Advanced Mobile Video Editing — Step-by-Step Guide🥶👽

📦 Before You Start: Project Setup

1) Choose the Right Canvas

• Aspect ratio: Reels/TikTok 9:16, YouTube 16:9, Shorts 9:16, Square 1:1.
• Resolution: 1080p for social, 4K if you’ll crop/zoom.
• FPS: 24 for cinematic, 30 for general, 60 for smooth action.

2) Organize Footage

• Create folders: Footage / Music / VO / SFX / Graphics / LUTs.
• Rename clips (e.g., A001_gimbal_wide.mp4).
• Back up to cloud (Drive, iCloud, Dropbox).

Pro tip: Lock your device’s refresh rate to “High” only if your editor struggles—battery life matters on long edits.

✂️ Timeline Editing (Core)

1. Rough Cut: Place best takes in order. Use split, trim, and ripple delete to close gaps.
2. B-roll & Overlays: Add cutaways on tracks above A-roll to hide cuts or illustrate points.
3. J/L Cuts: Let audio lead or trail between clips for natural flow.
4. Magnetic Timeline: Enable it (if available) to auto-snap and keep sync.

🎬 Keyframes & Motion

1. Select a clip → open Transform (Position/Scale/Rotation/Opacity).
2. At the start, tap Keyframe (◆). Set initial values.
3. Move playhead → change values → a new keyframe is created.
4. Use Ease In/Out for smoother motion (if offered).

Common moves: Ken Burns (slow zoom) Slide-in lower third Opacity fades.

🎭 Masking, Tracking & Blend Modes

1. Add an Ellipse/Rectangle/Bezier mask to a clip or adjustment layer.
2. Feather edges (10–30) to blend.
3. Animate the mask path with keyframes to follow a subject; if your app has Auto-Track, use it.
4. Try Blend Modes (Screen, Multiply, Overlay) for light leaks, textures, and double exposure.

🎨 Color Correction & Grading

1. Balance: Adjust exposure/contrast; fix white balance (temp/tint).
2. Match shots: Use scopes if available (Waveform, Vectorscope) or match by eye.
3. Grade: Apply LUT or tweak curves, HSL, vibrance. Keep skin tones natural.
4. Create an Adjustment Layer above multiple clips to grade them together.

Pro tip: On phones, subtle grades look cleaner; avoid crushing blacks or over-sharpening.

🎧 Audio Mixing (Clean & Loud)

1. Dialogue first: Normalize to about -12 to -6 dB.
2. Noise Reduction: Use NR or Voice Enhance; don’t overdo (artifacts!).
3. EQ: Cut lows < 80 Hz, tame harshness at 3–5 kHz, add clarity ~8 kHz.
4. Music ducking: Auto-duck under voice to around -20 dB.
5. Limit/Compress: Gentle compression for consistent loudness.

✨ Effects, Transitions & Titles

• Speed Ramping: Add speed points → 200–400% for action, 50% for slow-mo; enable motion blur if available.
• Transitions: Prefer simple cross dissolve or whip/push that match camera motion.
• Text & Lower Thirds: Use clean fonts; animate with keyframes or presets; add drop shadow for readability.
• Subtitles/Captions: Import SRT or auto-generate; keep 2 lines max.

🟩 Chroma Key (Green Screen)

1. Place green-screen clip above the background.
2. Open Chroma Key → pick the green → adjust similarity and edge feather.
3. Color-match subject to background (curves/temperature) for realism.

📤 Export Settings (Quality vs Size)

• Codec: H.264 for compatibility; H.265/HEVC for smaller files (may take longer).
• Bitrate: 1080p social: 8–12 Mbps; 4K: 40–80 Mbps.
• Frame rate: Match timeline (avoid duplicate frames).
• Audio: AAC 320 kbps, 48 kHz.

Delivery presets: Reels/TikTok (1080×1920, 30/60 fps), YouTube 4K (3840×2160, high bitrate).

📱 Top Mobile Video Editors (5–10 to Try)

• CapCut (iOS/Android) — free, strong effects, auto captions, keyframes, speed ramps.
• VN Video Editor (iOS/Android) — multi-track, curves, advanced speed, clean UI.
• KineMaster (iOS/Android) — layers, chroma key, detailed keyframing; watermark on free plan.
• PowerDirector (iOS/Android) — robust timeline, motion graphics, stabilizer.
• LumaFusion (iOS/Android/ChromeOS) — pro-grade multi-track, color tools, audio mixer (paid).
• Adobe Premiere Rush (iOS/Android/Desktop) — cross-device sync, simple UI, solid export presets.
• Alight Motion (iOS/Android) — motion graphics, vector layers, advanced keyframes.
• Filmora (iOS/Android) — templates, AI tools, easy learning curve.
• VivaCut (iOS/Android) — masking, blend modes, cinematic effects.
• InShot (iOS/Android) — quick social edits, text/stickers, basic speed control.

Quick picks: Beginners → VN/CapCut • Motion graphics → Alight Motion • Pro timelines → LumaFusion • Fast social edits → InShot.

🧭 Fast Workflow Checklist

1. Create project (ratio, FPS, resolution) → import media.
2. Rough cut A-roll → add B-roll & J/L cuts.
3. Keyframe moves & titles → transitions.
4. Color correct → grade with LUT/curves.
5. Clean dialogue → duck music → limit peaks.
6. Export with proper bitrate → upload.

© Advanced Mobile Editing — All rights reserved.