editor

Custom Blur: You can customize the shape of the blur video overlay, such as Rectangle and Oval; or use the “Track Object” to blur a moving object in the YouTube video. If it is a still object like a car plate or address, you can select “Fix Blur Position” and drag the blur area to blur the object. Pretty convenient.

YouTube video editor’s custom blur

Likewise, once you’ve applied a blur mode, you can trim its blurry overlay to decide its duration. If you don’t like the blur position, you can delete it as well.

3. Add Audio to YouTube Video

Hit the “+” button on the Audio tab > then you can search for royalty-free music and sound effects in youtube’s Audio Library.

Add royalty-free audio from YouTube Audio Library

Or you can click the “Audio Library” tab to open the full version of it for searching for more free music and SFX. Once you find a piece of ideal music, you can hit the “Star” icon, and this music will be added to your favorite collection in the video editor.

Click the “Add” button. The music or SFX will be added to the timeline.

Add and adjust the audio’s volume and duration in the YouTube video editor

You may also drag the slider of the audio to trim it.

Click “Adjust mixt level” to adjust the volume of the music.

Click three dots to check license info or remove the audio added.

YouTube also allows you to add multiple audio tracks on the timeline.

4. Add End Screen to YouTube Video

Adding an end screen to your Youtube video is a great way to extend the watch time. Only videos with at least 25 seconds or longer are qualified to add an end screen. YouTube offers you 6 ways to add an end screen to your YouTube videos:

Add an end screen to YouTube video by YouTube video editor

Apply an end screen template.

Once you select this option, some preset templates layouts will be available for you to choose from; you can trim the length of the end screen by dragging it or import a YouTube video you choose.

Add a video for the end screen.

Add a playlist for the end screen.

Add a subscribe button.

Add end screen to another YouTube channel.

Add a link to the end screen.

5. Save the Edits

Hit the “Save” button to save your edits or click three dots on the top right corner to save it as a new video. Then YouTube will automatically process your saving and display the latest version of your video to the viewers.

How to Edit a YouTube Video by Online Video Editor FlexClip

If you find the features of YouTube’s built-in video editor too limited, a flawless alternative to editing YouTube videos would be FlexClip. It is a feature-packed online YouTube video maker that requires no software download and video editing experience.

Edit YouTube video by FlexClip

Edit Now

Some of the best features of FLexClip:

Intuitive interface: storyboard and timeline mode.

Hundreds of designer-made and fully-customizable YouTube video templates for all YouTubers.

Easily add stylish YouTube intros, outros, and subscribe buttons for CTA.

Trim, split, merge, and color-grade YouTube clips; plenty of video transitions, filters, etc.

Create picture-in-picture effects; image background remover, masking tool, mix audio, etc.

Custom text animations, and dynamic elements to spice up your YouTube Videos.

4M+ royalty-free video assets, including high-res videos, music, sound effects, images, and GIFs. to avoid YouTube copyright strikes.

Cloud storage to avoid the loss of video projects.

Easy sharing: direct local download, YouTube, Google Drive, Dropbox, clickable link, embed code; export as a GIF or MP4.

Preview

Youtube Trailer

Use This Template

Preview

Daily Vlog Youtube Intro

Use This Template

Step 1: Select a YouTube Video Template to Begin With

Select a YouTube template you like, preview, and click the customize button.

Select a YouTube video template

Step 2: Upload Your Video Assets from PC or Mobile Phone

You can upload footage from your PC or directly scan the QR code to upload from your mobile phone.

Upload video assets to FlexClip

Step 3: Drag and Drop Footage, Images to Replace the Preset Ones

Just drag and drop your video assets to quickly replace the original video assets in the video templates. You may crop or make videos and images as well.

Drag and drop your footage to replace preset’s elements

Step 4: Trim, Split, and Merge Video Footage

Hit the scissor or split tool to cut or merge different footage. Once a clip is cut into two, you can easily select a transition to connect the two.

Trim, split YouTube video, and add video transition

Step 5: Make More Edits

Then, you can add trending text animations, subscribe buttons, elements, or your logo to take your YouTube videos to the next level. Or easily place a B-roll video to create the picture-in-picture effect for the explanation; add a YouTube intro or outro template and logo for branding; add royalty-free music and SFX, etc.

Add royalty-free music and do masking and more edits with FlexClip

Don’t forget to check out the vast video, image, and GIFs assets in the Video and Photo tab.

Step 6: Preview and Export the Video

Hit the Export button. You can export the video in MP4 to your hard drive. Or directly share it on YouTube. FlexClip will also generate a clickable link, and embed code for your needs. Or you can save it to Google Drive, or Dropbox.

Now, It's Your Move

So, hopefully, our tutorial helps you a lot in editing YouTube videos. If you have more questions about YouTube video editing, don’t hesitate to reach us on Facebook. Now, start editing your YouTube videos online with either YouTube video editor or FlexClip.

Frank /

Passionate about photography, video-making and travel, Frank is a seasoned copywriter and a beloved father of 2-year-old daughter at FlexClip. He is always keen to share his latest discovery about video marketing and tricks to relive your memories through videos and images.