Do you need to change the focus of your video clip without having to re-shoot your footage all over again? This post will teach you all you need to know about how to crop a video with a simple video cropper tool.
While it’s often used for photo editing, cropping is just as useful for editing video. With cropping, you can remove unnecessary or distracting portions of a video clip or change its dimensions to fit within a certain area.
Camera footage is often cropped to change the emphasis of a shot or remove unwanted and distracting portions. So, whether you’re working with footage from a camera or a screen recording, there will likely be plenty of times that you need to crop these clips.
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What is video cropping?
In a nutshell, video cropping refers to removing unwanted portions from the outer edges of a video to focus on a specific subject or area. For example, if you have a photograph, and you cut out the parts you don’t need so you can zoom in on what’s most important — that’s essentially what you’re doing when you crop a video.
While you might think that cropping sounds similar to trimming or cutting, it’s not. Trimming and cutting generally refers to shortening the length of a video by removing bits of footage. Cropping, on the other hand, doesn’t alter the duration of the video; it simply changes the dimensions and the framing to center the viewer’s attention where you want it.
How to crop a video on Windows or Mac
One of the fastest, simplest (and best) ways to crop a video is with TechSmith Camtasia’s video editor. The user-friendly editing suite comes with a wide range of advanced tools that are super easy to use — making it perfect for professionals and beginners!
With Camtasia’s video editing software, you can change the speed of your videos, add music to your footage, and even create closed captions and subtitles. But, before we cover all the wonderful ways you can use Camtasia, let’s get back to the matter at hand.
Here are step-by-step instructions to crop a video using Camtasia:
Step 1: Upload your video
Upload your video to Camtasia and drag and drop it onto the timeline to start editing.
Step 2: Select the Crop tool
With a video clip, or image, selected on the canvas, you can select the Crop tool.
Step 3: Select your clip
With the Crop button selected, select the video clip or image that you want to crop.
Step 4: Resize your cropped video
A thin blue line (and handles) will appear on your clip, which shows that Crop mode has been enabled. Click and hold the handles to drag the edges of the clip or image until your frame looks exactly how you want it.
Step 5: Finalize your video
When you’re finished, toggle back to Edit mode by clicking the cursor icon above the canvas.
Once a clip has been cropped, you can move it to wherever you need it on the canvas.
How to un-crop a video
Using Camtasia to crop a clip is particularly useful because it’s “non-destructive.” This means that when you crop your footage, the original clip remains intact. So, if you look back on your edits at a later stage and realize the shot looked better as it was, or want to crop it differently, you can!
Simply follow the steps above to toggle Crop mode back on and make the necessary changes by adjusting the edges. Camtasia will keep your video high-quality no matter how much you crop!
How to crop video on iPhone
To crop a video on an iPhone, open the Photos app and select the video you wish to crop. Tap Edit in the top right corner, then tap the crop icon at the bottom of the screen. Drag the corners to crop your video, and tap Done to save your changes.
How to crop video in Premiere Pro
To crop a video in Adobe Premiere Pro, first position the play head over the clip you want to crop in the Timeline panel and ensure the clip is selected.
Next, go to the Effects panel and navigate to Video Effects › Transform › Crop, then double-click to apply it to your clip.
Finally, go to the Effect Controls panel, select the Crop effect, and either drag the handles in the Program Monitor or adjust the numeric controls to crop your video more precisely.
How to crop a video on Android
To crop a video on Android with Google Photos, open the video you want to edit and tap on Edit, followed by Crop.
If you’d like to change the aspect ratio, tap on Aspect ratio, or to adjust the video’s perspective, tap Transform and then drag the dots to crop the video. Once you’re satisfied with the crop, tap Save Copy at the bottom right to save your changes.
Conclusion
That’s all there is to it! Your videos are ready for social media, internal communication, and anything else. And don’t forget that whether you want to blur your footage, rotate the final video, or merge two videos into one, Camtasia has everything you need!
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